My Riffs

Start early whenever possible.  You’ll rarely if ever regret an early start.  We usually need that deadline to motivate us but if you can motivate yourself to start early you can do things better. 

The world is an interesting place. Explore! There’s great things to see, read, watch and listen to.  You don’t have to go very far to find interesting things to dive into. Explore your world, you’ll feel more alive!

Self talk matters.  Maybe more than any other talk. What people say to us can affect us, deeply. Words have caused people to do both great and horrible things. But it's the stories we tell ourselves that really shapes us. Do we tell ourselves we're capable and strong? Or do we say we're not capable and that it's just too difficult? The one person we believe is ourselves. The stories we tell ourselves we end up believing completely. You get to shape this. Don't feed yourself negative and self-defeating talk. Speak life to yourself!

Grand ideas of doing good is wonderful. But we need to start at home. We need to learn to do good to those within our immediate reach first. You'll get plenty of practice just doing good to those within your home and then in your immediate circle. Start there and you'll see the good you do expand. The grandest ideas will start right at home and blossom from there.

What's powerful? Power is often thought of as raw, overwhelming force. And that's true. What's more powerful than a tsunami or hurricane? That's powerful. But for humans, that same brutal power found in nature doesn't translate as effective power. Power is kindness. Power is clear and effective communication. Power is articulating great ideas. Power is showing and leading people in a better way. That's truly power. Force or coercion isn't really power. It's fear and force. And will eventually backfire. Be a powerful force. And that means be the best you were meant to be. Be kind and courageous, that's really what's powerful.

Are you okay with repetition? If not, discipline won’t be something in your skill set.  If you’re not okay with repetition you won’t go deep in any practice.  Building great things (including yourself) takes much repetition.  Of course make sure you’re repeating the right things. A rut is repetitive and non productive. Repeat good habits and it will be building blocks to greatness. 

Don’t miss twice, unless you want it to become a habit.  If you’re building something, don’t miss twice in a row.  Twice will become thrice. And then more. 

Think over the day today; or yesterday if that’s better.  Now think how much you were fully present and how much you weren’t. The moments when we’re present are the only moments where we can find true depth of fulfillment. If we can’t be present we can’t have quality relationships or experiences. We sacrifice so much quality to be ever connected to the online world. The more we disconnect from the digital world, the more we can truly connect with our more important real world. 

Say what you mean and mean what you say.  Harder to do than it sounds though.  Words can carry power. Carefully used speech can inspire and change. Craft your words carefully and use them effectively.  

Gratitude makes you a better person.  Gratitude makes your life better.  Complaining does the exact opposite.  Complaining accomplishes next to nothing. Maybe just negative things.  Make gratitude a daily practice. Make it a moment by moment practice. Learn to be grateful for seemingly little things. The more you can appreciate the little things of life the happier you will be. 

The more you live for others, the more purpose you have.  Not in regards of not caring about yourself. But in terms of finding purpose in helping other people.  Doing so will make you be the best you can be. It will also help others be the best they can be.  But when we get caught in selfishness we shrink.  Being about others is as high of a calling we can undertake. 

To become our best we have to keep getting better.  To get better we have to be honest and accept constructive criticism.  To get better we have to be humble.  To get better we have to be willing to work hard.  So becoming our best means taking step after step of getting better. Tomorrow do something that makes you better. 

So much energy is wasted on disappointment.  We live so often as if we’re surprised when things don’t go as we desired or planned.  But that’s literally part of life. Disappointment, especially when we have unrealistic expectations.  When things don’t go to plan, rather than waste time being upset by it, spend that energy on making alternate plans.  The longer you wallow the deeper the hole you dig.  So yeah it may be disappointing, but accepting part of life and forge ahead asap!

Only put out good work.  If it’s going to be sloppy or not good, don’t do it.  Only do good work. That’s something to be known by. 

How many times have we sold ourselves short? Saying, I can’t do it. And we don’t even try.  At least try. Give yourself a fighting chance. You never know unless you try. 

