Life is juggling...
This is the point between our Yin and our Yang. This newsletter helps keeps us there.
Juggling
We are always juggling. The more balls in the air, the more balls that can hit the ground.
I was actually juggling the other day thinking about that very idea. If I'm juggling cascade (what I'm doing in the video), it's generally no problem and I can maintain the control. When I attempt to juggle columns, add a ball, increase the height, or move around, it all begins to fall apart. With practice I can up my skill level and increase my ability to do more, but at some point I will always break.
The challenge for us is to find the balls that we have to catch (health, joy, family, friends, spiritual). Then its the balls that we want to catch better (practices, habits, minds states) that we work on leveling up. Finally its the aspiration balls (fun and play) that the process is the thing. We need to lay the foundation and the baseline skills and then we can add more tricks and techniques as we level.
Do the important things and catch those balls first. Once you get that down you get to keep layering in more fun and play. Sometimes we are in survival mood and its sleep, diet, movement and mental health. Other times we are in grip it and rip it mode. Its our yin and yang.
Hopefully you are able to grip it and rip it some this weekend!
Interesting Bites:
Remember We Have Zero Lives Remaining
Have little ones, turning 40, watching friends leave this Earth, and having to continually change up what things bring me joy keeps it top of mind that it all ends. What we have is NOW and we have to keep growing changing and evolving.
As Alexis writes:
Executives Need Coaches, Too
I only got an executive coach three years ago and it’s easily been one of the most valuable investments I’ve made in myself professionally, and personally. We often push founders to executive coaches and consistently check-in with them in good times and bad to make sure they’re taking care of themselves.
You’re going to need to keep growing as a leader and getting outside perspective and guidance is a natural part of the process. Take care of yourself because you’re not getting uploaded to the cloud anytime soon. And when things do get hard, which they will, you especially need to prioritize your well-being.
Take Ownership Of Your Most Valuable Asset
Yourself. That starts with exercise and wellness for your body and your mind.
Your environment has an outsized effect on your outcomes. It’s not just the people you surround yourself with (remember: you’re the average of your five closest friends) but also the places where you spend your time. Your work, your home, that amazing spot where you finally use some of your vacation time… get yourself out of situations and away from people who are not making you better.
Bias for sensational Events from a Learning a Day
Actions We Can Take:
File under another reason not to watch / listen / read the news or when you do make sure to step back and analyze it
Watch your emotional reaction to news / studies / headlines and then take a breath
Take the long view (longnow.org is my favorite organization around this concept)
This reminds us of the the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect:
“The Gell-Mann amnesia effect describes the phenomenon of an expert believing news articles on topics outside of their field of expertise even after acknowledging that articles written in the same publication that are within the expert’s field of expertise are error ridden and full of misunderstanding.”
How Elite NBA Athletes Handle Pressure
Pressure. We all feel it. Sometimes its gunning for the NBA championship. Sometimes its just trying to wind down and go to sleep.
Key ideas:
Slow down if you feel yourself speeding up
Simulations / Visualizations
Practice harder than you play
Repetitions
Reframing
Deep Breaths
I don’t care or F it approach, its ok to fail
Things to Listen to:
Naval - How to Get Rich - All Episodes
Naval on the Joe Rogan Podcast
Naval is giving Charlie Munger a run for the money on being my favorite crisp clear thinker with ideas you should be implementing in your life.
Key Concepts:
A Calm Mind, a Fit Body, a House Full of Love
Happiness is a choice —> You decide your Reality
Continually education yourself especially as an adult
Play Long-term Games (see below for Infinite Games) With Long-term People
Integrity is what someone does, despite what they say they do
Don’t partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling.
Specialization is for insects (Like Bunkminster Fuller said be a generalist)
Have the ability to start over
Train hard, sprint, rest and reasses —> FOR EVERYTHING WORTH DOING
You want wealth which = Freedom. This reminds us of Jockos idea that Discipline = Freedom because that is where true wealth starts
Skip the Status Games
He quotes Talib -“With my family, I’m a communist. With my close friends, I’m a socialist. At the state level of politics, I’m a Democrat. At higher levels, I’m a Republican, and at the federal levels, I’m a Libertarian.”
Quotes from Naval’s podcast
“I don’t care how rich you are. I don’t care whether you’re a top Wall Street banker, if somebody has to tell you when to be at work, what to wear and how to behave, you’re not a free person. You’re not actually rich.”
“If all of your beliefs line up into one political party, you’re not a clear thinker. If all your beliefs are the same as your neighbors and your friends, you’re not a clear thinker – your beliefs are socialized they’re taken from other people. If you want to be a clear thinker, you cannot pay attention to politics – it will destroy your ability to think.”
“To me, peace is happiness at rest and happiness is peace in motion. You can convert peace to happiness anytime you want.”
“Everything you’re a winner at now in your life, you were a once a loser at”
“If you’re smart, you should be able to figure out how to be happy. Otherwise, you’re not that smart.”
James Carse on Intellectual Explorers Podcast
James Carse wrote Infinite and Finite Games which is a great system to underwrite how you should live your life. Play infinite games with other folks playing infinite games.
(See Infinite and Finite Games). "There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite. Finite games are those instrumental activities - from sports to politics to wars - in which the participants obey rules, recognize boundaries and announce winners and losers. The infinite game - there is only one - includes any authentic interaction, from touching to culture, that changes rules, plays with boundaries and exists solely for the purpose of continuing the game. A finite player seeks power; the infinite one displays self-sufficient strength. Finite games are theatrical, necessitating an audience; infinite ones are dramatic, involving participants.. “
