Writings

We all have todo lists — commitments, tasks, obligations — things we’ve given our YES to. And often that list is overwhelming. In times like that, clarifying our NOs may be even more important than trying to power through our YESs. We can’t be everywhere, and we can’t do everything, as much as we might aspire to. But, we can strengthen and honor that which has our YES by getting clear on what we have said NO to, and not letting ourselves feel obligated or distracted by those NOs. ...

Nutritionally, the idea is fairly intuitive: Eat junk, and our bodies reflect that we’ve been eating junk. Eat clean, and our bodies eventually look more lean. Too rarely do we let that idea jump from body to mind, but that’s an apt and important jump. Cognatively, we are what we consume: what we watch, read, listen to, and think. Is your informational diet helping you become who you want to be? ...

With exceedingly rare exception, you don’t know the full story. How could you? It involved multiple people with highly complex and intricate lives, who have each faced unique challenges and hardships that you’ll never know. You don’t know what drove them, and you don’t know what drives them. There is still a place for anger — injustice rightly catalyzes it. But if we want to see positive change, every drop of anger needs to be tempered with at least 10 drops of empathy. ...

When I was a kid, I hated history class. To me, it was nothing more than a list of names, dates, and facts about wars and dead people that I was required to memorize. I never saw how it actually applied to my life. But in last few years, I’ve started to LOVE history — largely because I’ve come across amazing stories and nuggets of history that I think are really worth talking about, but which we largely don’t. Some of these stories I’ve found to be especially hopefilled. Since I don’t think these stories get told enough, I wanted to retell some of my favorites. Below is one of them. ...

Years ago I came to a conclusion I return to often: People tend to act reasonably in accordance with the world they’ve be presented with. In this age of polarization and anger (and now, war), I find that phrase all the more potent. Who is someone who is doing something you disagree with? It’s important to remember that their worldview generally feels cohesive and sound to them according to their narrative, the things they’ve read, and the experiences they’ve lived. And that, generally speaking, the actions they are taking tend to line up really well with that worldview. ...

James Clear has a quote that I deeply appreciate: “Where you spend your attention is where you spend your life.” 1 I come back to this quote regularly. Attention = life We rightly value life deeply, spending billions of dollars every year on medical treatments to increase health and physical life. What if we started caring about our attention the same way? What if we started being as purposeful about what we let into our ears, eyes, and mind as we are about what food and drink we let into our mouths? ...

Lately, every time someone shows me a YouTube video on their computer or phone, I find myself freaking out just a little. The ads, the list of recommended videos, the endless comments… there’s just so much going on on the screen, and I find myself easily distracted and maybe a bit overwhelmed. In contrast, if you watch a YouTube video on my laptop, you’ll find it to be a much different experience. What you will see is the video and its description, and basically nothing else. If you want to see the comments or the recommended videos, you can scroll to see a “Show More” button. But, other than that, you just get the video you came to see. ...

Skill and concern mixed together can be powerful, and there are people today with seemingly more of both than ever. In almost any field you can list, you will be able to find someone who is at least 10x more skilled than you, and 10x more concerned than you are. I think it’s worth learning from those people. How does someone 10x as concerned as you approach the problem you’re facing when they have the skills to do something about it? ...

Lately I feel like I’ve come to a place with internet and tech usage that I’m really liking, where I’ve been able to derive great value from what the internet has to offer, while being better at protecting myself from some of its more poisonous elements. Here are a few tools/tips that I’ve found helpful for coming to that place, which I think anyone who uses the internet could benefit from: ...

The process of being lead out of deception can be painful and hard. The status quo is the status quo for a reason: it’s more comfortable than the alternative. Lies can make us feel warm and fuzzy; but they are still lies. If we truly want freedom, there’s only one option: Only the Truth sets us free