My Riffs

It’s interesting to think back over the last decade.  Highs, lows and in betweens. Many lessons learned.  Friends found and lost.  I generally stay away from spiritual topics here, but all I can say is I’m grateful to have God.  Looking back over the last decade, I see one consistent thing, the love, grace and mercy of God. 

It's been a great holiday season thus far. What's funny though is, I'm missing my routines. But when you get into your routines for too long, you want a break from them. But routines are necessary to be productive. They're actually necessary for us to function in society in a successful way. They're also necessary for our health, mental and physical. A few days without routine is a reminder to myself that they're not such bad things after all.

We always base things from where we are. But I’m doing so forget that everyone is in a different place. Trying to remember people are in a different place from you will help you understand them better. It will help you communicate with them more effectively. It will help you be more empathetic towards them.

Almost two years ago I posted some tips on a Digital cleanup. You can read that here :) Instead of New Years Resolutions, try New Years refinement. The idea is this: see what unnecessary things you can remove and what complexities you can simplify. Rather than swinging for the fence and hitting a home run, do something much more manageable and realistic. Some ideas: - Digital cleanup as per the linked post above (unsubscribe, etc) - Extricate yourself from activates and commitments that you aren't passionate about - Simplify your routines - Cleanup your diet - See where you can trim your budget - See where you can trim your time resource (I got an AeroPress for Christmas, that gives me about 4 minutes a day back :) I'm kinda joking on this one, but in reality that adds up over a year for a total of 24 hours saved. WOW! - Clean your closet, room, house and get rid of unnecessary stuff - Take time to slow down every day - Turn your notifactions off, your devices of...

Statistically speaking, New Years Resolutions don't work. Make a resolution for tomorrow instead. Don't wait till January 1. Also, make your resolution realistic. Maybe break a big resolution into several stages to make it more realistic.

Time for a check point. Are you let down today? Do you feel satisfied or unsatisfied. Are you happy or sad? There can be a letdown after days like yesterday. But there doesn't have to be. The answers to these questions are the key to where you place your worth, fulfillment and happiness. Hopefully you're happy and fulfilled today!

A very Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this! Much love to everyone!

Many, many kids are looking forward to tomorrow. That being Christmas Day. And of course with that, there will be disappointments and probably quick letdowns. However, for today they are so excited. And that's exactly the reason we should live a life full of hope. It's so much more fun anticipating good things. You're better off having some disappointments than living in despair. Anticipation is fun, so expect and anticipate good.

I read a good quote today from Hippocrates "The Father of Medicine". "Before you heal someone, ask him if he's willing to give up the things that make him sick." This is so good. Before helping someone, I think that is a very good question to have answered. Otherwise, you're not actually helping them.

I wonder what percent of our assumptions are correct? My guess is it’s a lot lower than we would like to believe. It’s not safe to rely on your assumptions. Ask questions or investigate. Don’t trust your assumptions. If you’re quite sure of something than it’s probably not an assumption. If you’re not so sure, it’s most likely an assumption and there’s a good chance you’re wrong.

When you're forced to be reactive, it's almost never a good thing. When possible be proactive. Things will happen in life that you aren't expecting and your reaction is of utmost important. There are also lots of times we can prevent such situations if we're proactive. Being reactive is a main consequence of procrastination.

I read a quote that said to love difficult people, cause you're probably one of them. If we only had the perspective from other peoples view we may see how difficult we actually are. With that in mind, maybe we can be more kind to difficult people :)

Sometimes we get so focused on the destination that we miss gaining souvenirs from the journey.

I'll start this by saying I believe in being successful and aiming for success. That's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. When it becomes a bad thing is when you place all your hope in being successful. The people who have reached the pinnacle of success in their given area of practice are often the most lonely and the most unfulfilled. So don't mistake success for happiness or fulfillment. Success is just something to aim at and to not base your happiness on. I think we can safely say success isn't everything it's made out to be. I would rather have a few good relationships, food, shelter and clothing rather than be a lonely and empty person who has achieved success above everyone else in my field. Sometimes true success is a whole lot less flashy than we think.

