Daily Insight

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    #132 Unlimited Learning

    ByLukas

    Learning often implies discovering what you can’t do.

    I can’t write and convey what I want to say. I can’t speak Spanish fluently. I can’t do this yoga pose.

    For many people that’s also the final destination, when in fact, it’s only the start.

    We’re missing a word: Learning is discovering what you can’t do yet.

    Or, even better:

    Learning is discovering what, through diligent practice, you’ll soon be able to do.

    After all, actions overrule thoughts.

    I can’t write and find the right words… yet. But with diligent practice, soon, I’ll be able to convey what I want to say.

    I’m not able to do this yoga pose… yet. But with diligent practice, soon I will.

    I can’t speak Spanish fluently… yet. But with diligent practice, soon I will.

    That’s all there is to it.

    Discover your current limit. Realize that through diligent practice, you’ll overcome it.

    Then you’ll find a new limit. And through diligent practice, you’ll overcome it.

    Until you find a new limit, which you’ll overcome… through diligent practice.

    Where do you let the discovery of your current limit be your end station?

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    #131 Goals are not about achievement

    ByLukas

    The purpose of goals is not achieving them.

    It’s giving direction to your current actions.

    And that’s what makes them different from a dreams.

    Now. If goals give direction to current actions…

    And current actions overrule your current beliefs and shape your identity…

    Then goals shape who you are today, tomorrow, and who you’ll be long after achieving them.

    The achievement is fleeting, the personality change lasting.

    Choose wisely.

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    #130 The perfect excuse

    ByLukas

    Perfectionism is the perfect excuse for not showing up.

    If you don’t publish because you’re waiting for the perfect blog post, you’ll hide behind your desk forever – because there’ll always be something you can improve.

    If you don’t go for a walk because you’re waiting for the perfect weather, you’ll be stuck forever inside – because there’ll always be a day with more sunshine or a nicer breeze.

    If you wait to live the life you desire until you have the perfect age, amount of money, degree, or partner, you’ll wait until it’s too late to enjoy your life in the first place.

    If you know things will never be perfect anyway, and you’re not allowed to wait until they’re perfect, or even until they’re “good enough”…

    What could you start doing today? What have you been putting off?

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    #129 When the going gets tough

    ByLukas

    When I’m inspired, I write.

    When I’m over the moon, I write.

    When I’m frustrated, I write.

    When I’m sad, I write.

    When I’m angry, I write.

    When I’m so overwhelmed I don’t want to do anything at all, I write.

    Because when the tides of life get rough, a consistent practice is your life raft.

    Writing, running, yoga, music, walking, gardening, knitting, dancing, singing, surfing…

    You not only build trust in such habits and practices to achieve lofty goals but also – even more so – to fall back on when the going gets tough, and you need a beacon of stability to keep you afloat.

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    #128 What do you hear?

    ByLukas

    Nobody says you should take time every day to disconnect from the world and listen to your stream of consciousness.

    But let’s say you would.

    What do you hear?

    Desires? Fear?

    A blurry memory, now suddenly clear?

    A cry for help to which you’ve turned a deaf ear?

    That fierce inner voice just wants you to be, listen, persevere,
    and tell it

    You’re safe. I hear you. I’m here.

    When you make space to listen to yourself and let solitude soothe you, fear melts away and you might just find something that makes you want to put your heart on the line.

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    #126 Invisible ink tattooed on your mind

    ByLukas

    Every promise to yourself is a contract in invisible ink.

    Jo Franco on the Not Your Average Jo podcast. I recommend you listen to this episode

    But it’s not because it’s hidden from view that it doesn’t carry any weight.

    Every broken contract with yourself goes on the pile of self-distrust.

    So don’t overextend. Don’t make promises to yourself that you can’t keep anyway.

    Start with a tiny contract with yourself. Then stick to the terms.

    Build trust every day through Tiny Trust Builders.

    Remember that the contract is made, so now is not the time to negotiate.

    Retrace the letters of that invisible contract every single day.

    Then, one day, the invisible ink is tattooed on your mind, and you’ve forged an unbreakable bond between your words and actions.

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    #124 Deliberate Memories, Accurate Intuition

    ByLukas

    A memory is what we decide to remember from an experience – and what we decide to delete and forget.

    Intuition is the instant hunch we get after we’ve repeatedly created memories from experiences; the moment we don’t need the conscious memory anymore.

    A small (or unrepresentative) sample size leads to inaccurate intuition.

    If I’m betrayed three times in my life and have created strong memories around that, my intuition whenever meeting anyone else may be that they’ll betray me too. Three bad experiences have shaped, and skewed, my relationship to billions of others.

    How to develop accurate intuition?

    The more memories we create, the bigger the “sample size” for our intuition to emerge from, and the smaller the weight of “outlier events” (like being betrayed).

    The more deliberately we create these memories, the more deliberately we hone intuition.

    Create more memories. And create them deliberately.

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    #123 Never again

    ByLukas

    What gets you going – and what keeps you going?

    Pain. Pleasure. Usually, a combination of both.

    I like being disciplined – it gives me pleasure.

    I also know very well that I don’t want to go back to jumping from one project to another, giving up before reaching any meaningful level of skill or results, and ending up frustrated with myself – the thought alone is painful.

    The pain often gets you going, later to be joined by pleasure in a cocktail of motivation, discipline, and persistence.

    And in this case, strong emotions, passion, and yes, also pain, often lead to more leverage – if you allow yourself to see the lessons it can teach you.

    I never want to be that person again – which helped me figure out that I really want to be this person.

    Living your never again might well help you figure out your yes, for as long as I shall live.

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