I write 1-minute insights daily. Below are my latest. Like? Enter your email to get updates.
I help busy people do inner work.
I write 1-minute insights daily. Below are my latest. Like? Enter your email to get updates.
My dad once remarked that I was as “focused as a laser” when I was around 17. And he commented on how remarkable it was for someone at that age to be like that…
In hindsight, when I think back to this time and everything that would soon unfold over the next several years, I would probably tell myself to relax that laser a little and enjoy being a 17-year-old more.
…Because while being focused like a laser is a gift, so is wandering, exploring, and spending time experimenting while life is simpler and you’re living on somebody else’s dime.
Do I regret living how I did at 17? No. I know it’s precisely what made me into who I am today and I know that if I changed myself back then, the butterfly effect would probably have me in an upside down life that I actually did regret.
But, what’s important to remember is that my 17-year-old self is still inside me somewhere. As is every other version of who I’ve been in the past. And inner work conversations like this, with them, is precisely how my today self grows into the evolved version of that 17 year old…
…So I can live with that hindsight wisdom—today.
Another observation from meeting my sister’s favorite people yesterday…
They all met each other through work—as waitresses, hostesses, and bartenders at a local fine dining restaurant—and all commented on how much they loved their job versus other places they’ve worked.
When I asked them why they loved it so much, they all replied that it was the owner that made the difference.
He trusted them to do their job(s) and wouldn’t micromanage, was always fair and kind, and would always tell them that they were his top priority—not the customers.
And by focusing on his key people, of course, his key people were able to focus on the customers. When you hire the right people, wanting to succeed is a given… focusing on nurturing the absolute best environment possible and giving them the tools they need to succeed should be that hirer’s top priority from that point forward.
…Undermining them, spreading toxicity, and cutting out their legs—even if it’s what the customer wants—is not what the business needs.
Tonight, I met some of my sister’s favorite people for the first time.
And towards the end of the night, as she was reinforcing to me why she loved them as much as she did—because of how kind, funny, supportive, adventurous, generous, loving, spontaneous, and so forth, they each were—she told me she often wondered how she got so lucky.
And I told her it was simple…
The people she attracted into her life were a reflection of her. It was because she was kind, funny, supportive, adventurous, generous, loving, spontaneous, and so forth that those very same kinds of people were attracted to her. And that it was no coincidence that so many amazing people loved being friends with her.
…Because she put the work in to become amazing herself.
P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.
I went out to eat dinner with six friends tonight.
After the meal we walked outside, but one friend was missing.
I glanced back in the restaurant and he was cleaning our table, stacking plates and cups, collecting all garbage, and tidying up in the best way he could.
When he finished, he walked out and I said, “respect.”
He replied by saying, “I was a server and know how it can be. Some people leave their space as an absolute disaster… I never want to be that person.”
And it was a good reminder that… neither do I.
I’m thinking about making a big musical equipment purchase.
What’s interesting is the thought I had about how I want to make the purchase.
See, I know a guy who knows everything there is to know about audio and sound system setups. And he has taken care of me whenever I’ve called him for help—as in way overdelivered for the price he charged. And is just an absolute gem of a guy.
Rather than just seek out the amazon or cheapest price purchase, I want to make the purchase through this guy so that he gets a commission cut on it.
…I want to go out of my way to help the guy who has always helped me.
This, my friends, is how karma works.
I made space today to take an in-person martial arts class.
I got ready, prepped my gear, and drove to the school…
…Only to find out that it was closed.
So, what did I do?
I turned the car ride into a concert of sorts.
And when I got home, I logged into my YouTube “Academy” and studied content related to what I was going to train in that martial arts class for the rest of my allocated time block.
I turned what could’ve easily been a super annoying inconvenience into an awesome alternate path.
When you live with this kind of mental flexibility… how could you ever lose?
“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
Gustave Flaubert
Whenever I travel or experience any “violent” changes in routine… my creative work suffers.
…Simply because the time blocked for creative work shrinks in proportion to the amount of time exploring, problem solving, or engaging in unique experiences—expands.
And the days when creative work is the hardest is when I’m doing it at the end of my day, right before bed, when I’m exhausted, and as a last minute obligation because it’s a commitment I want to honor.
…But you know what?
I have yet to regret a post I’ve published.
Even one of the posts I’ve written at 3am after a long night out.
…And you know what’s more?
I have yet to regret an adventure I’ve taken.
If anything, it’s the adventures that have lead to some of my best creative work.
…But you know what most people miss?
It’s the time blocked after the adventures, where I’m able to unpack it all and do some creative work, where the vibrance and meaning of the adventures come to full fruition.
See, it isn’t the “regular and orderly life” that exclusively leads to the “violent and original work” just like it isn’t an adventurous and spontaneous life that would only lead to “regular” work.
It’s the harmony of both elements that we need in our lives: the adventure and the ordinary; the violent and the regular; the spontaneous and the routine.
This is where (and how) our best work lives.
P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.