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Tag: #success

How Lies Become True

You have to fool yourself to get your ass off the couch and after your goals– because up till now, you know you haven’t done shit and you know you’re guessing each step of the way here (hopefully you’ve at least got a step to take).

But lies don’t have to stay lies.

The other day, I “acted as if” with a dentist appointment.

I figured I better go to this cleaning because a successful business owner may not have time in the future– when I went, I ended up running into the very same people I’d like to work with… in the lobby.

And that turned into potential client work.

Just like that.

I accidentally thought like the person I want to be, acted like that, and life played out that scenario.

I’m not saying lie your way to success, I’m saying CHOOSE to believe you can make it.

Belief is the separator, and it’s the only qualification that every person and every goal share– you have to CHOOSE to believe.

Will you?

–FOOL

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Architect From Your Archetype: How to correctly* make something of yourself

Spend your life thinking you’re “the star” and you’ll be blind to all the opportunities outside of dark space.

How you see yourself is important, and I don’t just mean your self belief or whether or not you think something is possible… those are meh (kinda important but goals can be realized with or without them).

There’s this universal bucket overseeing all of our lives, because from this bucket, we get our “self.”

Quick side note– you’ll notice you pretty much always meet the same people, yeah, they’re not exactly the same…. but it’s eerily close.

YOU also hail from this bucket, like the rest of us.

And before you exited and entered the game of existing on earth, it was decided which archetype you are and will play as.

BUT we stay imaginative— and that’s WRONG for life success.

Not everyone is a movie star, detective, doctor, writer, lawyer, whatever…. not everyone is everything.

That’s not because of lack of talent or determination as most falsely explain.

You CAN’T be anything because you didn’t decide the thing you are in the first place.

That sounds anti free will but it isn’t.

You didn’t choose your brain, you didn’t choose your genetics— so why instead of paying attention to what you got, you sit there and try to come up with random goals to achieve for your life?

There’s the reason for most people failing, they pick goals and pursuits created for different characters than their own.

I saw success when I saw myself.

Magicians work in marketing, kings own businesses (not always the glamorous kinds either), rebels create.

You ARE a something, LET GO of what you think it is you want and instead, take a look at what your archetype is.

It’s not always the one you want, but you’ll be fulfilled living it out.

What are you reading? What are you saying to others? Where do you invest your time?

Don’t fall for how it looks either, had you asked most of my coworkers they would have typed me as the star…. but theres a reason success for me comes from behind the scenes and not on them.

Before you make your plans, pay attention.

When you see yourself, next steps become visible.

–FOOL

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Play your Ego but Feed your Mind

Wanna hear some fake spiritual shit? Ego is the enemy.

No, I’m not going after that author or referencing his work. I’m going after the faker-fraud enlightened course sellers who tell you your ego needs dying.

You ever ask yourself why you have one in the first place? You need an ego, it’s what makes you an individual— duh, dummy.

Ego isn’t the enemy, UNCHECKED ego is.

Most of us are fulfilled when we’re in our ego, but in a healthy state, not maniacal. Without it, you’re depressed, withdrawn, melancholy suffering artist vibes– if you read self help blogs regularly you know what I’m talking about.

Where we fly off the handle and into Ye West territory is when we stop feeding the mind or soul.

You ARE your mind, but you play as your ego.

And it’s supposed to be EXACTLY that.

That’s the life fulfillment combination key.

Example: your interests, things you don’t present that only those really close to you know about you, that all comes from mind. To become who you are and uncover your path in life, you need to explore your own mind.

Be curious, let yourself be led by it.

Explore yourself.

Ego comes into play AFTER, by using the mind, using what’s been fed.

I study human behavior, but if I just sat down behind the scenes and all I did was study, I’d be depressed and pathetic. My ego likes attention, it likes being bold, loud, center stage. Rather than call that bad– because some idiot charlatan told me so, I take everything my mind is and present it through my ego.

I step on stage, I throw myself out there— but I support the character I play with the information I choose to feed it.

Your task is the same.

Answer this: When am I most alive?

That’s ego.

What are my interests?

That’s mind.

Combine the two, and you have YOUR life. A fulfilling one.

