🤔 Morning thoughts (April 15 - 21)
Every Sunday I share a quote and a reflection on it for each day of the week.
Themes of the week: Purpose, Work, Vision, Adversity, Contribution, Value, Standards, Action
Sunday - April 21, 2024
"If you do it right, it’s also torture not to do it. The sled dog gets anxious if it doesn’t get to wear its harness. The horse wants to go out and trot. The bee dies if cut off from the hive. When you find what you’re meant to do, you do it"
Ryan Holiday, Discipline Is Destiny
Finding what you’re meant to do is the reward for putting in the work and eliminating everything else you’re not meant for. Cherish it and double down.
Saturday - April 20, 2024
"Declare your vision and wait decades to measure its success."
Patrick Bet-David, Choose Your Enemies Wisely
Can you clearly see what you want while imagining yourself working at it for the long game? Audacity is about decisiveness, commitment and patience more than it is about boldness.
Friday - April 19, 2024
Adversity truly introduces a man to himself
Wes Watson, Non-negotiable
What you lack is usually on the other side of something challenging or uncomfortable. Learn to see adversity as a conduit.
Thursday - April 18, 2024
"They are the three universal reasons for working. Survive—to meet your basic living needs. Save—to go beyond your basic needs and expand your life. And serve—to make a contribution to the world around you.”"
Bob Burg, The Go-Giver
The goal is to elevate your reason for doing the work to external motivation rather than internal. But there will always be work to do. Why do you do it?
Wednesday - April 17, 2024
"You need to answer the question: What benefits do you offer? By doing so, you will know how much value you are really bringing to people. If you don’t like your answers, you’re not going to attract people. If you’re not attracting people, it’s a sign you have more work to do to create success for others."
Patrick Bet-David, Choose Your Enemies Wisely
You are constantly selling yourself. Your results ultimately come down to you knowing it and doing your best to build a better product for yourself and for others. The demand is there. What are you supplying?
Tuesday - April 16, 2024
"The professional knows when he has fallen short of his own standards. He will murder his darlings without hesitation, if that’s what it takes to stay true to the goddess"
Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro
Your standards are there to keep you honest and humble. Without your own standards there is only unattainable perfection and excuses.
Monday - April 15, 2024
Your chance to be unique is in the actions you take after the epiphany. Nobody will be able to execute like you. The power of an epiphany is determined by the power of the actions that follow.
Kyle Eschenroeder, The Pocket Guide to Action
Only acting on your ideas will make you stand out. And not just any action, but the right kind of action. Action is the filter that tells others your idea survived contact with reality.
Another round of gems. Our writing group all bought a copy of Steven Pressfield's latest offering, The Daily Pressfield, and in exchange for the 10 orders he came on Zoom and spoke with our writer's group. War of Art will be a forever classic I re-read. That was a channeled work of genius.