Aerial View:

• Intro thoughts

• Mindful Minute: Why settle?

• Conscious Consumer: Live Healthillie

• Quote of the day

• 3 key questions to reflect on

What’s up men, welcome back. I’m in the middle of traveling around for a few weeks, and am definitely outside of the comfort of my typical routine. This always throws me for a loop and can put me into my own head a bit. When that happens, I try to take a minute and practice extra deliberate gratitude for the ability to have a routine in the first place. To be able to live a life I love, in a place I love, surrounded by people I love. This typically brings me back to Earth and is a reminder for all of the good in my life.

This brings us to the topic of today’s edition, a topic I am very passionate about: settling. If you know me, you know I do not believe in settling, nor should you. Let’s jump in and look at why.

Mindful Minute - Why settle?

There seems to be a general feeling of unhappiness in many people today. In my opinion, there’s a direct correlation between one’s unhappiness and the acceptance of one’s less-than-desirable life circumstance- AKA settling.

We live in a day in age where it is all too easy to settle. Whether it be a job, relationship, or even where one chooses to live, settling is a hard trap to avoid.

I believe for most, the tendency to settle starts right after college. There is immense pressure for students to graduate with a job lined up, which results in students taking a job, for the sake of the alternative: graduating without that security. Anything is better than nothing in this situation, or so we are led to believe. So most graduates take the safe route, and jump into a career in which is likely unaligned with their inner compass. This is the first domino.

What follows is the repetitive habit of settling. More often than not, young adults will move to a new city, start a career, find a partner, all because they feel like that’s what they HAVE to do. Before they know it, they’re in a career they don’t enjoy, in a city that doesn’t feel like home, with people they don’t really want to be with. Years fly by, and it becomes practically impossible to get out of the trap at this point, especially once more and more responsibilities have been taken on. The alternative becomes too scary and the unknown of making a change, as an adult, is far too risky, or so we think. In truth, it’s not really that risky, it’s just scary. Change always is.

What’s actually risky is going through the motions in a mediocre life. Life is far too short to be anything but extraordinary.

Because society has ostracized those that are exploring-those without a steady, predictable, and safe life trajectory, we’ve been led to believe that there’s really only a few acceptable ways of how to live our lives. The reality is that there are an infinite number of ways we can and should be living our lives. The only voice that matters when making decisions, especially decisions of great magnitude, is your own internal voice.

What’s the takeaway here? When we go from situation right into situation, with no time or space between, we don’t allow ourselves to slow down, catch our breath, and really introspect about what it is we like and want. Before we know it, decades go by and most of life has seemingly been lived at that point.

But it’s never too late to course correct. Ever. 18 years old, 30 years old, 50 years old- anyone can make a change towards living a life truly desired.

How do we push back and avoid settling and all of the gloominess that comes with it? By living lives worth living- lives that ignite the fire in our bellies, day in and day out. That starts with a choice. We have the power and ability to make decisions that put us on this path, it just requires us to take the road less traveled, be comfortable going against the grain, and explore. You might not know what it is you really like, but this provides for a beautiful opportunity to try new things and find out.

You are the captain of your life, and you have the power to make decisions that put you on the path you WANT to be on. Are you walking on the path you want to be on?

Conscious Consumer

Quote of the week

The last two lines of the famous poem Invictus hold a special place in my heart and are pertinent to today’s content. When Henley was dying with tuberculosis, he wrote this poem. In the face of extreme adversity, as his health slipped away, these two lines are what he held on to to remind himself that no matter the situation, he still had power and control over his response to the situation. We choose how we respond. This principal, when harnessed in adversity is powerful, yes. But when harnessed around the clock, can yield lifelong results in your favor. You are the master of your fate.

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

1. Am I letting the societal pressure of how things “should be” overpower my internal dialogue of how I would like them to be?

2. How do you answer the question of “How is everything going” when you connect with an old friend or relative? Do you default to “things are fine” or “They’re going” ? Pay attention to your responses and their implications here.

3. If money wasn’t a concern, what would you be doing?
   Now, since money is still importing, as it is 2024, how can you use your answer to this question to align it with an opportunity to earn and provide for yourself but in a way that is closer to something that you would love, or at least like, to be doing?

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Thank you for being here.

Sails up, eyes open.

Until next time,
Dan Baird