–FOOL

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If you have nothing, you have it all

Don’t take the title literally.

But if you’re at the crossroads of “what do I do?” and “I have no idea where to go from here” you’re actually in a great spot.

We forget the power of being lost.

Because I was lost, I was found #cornystupiddumbbars

Point is there has to be some silence in your life, there has to be a period where you’re open– and you follow the experiences that present themselves to you.

If you always know where to go and what to do, you’ll never have this time to figure yourself out, and it’s during this time you end up finding the missing pieces you need to live a fulfilling life.

It’s not what you want to be the answer– but it is the answer.

Prefer a compass?

Follow your curiosities but do so with a different attitude, instead of WANTING desperately to find direction, embrace the search.

Allow yourself to be open.

Return to experimenting. Give yourself 6 months or a year, and during that time your only objective should be to try something new every weekend.

It’s when you let go of needing to know, that you will.

–FOOL

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Making Moves > Movies (2023 is a different kind of film)

A lot of you hate to say goodbye but dream about doing it because you know change is long overdue.

Well I’m welcoming my 2023 by clearing out everything NOT aligned with what I NEED (not want, not wish for, not hope for, BUT NEED).

That difference is important.

Want to make your goals so easy they solve themselves? Throw them in the background of LARGER goals.

Take for example, mine.

Directing was too big for me as a goal, couldn’t tell ya why but starting somewhere anywhere was getting me nowhere….. but when my goal became living a full life– directing just happened as a result, and my life got rich fast.

“That’s not a goal” some of you might say and to that I’d reply: WELL it worked.

The only thing that’s important is you do something that gets you to where you think you want to go, the goal is to finally… after all this time, get MOVING.

Make it a priority.

Decide.

It really is that simple.

And yes, you’re allowed to have doubts, question yourself, and be grossly terrified. But don’t let that get in the way of doing what you need to do.

We move on.

Let’s 2023 this shit and make it a movie.

–FOOL

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Novelty + Intensity = A Fuller Life

Before my trip to the deceptively cold and not-as-boring-as-you’d-guess midwest, I was contemplating backing out last minute– at the airport.

I wanted to ditch the flight and take up my friends alternative offer– which was to drive to Cali in a Tesla Plaid.

But I gave someone my word, so I knew I had to go.

This post isn’t about keeping your social contracts– it’s about TIME.

My trip only lasted 4 days but felt like 4 months. I squeezed more life from that extended weekend than I did for the last six months, but why?

IT was new.

It took me out of my routine and each day was basically an entirely new life in a new land.

This is what most of us are missing.

Novelty.

Turns out, we experience time SLOWER when we have new experiences and when those new experiences are paired with being some place new– an unfamiliar environment, your brain becomes intensely focused.

You’re so engaged in the moment you can’t daydream the hours away.

Which means you’re literally LIVING more by each minute.

We don’t need fancy trips to do this— we just need to say yes to new shit. Do something different on the weekends, take a course, take a short trip, a hike, doesn’t matter.

BUT STOP repeating the same old crap.

Think of newness as fullness, because it is. I can’t tell you what your calling is, but this will help you on your way to living a fulfilling life.

–FOOL

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It was worth more than dreams…

Don’t save yourself.

That’d be the only advice I’d give to my younger self, and any person waiting to figure it out.

We’re all born to certain obsessions and for the longest time, I genuinely believed mine were true. I believed I was meant for such a specific destiny that I’d not get involved with others, group activities, or any kind of hobby that didn’t light up my spirit.

That lasted as long as it could, until I couldn’t continue that way.

Robbed of life, I gave it up and started from the ground level– took a seemingly ordinary job as a writer for a marketing company.

What followed?

More life in 2 years than my entire leading into it.

You don’t fulfill your calling, purpose, or passion by searching for it. There is no search, searching is just a dressed up word to justify wasting time— like the loading screen before your video game starts.

It’s so corny, but you need to just move.

Take random jobs, leave them.

Go to parties, try shit, say yes– then figure it out.

Your life naturally works itself out through motion, not through contemplation of motion.

What’s it all mean?

There isn’t anything for you to do or think about or decide.

