Month: August 2022

A pithier version of “Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.”

You already have what you want.

You already know the answer to the question.

Reminder to care about what is happening now.

Reminder to care about what is within my control.

Reminder that what I desire is inside, not outside. The Kingdom of God is within. Just sit and feel.

Soon enough it will be time to do.

Take care. The objective of doing is to seek the Kingdom of God, which is always available. The objective is not to sacrifice the Kingdom of God, through busy actions, so I can use the fruits of those actions to buy my way into the Kingdom of God.

“Be quiet, work hard, and stay healthy. It’s not ambition or skill that is going to set you apart but sanity.” @RyanHoliday

The time element is unspoken, but essential. Time is a filter, as explained by Taleb. It tests all around you—and tests you, too. What survives, wins. Lindy.

The more you remain sane over time, the more likely your ideas and actions will survive. It’s a last man standing game, really.

And surround yourself with people who are also sane. See, we are all insane from time to time—but we are not all insane at the same time. Have friends who will pull you back when you go off the rails.

Almost uniformly in academia – and I would bet this is also true in other professions too – people want the benefits of deep work but cannot stomach the costs of deep work. But you can’t really claim to value good research if you’re not willing to give up anything else to get it.

https://twitter.com/economeager/status/1560219043587555332?s=21&t=qVkNXVI4BaH7A0I1RHp9bw

Yes.

Pay the price first. Overpay willingly, before the universe repays you.

The value is in the payment, not in the reward.

Negative thought in?

Positive action out.

Now.

Example from my life: I was broke. Paycheck to paycheck life. Economic fear: how would I provide for my family? The kind of thoughts that don’t let you sleep. Despair.

I don’t know how I got the idea (probably someone told me or I read about it somewhere) but this is what I started doing.

I opened up an online savings account, not at my normal bank. Every time I started thinking a negative financial thought I would grab my phone and move $5 from the household checking account to the savings account.

Fear? Take $5 away from the bank account that was the source of fear and put it away, far away. Power. Think of it. This action told my fearful brain that if we could survive today, we could survive with $5 less.

The amount was not the point. The action was the point.

The day came when I moved $50,000 to the savings account. I wasn’t afraid. I wanted to show my brain how much progress I had made.

I live a different life now.

Just noting the pause in the action. I am still reading. Still putting in the work. Don’t have much to say. maybe that is because work work is consuming me and I am trying to dig myself out of a hole (too much work) and at the same time I’m afraid that if I dig myself out of a hole I will be completely out of work. Weird. My actions signal a desire to stay in a place of discomfort.

Your best thinking and your hardest efforts and your greatest focus . . . got you HERE.

If you maxxed out at 100% of your entire being to get THIS, how will you possibly achieve anything beyond where you are right now. More of the same will make more of the same.

Trust God, of course.

But you need new input. New ideas. New energy.

Different inputs will create different outputs.

And books are one of the inputs that can make different outputs. They give new ideas. They can (if you let them) provide new morale.

This happened to me today. Up at 6 am for my #75Hard walk, I was doomlooping about business and I should just give up all my ideas and hunker down and give up until I get old and die. Yeah. Serious doomlooping.

Returning home, I grabbed a coffee and the book I’m reading (10 pages a day, every day). Traction, by Gino Wickman.

I’m back in the mindset saddle again. It’s like he sat beside me and said “Yeah, it’s daunting. You can do it. Here is what to do next, just this little thing.”

For $20 I can can turn my day around and have an optimistic, energetic day? And probably get the same jolt tomorrow?

As Bob used to say, “Yes, trust in God. But you must have human help.” I got human help today.

The power of routine. The power of talking to people. (Even if they are talking to you from a page).

Also: I’m lighting up www.freedom.to daily on my devices — to keep Twitter noise and related bullshit artists the fuck outta my consciousness. 🏴‍☠️

There’s an impending apocalypse due to the sinful actions of The Others.

But if you embrace our ideology, you can be saved.

A tale as old as time.

https://twitter.com/nateliason/status/1554086920162091010?s=21&t=1LVixo8WbOaDVP9dmYrF8w

Closely followed by:

Death is scary. Embrace our faith and you can maybe live forever.

The myths don’t change, just the tools we use to spread and defend them.

https://twitter.com/nateliason/status/1554088250213539840?s=21&t=1LVixo8WbOaDVP9dmYrF8w

There are other stories, I am sure. Stories we tell each other to keep the tribe together, or expel the unwanted.

Yes. You must work. But . . .

[Which] then makes me realize that half of my effort wasn’t effort at all, but just unnecessary stress that made me feel like I was doing my best.

https://twitter.com/malcolm_ocean/status/1554072471577542656?s=21&t=1LVixo8WbOaDVP9dmYrF8w