You could read an exchange between two people but it wouldn’t even begin to explain everything that is going on. The words would only catch a snippet of the dynamic. And this is the challenge of communication. We have to make decisions and judgments based on what’s being communicated to us. But it’s hard to communicate effectively. So much of communication is non-verbal so written forms aren’t perfect. Yet verbal communications can be skued by whose listening, how much time you have, what type of day you’ve been having. The point is, communication is very interesting. It’s hard to gather all the facts. Take your time when you can and read more than just the words. Listen beyond the words. Watch.

It seems the recent trend is to try and dig up dirt on people. It's been called "cancel culture". The internet and technology is making this easier than ever and some of this is good and some is bad. A lot of people are getting in trouble for doing some really dumb things. And some people are getting in trouble for doing things that they didn't do, or for doing things that they've long before made right. There's an interesting story in the bible about a lady who was caught in the very act of something wrong. Jesus told her accusers they could stone her if they were without wrong doing. Nobody threw a stone. A better focus would be on keeping our own selves clean rather than trying to dig up dirt on other people. We all have dirt, maybe we should just mind our own dirt and try to clean up our own selves.

If you're in a frustrating season or moment in life, it can change fast. Don't ever feel like your current season is permanent. You can lose hope quickly if you feel like your season is permanent. Things can change fast, and they often do change fast when it's the right time. Getting frustrated and losing hope are two things to make the bad season even worse though. Being patient and knowing a better day is coming are two much better things to do. The same thing applies even when you're having a bad day or maybe a bad week or work. Things can and will change fast.

Yes, you need to be quick to market. If you take forever you may miss your opportunity. But the first to market isn't always the best and doesn't always last the longest. You're better off learning endurance skills than speed skills. Speed isn't usually sustainable, but endurance is sustainable.

If you're attracted to someone for reasons that will change, that's not a good basis for a relationship. To be more blunt, if you are attracted to someone solely by looks, you may be in trouble in the future. Those things will change. Will you be left with someone who you still like? Make sure they have good character and a personality you will like for the long term.

Confidence is one of those things that's hard to quantify and hard to script. It can seem to come and go in an instant. Confidence changes things much. One way of getting confidence is in knowing your limits and knowing your strengths and weaknesses. When you know these things you know what you can and can't approach with confidence.

Have you ever noticed that the most blessed people are the most giving? That's not a coincidence. You aren't truly gaining by hoarding.

This is obvious, the harder the decision the more important it is. One thing to remember, when making hard decisions seek lots of counsel.

If joy is a choice, that means that negative emotions come without us asking them. What if you can get to the point where anger is a choice to? And it's something you choose to never accept. Self control can lead you to that point.

Communicating what's right is more powerful than telling someone they're wrong. Unfortunately, not every circumstance allows for you to communicate what's right. You just have to say what's wrong. But when possible it's much more powerful to let someone know what the right thing is, even when they've done wrong. Telling someone they're wrong isn't nearly as powerful as showing someone what's right. When possible use the method of saying what's right over saying what's wrong.

Sometimes, in some things, you get full points for just showing up. Showing up usually isn't enough, but there are times when just showing is courageous and you get full points for it.

I read a quote from Bob Goff that said "We determine how much influence we'll have when we decide how available we'll be." There is always someone who needs you. Your ability to influence them is only as good as your availability. Making yourself available for someone who is a good investment of your time, is in fact one of the best things you can do with your time.

Be careful what you tear down. It's a whole lot easier and quicker to tear down than to build it. If something has been built up, there usually was/is a good reason. So know the history and know why you're tearing it down. Tearing down should be used on things that are causing harm.

Things seem to beget more of themselves. Take for example sloppiness. If someone on the team allows sloppiness, that will almost assuredly cause more sloppiness on the team. But if you demand order, then order will be the thing that is produces. So allowing one thing that you shouldn't will have repercussions. Things are contagious. Good habits are contagious, but so are bad ones. Be careful what you allow, even if it's just one thing.

You can try and find joy in the big things, but oddly enough they don't seem to bring joy. You can save for the trip of a lifetime, and it will be fun most likely. But it won't bring joy for any length of time. You could win the lottery but it for sure won't bring joy. It may in fact bring the opposite. Here's a huge life hack, joy is found in the things we may deem small. Joy is in having decent health. Joy is in meaningful friendships. Joy is found in finding purpose. Joy is found in simple things like hearing children laugh or babies babble. This means joy is attainable for nearly everyone.