Your only task is to keep moving.

–FOOL

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Why Everything comes down to Knowing Yourself

There was a point during all this where I fell into the self improving, habit/mindset, live by a specific set of rules journey.

And I’m glad I did, because now I know how bullshit all of it is.

Those gurus are dead inside and they’re teaching you how to be at peace with death, extreme? Probably.

You’re born as a thing.

You didn’t design your character or the traits and quirks they come with.

You’re just born and slowly wake up to it.

But instead of being curious about making the most of this character, people repress that individuality and then wonder, “what’d be a good career path?”

When I got to know myself—most of my dreams died. They weren’t based on who I am, so I let them go.

You don’t start with career– you start with character, then move forward.

Character determines destiny.

Are you the solitary type? Creative?

I look at life like a high school clique, you’re just looking for yours. Some belong with the tech nerds, others with the jocks, then the hustler entrepreneur types. We’ve all got one.

So stop looking for books that tell you which clique you belong to.

Stop looking for what you want, none of that matters.

Be curious about your character, embrace all of it, even what you hide. Then all else will appear.

–FOOL

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Searching for Something that doesn’t Exist?

If you read this entire site in reverse, you can trace back to my brand of suffering— passion.

I used to obsess over the idea of what my life should be, rather than just living it. But without trying, just by letting it go and embracing the present, I created that life.

And then the obsession disappeared.

I cured my suffering.

You’re not really looking for anything, you just know you’re missing out, not living fully, not engaged. That’s why you start reading self improvement books and listen to podcasts about getting better– you’re looking for a new start.

You’re gonna hate the answer, but it’s in front of you.

You have to make the most of what’s in front of you.

And the way to do that is to let go your ideas of what should happen next. You don’t know, forcing decision isn’t going to help you know any more.

The irony of the search is you don’t find seeking, you find living.

Like when you give up looking for that one household item and it suddenly “turns up” in plain site.

Must be the same universal law, point is, if you want a better life– SUBMIT to the life you have. EMBRACING this is the way forward.

–FOOL

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Right Place, Wrong Timing

It’s funny, I wanted everything I’m doing right now.

I wanted it so bad, and now I’ve got it– I’m doing it for a living, I was right about this being for me. But if I knew this was it, if I knew I was right back then, I’d never have made it here.

There must be millions of reasons we’re not meant to know our futures, but one of the more convincing ones is we’d mess it all up if it was entirely in our hands.

I got here not by wanting this and not by moving towards it, but by letting it go.

For every time I tried to force an outcome, I moved away from it.

I never made anything happen.

If I’m retracing steps, I got here by letting go of everything outside of my control and focusing on the small immediate things I could do (like daily writing).

That’s my advice to you.

Maybe you have an idea of what you want, maybe you haven’t a clue– both require the same next steps.

Let go of what you think you know, and do the one thing you can do on your own and where you are.

That simple and small action is the shovel that will allow you to tunnel vision your way to fortune.

–FOOL

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Negative inner voice? Take no prisoners (The Death Ground Strategy)

Part 1:

Determine what the hell you want

You need to pick something and it can be vague, but you need to point to an end goal and it needs to be within your field of vision because if you can see it, you can move towards it.

When it comes to all the progress and success I’ve made, one thing led to everything and that is the Death Ground approach.

This strategy forces us to change, to adapt, to swim.

It was only when I threw myself in chaos that my mind woke up to reality, I could see clearly and knew what I needed to do.

And you know what?

I’m overdue for another.

The reason you’re stuck is because you’re good.

You have it okay.

You don’t feel anything close to the vest– and so you wonder.

If you want to snap back to life, force change.

Throw yourself unto unfamiliar grounds and wake up the dull parts of your mind. You’re not lost, you’re modern. You need a little bit of that lizard brain energy, you need to hunt, to fight, to embrace it all.

I’m not talking about the bullshit self improvement crap.

GO SOMEWHERE different, change.

–FOOL

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Painment Plan, now or later?

Most of us don’t want change.

We say we do, we dream about it, but the reason most people are in the same spot day in and day out– year after year, is because they’re ultimately okay with their circumstances.

