Daily

Made this realization on a phone call with a friend last night.

Simultaneously, everything matters and nothing matters.

Let me explain with an example…

“Everything” matters

You’re studying for a test.

Did you prepare as well as humanly possible? Did you dot your i’s and cross your t’s? Did you leave no stone unturned?

Everything you do for studying matters. From what time you wake up. To what time you go to bed. To what foods you eat.

These will all impact your performance on the test.

Everything matters.

“Nothing” matters

Okay, you studied to the best of your abilities. Whewww.

You drive to take the test. You even prepared some extra time to get to the destination.

Buuuut… there was a car accident on the road. You’re going to be late.

The first reaction might be to think: “My life is over and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

But you can reframe. Instead of thinking “everything matters” switch to “nothing matters.”

Meaning?

Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to make it through this moment. In the end, we’re all just a bunch of monkeys floating on a rocket traveling in space at 68,000 mph.

Nothing matters.

A well lived life

Everything matters. Nothing matters. Both are true.

A life well-lived is figuring out which one to apply in this moment.

This is Day 11 of 14 of my daily writing challenge.

When you come from a place of love, it gives you the freedom to say what you truly feel.

Because you’re looking for someone else’s best interests.

Because someone else is you.

When I was more in my own head, I would be worried about saying something the right way. But I wasn’t coming from a place of love. I was coming from a place of trying to be right or trying to look cool.

But this is a reminder that approaching life from a place of love has never hurt me.

This is Day 10 of 14 of my daily writing challenge.

Today’s entry comes inspired by a reader of Tuesday Treasure. His questions are in bold and my answers are featured below:

My question is this: in a multi-faceted life, with multiple different hobbies and aspirations, how do you know or feel that you are on the right path?

First let me say this… if you don’t feel like you’re on the right path…. that’s okay. You’re in college. For the far majority, college is a time when you give up part of your identity to be part of a group. That sounds negative, but it’s actually a good thing. The reason why is because this expands who you are. When you get exposed to new ideas and new friends and new places… you become an expanded human being.

Let your curiosity guide you. Everything you do, even when you give up part of your identity, serves you in some way.

Not to say that there is ONE right path, but do you personally have a feeling that what you are doing is aligning with who YOU are/who you are meant to be?

Personally, I 100% feel as if what I’m doing is what I’m supposed to be doing.

• To figure out what path to travel, ask…
• If you had only two years to live, what would you do?
• What was I doing as a kid?
• What could I do for the next 10 years for fun? (That’s how long it takes to build a successful career.)
• Who are people I admire and what are they doing?
• Where do I spend my time?
• What feels like play to me?
• What are the last 10 things I bought on Amazon?
• Where do I spend my money?

I have many different goals relationship wise, personal business wise, hobby wise, academically, and sometimes it feels that they are impossible to juggle in the sense that one or more of those may be underdeveloped or ignored.

Dude, that’s completely fine. And normal. I was just explaining this to someone… sometimes one area has to be stagnate or go down for another area to grow. This is particularly hard in college where there are so many paths you can take and they’re all illuminated in front of you. Just do the best you can in every moment and be okay with that. The fact that you’re even asking these questions lets me know you’re on the right path.

This is Day 9 of 14 of my daily writing challenge.

It’s easy to create this magical destination of “making it.” But there is no such thing as “making it.”

You have to “make it” every day.

No matter what you’ve accomplished…

Every day you wake up a nobody. 

Every day you need to climb the mountain to become somebody.

And that opportunity is available to you today. That opportunity is available for you tomorrow. That opportunity – to be somebody – is constantly available to you.

That’s the reason my podcast logo is climbing up a dude staring down a mountain.

Because that’s the climb we are forced to make every. single. day.

This is Day 7 of 14 of my daily writing challenge.

For some odd reason, we have this tendency to believe a new habit has to be difficult.

When I tell you I meditate, you may assume I’m sitting like a monk. Cross-legged? No. Perfect posture? Definitely not.

I actually put a blanket over me. My legs are stretched out. I move around during the session.

Because I’ve made it easy for myself, I look forward to the activity.

How you can apply this:

When building a new habit, seek out ways to make it easier. 

If you want to try yoga, try it for 10 minutes.

If you want to lift weights, follow a plan you actually enjoy.

If you want to write daily, test it out for two weeks. 😉 

Don’t seek to make it more difficult. Seek to make it easier and more enjoyable so you stick with it longer.

This is Day 6 of 14 of my daily writing challenge.