Reality Laughs

This is interesting.

When I am ok then I write less here.

And right now I’m ok.

So I want to be sure to write this down to remind myself that I’m ok. I’m always ok. I just don’t always believe it.

Why am I ok? Reading. Marcus Aurelius at the moment. I can’t read Seneca in the morning for some reason. But Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius are easy.

Relentless, by the way, has fallen dead on its second read-through. I have no appetite for it. It’s sort of like a one-note song, though I know that there can be subtle nuances in monotony. I’ll get back to it. Or not.

In the meantime, Gary Vaynerchuk videos are passing the message along. No expectations. Just give. Work really hard for a long time. All good stuff.

I can only hope that my kids have a great relationship with me in the same way he seems to have a great relationship with his parents. If he has what he appears to have, Gary Vaynerchuk has wealth beyond measure.

So the outside reminders come, but from another path.

Is a thin line.

Let them be. They will reveal themselves.

I just hired a guy to help me do a thing. The reason I hired him is because he announced “I do this and you can hire me to help you.”

In talking to him I learned how he had learned the skill he is selling me. He had arbitrarily picked up the phone and purchased one-on-one consulting from people who were not selling consulting, but were self-evidently killing it with this specific skill.

It never occurred to me to do that.

Today I learned a new life skill. Go to the best, and ask if they will help. Overpay if necessary.

The reality laughs part of this story is that the help I seek is omnipresent. It’s me and my hidden assumptions and life operating principles that stops the help from arriving at my doorstep.

The first step to being smart is “stop being stupid.” Just stop doing dumb shit and you’re likely to have a better life.

If I’m stuck and I’m putting a huge amount of effort into once place, the answer is not to put more effort there.

Take away effort there. Put attention somewhere else.

You have goals, ambitions, desires. The future you is x, y, and z. These are so far from who you are today.

You can think like the future you today.

You can act like the future you today.

Even if you aren’t the pinnacle of fitness (yet) you can think and behave today like the future you will behave when you are the pinnacle of fitness.

This just worked for me a few minutes ago. Instead of swinging through the drive-thorough at Del Taco, here I am at home with some better food from the refrigerator.

Even if you don’t have the million-dollar bank account (yet) you can think and behave like the future you who has $1,000,000 in the bank.

And the $1,000,000 will follow.

Even if you lack peace of mind, or focus, or discipline (now) you can think and behave the way your future disciplined self will think and behave.

Avatar me.

You want more of something, focus you attention on it. Remove your attention to decrease it.

I see it clearly now with the internet blocking. There is a particular new hobby I am pursuing now. (Vague because visible and They really are Out To Get You; with a sufficiently high number for They the probability is 1). I spend lots of time reading articles, watching videos, etc.

The time spent is not particularly energizing. It’s distracting and entertaining. There are other activities that matter more to me. I know what the end state of that hobby is for me, and it will be accomplished in six months. (The end state is one more acquisition then then a steady flow of consumables to supply the regular doing of the hobby.)

So I am changing my focus to another area: fitness. I do this my just watching videos from one person on YouTube. Let’s see what happens. I’m not watching videos or reading about the other topic which has consumed me lately.

Or at least let’s your dreams drift past you, tantalizingly close. The tantalizingly close just happened to me in a phone conversation.

Tantalizingly close or on another planet? It’s the same thing. Zero expectations is the only way to life peacefully with dreams and possibilities.

It’s what they keep telling me: it’s the journey, not the destination. Maybe I will really internalize it someday. Until then, faith.

But done.