The scariest thing about staying where you are is that time will catch up with you. If you’re not building something, developing yourself, chipping away at some goal you’ve set, time will catch you off-guard— and when it does, it’ll be a lump sum painment due at once.

Your development is up to you.

You have to take it in your own hands.

When I started this role at my current company, I was learning nonstop– and I don’t mean bullshit products and services.

I was developing skills– and the fulfillment was there as a result.

But now, it’s just about maneuvering a bullshit political landscape.

Even worse, they don’t care about the work, they just want what they want.

Most will adapt to the company’s needs, I adapt to my own.

The danger with staying in a place like this is you get worse as time goes on. You’re not moving towards anything, if at all, so each passing week, each new year, each day— is on groundhog time.

Your life is just a repeat of the day before.

You have to make time work to your advantage, and the only way to do that is to pick something to do– an activity, a project, whatever, and start chipping away at that.

Momentum is everything, don’t lose it waiting to be saved.

–FOOL

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How is every housewife not Depressed?

When I’m chatting with strangers they assume I’m some enlightened writer who’s figured out the game and how to win it.

They think I don’t slip, but if they’d only see me with my own family they would quickly learn that when I do get low, I hit so much lower than they ever could.

I don’t love that about me, but I don’t hate it either.

Take a long trip away from what you know, away from all the people you’re the lowest around, and the only thing you’ll be met with is who you actually are.

That’s why I never liked being around family for too long– it isn’t them, it’s what they bring out of me, which is my past.

We all have our own calls to evolution.

Who we need to become in order to succeed.

If you’re pissed off inside the home, you need to leave it. If you find yourself in a mood more often than not, “that mood” isn’t a bad thing. It’s your values speaking from within you, signaling the need for change.

Most people instead try to rationalize that feeling– they think, “I should learn to be happy, or be better around my family” which is stupid AF.

You didn’t choose your values, you didn’t choose your mind or personality, you were BORN to them.

Your soul speaks to you daily, it calls for you to take specific action.

And if the signal tells you disappearing is good for you, then make like a magician.

This doesn’t mean you should be an asshole (that’s the part I’m still working on), but it does mean negotiating isn’t a solution.

Pay attention to where you thrive, and GO THERE.

STOP thinking, rationalizing, and making it deeper than it is.

The CALL is for those who hear it, pick up the phone.

–FOOL

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Use Travel to Feel Your Touch of Death (a better-than-your-affirmations way to live)

Hey Fool.

I’m about to hop on a plane and take a trip— so I’ll kick this off with two things. For starters, don’t expect any new posts until next week and also, I got the reminder.

I remember reading about this phenomena years back– probably not the right word, but this thing the brain does, and I was reminded of it yesterday as I started packing and getting ready for take off.

Why is it when we’re leaving, when we’re short on time, when we’re taking a trip, we see our people in the best possible light?

I almost ALWAYS have the best conversations, the best laughs, and feel the most connected to everyone in my life right before I’m leaving for a longer period of time.

They say it’s because it’s only when we’re about to leave, we’re reminded of the fact that we may never see each other again— we’re reminded of our own and their own mortality.

It takes no awareness to wake up and act like a little bitch. It takes nothing to rise, act rude, be stressed, and treat everyone like they’re part of the background.

Being absent from your life is the default.

But to remember the truth and act from that vantage– is extremely difficult and takes a lot of upfront willpower.

And the truth that we should all keep top of mind is our “touch of death.”

We’re on a trip and I know it sounds cheesy and motivational speaker-y, but it’s quite literally the most important factor to consider when you’re making decisions.

You don’t need a physical trip to remember this.

You just need to embrace the fact that this is all temporary, not life, not the journey, fuck all that— The character you play as and the life they live is borrowed opportunity.

You have ZERO clue as to where this goes, when it ends, and how it plays out.

I’m not suggesting you walk around looking for adventure or make speeches about the importance of positivity.

All I’m saying is chill, be present, act as if you knew the ending was near and you wanted to squeeze the moments out of every interaction.

Imagine the life you’d live if you lived like this.

Chat soon,

—another FOOL

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No one Learns about Dinosaurs From Museums, they Watch Jurassic Park

You’re in the movie, but the movie isn’t playing anywhere?

