Aerial View:

• Intro thoughts

• Mindful Minute: Short term pain, long term peace.

• Conscious Consumer: Find the Good

• Quote of the day

• 3 key questions to reflect on

What’s up men, welcome back. It’s Monday night and I’m just sitting down to write this one now. I’ve grown far away from the buzzer-beater working habits, but between work, travel, events, and now hurricane prep in South FL, I haven’t had a moment to sit down and write. I am also using this as a way to test myself and see how effectively I can sit down, shut the world out, and formulate my thoughts into a consolidated piece, knowing the send time was coming up.

One of my goals with this newsletter is to only put out content I genuinely feel is ready to go out, that expresses my authentic truth, and adds value to your life. I usually spend a couple of hours, spread between Sunday and Monday morning, writing these. This allows me time to workshop both my thoughts and written (typed) word. Today, I have one hour to write this one. If you’re reading it and it’s Monday night, I was able to pull it off, and I felt good about it. If it ends up being a Tuesday send, that will be what is meant to be, and I thank you for your patience.

Today’s email is going to be heavily anecdotal and a lot about ME and my life, and will be written this way deliberately, in first person. I usually like to make things a mix of objective and subjective content, to provide a more holistic approach for you to be able to directly pull actionable insights out of.

But tonight I am thinking about a few recent experiences when I was able to take immense value from simply hearing how someone else thought and learn about their internal operating system. From there I was led to new ways of thinking and actually was able to more clearly assess and understand my own internal “Why?”. I am hoping you will be able to do the same. Alright, jumping in.

Mindful Minute - Short term pain, long term peace.

When I decided to start my own business, that was when I really started to take control of my own life. During that time I kept thinking about this analogy that I viewed to be the only two options for my future, based on my perception of the world around me.

Let’s say your life is 24 minutes long. And let’s say that you have 15 minutes left. There’s a fire roaring in front of you, and you have two choices.

Option 1: You have to keep your hand just close enough to the flames to be pretty uncomfortable for at least 12 more minutes, but most likely the remaining 15 minutes of life.

Option 2: You can stick your hand directly into the fire for 1 minute, and you’ll never have to touch the flame again AT ALL once you make it through the minute. And your hand is guaranteed to heal.

One minute of pain and serious discomfort, or the rest of your life with the fire just close enough to cause you constant discomfort and prohibit you from achieving peace? What would you pick?

For me, I believe in short term sacrifices and I practice delayed gratification. I have the utmost belief that the short term discomfort that comes with laying the foundation for a remarkable life will be far inferior to the long term impact, peace, and happiness that will come as a result. Thus, you know I am all for option 2.

This specific mental scenario was really impactful for me a few years ago. I was 26 and societal norms made me feel that these were my only options. Work forever, continuously hit singles and doubles, and keep coming after it year after year until you’re old. That sounds exhausting.

Or get up to bat, swing for the fences, and take a chance to hit a couple of home runs or even a grand slam, then retire early, or at least have the option to. I knew I didn’t want to work until I was old, and I still feel that way. I felt/feel that my ticket to early retirement was to build my own business, and let my future unfold from there- having that be the foundation for which I would build my future upon.

So I went for that option, and I am still on that path.

2 years later and my entire world is different. I’m in a new circle, at a new table, with people I never thought would even know my name, making a real impact on my life and on others. I am not close to being ready/able to retire by any means, but I do feel that I am closer to that goal than I would have been had I not taken this option.

So when I start to feel that I’m veering off course, I come back to this analogy. In order to do what I want to do for MOST of my life, I must do things that I don’t want to do for a small period of my life, and that period is the current moment. Easy tradeoff for me, only because of how crystal clear it was to me the type of life I wanted/want for myself.

My hand is still in the fire, but it’s not nearly as deeply in as it was at 26, and I’m incredibly glad to have taken this path. I hope this can enable you to take a step back and think critically about your own life, and what it is you truly want. From there, you can assess whether or not you feel that you are on the actual path towards achieving those desires or not.

What is YOUR short term fire? What is YOUR long term peace?

Conscious Consumer

Quote of the week

If you can appreciate where you are when you are not yet where you would like to be, it means you have the awareness and therefore the ability to take steps towards your desired location.

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

1. What short term sacrifices am I making towards the life I want?

2. Am I practicing delayed gratification in the gym, at work, in my personal life, etc.?

3. Do I think I have the ability to separate myself from the need for immediate comfort and gratification? If so, you hold the keys to any future you want.

My Ask of You

If you found value in this newsletter, I ask that you please share it with others:

• Forward it: Send this email to friends, family, and/or others.

• Talk about it: Share your thoughts on social media using #MindfulMan

• Invite others: Encourage those around you to subscribe here and join our community.

As leaders, it's our duty to help others. If you found this newsletter helpful, share it with someone who it can help. Change starts here, together.

Thank you for being here.

Sails up, eyes open.

Until next time,
Dan Baird