Making something simple usually means more work. It takes less work to make something complicated. But to make something simple you must refine and refine. Simplicity is usually being methodical. Not careless. If something is simple it’s well understood and can be understood easily. It’s more valuable that way. Look to simplify things. It will make them better, guaranteed.

So often we think the answer to a problem is more. More often than not the answer is actually less.

The closer we are to something the more we tend to forget the value of it. Our spouses, friends, our blessings. All those we can easily start to forget the value of if we're not deliberate. Sometimes we have to lose something to appreciate it. But that's a horrible way to live. Let's celebrate how much we appreciate what we have while we have it. Let's celebrate how important someone is while we have them. Don't let your most valuable relationships and blessings become common place.

I heard it said today, it doesn't matter how much time you have if you don't use it. If you don't use your resources then what good are they? If your talent isn't used then what good is it? What you're given is only good in so far as much as you use it.

If we're not careful we can get sucked into the belief that what's popular is what's right. But that's not the case. There are many times that what's popular isn't what's right. Group think can suck anyone into itself. At some time or another we all have been subject groupthink. But don't accept that what's popular is what's right or acceptable. Some really really bad ideas became mainstays in countries and cultures because people just accepted what was seemingly popular.

Doing the right thing is more important when nobody is watching than even when they are watching. It's important to do right when people are watching, of course. But doing right when nobody is watching is harder and thus more important.

In life you will go through many, many seasons. And you have to learn to be okay with all of them. There’s important lessons to learn and expertises to gain in each of them. Discounting one will only take away the lessons there are to learn in that season.

In our home (and lot's of others from my observation) we've officially entered the holiday season. And it's my favourite time of the year.  (I know it's not this way for everyone, and that thought saddens me. I'm aware there's a lot of sadness and loneliness in the holiday seasons for many) But why do I love this season? The following reasons come to mind: - We focus somewhat more on others. - We're generally more giving. - We spend more time with those who are important to us. - We enjoy the simple things (tea, coffee, family and friends) - Things are brighter and happier with all the decor. - And if done right, we focus and acknowledge the one who made this all possible and give thanks to him. It may be a very commercial season, but maybe we for a brief while we actually look and think about others a bit more than normal. And that's a good thing. Imagine if we thought about others like this (and even more) year round?

What should be the standard with which we judge other peoples journey? In practice we usually use our own journey as the judgement for others. The funny thing is in using our own journey, we seem to forget all our shortcomings when judging others shortcomings. Maybe the best way to judge someone is against themselves and against what direction they're coming from and heading to.

This blog post really only cost me time. That dispute... it cost you time. Your job costs you time. You exchange your time for money. Time is the most valuable resource. So don't invest it in petty things. The older you get the more you should realize the value of your time. Invest your time only in high return activities. Invest in people. Invest in your closest friends. Invest in your family. Invest in your community. Don't waste time trying to solve problems bigger than you can handle if you can't even invest in those around you. Don't make the mistake of thinking that grudge or that competition isn't hurting you. It's costing you valuable time. In good and bad things, you pay with time.

Our biggest problem is always our most immediate problem. And the problem with that is, our immediate problem always seems the same size. Because it's closest we lose perspective on it. It appears to be HUGE. But we need problem perspective. Chances are, if put into perspective, your current problem is barely a problem. Try looking around the world see the problems people are facing. Chances are your problems won't seem so large.

If we don't understand something we often criticize it. Criticism if often the result of not understanding. I'm all for constructive criticism. However, we need to understand something in order to provide constructive criticism. A better alternate to criticizing something is instead saying you don't understand it.

Attitude will take you further than skill alone can. Skill can only take you so far. I’ve seen very skilled people who lacked attitude and didn’t realize their skill to the fullest. If you’re lacking in skills in something you can make up some of that with a good and willing attitude. Attitude isn’t a replacement for skill but it may take you further on its own than skill can.

There are lessons to learn everywhere. You just need to pay with attention. Don't let a day slip by without learning or discovering something. It may be entirely new or it may be a new way of looking at something. Or it just may be a re-inforcement of something you've learned. But don't let an opportunity to learn pass you by.

In today’s social media world people end up getting fixated on their image and neglect the content of their character. We get so conscious of how people will be viewing us rather than being conscious of what type of a person we are. Image is fleeting and unsatisfying. Character is lasting and helpful. It’s very difficult to chase both at once.