Ahhh the games of the universe—sometimes it seems like there are limitless ways to humble even the brightest of stars.

But I wanna talk about the struggle behind being authentic, and what’s awaiting you on your journey.

Authenticity is great– and even as important as it is, it’s still underrated. When you know yourself and do right by yourself, making life decisions that honor your values becomes easy.

Being authentic will make you feel good inside, the kinda good that combats low self-esteem, depression, and keeps you away from self-destructive hobbies.

No one is questioning the need for authenticity…… the question I’m bringing up is:

Can you be TOO authentic TOO soon?

I want to be clear with saying this– you should always be you, on the inside.

That’s the real opportunity of life, you have a chance to project yourself materially, and make something that comes from your own uniqueness.

Stop and think about how crazy that is–we actually have that ability AND most will never use it.

Back to authenticity, there is a danger to taking it too far.

The way life is setup, we’re rewarded for engagement and participation. We’re awarded for playing games.

You can’t decide not to play anymore, not while still depending on the game (working a full-time job, having a family, living in suburbia).

Here’s the truth of it— here’s the truth of it all.

KEEP your colorful self for your best of friends, but for the game, only show shades of it.

To have a fulfilling life, theres a level of alchemy you have to perform on yourself. BEYOND just being who you are– you have to be the best of it.

How do you do that?

At first, you pretend.

You invent a version of yourself who wins where you want to win, but can’t.

We imagine people will naturally respect realness, but where do you think the term “martyr” came from? No one actually wants to be Jesus, they just found themselves on a cross (road) when they kept being honest.

People like fantasy.

If you remove that with everyone you interact with, they end up disliking you. Even worse, they’ll just find you repulsive, annoying, and rigid and you won’t get anywhere….. or anything.

You need to be authentic with yourself, but stop showing everyone everything. I like learning about dinosaurs in movies, but from a museum— you find out that thing died because its arms killed it long before the meteors.

–FOOL

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Stop Guarding Your Princess

My fairy tale knowledge is limited, so much so that I can’t even name a popular movie scene and pull it off successfully— not without the aid of google, but anyway–

You’ll get the gist.

Ever see those cartoons where there’s a princess being guarded in some tower?

She lives inside and is awaiting a hero to come and free her.

You know the one?

Well, in real life, you’re the princess–blondie.

This is the part of you that wants to escape the tower and experience the world.

But you have one major obstacle:

Overcoming your guards.

They are the repetitive decisions we make that keep us safe. They are why most of us stay exactly where we are and never move onto bigger and better things.

I’ll use myself as an example because I’m already martyring– I have a trip coming up in a few days. At first, I looked forward to it, was excited by it, the newness thrilled me. I’ve never been to this place, and even though it’s a “work” trip, the work itself is fun.

As this trip date approaches, so too do my guards— and they have royal decrees in hand, persuading me not to leave because “something-something” may occur.

Not very convincing but I do listen to their counsel, mostly.

Problem is if you want that life of adventure, the one you daydream about when you stare outside your castle window, you have to stop listening to that inner voice… even if it’s right…. even if what it’s saying makes logical sense.

Because that same negative voice that wants to keep you safe is once again holding you back– feeding you lies about what could happen or maybe it’s true, maybe those things are likely to happen. But it doesn’t matter.

The change you want can only come from momentum.

IF you keep saying NO to every rider, you’ll wait for a thousand and one knights.

You don’t have to feel like it. You don’t have to like it. You don’t even have to be convinced.

You just have to step outside—that’s your only job. Leave the castle walls and move forward with whatever is out there.

Escape your guards and embrace your life.

–FOOL

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Long term planning with a random Grandpa’s selfie

Most of us suck at making long-term decisions in the short.

We’re emotional, on top of that, we wrongly estimate (in every direction) how things will play out and then act on that guesstimate.

People don’t reach their goals because they never actually move towards them.

I was never a fan of the 10 year plan concept– it’s too long and things change constantly. But there has to be something you use to keep you grounded and untempted by passing opportunities.

For me, that’s imagining my old self.

Take one of those photos that age you past your prime and stare at it– you’ll start thinking different.