Humility is an underrated skill. A skill? Yes! A skill.  When people attain the peak of their profession, sport or pursuit, they can stay humble or be arrogant. Being arrogant is a huge vulnerability. It will eventually cost.  But being humble is a skill. Even if you’ve risen to the top. Humility will keep you sharp. It will push you to still keep getting better. Humility will let you know your weaknesses.  Stay humble, it will help your growth. 

Lofty goals are great! Everybody should have some lofty goals. Getting to those goals takes deliberate work though. Sometimes we start out on some goal with a bang! Working out, dieting, putting in extra hours of work, etc. But is it sustainable? Because if you can't sustain it, you likely won't achieve the goal. Doing something in the short term may have its place, but if it's a big goal or big change, the steps to get there have to be sustainable. That's why lots of good small habits have huge measurable results, just after a long time though. Make sure your goals have a sustainable path to pursue. Short term sprints likely won't have much of an effect on things.

Am I dependable?  It’s hard to be useful and helpful when you can’t be dependable.  Can people depend on me? I hope so, they may need me some day.  Stick to your word (if you’ve said you’ll do something of value). If you’ve misspoke, don’t stick to it :) Be someone. Be someone people can depend on. Cause some day you’ll need someone to depend on yourself. 

Rest is an important part of life. Without proper rest we can't function as needed. So while we need to rest, showing up is important. Showing up is a big part of the battle. If you don't show up, you can't gain. Excuses bar the way to simply showing up and we're stronger than we give ourselves credit for. If you say you can't, then you won't. If you say you can, you will.

Want to stand out at work? It's actually fairly simple, do good work. That means be thorough, check what you've done and make sure it's good. That alone will often have you stand out. Of course be dependable and get along with people. But good work will get you a long way.

Everyone carries a heavy load. However, it makes a huge difference what that load is. If the load looks like hate, resentment or negativity, it's a gruelling and debilitating load. But if the load looks like responsibility, discipline, work and love than it's a freeing load to carry. We all have to carry something and the things we carry will shape who we become. We're either getting better or worse and it depends on what heavy load we've decided to shoulder.

Save your best for those closest to you. It may be hard to give your family your best energy after a long day of work, but they deserve your best. Not the leftovers but your best. In fact they’re depending on it. 

There’s too much talk and not enough action.  The digital age has amplified the noise. It’s made the talk even cheaper.  It’s the ones who put their words into action that matter.  Be a doer not just a sayer. 

Perspective is something everyone has. The real important thing though is, how aware of our perspective are we? We all have biases and some baggage in our perspectives. The clearer we see these things in ourselves, the clearer we can see the world outside ourselves. We're all making judgements based on our perception. Try and realize that your perception is unique to yourself and maybe it's all informed. Be open to shaping and changing your perspective.

Maybe we should stop making people the enemy and make the wrong ideals the enemy.  If we can have that change of focus we may find common grounds and solutions quicker and better. 

Naturally we tend towards being weak and lazy. It takes real conscious and deliberate effort to break free of weakness and laziness. Cause if we just accept the natural course, we will get weaker and lazier. You have to swim upstream in order to break free of it. It's not easier but it's better. 

Here’s a thought, how do you think you make other people feel? How do people feel when they’re around you? How do they feel once they’ve left you? Try and think on that. How do you leave people feeling? Especially people who maybe can’t do anything for you.  How do you treat those people and make them feel? That says a whole lot about you. 

You may live in a free nation, but do you live freely? Do you live and give freely? Do you share freely? Do you speak truth freely? Do these things and make your world a better place. 

Are you just alive or are you living? Are you trying things or just playing it safe? Do you have dreams or are you merely surviving? Dream, try things and live!!

Routine is so important. You’re the sum of your routines.  But from time to time it’s good to have some variety. Maybe switch up some routines, or travel and change them up that way. It can foster new or better routines or possibly settle the existing routines.  Routines are often boring so some variety is like adding some spice to a great dish.