It's amazing how easily we can lose sight of what's important. Here's something I see often with my kids and their cousins... They will all be together and suddenly one of the cousins picks up a toy that hasn't been touched in weeks or months... Next thing you know, that's the most important thing in the world for all the kids. They're suddenly all wanting it. Fighting over it. Whining over it. Crying over it. Here's what's really funny. I don't think adults are all that much different by default. We see something someone else got, or got to do, and suddenly our whole life is measured by that single thing. Our life may be going just great but suddenly gets worse simply because we lose sight of what's important. We somehow see that one thing that our friend or foe got, and that's suddenly what's important. When we take our eyes off of what's important we will inevitably be disappointed.

Sometimes you have to go slower in order to go faster. I've learned this with many things. You can't keep up a top speed pace all the time. Sometimes you have to slow down to rest. Slow down to re-learn the fundamentals. Once you get those things down, then you can go fast again.

We success and people who have accomplished big things, and we're impressed.  We wonder, how did they do that? And we want to do big things too. That big thing though was only accomplished through many smaller things. They didn't just get up one day and do something big.  They got up many, many days and did lots of small things. If you get the small thing right, you will get the big things right.

In helping someone, you wanna make sure you’re not doing something they can do on their own. At least if it’s something you will be helping them with numerous times. Because then, you’re not really helping them. When you take away the activity you take away the benefit too. So help can be harmful at times. Help someone who can’t help themselves. Or help someone with something they can’t do themselves. But don’t take away what they can do and gain from doing. But random acts of kindness are still good and encouraged :) Sometimes it’s just nice to help someone by shoveling their sidewalk or doing their dishes.

Some many people can DIY (do it yourself). Taxes, oil changes, wash machine repairs, etc. All because of the internet. We can get thinking we're quite independent. But we may easily forget that we needed other people to show us the way. When we start thinking we can truly DIY we're in big trouble. We need others. We need them to keep us straight. To help us to become better. Without others we quickly get off course and crash.

You won't find doers arguing with someone about whose method is better. That's because they're too busy doing. You will find people arguing and trying to convince people of their abilities, and those people aren't doers. So in finding someone to emulate, try finding that person with your eyes rather than your ears. The loudest talkers are often the least capable of doing.

I've heard it said that culture trumps vision. And it's true. The best vision can be ruined by the wrong culture. You have to get your culture right before you can execute the vision.

Here is one simple thing that many of us don't do, but should... Think before we speak. We often blurt the first thing that comes to out minds. But that isn't always the wisest thing to say. Sometimes the first thing that comes to mind is the most emotional thing, not the best thing. Listen, think, speak. One simple change can make us much better communicators and much wiser. Think before you speak.

Thinking things will make us happy is a lie we tell ourselves. No matter what we get, we always end up wanting more or something else. The best "thing" to get would be contentment. Contentment is the only "thing" that won't come with a let down.

Think of the people you trust. Why do you trust them? They’re not perfect. They make mistakes, yet you trust them. Why? Because almost assuredly they’re honest. They’re going to stand for truth and speak truth. Those are the people you can trust.

Real strength is often shown in lack of "retaliation". Real strength is often shown in giving grace or mercy. Strength isn't crushing the people we COULD crush. Strength is in exercising wisdom and showing benevolence. Sheathing the sword can be mightier then wielding it.

If you have good health you have MUCH to be thankful for. What good would excess money do if you didn't have health? It was my birthday today, but the greatest gift I have was a new son, my family and my health. That's richness right there. And I'm grateful for it. And also grateful for all the beautiful people in my life. Thank you to everyone who is part of my life and thanks to those who reached out with kind words today.

Sometimes dealing with the problem(s) you know is better than dealing with the one you don't know. Sometimes we think all we need is a new job. Or a new "whatever". But sometime what we think we need ends up being worse. We underestimate the challenges of moving onto something else.

If you’re not grateful for what you have, you will likely lose it.

You can teach by talking or by exampling. It seems exampling is the more effective way. People seem to remember and value what you do over what you say. Being an example is more important than explaining how to be an example.

The interesting paradox is those who are really givers are the the most fulfilled people. You don't become fulfilled by hoarding. There are gains when you give. But you don't get those gains when you hoard. Interesting. Better to give than to receive. Living a life of giving is MUCH more fulfilling when you're in giving mode.

