Category: General

Why I write these letters With the theme of this week’s email, I’ll try and keep my thoughts precise and focused on one topic. However I would like to say something quick about the purpose of these emails and why I write them. First they are an immense help to myself in organizing my thoughts, things I’ve learned and what is helping me in my own business and personal life. I’ve found that as I organize my thoughts in writing, I can often articulate much better than if I’m simply speaking aloud. I do plan at some point to organizeContinue readingFocus makes your life beautiful

I’ve had a share of tough times in life along with times of ease. Most people have. Oftentimes though we describe those times as either good or bad. “The good ol days” or “They were the best of times, they were the worst of times” I could unpack those but instead I want to focus on some thoughts I’ve tried to keep at the forefront of my mind on the more trying of days. You may have heard this story before about the Chinese farmer but even if you have, it’s worth re-reading: A farmer and his son had aContinue readingThings aren’t good or bad, they just are

In my youth, the most terrifying thing for me was to tell the truth. I knew in the face of hard questions, disappointment and confrontations that the result of truth would most likely be physical violence against myself and at best mental and emotional bullying. I tried my hardest as a small framed boy to be “good”, but the constant result of truth was pain unfortunately. I didn’t have someone there to reward me for bravery and honesty. As time went on I got pretty good at lying. In fact I didn’t even see it as lying. Instead small “whiteContinue readingNot Lying = Greatest Adventure

An interesting study was done by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris on focus and what gets our attention. I wish I had seen this video before understanding how our vision and brain works together, but I think I’ll get just as much joy giving you the test as if I had taken it myself. In this video there are 6 players passing basketballs. 3 of the players are wearing black shirts and 3 are wearing white. Watch the video and as instructed count how many times the players in white shirts pass the basketball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo&t=39s If you’ve seen this videoContinue readingWhat you Aim at Determines what you see

This is a letter I wrote to a friend this week who feels at the end of their rope. Hopefully there is something in it that might resonate with your path as well: Dear friend, Over this past year I’ve watched as you have struggled with possibly the hardest of trials you have yet had to face in your life. Much like a scary movie where the main protagonist slowly becomes both physically and mentally weakened by the end of the horror, you’ve had to deal with a constant barrage of trouble wearing you down to what I think mustContinue readingWhat to do when monsters things chase you

Hi friend, When I was 21 years old I fell in love with a girl named Sara. I say girl because she was just 18 and I was barely 21. After only a month of knowing each other, we eloped causing a lot of heartbreak for my parents and surprise from pretty much everyone I knew. Oddly her friends and family weren’t surprised. I remember vividly the awkwardness that occurred when my friend Brett showed up with two girls at my house expecting to do a surprise double date, only to then meet my new bride. The marriage only lastedContinue readingLoving the thing you wish hadn’t happened

Hello Friend, This week I’ve been thinking a lot about my behavior. For the most part I believe that overall contentment and joy comes from our behavior, usually as a result of what we view as right or wrong and how closely we align our behavior with them. Additionally, long term growth and somewhat guaranteed happiness comes from our day-to-day behavior and changes to our behavior that will get us closest to what that long term objective is. It’s not too difficult to break down and usually starts with looking at our lives. For me its a close look atContinue readingYour life will only change when your behavior does

For the first time in my life I’ve been feeling longer periods of anger and bitterness. I’m a pretty easy person to get along with and generally I don’t harbor grudges even against the most dishonest and abusive of people. So why the change? Well I’m not sure. I’ve always had throughout my life, people that come into it that are used to sucking the resource and joy out of others. You have probably met some of these yourself. They show up in the guise of friendly neighbors or acquaintances and are generally polite, but then slowly begin to askContinue readingHow do I forgive neighbors who attack me constantly

I can’t take credit for this quote and I’m guessing there is a strong chance you’ve heard it before. It’s quite a lovely thought and one that I believe very much to be true. If you reverse the quote and dissect the meaning, the initial thought centers around the word “how”. How for me is usually accompanied by difficult choices or circumstances that either I have or want to overcome. As I get older the haves or wants change but the question of how remains the same. Based on where I was in life here are a few of the things that I wantedContinue readingHe who has a why, can bear almost any how

I’ve always been overly conscious of becoming too comfortable day to day. We all know that growth and happiness don’t come from comfort and entertainment, but trials, pains and discomfort. Social Media, news and the like trigger our emotions in a way that keeps us returning over and over again for drink that never quenches our thirst. Deep down we all desire to be better, have a clearer mind, like ourselves a bit more and to be liked/loved by others. We often don’t get the dopamine hit we need from the purest sources such as family and friends, so weContinue readingHard Truths to Ask Yourself

