Category: Uncategorized

Read enough stories about successful individuals and one thing becomes incredibly obvious: There’s no freakin’ pattern.

All these people are wildly different, and not only is success measured differently in their respective fields but the actions they took to reach their goals isn’t anything repeatable.

They are a one time phenomenon of luck, opportunity, and individuality.

So the question then becomes: Who succeeds? What is it that determines if someone will reach what they set out for?

There’s a lot that goes into it, more than I care to cover but the one thing that stands out as the ultimate pre-requisite for any level of success is authenticity.

I don’t mean you telling everyone what the hell you think and why it matters… it doesn’t. What we’re talking about here is knowing what you are, and choosing goals from within to match– we’re talking about being under-influenced from the outside world.

The more you follow these gurus, entrepreneurs, and digital poser teachers, the further you move away from your own path.

It’s near impossible to not stray today.

We’re constantly being distracted and our minds are being fought for. They want to tell you what to believe, what to pursue, what’s right or wrong and why you need to care.

All useless garbage.

For you to “succeed” in any meaningful way, you’ve got to be an individual and the only way to do that is explore yourself– and ruthlessly guard your own independence.

You might have dreamed up a career in movie directing– put that idea, and every other idea under scrutiny. Are you built for that?

What’s your nature like? If you’re impatient, fast, far more focused on production and scheduling rather than quality, perhaps a different role would better suit you.

I’m not telling you to quit on your dreams, just to make sure they’re truly yours.

You’d be surprised how much of your truth isn’t.

From everything I’ve learned so far, I’ve come to realize one thing. No matter what it is you want, you’ll only succeed if you can truly stand alone and be yourself.

Don’t sacrifice your own godhood to worship another’s. We’re equal in this, each with a unique path to uncover.

#OnlyFools

It’s hard to not look over.

We’re designed to measure ourselves in comparison, being social animals– and social media thrives on this little quirk in human nature.

It’s also the key ingredient to drive yourself f**king miserable.

You’re on your journey, but then you see success everywhere around you and instantly feel like a failure in contrast.

They’ve got the house, the cars, the internet following, and they’re seemingly tougher and more capable… how wouldn’t that arouse envy?

The irony is, the more you look at them and get distracted– the farther away you move from your own success.

Your life is single player.

We’re supposed to discover ourselves, but we’ve become so impatient we want a book to tell us how to do it, and fast.

During moments of weakness, when we’re exhausted and running low on hope, we imagine a great re-set. We instantly become drawn to the idea of quitting and doing something entirely new…

…a huge mistake.

If you’re going to move on, you need to take what you’ve already got (skills you’ve developed) and stack them/ combine them with something new.

What if, instead of asking: what should I do next? The question became: Where can I take these skills to further develop myself?

Every time we quit and join an entirely new industry, we start over. That in and of itself is a bad idea, because the truth is we don’t have all that much time.

You’re more likely to create what you’re looking for by skill-stacking, then starting over.

Right now, I’m a copywriter. Rather than pivoting from writing copy to something unrelated, I’d take my current skill and add another skill while still developing this one, and that skill would also be something I’m inclined for.

Success and fulfillment come from progress, and progress is skill-stacking and building.

Rather than starting over, just move forward.

#FoolForward

Speaking your goals into existence may or may not be a thing, but we are definitely social creatures– and social contracts hold us accountable.

That said, here’s what I’m doing.

Since goal-setting always leaves a nasty aftertaste in my mouth, I’m going with the Scott Adams Systems over Goals method.

I’m not putting off living until I reach some end, that’s Uber-Dumb. If we can’t enjoy the journey itself it’s all pointless anyway, and I haven’t been enjoying the journey thus far on my way to imaginary achievement.

What would make this journey enjoyable? Create that, and forget the end.

For me, it’s adding challenges and competition while working with individuals I admire, who are intelligent and capable. It’s progressing– that’s a value I need to live out for me to be fulfilled.

Your environment needs to suit you.

I can’t pretend away the fact that I’m highly competitive, ambitious, selfish and hard-headed. Being in soft atmospheres will never work… that and if you’re not using your natural skills each day, you’ll end up feeling disconnected from who you are.

In the end, we’re not looking for goals…

…we’re looking for ourselves.

It’s all right in front of you. There is no place you need to go, you just need to start changing your environment little by little, and eventually it’ll reflect you– and you’ll find yourself far more fulfilled.

Adding Muay Thai to my daily routine has greatly improved by quality of life– I’m naturally restless, energetic, and aggressive, so having this outlet has been near spiritual as far as meaningful connections go.

With that one added activity, other areas in my life are now under scrutiny.

I no longer care to find some calling, purposeful destiny, or whatever. I’m going to build my environment to suit my nature– and with that, I’ll have the exact life that I find fulfilling.

There’s nothing for you to find, all you need to do is start where you are.

Build a system… do so right here.

It’s all right in front of you.

#FoolAround

Good ol’ ambition.

