How To Give Up

Are you willing to give up who you are for who you know you’re supposed to be?

From what I’ve come to understand this has been and will continue to be the hardest part of personal growth. At all stages. Whether you’re just now starting at rock bottom or have been in process of going from “good to great” Doing MORE is easy and clear.

Do more fitness and eat healthier foods = lose weight/ gain muscle

Do more reading and less scrolling at night = feel and sleep better

Spend more time with your kids = have better relationships

These are just simple examples of a clear path to having growth in our life, health and relationships. Ironically, everything works together. Do you know what I mean by this? If you eat better foods and exercise you will feel and move better. You will have more vitality but you will also be tired at the end of the day. Especially if you are pushing it hard all day. When you put the kids down or decide to call it a day— choosing to read over watching the screens will encourage more rest before bed which naturally will lead to less stimulation and a better nights sleep. With your fitness and health on the rise plus good nights sleep you will have more time and energy with your kids.

We like to think our decisions live in isolation but that is not the case. Each decisions we make will affect the next place we are in.

Side bar… if you are struggling with sleeping I would highly suggest that you start training your fitness HARDER. Raise the intensity. Cut the screens a few hours before bed. Play with your kids and have quality conversation with your significant other. Read a book or simply just hang out. Wake up on your alarm clock. Move it down the room if you lack the discipline to not hit snooze (no shame here… I do the same things some of these days… which is why I physically GET UP to go shut off the alarm) Do this… it wont be long before you become an early bird.

More More More

Do more! Do this morning routine, this workout plan, this meal plan and read this book! Doing more is… well, it’s good. Till it’s not. It’s good till it becomes a god. It’s good till you burn out on the things that are supposed to be LIFE GIVING. It’s good… till it’s not! I’m all for flows, routines and goals. We need em. We need some structure in life in order to create the freedoms we desire. But when we make these routines and idol they end up stealing the freedom we once thought they provided. This is when I learned that some of personal development is about doing more. But even more of personal development is about doing LESS.

Less. Less. Less

Less scrolling. Less screen time. Less snacking. Less gossiping. Less booze. Less weed. Less overtime. Less arbitrary goals. Less eating out. Less filling every minute for the sake of filling every minute.

The list of “less” can go on and on forever. You need to examine your life to see where you need to implement the strategy of REMOVAL. What do you need LESS of? You need to know that even a GOOD thing can be taking from meaningful things. Even your learning can be a crutch to your quality family time. Even your fitness can be taking from your creative work flow. You’re going to need to be brutally honest with yourself on this. There’s no growth if you’re just rearrange your distractions for the sake of productivity! Distractions from what? MEANING. What is meaning to you? Meaning is when you’re sitting in bed reflecting on your day and feeling “anxious” or “guilty” about not spending that time and energy where you “know” you should. It’s easy to mistake “meaning” for “feeling”

^^What do I mean by this? ^^

What feel’s good in the moment may subconsciously feel like the place you are supposed to be. You may even consciously make this decision to choose ease over being intentional. This could look like choosing to scroll on the phone rather than to get on the floor and play with your son. That’s just 1 simple example— you should insert your own crutch so it is more real to YOU.

Your feelings are lying to you.

Has no one ever told you this?! “Follow you heart bro” NO! Don’t fall for this trap. The heart is deceitful, selfish and often- LAZY! Your feelings? Have you not noticed? They want you to believe you’ll have “rest” in those moments and while you (might) feel something like rest you KNOW you’ll be feeling tension later for missing the meaningful moments.

ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?

Do hard things

Do less things

Do more meaningful things