Sharing Some Thoughts

Doing Less

So much of life is about the things you don’t do as opposed to the things you do do. It’s a hard concept to grasp because a lot of times it’s things that are not visible to other people or visceral to you and often seem immaterial. Like denying the impulse to open my lap top when I sat down for lunch.

There wouldn’t be any real harm in searching for an AirBnb for an upcoming trip, or editing my newsletter one more time, while I’m eating. In fact, both of those things would be viewed as constructive to most people. Myself included. But opening my lap top during lunch has unintended consequences.

Like robbing myself of getting lost in thought for 30 minutes. Like not fully appreciating the taste, sight, and smell of my food. Or not being present when my girlfriend asks me a question, or asks me to come look at the birds.

Not doing has become a powerful tool in the modern age. Fighting your impulses to do can have positive consequences. Doing less actually has the power to make you more productive.

Awakening

I think the problem lies in the word itself. It implies an immediate rebirth. But really all it signifies is the beginning of a journey towards a higher understanding of what life is, or the beginning of a search for the meaning of life. But it by no means signifies reaching the end. And I think that’s where people get messed up.

Everyone is always looking for the magic pill or the immediate fix. We’re a species that feeds on instant gratification. To become awakened is no exception. The expectation is to find out the truth and understand it all in one session, leading people to seek out experiences that they think or have heard will finally provide it.

Psychedelic trips are the primary example of this. Tripping on a psychedelic for many people might provide a glimpse behind the curtain, but that’s all it is, a glimpse. The truth is only unveiled with practice.

I’ve seen and spoken to many people, friends and family, who have peaked into the other side, but the demands of their “life” constantly tug at them and keep them from ever fully exploring the reality they know to be true. The investment of time, energy, and effort, is too much for a result that is not guaranteed. And the public consensus is to not pursue it.

Instead, the status quo, the ways things always have been is the thinking that consistently prevails. Everyone is afraid of an unfamiliar way of life, that promises freedom and equality, but has no room for ego.

Workout Hack When You’re Short on Time

There’s two things you always want to avoid. Skipping a workout and skipping your warm up. The key to long term success in the gym is to be consistent. And one of the keys to staying injury free is to warm up before your workout. 

But the reality is sometimes we just don’t have the time to get in a full workout AND warm up. In those cases we usually end up sacrificing one or both. We either skip our warm up and rush through our workout. Or we scrap the whole workout knowing we won’t have time to do it all. 

When this happens I like to mesh the two together and warm up as part of my workout. Saving me time while also saving me from injury. 

I do this by using my first set of exercises as my warm up. Rather than getting right into heavy weights and high intensity movements I back everything off and use my first sets to prime my body for the remainder of the workout. 

Over the last two months I’ve been training using three circuit workouts. In this case my first circuit is my warm up and the last two are my working sets. 

It’s true I’m not going to get the same results as I normally would, but backing off one circuit is better than missing a whole workout. Using my first circuit as a warm up is better than getting injured and missing a handful of workouts. 

I read this advice recently about writing. It went like this, write down in one sentence the point you’re trying to make in the piece your writing. At the end come back to that sentence and keep what supports that point and cut out what doesn’t. 

If there was one line to write about the point of your workouts it would be, to stay consistent. Keep anything that supports that and cut out everything that doesn’t.