Daily Yamabushi

What if it goes good?

What if it goes bad? What if it doesn’t work out as planned?

What if it goes good? What if it comes out better than planned?

A higher floor, or a higher ceiling. Always better to shoot for the latter.

Moments and Memories

Some moments we look back on and realise they were fundamental in creating ourselves. You never realise it in the moment, but retrospectively you do. These are always the moments you least expect, at least in the moment. This is usually because you are too busy being in the moment.

What about this moment? Will it be fundamental? Remember this the next time you find yourself in a tough situation. Either way it goes, the moment may just well be a fundamental one.

Paying for Freedom

It’s better to take a job that pays less but gives you free freedom, than one that doesn’t. Freedom is more valuable than money. Also, with freedom you are free, so if you need to you can use that freedom to make more money. You can also feel freedom by doing something that you love, bonus if you get paid, best if it can support your lifestyle.

The turbulence is real

Should you blame the pilot for the turbulence? They are the one who is running the show. They are the one whose decisions mean we have to face the turbulence.

Or are they? Did we choose to get on this plane? Should we really worry about whose fault the turbulence is? Shouldn’t we just get on with it and worry about that later, if at all?

A Complacent Person’s Trap

Par for the course, a mere formality, a complacent person’s trap. Doing things that need to be done it can be easy to go on autopilot. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it helps as you’re in the zone. But this can also lead to complacency, if you’re not careful. Be aggressive. Get it out of the way properly. Then, and only then, rest up.

Until then just enjoy the ride

We know we are going, we just don’t know where we are going. But knowing that you are going is more than enough. The destination only matters when you get there. Until then, well, stick around for the ride.

A good place to be

It’s tough. But it’s a good tough. Not everything is supposed to be easy. In fact, the things that come easy are often the easiest to go too.

The things that are tough stay with you, and they help you grow. Tough things that help you grow are a good tough, and they should be sought after. The things that ‘put hairs on your chest’ as my dad used to say. Tough, but a good tough. Tough in the moment, but otherwise a good place to be.

Put yourself on the hook

Set the ball in motion and put yourself on the hook. Give yourself no choice but to act. Sometimes that’s the only way to get things done. Sometimes it is always the right choice.

At your own pace. Deliberately.

The passing of time is slow but sure.

We too can act surely, if we only go slow.

Act deliberately. Let the passing of time set the pace.

Make them count

The dead ends take their toll. Time after time if you find yourself at a dead end, it can feel dejecting. At the same time, although it may not feel like it, you are building experience that can and will help you later.

The dead ends add up. Make them count.

If only you knew

If only they knew what you knew. If only they’d seen what you have seen. Then they would understand.

Or would they?

Even having the exact same experiences we all come out with different perspectives. Our perspective going in, and our perspective going out, all contribute to how we experience things. Having someone know what you know, or experience what you experience, still won’t help them understand how you feel.

And vice versa.

Be kind. Be gentle. If only you knew.

Is it absolutely vital?

Is it absolutely vital that they have your excuse? Does explaining your reasoning make anything different? If not, don’t even bother. Let them figure it out for themselves, if they really want to. Don’t need an excuse? Don’t give one.

Better than on the floor

Out the door is better than on the floor. On the floor is how you know it could work. Out the door is how you know it does.

You just have to keep putting your best stuff out the door. There’s no other way for it.

You Are.

The ref’s not wrong. You are.

You’re wrong to question the ref’s judgment. Now, the ref may well be in the wrong, but that’s on them. That has nothing to do with how you choose to react to the decision, nor how you should. Focus on what you can control, and let everything else do what it needs to do. Including the ref.

Time is ticking

The train is leaving. Time is ticking. Whether you like it or not. Make it work in your favour, best to be on the train.

Exactly that.

Who does what in which way has no influence on doing the training. What matters is that you do the training. That you get on the path and stay there. And since this is all that matters, it also doesn’t matter if someone does something a different way to you. That stuff is frivolous, and frankly gets in the way of training.

Shut up and train.

This post was inspired by a very good friend of mine (you know who you are).

Make the effort to learn and change

If you’re never wrong, you never grow. If you look back on yourself from years past, it’s very easy to cringe at the old you. You find a ton of things you would do differently if you only had the chance. But these things are good things. These things prove that you have changed, that you have moved on, that you have grown. If you never make mistakes in the first place, well, you never learn. You never grow.

