#140 I don’t have to be good at this today.

ByLukas
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Trying to become good fast makes you impatient. And impatience may well stop you from ever becoming good in the first place.

Because the only way to become good is by understanding that in today’s practice session, you likely won’t be perfect anyway.

That you likely won’t write your most insightful words.

That you likely won’t run an all-time best.

That you’ll likely spend a large part of your yoga session stumbling and losing balance.

When you go into your practice session with that mindset…

Suddenly it makes sense to focus hard on getting that one sentence right.

Now it makes sense to focus on rhythmic breathing while running instead of pushing for a better time.

Now it makes sense to focus on a tiny part of your body during an entire yoga session to train your awareness instead of trying to chase poses because “they look professional.”

Even if there is not much time to “become good,” it still makes sense to assume there is time.

Because that gives you the freedom to focus on the small adjustments that prepare you for when the time comes, and you truly need to perform.

Since I’m always practicing anyway, I don’t have to be good at this today.

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  • #13 Write & Publish. Then write some more

    ByLukas

    Here’s a question Tim Ferris asks startup founders (and himself) when deciding to invest time and money into a new project:

    “If, in one (or two, or three) years from now, this whole project has failed miserably… Which assumptions you hold today were proven wrong?”

    Tim Ferris

    Answering the question first requires defining failure and success.

    For my project of publishing a daily insight on this blog success looks like this:

    Write & publish.

    Edit.

    Write & publish.

    Edit.

    Then write & publish some more.

    Good, bad, well-received or not, received or read by anyone at all, it doesn’t matter.

    Because first of all, writing is a creative outlet for me.

    Second: long as I write & publish consistently, I trust I will get better at writing and publishing.

    Finally: I trust that from all that sculpting away, day by day, will come better and better insights.

    A pretty low bar for success – which, counterintuitively, often leads to more progress long-term.

    Now we have established that:

    What are the assumptions that could be wrong if next year, it turns out I failed to write & publish every day?

    Here are some I can think of:

    • Writing and publishing every day is going to be a long-term fulfilling activity for me
    • I am truly fine with writing and publishing without anyone ever reading it
    • I am fine spending considerable time on starting a new project that I might never monetize
    • Writing & publishing every day really leads to better writing skills and interesting insights (although even if this assumption is false, it wouldn’t necessarily stop me from writing.)

    Will these assumptions be proven wrong?

    Only time will tell.

    Until then… I write & publish… then write & publish some more.

  • |

    #241 Is this truly a catastrophe?

    ByLukas

    What am I scared of right now?

    What are the chances that that scenario will come true?

    What would happen if that scenario came true?

    And what would happen then?

    And then?

    And then?

    Is it really that bad?

    Do I have the resources to deal with it?

    Is this truly a catastrophe, or will I be fine either way?

    Keep asking*, “What would happen then?”.* Look past the initial fears and challenges. And more often than not, you’ll realize that this too shall pass.

  • #361 How to overcome the seemingly impossible

    ByLukas

    You’ve spent your lifetime bumping into the limits of what you deem possible.

    And you’ve also spent your lifetime overcoming the seemingly impossible.

    Sit. Crawl. Walk. Speak. Read. Find love. Get over loss and heartbreak. Travel. Invent. Create. Learn. Write.

    Overcoming the seemingly impossible is what makes you you.

    Once you accept that, the question shifts from, “What’s possible for me?” to, “What are you overcoming next?”

  • |

    #97 Not loneliness. Solitude.

    ByLukas

    All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone

    Blaise Pascal, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/19682-all-of-humanity-s-problems-stem-from-man-s-inability-to-sit

    We often equate sitting quietly in a room alone with loneliness: a word with a negative emotional charge.

    But sitting quietly in a room can also bring solitude: the simple state of being by yourself, without any negative connotation.

    Solitude can give relief of the pressure to be constantly “socializing” (through social media apps or in real life).

    Relief of the pressure to socialize can make space.

    Space you can use to hear the thoughts in your head and the feelings in your body.

    Thoughts and feelings that can tell you what’s truly important to you.

    And then you realize that what’s truly important to you is nothing new.

    It’s something you already knew, before you learned not to listen.

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