I came across a term recently that has made me think deeply about how I see others, particularly those with whom I don’t usually agree. If we think about it, we often perceive our own worldview as the correct one. We rarely question our beliefs or ideas about right, wrong, morality, hedonism, etc. I’ve considered those who disagree with me on fundamental issues like truth, morals, religion, politics, and the like, prompted by one simple question: What if I’m the one who is wrong? Looking deeply at this question, the result can be somewhat terrifying, can’t it? What if theContinue readingThe Perils of Fundamental Attribution

I’ve had a rough few months. I don’t just mean the day-to-day stressors and inconveniences of life, but actual “I want to quit” kind of rough. Lots of things in my life broke down, including finances, family relationships, long-time friends, and my own sense of self-worth. If you are a human reading this (I have a few aliens on my list), you can probably relate to moments or even long-term disasters or a dearth of happiness. This isn’t the first time in my life I’ve struggled, but it is the first time I’ve had a desire to observe myself throughoutContinue readingJerk Lobsters and Drinking Poison

Happy Saturday :), It’s 2:20 AM. I’m camping in the Mataqua mountains, and I can’t sleep. I’m going to start the longest run I’ve ever attempted in 10 minutes, and frankly, I have a mix of excitement and worry that I’m not strong enough to finish it. I’ve always wanted to run my age but have never gotten around to it until now. I’m turning 40, and now seems like a better time than any to attempt a straight run until my watch matches my age. After some stretching, I take off, and gratefully it’s a full moon. I’m ableContinue readingRunning 40 Miles on Broken Feet

Hello my friend! I bet you’ve heard: “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no”.  I first heard this 10 years ago from Tim Ferris. The idea is that when you’re investigating a path forward in life/business etc. approach the decision being made based on your feeling of “hell yeah” or “hell no”. It’s not a bad idea right? Who wants to pursue something they aren’t very passionate about. Or even worse something they only are doing for financial gain vs. enjoyment. Here’s the other side of the coin though. Everything worthwhile is usually not a massive “HellContinue readingIt’s Never a HELL YEAH

Hey there! Often I hear “It’s been a bad day” Rubbish. Just kidding I know there can be valid bad days but I rarely have them. Why? I’m a big believer in having daily habits that enhance vs. detract from life. More often than not we kind of just let life happen and habits form on a whim. No decisions made or planning just waking up and realizing coffee every morning is a thing and not sure when it even started. I’m not saying coffee every morning is a bad habit but I bet it’s a habit that wasn’t approachedContinue reading9 Things that Force a Good Day Every Day

I had to drive north today to drop my daughter off at the family reunion a few days before I can join everyone. As long car trips go there were a lot of stops for gas and bathroom breaks. During a particular long stretch there was a pretty long time before we could get to another bathroom. Both of us had to pee but it was one of those “I can hold it until the next exits” kind of urges. Finally we reached the exit where a familiar gas station was.  You ever notice how when you get closer toContinue readingHolding your Pee and Neural Pathways

I’ve worked for myself since I was 16 years old. I wish I could say I was some kind of genius or child prodigy, but the truth is, I couldn’t afford car insurance and gas just to get to my job at a grocery store in Kingman, Arizona. While still working 8 hours a day pushing carts, I started a business painting windows for Christmas, which grew into cleaning windows once per month for multiple businesses. A lot has changed from 16 to 40 years old, but one mainstay of my wealth and happiness has been a simple principle IContinue readingStaying present contributed most to my net worth and happiness

When I turned 16, I took two jobs. One was at a local grocery store from around 7 am to 3 pm, and the other was at Taco Bell from 4 pm until closing.   I was able to work these long hours since I was homeschooled, and as long as I kept up, my parents weren’t concerned about my long working hours.   However, my body didn’t like the lack of sleep or the long work hours, and after three months, I promptly had a massive breakdown. Initially, I quit my job at Taco Bell, but I knew workingContinue readingI made $6,000 Per Month as a 16 Year Old

I had a thought today while driving. What if 1 piece of gravel was worth $1,000,000. All you had to do was find in a pile of rocks? I’m sure the first question you have is how many rocks are already in the pile. Well I’ll respond with another question: Does is Matter? I’ve started a lot of businesses. Window Cleaning, Coupon Magazines, App and Web, Accounting, Janitorial, Products, Digital Products… I could go on for a while. I’ve had 2 out of a lot of business make me good money. Only two. The rest either failed miserably or brokeContinue readingWhat if I Paid you $1,000,000 for a Piece of Gravel?

In late September of 2019 I found myself knee deep in snow at the summit of one of the tallest mountains in Lake Tahoe. It was the world championships for the death race (now known as Spartan) and here I was running towards a glacial lake, ice broken inviting me to my death. OK maybe that’s a little exaggeration about my death but I found out later that over 70% of the 2,000 qualified racers had to be medically pulled from the race from hypothermia. The race was a total of 17 miles with 10,000 feet of elevation gain. AdditionallyContinue readingThe Time I Lost Some Toes to Frostbite