“If the fruits of our effort don’t solve the problems we face, what good do they provide? On the other hand, measured, calculated action—the kind that is slow but smooth—will lead us to the answers we hope to find, even if it might feel like we’re moving at a slower pace.”
“The same applies to our work. If we focus on things with the highest immediate value, we might be missing out on the real returns. Sure, our rate of output might be high, but it will always be contingent on the same efforts and the same inputs to produce the same consistent result. If we, on the contrary, look for opportunities to leverage our inputs with disproportionate outputs, we are on the way to generating returns without the need for marginal increases in input.”
“The ones who succeed are those who dive in without hesitation, who go first, who don’t second-guess their decisions until a result can be seen. Most importantly to remember, it isn’t their lack of fear but what they do with their fear.”
“We are constantly writing the story of our life, whether we want to or not, whether we are aware or not. The course and sum of our decisions, or lack thereof, intertwine the fabric of our own personal narrative. If nothing more, our memory serves as a monument to what was meaningful in life.”
“In the same way that we wouldn’t intentionally try to comfort a child in every area of its life, knowing that challenges will become more difficult down the road, we should try to challenge ourselves to push beyond the limits of our personal comfort and consistently force growth like a muscle.”
“Thinking to past experiences, how many projects have we given up on in favour of a new one just because we couldn’t get everything to click together? What if success in each circumstance had been only a few pieces away? When we look for silver bullets, we overlook the simple swaps that sit right under our noses, if only we had the perspective to step back, look around and try a new piece.”
“In the same way that a compliment makes us feel good by affirming our constructed identity, detractions only cause an internal effect because we choose to identify with the labels we have associated with ourselves. “He’s honest,” we’ll hear. “She’s hardworking.” When we hear positive comments, we feel good. When we hear negative ones, we feel bad. “That’s a lovely shirt!” We think happily of ourselves. Because of a shirt?”
“Once we release our attachments to certain outcomes and let our experience become the means and the end to our existence as this form, we are free to experience life as it really is. Not how we wish it was or how we feel it should be, but for just how it actually is.”
“We liberate ourselves when we are able to detach from the cognitive assessments that we engender through practically every moment of our lives. Rather than holding the emotion in the deepest part of our being, we can become the observer of the thoughts and feelings, simply naming and noting the emotions as they arise. “Jealousy, jealousy, jealousy… frustration, frustration, frustration…”
“When we construct a life around these principles, of choosing to dedicate our time and energy to actions that elicit sustainable positive experiences, we realize that our conscious minds were set on the wrong target the entire time. Instead of accolades, our true desire is to immerse ourselves in a state of flow. It is within this state where everything else becomes easier, but most of all, where we find our true bliss.”