Personal note: this is something I've been massively struggling with the last few days and I needed to write a post as a kind of therapy. Hang in there with me. Perfectionism is a funny thing. It's supposed to be regaled and with words like "craft", "art" and "perfection." It also causes more people to not do s**t than any other thing I can think of. Refining and editing your work has value, but perfectionism is a cancer and it will kill your work if ...
On Motivation
I've been obsessed with this video as of late. I've probably watched it over 10 times in the last 2-3 days. Take a look - it's less than a minute and answer the following question: How do you stay focused, motivated and maintain enthusiasm when things don’t go the way you’d hoped? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ&feature=youtu.be Elon Musk on Motivation (Transcript) How do you stay focused, motivated and maintain enthusiasm when ...
The Man In The Arena
The Man in the arena quote by Teddy Roosevelt is one I've talked about extensively in the Impossible Manifesto when I released it a couple years ago. Lately it's been coming up in my head over & over again. It's worth a read (or two). It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is ...
What Are You Willing To Give Up?
What are you willing to give up? The world talks about what they want They talk about following your passion. Living the dream and a bunch of other cliches. But nobody every talks about what they're willing to give up. Ask someone what they want (if they can actually answer that question) and you'll get a myriad of answers: A good career Freedom to travel The ability to be your own boss. Lots of money Time with loved oneso People ...
The Pomodoro Technique
Whether you're big into business, fitness, or gritness, you've probably come up against one of the main roadblocks in achieving the impossible: procrastination. Procrastination crops up everywhere: If you're getting into running, often the hardest thing is getting your shoes on and getting out the door. If you work from home, you drown in email before you get down to the work that matters. If you want to switch careers, you convince yourself you ...
An Act of Discipline
This is an act of discipline. I'm retraining myself to write here twice a week regardless. Tuesday, Thursday - set in stone. That's the schedule. I'm not sending this post out via email & I probably won't tweet this, but I'm writing it down and making it public. I've got a lot of things coming up - excuses why I couldn't write (new podcasts, websites, videos, projects all over the place), but there are no excuses. Writing twice a week is a ...
The Surprising Purpose of Pain
Most people want to avoid pain. It's uncomfortable, it hurts, and it's not really fun. Unfortunately, I've decided in my life, that I don't get the luxury of avoiding pain. Being an athlete, you're constantly exposed to pain. It happens when you push the limits of what you're capable of. Every time you decide to go farther, to do more, to do something you haven't done before, you're exposing yourself to pain. It's tough to explain to someone who ...