Today my third child was born. It reminded me how important life, people and relationships are. What else matters other than people?

Love has many looks. Love isn’t always romance. In fact love often isn’t romantic. Sometimes love looks like getting out of bed and going to work. Sometimes it looks like putting yourself second, third or even later. Sometimes it looks very vulnerable and scary. Love looks like patience and kindness. It looks like believing the best and hoping the best. It looks like humility. Maybe the neatest thing about love is it’s eternal.

It’s easy to find commentary on everything and anything today. Internet has allowed the mass of opinions to be heard. But it’s very difficult to find commentary’s today from people who truly understand. People want to get their opinion out more than they want to actually understand an issue. Understand before providing a commentary. Or else you’re just creating noise.

One thing I've learned about negativity... It's weak. You starve it for just a bit and it dies. So don't feed negativity. You feed positivity a bit and it will last a long time. Positivity is strong.

What does worry accomplish? Nothing. Concern is worry in moderation. Worry is concern overdone.

Is this a problem or an opportunity? Because we actually get to choose. We don't choose problems, but they come up. But we do choose if we use them as an opportunity or just leave it as a problem. You may get dealt a lemon, but you can make lemonade or eat the bitter lemon.

The older you get you may have more trouble believing the best in people. Probably because you’ve been hurt, betrayed and seen too much. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best way. The best way this to keep believing in people. Keep hoping for the best. Keep believing in the best. This doesn’t mean being naive. But it means being positive.

There’s always more going on than you realize. We can only focus on one thing at a time. So in any given situation we’re only paying attention to one thing at a time. That means we’re also missing a lot of information. What’s the moral of this thought? To be a whole lot slower to judge. Both situations and people. There’s always more going on that we are aware of.

What you know doesn't matter as much as how much you care.

We've reached peak activism around the world. There is non-stop protests and activists for almost every issue you could imagine. While speaking and getting the message out is important, coming up with solutions and being the change is even more important. It takes little to no sacrifice to be an advocate or activist. It takes much more sacrifice to be part of the change or to come up with good solutions to the problems. Maybe instead of protesting and demonstrations we could start demonstrating solutions. You don't fix something broken by screaming that something is broken. You fix something broken by fixing it or at least proposing something better. Take to the streets with a proposal. More people would listen.

When you see the word "Free" don't believe it. Pretty much nothing being advertised as free is completely free. Find the hidden cost or the hook. Companies aren't out there trying to see how they can give you more so they take less.

I heard the CEO of a multi billion dollar company today say they were going to shut down a division because it wasn't doing "much". The division he was speaking of makes around five million per year. I'm sure the CEO was right, from his perspective it probably wasn't a worthwhile use of company resources. From many other peoples perspective a five million dollar a year revenue company would be a big deal.

It's the middle of fall right now. Every year we have a full season dedicated to things falling. Maybe falling isn't such a bad thing. If it happens every year for multiple months, maybe it's an important part of life. I know a child can't learn to walk if they won't fall. I know that if you don't risk falling in life, you won't attain much. Fall maybe should be an opportunity. An opportunity to revisit how you sowed the previous seasons. An opportunity to better prepare for the seasons next year. Sometimes things have to die to give way to new. In our part of the world trees must shed their leaves to make new ones the following year. Things have to die and fall into the ground to become new again. So falling can represent a new starting line. An opportunity to do better next time. The fall isn't the problem. Not getting up and doing better is the real problem.

There's a difference between being tired and being weary. Being tired is usually a sign that you need more rest. And it can be a good thing. A good productive day will make you tired. Being weary could be a sign of a vision problem. You may have lost sight of the vision or maybe you've forgot it entirely. You can be doing good things and get weary. A fresh vision will usually address the weariness.

Living is very different from surviving. Seasons in life come and go and sometimes there are seasons to just survive. But survival is a far cry from living. Living is where you’re experiencing life in its fullest. You may be in a meaningful and challenging role in the job, you may be in an important relationship, you may be adequately challenged and you may be giving of yourself. That’s a lot of what living looks like. In seasons of survival most of those things are missing. If you’re in a season of survival, start making some changes. Start giving. Start challenging yourself. Start finding new friendships. Start living! There’s nothing like it.

