July 2023
Don’t define your identity by your beliefs. Define your identity by your willingness to learn.
The single biggest thing that separates people is the consistent ability to show up and do the work.
The consequences of failing to show up consistently are getting the results you deserve but not the ones you want.
“They’re paying me a ton of money. People recognize me at the airport. I’m doing everything I drempt of doing for 30 years. It all came true. And I am the least happy I have ever been in my life. … And I have every single thing on paper that I wanted. I feel grateful for this because I was able to say something much more profound is broken … I think a lot of us proceed through life thinking ‘we would be happy if,’ ‘we would have self-estreem if’ … and those are illusions most people don’t get to find out are illusions.”
“If you could strip away all your concepts—and you were to see the world afresh—how much freedom would that give you?” —SHAMIL CHANDARIA
Not exercising and leading a sedentary life seems like the sort of thing you can always change—in other words, after a youth spent on the couch, we imagine we can leap up one day in our middle years, hit the gym, and somehow make up for all those years spent doing nothing. And depending on your genetic makeup, maybe you can get away with that—but those years skipping leg day still have a real cost. How much? It’s estimated that sedentary folks spend about $1,500 more every year on health-related costs than the people who actually get out there and break a sweat regularly.
Sleep is weird, right? Here we are, mortal, with a limited time on this planet, and we’re more or less required to spend about one-third of our lives unconscious. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, sleep is glorious—and those who forego it pay a steep price in terms of their health and well-being.
And their budget—because it’s a fact that people who get more sleep do better in their professions and ultimately earn more money. Studies have shown a link between getting just one more hour of sleep every night and an increase in earnings of about 5% if the change is permanent. That means if you skip those extra sleep hours you’re, basically paying a financial penalty.
Stop waiting for permission to create something cool. Start a conversation with a stranger. Jump first. Lean in first and make it a habit. Now you’re the leader, and you set a precedent for creating success that others will admire and follow.
Sometimes it’s cathartic to complain to a friend. But don’t make it a habit. Whining reaffirms a negative reality. Focusing on what’s good brings more good in.
What interests you, and how can you set yourself apart in this area by doing what others do NOT have the patience or stomach for? Write a list. That’s how you separate yourself from the pack.
Slow and sensible wins the race.
You can look and feel better than 99% of people your age if you can just keep moving the needle in the right direction every week in a sustainable way.
“Real love is accepting other people the way they are without trying to change them.”
— Don Miguel Ruiz
Vacation won’t make things better. Changing jobs won’t make things better. Getting the recognition you deserve won’t make things better. Drugs won’t make things better.
The only thing that will make things better is your relationship with yourself.
“It’s easier to notice when you lose money than when you lose time. Be sure you’re making the trade you want.”
“The most invisible form of wasted time is doing a good job on an unimportant task.”
- James clear
“I’m trying to find these rare moments where you feel completely illuminated. Facts never illuminate you. The phone directory of Manhattan doesn’t illuminate you, although it has factually correct entries, millions of them. But these rare moments of illumination that you find when you read a great poem, you instantly know. You instantly feel this spark of illumination. You are almost stepping outside of yourself, and you see something sublime.” — Werner Herzog
“The myth is that there isn’t enough time. There is plenty of time. There isn’t enough focus with the time you have. You win by directing your attention toward better things.”
“It’s hard to remember that this day will never come again. That the time is now and the place is here and that there are no second chances at a single moment.” - Jeanette Winterson
“A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.” - Helen Keller
“If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” — Mickey Mantle
“Just because improvements aren’t visible doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.
You’re not going to see the number change each time you step on the scale. You’re not going to finish a chapter each time you sit down to write.
Early wins come easy. Lasting wins require a lifestyle.” -james clear
One of the most valuable skills in life is being able to see another person’s perspective.
If you’re going to someone’s house, think about how it might feel to be the host. If you’re creating a product, spend as much time as possible thinking like the customer. If you’re calling customer service, think about how it might feel to be on the other end of the conversation.
The more clearly you understand the viewpoint of your spouse or customer or coworker, the better positioned you are to find a solution.
“I have learned that Grief is a force of energy that cannot be controlled or predicted. It comes and goes on its own schedule. Grief does not obey your plans, or your wishes. Grief will do whatever it wants to you, whenever it wants to. In that regard, Grief has a lot in common with Love. The only way that I can “handle” Grief, then, is the same way that I “handle” Love — by not “handling” it. By bowing down before its power, in complete humility.”
- Elizabeth Gilbert
What are the current habits that are hindering your future progress?
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace.” — Milan Kundera
“I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow I did not breed or perfect the seeds.
I do not make any of my own clothing.
I speak a language I did not invent or refine.
I did not discover the mathematics I use.
I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate.
I am moved by music I did not create myself.
When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.
I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with.
I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being.”
- Steve jobs
The best way to change the world is in concentric circles: start with yourself and work your way out from there.
“Buying your kids the best will never replace giving your kids your best.” - James clear
“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading – that is a good life.” — Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
“Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender” ― Eckhart Tolle
If you care about the outcome, focus on what’s right, not who is right. Keep the goal in mind.
“Often, our most intense discomfort is what precedes and necessitates thinking in a way we have never conceived of before. That new awareness creates possibilities that would never exist had we not been forced to learn something new.”
— Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays that Will Change the Way You Think
Experimenting, more than planning, leads to increased knowledge and greater progress.
“I generally try to avoid people and situations that put me in bad moods, which is good advice whether you care about productivity or not.” — Sam Altman
Bad things happen fast, good things happen slowly.
Your brain needs downtime to connect the dots like your body needs rest to strengthen itself for the next workout. If you’re always working, always trying to download information, always trying to be productive, you’re stifling your best insights from bubbling up.