#23 For all the languages I’ve learned

Sometimes I ask myself if you are asking yourself why I write you a short note every day, my friend.

Maybe I’m giving myself too much credit, and you’ve never asked yourself that question.

But I will answer it anyway, so let’s pretend you have.

Here’s the socially acceptable answer: for more than 200 days, I’ve been writing you a short note every day to remind you to make intelligent decisions about your life and who you want to be.

But as so often with us humans, the honest answer is more self-centered: I write you a short note every day to remind myself to make intelligent decisions about my life and who I want to be.

The fact that some insights are helpful to you is a nice bonus. But I would also write them if you have yet to read a single one of these insights.

Because to me, writing every day is a rallying cry for myself in an invisible battle that nobody might ever see – because it only exists in my head.

A battle against frustration, giving up, limiting beliefs, and a cage of social conditioning from which it’s hard to break free.

A battle to become who I’ve always wanted to be.

Yes, every note I write to you, my friend, is outward proof of a tiny inner victory, taking tiny steps towards more self-trust and fulfillment.

You may tell me I don’t have anything to prove to anyone, especially not myself.

And you may be right.

But I also know that we all have our battles to fight.

Battles about what we believe we deserve or not.

What we think we can do or not.

What we believe is possible for us or not.

What we desire.

Who we can be.

So while you might not be asking yourself why I write you something every day, I am asking myself which battles you are fighting.

I am looking for outward proof of your inner victories.

Whatever they are, when you shine a light on your invisible battles, I’ll be here to cheer you on.

A daily insight from Tony Robbins:

Wherever focus goes, energy flows.

Tony Robbins, https://www.tonyrobbins.com/career-business/where-focus-goes-energy-flows/

We’re always ignoring and highlighting parts of our experience to make sense of the world – and it determines the way we feel.

To feel bad, you (temporarily) have to ignore all the events and things you consider positive.

To feel good, you (temporarily) have to ignore events and circumstances that can be challenging.

It all depends on context.

Sometimes, just to function, it’s necessary to ignore.

Sometimes you’re better off highlighting a bit more.

The big challenge: most of the time, we’re not aware of where our focus goes – so we let old habits and patterns decide how we feel – even if they don’t serve us at all.

Here’s an exercise I found useful: Tomorrow, focus on something that’s important for you once an hour (a post-it on your desk or a reminder on your phone can be useful). That way, it remains top of mind (and your energy will flow toward it).

Every hour, also take a moment to become aware of what you’re deleting from your experience, and what you’re highlighting.

• What am I trying to do today?
• What am I trying to do right now?
• What’s important to me?
• What do I want to focus on… what do I intentionally ignore?