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    #314 You don’t need to see progress every day

    In the moment, I don’t feel like a yoga pose comes easy to me – until I look back to how it felt 6 months ago.

    In the moment, I don’t really feel like particularly good writer – until I look back on how hard it was to write these daily insights a year ago.

    You don’t need to see progress every single day to know that you’re getting better.

    Because the things that truly matter often change so slowly that you don’t notice them… unless you take the time to reflect on them.

    Changes too small to notice today become impossible to ignore when they stack up.

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    #113 Make space

    Actions overrule thoughts, and sometimes the best creative act – and the one requiring the most discipline – is doing nothing.

    Because when you slow down your pace, suddenly you realize: there’s space.

    There’s space for the thoughts and feelings you were so afraid to face.

    There’s space to redirect the energy you’ve misplaced.

    There’s space to rediscover everything that escaped your gaze while you were engaged in an endless rat race.

    There’s space for you to remember
    that before you learned not to listen
    and constant distraction erased every trace
    of the insights you so desperately chase
    there was a place of stillness
    a warm embrace
    where all the answers were right there, in your face

    Only when you’ve slowed down your mind’s pace
    you realize
    you were never out of place
    you were navigating a self-inflicted maze
    with only one way out:

    Make space.

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    #185 Priorities

    We all want to avoid doing things that make us miserable.

    Yet avoiding them often takes the shape of prioritizing them.

    “I’ll do this unpleasant thing first so that I can get to the fun stuff.”

    Unfortunately, it seems to be a rule that the more unpleasant tasks you cross off your to-do list, the more unpleasant tasks appear on your to-do list.

    Sometimes it makes sense to do the essential things first, even if that means you keep the unpleasant things on your to-do list.

    This is not a free pass to avoid unpleasant things and only do something you like.

    It’s about doing the things that matter, regardless of whether they’re pleasant.

    It’s about coming to terms with the fact that you’ll probably always drown in chores and busy work to do, then doing the important stuff anyway.

    Journaling question of the day:

    Where are you prioritizing and attracting things that make you miserable instead of doing the work that matters?

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    #197 Reminders upon reminders upon reminders

    Intentional living is about reminding yourself of what’s most important to you.

    Reminding yourself that you can choose to be a writer, a runner, a musician, an artist, or a bon vivant.

    Reminding yourself that you can choose to be kind to others.

    Reminding yourself that you have a choice to act differently.

    Reminding yourself that the past does not equal the future.

    Reminding yourself that this, too, shall pass.

    Reminding yourself that at any given moment, whatever reminder you need the most, you likely won’t think of yourself.

    Reminding yourself that for this reason, it’s OK to get help and let someone else remind you with short daily notes.

    And me, reminding myself that the act of writing daily reminders for you is the reminder I need to remember that I do, in fact, choose to be consistent, and I choose to be a writer.

    Reminders upon reminders upon reminders that we will constantly get distracted, and we will always have the choice to come back to what truly matters.

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    #76 Build Discipline by Starting Small

    The trick to building discipline: stick to your projects more often than you quit, so your actions start overruling self-defeating thoughts.

    So how make sure you stick to more of your projects and habits

    Make them feasible. Start small.

    Write a couple of sentences in your journal every day.

    Write short articles.

    Walk for 5 minutes.

    Do 2 minutes of breathing exercises.

    In the long run, you’ll probably have to build up volume and intensity. But first, start small. Build trust of completion. Become disciplined.

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