Month: September 2022

We spend our time in two places. Here and now. And for a better tomorrow.

We are all familiar with the here and now. Eating a marshmallow, putting out fires, fighting traffic…

A better tomorrow is something we all hope for. It is an investment to be making decisions today that will effect the future in a positive way.

What isn’t a productive use of our time is escaping the here and now in hopes that tomorrow will be better.

“When things slow down then we can focus on having fun.”

It is all part of the process. If we are just living when in flow then we are asleep most of our lives.

Humans have the ability to create imaginary systems of structure to organize themselves in a way to accomplish monumental tasks.

That is how a Chinese development company was able to raise a 57-story skyscraper in just 19 days. Truly incredible. And it is also why when I swipe my card at the store it allows me to buy groceries. We trust that something will work because we have all agreed this is how we should run things.

Many of these systems are so massive and complicated now, that we can’t control them. Hence why economists guess what will happen to inflation as they raise rates.

Understanding these systems is key to changing things. When we can jump out of the system and examine it, a whole bunch of things opens up to us.

We can ask why. Why does this work this way? Why does this happen when we do that? Why do I even ask these questions? What am I ignoring?

All points have an end. That feeling of being stuck isn’t necessarily because you literally can’t move, maybe you have evolved from this structure and are unsatisfied with the status quo.

I have a friend that attended a presentation about some outlandish theories in the world. They were embarrassed to mention it because they knew my skepticism runs high on these matters.

What they are chasing isn’t the truth but a feeling they get to know something about the world that no one else does.

The opposite of a truth seeker isn’t a false wanderer. It’s someone who insists on fitting the world into the narrative they have built for themselves.

How convenient has the sources of information been coming in fitting your dialogue with yourself?

Life is a walking contradiction. It is neither convenient nor streamlined.

You cannot act honestly and effectively upon lies. Most of the stories we are telling ourselves are fiction (not facts). And when we are creating narratives that insulate us, then we are shielding ourselves from seeing the world as it really is.

Who are we deceiving by creating this narrative about someone else’s mistakes?

Note: Most of the chatter actually never leaves our mouth.

If you are having success, you are not learning that much.

It is in failure where we find our limits and push ourselves beyond our reach.

If all you are experiencing is one success after another, you are setting the bar too low for yourself.

By blaming outside circumstances and others, we transfer responsibility into someone else’s hands, losing control in the process. While the environment plays so much in our decision-making, we are now exercising our agency when we learn to act on it instead of reacting. Freedom, however, comes with a price. It is scary to be in charge. What if you mess up? Will you be fired? In order to avoid responsibility, we shift the blame, insulating ourselves from adversity. And then wonder, why we are stuck.

It is a vicious cycle that we become numb to.

In order to shield ourselves from admitting fault, we instead attach this one incident to a much larger story.

That is why when we argue with family or spouses or even a stranger at the DMV, it can turn into a much bigger argument than it should. We are hauling extra baggage into the narrative. Carrying it forward instead of focusing on what is actually happening.

What you probably did is leave the thermostat on, not sabotage the whole relationship.

200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

(200 billion trillion)

We have no idea where we are in this mess.

And without a point of reference, how can we know what we believe is true?

Most of our assumptions we treat as fact. Most of our facts are actually opinions.

In 1983, Dave Mustaine was fired from his band before recording their debut album. Vowing to start a bigger band, Mustaine eventually formed Megadeth which today is considered one of “the big four” of American thrash metal music. Megadeth has sold over 38 million albums in its career. Mustaine is regarded by many critics as one of the best guitarists of all time.

The problem is the band that Mustaine was kicked out of was Metallica. Which went on to sell 125 million records.

Mustaine set the goal to be a more successful band and it made him miserable that he never did. Why? Because he was measuring the wrong thing.

If all you measure is money or sales, you are going to make yourself miserable. There is always someone out there with a bigger number.

The faults we see in others are the things we hate about ourselves.

Think about it.