I realized I act, day to day, like I won’t live very long.

Which would be fine if true, but if it turns out I healthily reach the end…. well, won’t be as prepared.

My plans have only ever been short term and poorly pieced together.

If I start looking at the bigger picture, the longer (for life) timeline, suddenly the things I’m worried about and having a hard time deciding, become resolved instantly.

When you’re making important decisions, you need to think long.

Take career planning for example.

The next 3 years have a different focus than the next 6, and looking at the latter– I’m thinking about experience and skill rather than pleasure and excitement.

Time changes what we focus on.

We need to consider time.

Plan with wisdom, live with play.

–FOOL

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De-pair from your Despair (Suffering from your self absorption)

There is no difference between thinking about yourself and suffering–

The more we focus on ourselves, the more miserable we become.

I think we all know this on an intuitive level, that’s why people with kids are a different kind of happier.

The answer isn’t to go deeper inside, it’s to get outside of yourself.

You need to find something to commit to, where you can engage with that thing ego-less-ly. It sucks to just have you— to just be what you are, it sucks.

If you don’t have something to serve, to bring value to, something that is bigger than you or takes priority in your life– you don’t fully live.

I don’t think we’re made to exist prioritizing the options we have today.

I could be wrong, but every person who is playing the game single-player sounds DEPRESSING… at least, to me they do.

People think they crave friendships, when they really need community (join a club, start a hobby, pick a skill, choose something and let yourself obsess over it– if its healthy).

Life can be rich and filled with unimaginable experiences, but it only opens up to those who are worthy.

You have to show up with open arms for doors to open.

Drop off what you think you know, and start fresh.

–FOOL

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Applying Faith

If we had to generalize the landscape of a persons mind– I’d organize it into two buckets: Most of us either have a prison or a palace for our mental.

Everyone experiences whatever they’ve got, and they’re so used to it, they never stop and “think” is this working for me?

We’re victims of thinking, at least we start out that way.

Applied Faith is choosing to keep a mental attitude clear of fear and doubt, and directed and focused to the attainment of your desires.

It takes practice, but choosing to practice is the key here.

One of my favorite quotes is that corny we suffer in imagination more than reality, probably butchered that just now, but wanna stay on topic.

Yesterday, on some casual shit, I realized faith is missing in my own life.

In JUST two years, I pretty much changed my entire existence.

I became who I am, grew as an individual, experienced life more than I ever have, had my hands in various creative projects, and AM still going up.

BUT my autopilot-ed thoughts tell a different story— the “you still don’t have those childhood dreams so you’re a loser” tale.

Look back at the shittiest moments of your life and you’ll notice something– sure, the circumstances were probably shit, but you made them so much worse by being negative and fearful of the world.

Your resistance fueled the failure.

We could all use more faith.

Moving forward—

I’m going to assume the best, not on some idiotic-never-prepared-bullshit, but I’m going to choose to focus my attention on things I want and experiences I’d like to create.

I’m choosing to have and to practice faith.

Will you try it with me?

–FOOL

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Swiss Your Plans To Swiftly Reach Them

Theres an emotional alchemy to pursuing any new life direction.

I don’t mean actual magic, but the truth is– you’ll have to perform small tricks on yourself to get started.

Goals are emotional, despite how rational your approach might be, most of us create a goal from having a “desire” to achieve it.

The challenge comes when the emotion, either runs dry, goes darth vader (you start getting angry at your not having it), or changes entirely– being no longer interested.

Latter part is my problem.

I pivot fast.

See, launching and sticking to a new habit is easy for me— so long as I’m interested. But, that never lasts and with the exit of passion, leaves the pursuit, basically I throw it all away and start back at zero as soon as I lose my captivation.

Most may think thats not your true passion– but I say that’s irrelevant.

If you want to start getting ahead, you should have Switzerland Plans. Your goals should be built on NEUTRAL ground. No b.s. passion, no over the top purpose, just practical goals– you can and want to achieve.

We’re talking bare minimum.

Each time I shoot for the stars, I end up living in the clouds.

When I’m practical, I don’t just see results, I GET THEM.

–FOOL

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