In Canada it’s thanksgiving weekend. Its a good reminder to take inventory of all the good in your life and be grateful for it. Everyday should be Thanksgiving day, because every day is a gift.

Stories are so important. They're the primary way we teach and even learn. We tell stories to teach. We listen or see stories to learn. I read stories to my children that are teaching them. They don't even realize they're learning values and right from wrong from these stories. These stories are influencing who they will become. Stories are how we carry on traditions and how we preserve history. Our children will tell stories about us. Our friend will tell stories about us. So, our story is the most important. Our story tells of our destination. Will our story be one of growing, or will it be one of fighting against the forces that are trying to shape us? Our story will be read by others and it will influence them. The stories you read matter. The stories influencing you matter. The story you are writing matters even more.

Simpler is better. That’s all there is too it. Complicated means it’s still in a chaotic state.

It’s so easy to dismiss someone else’s perspective. But many times they’ve come to their perspective with equal amounts of thought and experience as we’ve come to our own. We shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss others’ perspectives.

If something is bothering you, you can’t hold it inside forever. Eventually it will cause you to fracture. If it minor it will pass. But if it’s major it will bother you until it’s forced out into the open. You can’t permanently live with internal conflict. It’s best to get it out and deal with it before it majorly effects you.

I came across a few scams today. A text scam and a few email scams. They were somewhat obvious scams but got me thinking about other scams that are less obvious. Here’s a few less obvious scams I thought of: - from marketers, “you NEED this..” - likes, follows, subs, reposts, etc - keeping up with the Joneses - trends - many “shortcuts” - hate and anger

It's okay some days to mainly just get through the day. Some days are tougher than others and on the tough days getting through the day is fine! You don't have to hit a home run every day. It's okay.

Let's start with the bad news. Your default destination isn't a good place. By default we're headed no where good. If we just take our hands off the wheel and foot off the pedal of life, we won't end up anywhere remotely good. That's our default destination. We can sit back and accept that or we can take ownership of our destination. Life will never go according to your plan, but nonetheless you must still take ownership of your destination. People don't end up in good places by accident. It takes being intentional and pushing back on our default destination. If you see someone in a good place, you can know they didn't end up there by accident. The good news is you can do the same thing as them. They took control of their destiny and you have the same ability.

It’s said that comparison is the thief of joy. I have to fully agree with that. What would be the opposite of comparison then? It’s likely a good place to find some joy. I would say contentment is the opposite of comparison. And it’s a great place to find joy.

I think everyone is born with a desire to be part of something. Is unique as we all think we want to be, we still don’t want to be the only person doing something. We want to be part of something bigger than just ourself. We need to be part of something bigger than ourself. In some ways you’re always gonna be part of something bigger than yourself, whether you like it or not. You can be part of something constructive or something destructive. The choice is yours.

It’s amazing now everything is connected. It’s said we’re only six degrees apart from any other person in the world. That’s means if you want to meet any human being you already know someone who knows someone, etc to another four degrees to meet them. And in our lives things are connected. The bad day at work likely carries into the home life at night. And a bad home life would carry into your work life. And on it goes. If one area of your life is way out of balance it is going to drastically effect the other areas of your life. If things aren’t going well there’s likely an area or two of your life that needs correction. And because everything is connected it could be throwing your whole life off track.

You won't earn respect if you don't give respect. Respect is something that can be purchased with itself. Meaning you gain respect by giving respect. You can't demand it, you can't steal it, but you earn it. Chances are you've earned respect by giving it or showing it to other.

We place high value on convenience but convenience always costs more than we realize. Convenience almost always costs quality. You have to give up quality to get convenience. And what truly enhances your life, convenience or quality?

If laughter is the best medicine, we should seek it often. Every day there’s plenty to find joy in. It all depends on your frame of mind though. If you are thinking negative you won’t find joy in many places. If you’re positive you will find joy everywhere. Joy can be found both in small and great things. But you have to be looking for it. Joy doesn’t usually come take you by surprise. You usually have to look for it. And you usually find what you’re seeking for.

I’ve posted this idea before, but it’s not bad to say it again. Our greatest strength can become a weakness when over utilized.