The thing that makes the world go round- only better, more efficiently, and while innovating every step of the way.

I’ve always had a conflicting relationship with goals. On the one hand, I can’t be me without ambition (that’s not healthy? I don’t care). But on the other, I don’t want to constantly be in a dissatisfied state of lack due to my constant awareness of not yet having what I’m chasing.

Finally, after coming across a successful individual’s system– I found a happy medium.

ONE DESIRE at a time.

It sounds simple, but we’re all too often swept up with momentum. Launch a blog, reach a 1000 subscribers and naturally the goal moves beyond you as soon as you reach the previous one.

We’re always running on a treadmill.

It’s not necessarily all bad, you just have to keep the right perspective. Which to me, is understanding you’re already doing everything you love.

You’re extremely LUCKY.

And as much as you want all the other things to come, they are extra.

We have to find ways to enjoy the daily journey, the side quests of our lives because life is comprised of mostly that. If you’re constantly retreating into your mind, fleeing the present– you’ll never be happy and fulfilled.

Not because life sucks, but because you suck at it.

We have to train ourselves to be in this moment, to embrace, to not want anything to be different.

Sure, we’re moving towards more… but at the same time we’re fully engaged here and now.

This post is especially for myself, because I used to live for tomorrow which is imaginary…….the irony.

Rather than suffering through imagination, engage with your life right now.

#FoolForward

Hey Fool.

This is by no means an original idea or concept, but in our constant-comparing world it’s helpful to keep in mind.

It’s All Eyes On Everyone.

That’d be a good title for our generation. We’re all watching each other, and without even being aware– destiny stealing.

The reason most won’t succeed isn’t not being capable, it’s not ever being themselves.

Authenticity is what creates success.

If we just focused on our own stories, on developing our own interests– without being influenced by others or “inspired” (copying everyone), we’d have a much quicker path to our own destinies…..

….and it’d be more fulfilling.

You come with natural inclinations/skills– and yet we LEAVE those behind to go do what some “successful person” told us to.

It’s beyond dumb, it’s desperate.

Fact is, you can’t succeed copying. Success requires pure authenticity– whether you’re an artist, entrepreneur, or whatever.

You’ll only ever make it going your way. Read enough biographies of successful people and that’s the only commonality you’ll find– they trusted and followed themselves.

There’s no other rules.

No gurus to follow.

Just follow yourself– stack your unique skills and leverage them.

#FoolSpeedAhead

It can be hard out here.

Some of you are battling insecurities, imposter syndrome, mental illnesses, spouses, internal conflicts, REAL problems…. but me?

Boredom.

Before you write this off as nothing (even though it is) understand our recurring battles are serious for each of us.

No matter what I do, I’m bored with it shortly after. I won’t say this applies to everything, because there are things that keep me generally engaged– such as muay thai……. and so far, just that.

I create a lot of problems trying to solve for boredom, but what I’ve learned is sometimes life is supposed to be boring.

The gardening phase, as my friend called it.

I hate plants.

Anyways, If you and I share the enemy of my enemy… whatever that bullshit quote is, if you struggle with boredom– you need to LEAN IN more.

I know, counterintuitive.

But you and I, we can’t keep chasing rainbows, otherwise we’ll always be broke looking for someone else’s pot of gold.

Why are we bored?

Because we’re smart motherf**kers. Well, I’d like to think so.

We’re bored because we’re not challenged, and we’re not challenged because we’re practicing mental infidelity.

Like when your buddy’s strict wife says its cheating to have thoughts of another woman. I’m always having thoughts of a more exciting life.

So the key here, inject fun into where you are now.

This is what I’m practicing.

No more running around– I’m here.

How can I make the most of this marriage, so to speak?

I’ll let you know.

#FoolForward

The more I engage with my life, the better I understand detachment.

I don’t mean not giving a shit about anything, being cold & distant, and identifying myself as an “observer” of the world… that’s lame, and a supreme waste of life.

I mean it doesn’t matter in the way you think it does, but you still need to care.

We dropped into this world as what we are. Sure–we need better mindsets, we can constantly learn and grow, and we shouldn’t accept our weaknesses as something we’re stuck with.

But you didn’t design your character, not the thing that drives that meat suit of yours, not the consciousness that powers the human being.

Why TF does any of this matter?

If you can see what’s going on, you can play for real. You can finally stop losing.

While philosophers argue the meaning of life, and churches spread the word of God, and agnostics share their unasked for theories– it goes on with or without all of us.

Life goes on.

We’re careful about the wrong things– you don’t have much to lose. Back to that earlier point, we drop into this world as already somethings– well, we also share some habitual responses.

Fear of failure, shame, death, etc.

You’ve likely got a version of this.

But you’re looking at it wrong. Most people, they don’t see you. Even when they’re looking at you, they’re not thinking about you. But you have it in your head that they care– and before long, we now consider the tribe before we make a move…….

…..that’s stupid.

But it’s human.

