My Writing
When I first heard about this idea, I must admit I had a lot of resistance to it.
The little voice in my head instantly went to work compiling an exhaustive list of why I shouldn’t do it.
Do you really want other people to see this?
Are you really going to become that guy?
Everyone who uses your bathroom is going to think you are cheesy and lame.
I was minding my own business the other day when I had an interesting thought.
Nobody knows what I am going through.
Unless I explicitly tell them, the people I interact with on a daily basis have no clue how my internal landscape looks. They may be able to infer how I am feeling based on my actions, but they are usually too focused on their own lives to even notice.
It was another day in paradise and I was lucky enough to be spending it with my family. We were all surfing together and I was sitting in the lineup, drinking in the sunshine. Everything seemed perfect — great waves, great weather, and great company. And yet I was feeling completely miserable.
I went for a walk yesterday. It was a lovely walk. I needed a break from work after sitting through 5 hours straight of Zoom calls so I decided to wander through my neighborhood. After being plugged in for so much of the day, it felt great to disconnect.
I left my phone and headphones at home. I even took my shirt off as I strolled through the sunshine. As I inhaled deeply I felt a sensation slowly rising up inside of me.
It’s 5:00 AM when my alarm clock begins to do its thing. Like a little kid on Christmas morning, it lights up and begins radiating excitement in the form of noise. As I reach over groggily to put an end to the chaos, I feel as if I finally understand how my parents felt when I would jump on their bed and wake them up screaming “Merry Christmas!”
My dream is to become a world-class life coach and thought leader in the personal development space. I want to be contagiously happy, to positively impact the lives of millions of people, and to help others realize their full potential. This is my purpose, my passion, and my reason for being.
Today is January 22nd. It’s a beautiful Friday morning and it also happens to be my 26th birthday.
As I sat down this morning to journal, I noticed that I was filling out the very last page of my journal. This is a journal that I purchased when I was 23 and it was a beautiful coincidence that my very last entry happened to be on the morning of my 26th birthday.
Why is it so hard to see ourselves,
In the same light as we see others?
With love and understanding.
Instead of praise, we practice cutting ourselves down like trees.
And then it’s into the wood chipper we go;
Shredding ourselves to pieces.
Going through my old journal, the one I have been writing in since 2018, was a surprisingly profound experience. As I read through each page, I watched my younger self tackle each situation I have been through in the past three years. Each passage teleported me back into the exact moment that was unfolding, but this time I knew how everything would play out.
Writing is…
Who I call in the middle of the night to drive me home when I have had too much to think,
The dustpan and the broom that sweeps me off the floor when I am broken into a thousand pieces,
The glue that puts me back together,
The mop that cleans up aisle Gregory when I have spilled myself across the marketplace.
It’s been a long time since I have been deeply moved by a movie. Yet alone an animated movie. But I just finished watching Pixar’s newest film titled Soul and I am speechless. I’d say the movie is aptly named because the writing touched my soul and left me pondering the meaning of life.
There are certain quotes that I have stumbled across that set my soul on fire. These quotes are like a spell that when read aloud, ignite something deep within me. They speak directly to the part of me that remembers when I was a small child with big dreams. When everything was possible and the future was unlimited. Before anyone told me to be realistic or to stop daydreaming, reading certain quotes make me remember.
Looking back, I’m not sure where I went off the rails, but it’s safe to say that I was broken.
As a newly labeled entrepreneur, I was living in a world of faster, smarter, better, and stronger. Instead of gold stars, I had begun blindly striving for adjectives such as productive and efficient at all costs.
It didn’t matter that one of the reasons I had quit my job was to become happier, more mindful, and more in charge of my destiny. All I was focused on was output and optimization.
Some mornings, the weight of the upcoming day feels heavy. Before I even open my eyes, I can feel the list of everything that’s waiting for me. Each item is small and weighs just a single ounce. But as I lay in bed with my covers pulled up around my neck, I can feel these items banding together and climbing over each other — eager to apply their cumulative weight to my chest.
Do you remember when we were kids with small bodies and big dreams?
When our time spent outside had not yet been replaced with smartphone screens?
When we had aspirations and seemingly unlimited potential,
When our lives were not determined by our education credentials,
The candle next to me wavers as if it’s unsure if it should continue. A battle rages between crisp, white paper and the dark, black ink that is slowly gaining ground.
Two opposing forces. One, longing for peace and quiet; the other, striving for total domination. Blank space shrinks as ink decimates line after line, marring a previously untouched canvas. Letter after letter marches forward, blindly charging onto the page, like men going over the wall during WWI.
There’s nothing worse than spending time with that one acquaintance who is always complaining about everything. You know — the person who seems to only look for the negative aspects of their life. I’d wager that they are probably named Craig. I’d double down if they were named Kenneth.
This article is not about some clever lifehack to boost your productivity. Nor is it about a secret formula that will Completely Change Your Life in 5 Easy Steps!
Rather, it is about a dark and uncomfortable place that exists inside us all. A place that is so primitive and prehistoric, you must intentionally ignore all logic and reason in order to find it.
This article is about the first time that I stumbled into The Pain Cave. It was pitch black, I was on mile 10 of the Joshua Tree Half Marathon, and I was running uphill in 4–5 inches of deep sand.
It wasn’t until recently that I began to identify as an entrepreneur and an artist. If you would have asked me two months ago to write a list of character traits that described me, creativity and boldness would have been near the bottom. Actually, they probably wouldn’t have made it on the list.
When I graduated from college, I was ready to take over the world. I was motivated, driven, ambitious, and hungry. I wanted to do big things, have bigger conversations, and put a dent in the universe. I wanted to feel like I was making a difference.
It was a typical Thursday morning and I was wrapping up my morning routine. I had just completed my meditation and journaling practice, and I was feeling pretty great. I had no idea, however, that what I saw next would change my life forever.
I was halfway through a trip halfway around the world when I made the decision to stop drinking alcohol. It happened as I was sitting in the lobby of the Kaisu hostel in Tokyo, Japan, enjoying a rather strong brew of Matcha green tea.
The word “rich” has several definitions in the English language. Below are a few of many:
- Having abundant possessions and especially material wealth
- Magnificently impressive
- Meaningful or significant
I recently decided to go an entire day without speaking. As someone who has always wanted to go on a silent retreat, I figured I would try this do-it-myself experiment to give me a taste of what a real retreat would feel like. I also committed to simultaneously doing a digital detox, which meant no cell phone, internet, email, or technology.
Personal development begins with a desire to improve oneself and the willingness to take action to do so. Both ingredients are necessary inputs in the recipe for personal development, and one without the other can lead to adverse side effects.
We are born as a pile of raw materials without an instruction manual. We have no name, no identity, and no beliefs. In the beginning, we are an assortment of pieces waiting to be assembled.
Written from a beach in Chacala Mexico during a yoga retreat with my mom
- Don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never make it out alive.
- Say yes to activities that make your palms sweat.
It’s eight fifteen in the evening when I finally sit down for dinner. Steam erupts from the heap of rice and chicken that I accidentally left in the microwave for six and a half minutes.
It’s eight fifteen in the evening when I finally sit down for dinner. Steam erupts from the heap of rice and chicken that I accidentally left in the microwave for six and a half minutes.