Aerial View:

• Intro thoughts

• Mindful Minute: Enjoying the journey AND the destination

• Conscious Consumer:  The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness, by Eric Jorgenson  

• Quote of the day

• 3 key questions to reflect on

What’s up men, welcome back. I’m writing this one from 35k feet up on a flight to Austin. In a shocking turn of events, after an hour delay, I ended up with the full row to myself. I’m feet up extended across all three spots now-living large. Mindfulness in action- when the announcement came on that we were delayed, I wasn’t phased much by it. Thinking back, years ago, I 100% would’ve been pissed about this the moment I heard it. Then I would’ve carried that negative energy around for hours. To me, that’s growth. There are certain situations where the outcome is quite simply out of our control, this being a prime example. What CAN we control in this situation? Our response.  In these situations, acceptance can be a superpower. Hour delay? Cool. An extra hour to get caught up on work & people watch. 

Response = controlled. Energy = up. Momentum = maintained. 

Alright, into the heart of it today. Something that’s been on my mind lately has been the concepts of happiness when pursuing big ambitions, moving targets, and an ever rising baseline. Let’s dive in.

Mindful Minute - Finding happiness in the journey AND the destination

You set your sights on a goal, you work your ass off, you inevitably hit that goal, and upon doing so, you realize your inner emotional state didn’t automatically improve upon completion. Now you’ve spent time, energy, and effort in pursuing an outcome that didn’t actually bring you the happiness you mentally attached to it. You’re left questioning your choices and second guessing why you worked so hard to reach a destination missing the key prize- happiness. 

So you set out again. This time- a new target, thinking happiness must be there, and you’ve actually just reached a false summit, and your goals were just too meager. Bigger goals, bigger accomplishment = happiness. Must be, right? Maybe, but most likely not. It’s incredibly easy to get stuck pursuing ever-moving targets, never to truly find the elusive happiness that we attach ONLY to a destination. 

How many cycles have to go by before it finally clicks in that happiness can, and MUST be found, in the pursuit, as well as the end goal. Think about the time spent on the journey up a mountain, versus the final moment of hitting the peak. 99% of that time is uphill, and 1% is at the summit. Do we just allow ourselves to be on autopilot and incapable of joy for 99% of the time? Simply because we’re not there yet? It’s an obvious answer, and it seems silly when you think about it that way, but most of the time, we automatically fall prey to this mindset. And being ambitious, driven men, we’re always working towards goals- so we are especially susceptible to falling into this cycle. Which means we need a hyper vigilant lens of awareness here. 

So how do we deal with this? 

We as men have a tendency to take the wins in stride, belittle them, and quickly move on. I’d start there. If you don’t already, write your goals down. I’m not talking about the big exit, the fairytale ending type goals. I mean the small, mid, and moderate sized goals. The weekly, monthly, and yearly targets. Get them on paper or on screen. And as you make progress and check them off the list, celebrate. Set little outcomes for the goals if you need to. This can allow you to be more incentivized but also revel in the wins. 

Next, journal. Journaling gets a bad rap because of the comparison to diary entries. This is where selective filtering needs to occur, and as leaders, we need to let words go right over our heads when they do not serve us or the greater good. For journaling, the outcome/benefits far outweigh the weight of any chirps or criticism that may or may not arise from insecure peers. 

Your thoughts need to go somewhere, and we’re used to keeping them in as men, because it’s what we were brought up doing. Time to break that down by getting your thoughts on paper- it’s the ideal starting place. When you express your thoughts (verbally or written), you bring the positive or negative energy up and out of your mind and into the world, releasing you from it’s grip. When it’s negative energy, this has a freeing effect. When it’s positive energy, this has a celebratory effect. It’s a win-win for both good and bad. Your thoughts need a place to go, so get them down on paper to allow for a more river-like mind, rather than a dam. Journaling the positive (as opposed to only the negative) has been a more recent practice for me. I now bring conscious effort into wrapping the day up with two quick lists, before brain dumping onto the page. The first list is “Grateful” and the second one is “Wins”. I just put anywhere from 3-6 items in each based on my reflection for the day. This forces deliberate acknowledgement of daily accomplishments worth celebrating/being grateful for, and in turn, allows us to feel them, instead of just taking them in stride as if they are expected. 

My favorite benefit of getting things down on paper is that since you’re a man who plays the long game, in a couple years, you can look back at your entries, and see how far you’ve come. Last week, I read old entries from 2015-2018, and it was crazy to think of how far I’ve come. That came with some genuine deep felt pride and appreciation that I likely would not have felt without the journal entries as the catalyst. 

Bottom line here guys- We have to acknowledge and accept that the wins are spread out, and that the pursuit takes up the majority of the time. I’m of the belief that happiness can be a choice. That choice starts with presence. Make time for the little things you know you love that bring you joy along the way. The ultimate man, the mindful man, finds a way to accomplish his goals without being a slave to them, making it look effortless and enjoyable along the way, because it is. It might require you to slow down just a bit, but I can assure you this: it’s worth it.

Conscious Consumer - Book Spotlight

I don’t want to provide too much information on this book, as to prevent any predisposition. This book is easy to rip through, and contains GOLD. Read the quote below for a sneak peak. If you aren’t familiar with who Naval is, I highly recommend learning about him. The guy just gets it.

Quote of the week

Rise and Reflect - 3 Questions to Inspire Impactful Action and Critical Reflection

1. Did my actions this past weekend get me closer or further from my goals?
   

2. For this week to be successful (YOUR definition of success), what will need to happen?  What about the month? The year?
   

3. Am I letting external situations outside of my control dictate my internal state? Why?

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Sails up, eyes open.

Until next time,
Dan Baird