Similarly, people who don’t make mistakes, or when they make mistakes don’t take responsibility, are destined to repeat their mistakes. If you’re never wrong, you never grow. Being wrong in hindsight isn’t as bad as it’s cracked up to be. If you make an effort to learn and change, that is.

There’s not much else you can do but accept

Yes, it can be a hard pill to swallow. Yes you can complain about it all you like. Sometimes there’s not much else you can do but accept.

Not just sometimes.

Prioritise time

Don’t be afraid to spend money to get to where you need to go. I used to have this weird thing against spending money, it took me a long time to get a credit card, for example. But money spent wisely can save you time, and that is a real investment.

Instead of spending money to do something, I would try to do it myself if I thought it was even vaguely in my wheelhouse. Sometimes it was, sure, but most times I really should have just spent a bit of cash to get the thing done, saving valuable time.

Remember, any time you spend is also worth money. Think about your hourly rate. If you paid yourself to do that thing, would it save you more, or would you spend less? Even still, this is your current hourly rate. You might find you are worth much more than you claim (hint, you are).

At the same time, if it’s a skill you would like to develop, then actually doing the thing, no matter how long it takes, is at times worth it. Some things that have taken me a long time, have been beneficial in ways I couldn’t imagine at the time. So if it’s something that you are ok with taking time, then go for it.

Get them out of the way

Make it hard to put off. Set a deadline. Get all the things that need doing out of the way ASAP. The things that you aren’t sure how long will take, do them first. Then you’ll know how much time you have left to do the other things. Make things hard to put off by not putting them off in the first place. Just get them out of the way and move on to the next.

Leave Some for Later

Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running had a very good tip for long-term projects. When you’re working on something long-term, for example a novel or something that takes longer than a day, when you’re about done for the day, leave something behind for later. Leave something that you can just pick up from where you left off.

This keeps that all-important motivation running, and makes it much easier for the next day. Put enough of those days together, and, well, before you know it you’ll be done for real. Then you’ll really have something for later on (AKA ‘Ron).

Don’t start at the start

There’s a trick when it comes to the writing process for writing an essay. Don’t start with the introduction, don’t start at the start, start with the meat. Once you have the meat, the introduction all but writes itself.

Have an idea? Start with the meat. Flesh it out. Let everything else fall into place.

Just make it.

It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be. Get it out in the world and give it a chance to find the people who need it. Don’t make it perfect. Just make it.

Though.

After the fact, we know so much. We know what worked, and what didn’t. After the fact we can use what we’ve gained from the fact to build better. After the fact, though.

Doesn’t necessarily work

Sometimes the easier it is to do something, the harder it is to do. Our world is a world of convenience. But is all that convenience making things better? It certainly is in some aspects, being able to have things like medicine or adequate food is a necessity for us. But a lot of the convenience isn’t. It keeps us addicted to substances that aren’t really good for us. Making things easier, doesn’t necessarily do that.

Even if they aren’t your cup of tea

Everything has its merits. It may not be your cup of tea, but that’s fine. The others aren’t wrong, they are just different. And that’s also fine.

When both have their merits, it doesn’t really matter which one you choose. They’re both good in some way or another. Go with whatever one feels right in the moment. And if you still can’t decide, go with the first one.

Flow like a river

Decisions made are decisions made. The water under that bridge is already flowing. Are you going to try and stop it? Or are you going to work with it to help it flow where you want? You decide.

Build a habit of flexing your muscles every day

While it’s certainly possible that a great idea can spark at anytime, if you have a habit of putting things out into the world on a regular basis, it makes it easier to make use of that spark. This is the reason why habits that force you to produce time after time, day after day, are so useful, even if the average output is just that.

Recent quotes from the Tim Ferriss Show

Two quotes from the Tim Ferriss Show that stuck out to me recently:

The most important thing you can give a child—besides love, obviously—is a sense of humility and a sense of hope. Humility so they know they aren’t the center of the universe, and hope so they know that they can change the universe if they want to.

-Tim McGraw

My dad always said: ‘Life is 1% dream and 80% plan. The rest is just staying alive long enough to see the two meet.’ – Steve Young

Optimistic people have an obligation to be optimistic. There’s enough in the world to get you down already, we don’t need to add to the gloom, but we sure can do the opposite. And we should.

And how do we do that?

With a plan and a dream.

Nothing is permanent

Nothing, but everything, changes. Nothing is permanent, but change. Accept it and move on. No point dwelling on the past that doesn’t exist. Likewise no point worrying about a future that hasn’t come about yet. Just accept that nothing, but everything, changes, and focus on enjoying the now.