My Riffs

Everyone wants to be the best. Well, most people do anyway. But in doing so, we're trying to be like other people. It's better if we just try and be the best version of ourselves. Be less like other people and more like the best version of ourself. So when we're the best at something, it simply means we're the best we can be. It it less about comparison and more about us becoming.

Doing hard things is tough. But that’s why they’re valuable. If something was tough, there was something to gain from it. If something was easy, you didn’t likely gain much (unless you had already done hard work). 

What a deadly duo. Be kind and be courageous, you can do much with these two strengths. Kindness builds bridges and courage crosses them. 

We’re so afraid of the unknown. But it’s in the unknown where real possibility is. Possibility doesn’t exist in the known and comfortable. You have to stretch out into the unknown to find the possibilities and opportunities. It may seem scary to go into the unknown but it’s more scary to maintain the status quo. 

Bad things can and will happen to us. It’s part of life. It’s built in and we can’t change it. But those bad things are what truly develop us and make us better. The good times and things are to be enjoyed but they’re not what change us. Allow the tough times to make you better. 

Nobody likes to get rocked. And life will rock you. But it’s possible to get better at not getting rocked. You can be better at not letting life and people rock you. Learning to steady your ship when storms come helps both yourself and others around you. Get good at steadying your ship; you won’t get rocked nearly as much. 

The more hard things you do, the easier hard things become. It's just like lifting weights, the heavier the weight you lift, the more you lift it, the easier it becomes. So carrying heavy weight becomes easier. Doing easy things has little to no benefit. Push yourself to do hard things. Things that literally scare you. You'll be a better, stronger person.

Who are you? Are you being who you're supposed to be, or are you bending yourself to fit into some other version of yourself to fit what you think others want from you? Are you being who you're supposed to be or are you trying to emulate someone who you think is better than you? Getting out of your own way is one of the best things you can do. Get out of your own way and become who you are supposed to be.

We’re told (and rightly so) that suffering is part of life. The best option then is to bear these things with as much optimism and dignity as possible. To face them head on and not run from what we’ve been given to bear. Only then will the suffering become something that can help us to grow. 

I've noticed something about big people. (not big in physical size, big in character and heart) They draw big huge, maybe even uncomfortable circles. Small people draw lines that cut people out. Big people draw bigger circles that draw even the small people in.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fairness is a very difficult thing to get precise clarity on. You can waste a whole lot of your life trying to push back against perceived unfairness. Or worse you can waste a whole lot of time complaining about unfairness against yourself. True and absolute fairness is an impossible target. At some point you have to give up on it. It’s good some people work hard at trying to resolve unfairness, but it’s something that is unresolvable. It doesn’t mean we should ignore blatant unfairness, but it’s a waste looking for slights and offences. As an individual, time is better spent making yourself better.

You’re never going to find our what your capabilities if you’re unwilling to “fail”. And true failure should be defined as not trying. So try some things that interest you and see if you’re capable. Worst case you learn some of your limits. Don’t be stupid, but push yourself to try things are figure out what you’re capable of.

I'm an IT geek. So this post's analogy is a technology analogy that makes sense to me :) Almost every business/home has a device that gives it internet. The device is usually used as a firewall. The firewall blocks traffic that shouldn't be allowed onto the private network, and it allows most traffic to flow out from the private network. If you examine traffic wanting to get from the outside world into the firewall, most of it is junk. Most of it is hackers and malicious traffic. But the firewall generally blocks it and it never gets onto the private network. There are a few ways how junk can get into us. And make no mistake, we are constantly bombarded by junk. Our eyes can allow junk. Our ears can allow junk. We need to have "firewall" that rejects all the malicious traffic wanting to get into us. If it's not going to build you, reject it.

It's best to let your talent(s) to make room for itself. When you have to make room for your talent you are doing something wrong.

You’re sort of never complete. There’s always a part of you that needs more work. So we’re all a work in progress. But that can’t become an excuse.

Be liberal in giving. Be conservative in taking. Be liberal in giving praise. Be conservative in taking praise in. Be liberal in love. Be liberal in grace. Be liberal in patience. Be conservative in anything that doesn't build someone else up.