A lot of what stops us from truly living is fear. Either of failure, shame, or whatever else. We think we’re not good enough, not because we’ve never done it– but because you don’t know yourself.

If you knew how capable you were, you’d sound annoyingly confident.

Self-awareness is important here, but life is too short to live embarrassed.

So, what’s the point of this entire rambling post? No one knows what they’re doing, we’re all faking it through life– SO PLAY DIFFERENT.

Make the most of who you are, by showing up as who you admire. Who cares if it feels weird or inauthentic, after a while– it becomes you.

The sum total of our lives is the little experiences.

Quit worrying about the stars and move different.

Move like someone you admire and respect and watch the game of life change around you.

#FoolON

You know, as cheap as it can be to want glory, fame, and fortune… it’s far too easy to talk yourself out of your dreams too.

How can you differentiate false desires from real?

Taste them.

When you try something that you are genetically wired for, you’ll feel more like yourself. You’ll feel connected to a deeper part of you– because in a way, by doing that thing you become more you.

Life feels soulless, passionless, empty without the things that ignite us. You didn’t choose these subjects, they’re inherited.

That right there is your answer? Feel empty? Lost? Then you have yet to interact with it.

I’ve spent years trying to rationalize why some things are best avoided, thinking they’d bring me ruin maybe a part of me was even afraid of what I might become.

Only to later get a taste, incidentally and years afterwards– then immediately I’m transported back to who I was, wanting the things I always have.

What you truly admire, is who you are.

You need to cultivate that, bring to the surface, embody it and LIVE IT!

The truth is, I can’t be me until I realize this life and it’s the same for you.

So, how do we start?

Get quiet.

AND write. Who is living your ideal life? What about that life appeals to you? What have you always been drawn to, since youth? What has been a constant desire?

Be real.

Make sure it isn’t a false desire, but something that you came up without uninfluenced by the world.

Start here.

Get Clear.

#FoolsGold

Hey Fool.

I don’t know what kind of childhood you had and whether or not you can look back on it fondly, but hopefully you’re familiar with make-believe.

Kids are fluid.

We all started with the superpower of not caring, smoothly playing through obstacles, taking nothing personal, and best of all– we’re flexible.

As we aged, we cockily assumed that we knew all we needed to about the human experience– which then results in stiffness.

And now we’re here.

Adulthood.

Most of us have no clue what we want, find ourselves unhappy, and we’re confused about why we’re so dissatisfied.

How did we even get to this point?

The patterns of my life make one thing obvious, when I let go I succeed and when I hold on–not only do I not get what I want, but with the added feature of being extremely MISERABLE.

So, try this with me.

For the next 6 months, let go of all your ideas. Forget what you think you want to do, careers you’re interested in, success, all of it. Forget and be open.

During this time your only goal is to play, show up, and embrace every experience fully. In this state, you will definitely restart your life for the better and hit upon a new path.

Track this experiment in your phone, checking off each day.

Record any findings– how people respond to you? How you feel? etc.

Try it, let’s play together.

#FoolsGold

It’s hard to believe it, but you’re really gone. A part of me thought you’d live forever, all those years of drug and alcohol abuse and not even a cold?

If there is a karma, you cheated her…. but why should she be different from the rest?

For all your flaws, I always admired how you handled pressure. Only you know the crazy shit you had going on in your life, but you never did break. If anything, that’s something I will take with me moving forward.

When I was young, and all I had for you was hate, unimaginable anger, detachment, people would tell me that one day I’d understand you.

I used to write those individuals off as idiots, what was there to understand?

You had issues, and you never overcame them. As angry as I was, even back then I knew, nothing was personal with you.

You didn’t do anything to anyone, you just existed the only way you knew how, and that indirectly happened to f**k everyone in your atmosphere.

Maybe it’s our culture, maybe it’s just how you and I were, but there was a similarity to us that made it impossible to ever get close. That was something I never wanted to admit, but something you’d see in me now.

I’m not going to lie and say I miss you.

But I want you to know, as brief as it was, I’m thankful you were in my life. Believe it or not, you helped shape me for the better.

I learned from our fights, from uncertainty, you helped bring out my bold, creative, and gutsy behavior.

You helped me learn to be alone, and to act accordingly.

And I did, and always do.

You lived like there was no tomorrow… finally you were right.

I’m not very traditional and I don’t know how much you know or don’t know about all that’s happened since we cut ties, but like you, I have my own strange belief system.

This is the closure that’s helped me and if there is an afterlife, maybe it’ll help you. Despite who you were, I will honor you by the way I live. I’m going to make the most of my life, continually build my character, and enrich the lives around me by becoming more than I am.

You had so much talent and potential, but you abused it. I’ll do the opposite.

We never were close, and death doesn’t change that. But I don’t have any hate in my heart, and I guess those people were right all those years ago– because while I don’t agree with you, I understand you.

I hope you found some kind of peace and if not, I hope it brings you peace knowing that I’ll never give into my own weakness, and that comes from you.

In the end, all we have is who we are.

Rest In Peace.