This is an old old concept but it's worth reminding myself of. What I feed will grow. What I starve will fade. If I feed negativity it will grow. But if I starve negativity it won't grow. If I feed faith it will grow. If I starve faith it will shrink. What I feed though my thoughts, words and actions will grow.

Limits are put in place so accidents don't happen. We limit speeds to prevent accidents. What limits we put on ourself will determine the amount of accidents we get into. We can limit ourselves in things like entertainment, unhealthy food, etc. If we limit our intake or partaking of certain things we can prevent many mistakes and accidents.

I have this instinct (and I think many people have this) that when something against me where I want to blame "them". It's so easy to do. But this doesn't help me. Finding blame doesn't help me. We can't control what happens to us, but we can control what we do with what happens to us. When we assign blame we give up control. It's good practice to learn to own everything that happens to us. Unfair and bad things WILL happen, but if you own them, you can shape what they do to you. So stop blaming "them" and own your response.

If something was easy to get, it’s probably easy to lose. Things that were hard to get will be harder to lose. We want things to be easy in life but there’s little value in easy. Hard work produces value. Easy can’t compete. If we can learn to be okay with the hard things and not avoid them we will live a life of much more value.

Today was filled with some work frustrations. And I was reminded that frustration means there’s something for me to learn. You’re rarely frustrated by something you understand. So in frustration there’s something to learn and add to your understanding. I definitely learned something(s) today through the work frustrations.

You have to learn when to gloss over something and when to take the deep dive. Some things aren’t worth your attention and you need to gloss over them. But other things require you to dive in deep. And these types of things are where your character develops usually. Gloss over pettiness. Deep dive into challenges that make you and the world a better place.

One consequence of pride is that you stop listening to others. This hurts your development as you no longer take in new information. And that isolates you. It makes you an island where it’s difficult for people to reach you. It makes you an island where you’re isolated from the mainland and communities. Isolation is a terrible thing. Not many (if any) survive isolation. And those who survive carry major damage from isolation. We need each other to survive. But pride is dangerous in how it isolates.

Versioning is a process where something is tracked and incrementally changed, hopefully for the better. There's usually numbers assigned to track major revisions and minor revisions. What if we could track ourselves in a similar manner? What version would we be on today and would the version change in a week, month or year from now? Would it be a major revision or minor revision? Would the revisions be marks of improvement or documentation of things we would regret? Each day we get a choice to be a better version of ourself. Those incremental improvements lead to large improvements long term. Let your version numbers signify better versions of yourself, continually improving.

I’ve found the loudest voices are most often the wrong ones.  Good sense and wisdom seem to come from the quieter voices.  If a voice has to be loud, it’s probably making up for lack of substance. 

I believe in goals. I think they're needed. In fact I think we need to set big goals. Realistic, but big. But have you ever noticed that when you reach a goal that the satisfaction doesn't last long? It's like we've been made to never settle for what we've already attained. And I think that makes sense. It seems when we settle, we actually decline. So in order to prevent decline we must keeping pushing forward.

What you think. Your thoughts dictate become who you are. But what you eat is what you become. Garbage in, garbage out. Feed yourself a diet of garbage entertainment or negativity? That’s who you will become. So you are what you eat.

- lies - holds us back - stands between us and success - makes us judge others - makes us jealous If you can put a lid on your fear you can do anything.

We all need each other. Making our circle smaller hurts us and those were cutting out. Go around drawing circles larger than those around you. When you draw a circle larger than someone else’s, their circle disappears. Even if they’re trying to keep you out.

Most live with no regard to what they want to be in their final state. If we lived out what we would want to be in our final state our lives would likely look much different. For example, if today was our last day, what would we have changed about our life? Those are then the things to start changing now.

Attitude determines altitude. Yes.  But what determines your attitude? Your outlook. 

This is so true. We can't always choose what happens to us but we can always choose how we respond and who we become.

Short sightedness causes us to spend today what we need tomorrow. Be it relationships, money or time. Project into the future. Don't overlook today because that's a mistake too. You need to stay present but be looking out into the future. Bad goals lead to short sightedness. Check your goals and make sure they are a good long term plan.

You can't be brave if you're not first afraid. Fear can be crippling, but it also can be a tool we can use in our favour. Fear can push us to do something great and it can inspire bravery. Fear is only as strong as we let it be. The bigger the fear the bigger the potential greatness. The bigger the fear the bigger the potential for bravery.