As much as you want to be the result of your own choices and convictions, you are not, there are billions of years of evolution swimming in your blood.
Your brain is trained to find the easy and safe path from your cave to your food source and back. Your brain is complex but when it comes to survival there are only two options: survive or not.
Nothing else matters.
To your brain, success is safety. failure is death. That is why failure is painful even when it has to do with trivial things like money and stature, and even…
Because you must.
You stand.
Unless your ship breaks to little pieces, you stand.
Unless the current pulls you into the darkness of the unknown, you stand.
Hands tightly gripping the wheel, feet apart, eyes on the next destination, heart poised, lips slightly bent, as every cell celebrates the moment with every breath you take.
You stand at the helm. Because you choose to.
You stand at the helm.
Because you can.
You stand at the helm.
Because you must.
You stand at the helm.
Because it’s your birthright.
You stand at the helm.
Because you demand more.
You stand at the helm. Because it’s who you are. You stand at the helm. Unstoppable.
Take it in
It’s your moment.
Take a breath.
Let it out.
Take another.
Let it out.
…
Sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself
You’re on a ship. Unrelenting wind and angry waves attack you from every direction.
No stars to guide you home. No safe harbour over the horizon. No clear destination.
You’re lost in the sea of life: calm and serene one moment, wild and unforgiving the next.
As king, high up in your imaginary throne of control, you proclaim your dominion over the elements, give orders to move forward, command the sea to settle down, and ask the wind to take you to your destination.
But you’re not king. You’re a captain.
Step on deck and take the fucking wheel.
Master
The sea owes you nothing.
With your first step on the deck — even if you are the most capable captain to ever steer a…
It’s midweek, on a Wednesday afternoon.
A glorious day at the start of the month. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself and got everything under control.
You receive an email from your old boss, inviting you to work on a promising project that you started together a while back.
One of your tweets is trending! You’re getting dozens of notifications, and you feel the need to jump into the conversation.
Your significant other suggests spending a few hours on the beach. You’ve been spending way too much time at the office, and he misses you.
The long-awaited sequel to your favourite movie of all time just dropped, and you just have to get the premier tickets before they run out.
…
Let’s go back to that Wednesday afternoon.
You receive an email invitation from your old boss. One of your tweets is trending. You want to take time to spend with your family, wish to go to the movies, should do your taxes, must meet your work deadlines, and you need to attend to a family matter…
Life’s demands keep coming at you.
Ideally, you’d address them all, but your time is finite.
Some demands require an in the moment “no time to think” snap response; others need contemplating, planning, and thoughtful decision making.
With the pressure mounting to respond, an email from your boss can, at times, seem as urgent and vital as a family emergency.
Completing a project task can…
It’s not enough to say yes to the things that matter most to you.
Yes is nothing without a no.
No is crucial to create the conditions for a state of flow, remove the unnecessary, the distracting and the trivial.
Say no to the unimportant, and the malicious little things that matter least, which feed on your time and leave nothing for the things that matter most.
By saying no, you are saying yes to focus, to productivity, to mastery.
A dramatic family member calling you to gossip and engage you in a toxic conversation that will drain you and ruin your day. No.
An unplanned meeting to discuss how to organize and clean the office fridge when a big…
Who has the time?
What does it take for you to enjoy this moment you’re living right now?
Probably a question you don’t ask yourself enough, if at all.
Maybe you don’t have time; you’re too busy thinking about the future to worry about this moment.
Maybe thinking about this moment is uncomfortable. Things may not be going that well, and your life is not where you want it to be.
You tell yourself, “the future will certainly be better.”
It’s when everything will be ok.
It’s when you’ll finally accomplish your life’s goals: get rich, meet the love of your life, buy your dream home, and become a valued member of the community.
Who has time to…
The indecision paradox.
With all the poise, confidence, track record, support, and confidence in the world, you still hesitate.
When the sea takes you by surprise.
When all the courage and determination goes poof.
When things get messy and your vision becomes blurry.
You hesitate.
Even when you have the skillset.
Even when you have the most complete toolset.
You still fuckin hesitate!
Even when you have all the information, all the connections, and all the access.
When making simple decisions, you hesitate.
But why?!
Because you think you can postpone a decision. You somehow think you can push it till later. When…
Life doesn’t ask for permission.
Life just happens. Things take place mostly with complete disregard to your well thought out plans and your new year resolution to “once and for all take charge of your life and become the master of your destiny.”
However, life is made up of things you love, things you hate, and things you just have to deal with regardless of how you feel.
Let’s say you
- love playing the guitar, working on a passion project, or spending time with friends travelling the world.
- hate going to the dentist for a regular check-up, and avoid long and meaningless meetings like they…
