11 Hills I Will Die On
The idea comes from the military, with the literal meaning of: Are you willing to give your life to defend this particular piece of land?
Doing the deep innerwork makes walking the outer journey as clear as day
The reason life feels messy and confusing is because your mind and heart are messy and confused and probably unaligned (huge red flag you’re not living from the heart)
Heart alignment in life is a treasure and surrendering to your nature is the path to it
If you are ambitious, you cannot stay friends with insecure people
They cannot love you because you will magnify an insecurity they have in themselves and when you get knocked down they will not be able to help rebuild you
I have been the friend on both sides of this
Self-love is foundation for all love
The most important dialogue is the one you are having with yourself
There is a tectonic shift in your life when you focus on choosing yourself and loving yourself
Everything we look at is a reflection of ourselves
I observe this most in people who notice the beauty in the small things and the people who complain about the smallest things
“Will you answer the call?” That is the artist’s life
Anytime I share my writing, give speeches, or do storytelling, it is because I feel called to do it— this strong sense of I can’t wait to share this with people propels to do it
My developing theory is that the longer you go with ignoring the calls you feel, they eventually stop and they will go to someone else (adopted from the theory of ideas being channeled through people in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic)
The ultimate work you can do here is God’s work
I don’t want to get to the gates of Heaven and have God tell me that I didn’t use the God-given gifts for the work I felt in my gut I was supposed to do, I want to get there feeling fully exhausted for having done everything I felt called to
“What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” - Hans Urs von Balthasar
Your #1 job is to be an expert in yourself and then BE as most yourself as fucking possible
#1 who you are #2 what you want — 2 questions very much worth your time in knowing clear answers to
You live the version of your life you choose to focus on
Adopted from Tony Robbins’ quote: “You don’t experience life, you experience what you focus on. What’s wrong in your life is always available but so is what’s right.”
Think about everything that happens in one day of your life. Did you notice the man who stood next to you on the subway or the barista who rung you up for the coffee? You only experience what you noticed to focus on. Best part: you can choose what you want to focus on.
Beauty isn’t seen, it’s felt
How you make people feel around you is whats beautiful about you, not the way you appear
I think the reason people love sunsets so much is because it gives us a feeling of beauty— the calmness, fortunate to get to see something so naturally beautiful, and gratitude to live another day
Legacy can’t be built in slogging your work day in and day out
Adopted from David Senra of Founders Podcast, a quote he keeps on his wall: “I’m not a fan of moderation, I’m attracted to extremes. What do you want your life experience to be? Do you want to be exceptional? Do you want to push the boundaries of your capabilities? Do you want to walk around in a fog budding up against your potential but never actually realizing it? Then knock yourself out. Be moderate. I’m not interested in that.”
I fucking love that quote
Humans were not born to be bored
You can’t bore people into listening to your speech, paying attention in your meeting, buying your product, or consuming your content
Adopted from MGM Brands and David Ogilvy’s principle: “don’t be a bore, you can’t save souls in an empty church”