I just came up with one of the most ridiculous, boring examples of a critical part to personal development. This morning as I was about to prepare my breakfast, a high-protein Kreatures Of Habit oatmeal, I noticed that the box was empty. I have plenty more, but they aren’t easily accessible. I store them in a cabinet tucked away behind some bigger bowls.

Originally I had the boxes of oatmeal in the front of the cabinet and the bowls behind it, but every time I needed the bowls (which was multiple times a week) I had to pull the oatmail boxes out to access them. It was an inconvenient process and I realized that if I flipped the way I organized things, bowls in front and boxes in back, that would be more efficient.

But… Only so long as I make another change. I make my oatmeal every day, and instead of opening the box every single time, I decided to pull the individual packets out and put them front and center and easily accessible. What that means is the only times I need to pull out the bowls to access the boxes in the back are when I need to restock packets that I store in the front.

What this did is it turned a daily problem of reorganizing my cabinets into a more coordinated, streamlined system. Every morning I can access my oatmeal easily because there are packets right there in the front… Any time I need a big bowl for my salad it’s right there in the front too. Only every 2 weeks or so do I need to go into the boxes of oatmeal packets in the back.

I share this because underlying everything we do is a system, and what gets output into our life is based on the quality of that system. The more thoughtful, organized, and designed a system is, the more efficiently it helps you generate a certain result.

And the thing about systems is that they take some time and thought upfront to be established. You need to invest now in order for them to produce for you later. But it doesn't need to be too difficult or elaborate - sometimes it can be as simple as looking at a problem, identifying the constraints, and brainstorming a different way of doing things that creates a much more sustainable result.

Let me tie it back to this example in my kitchen:

The problem was that I had to clear the cabinet to get to whatever is in back, which I needed access to often.

The constraint was that I had a tradeoff between making it easy to get into my box of oatmeal, and making it easy to pull out a bowl, and I couldn’t do both.

The new system is to have oatmeal available as packets, to move the bowls in front of the boxes, and every 2 weeks I replenish my access to packets by pulling out the bowls to access the box.

Ridiculous, I know. But insightful? I hope so!

If you feel like you’re overstretched, overwhelmed, burned out and behind on things... Just trying to keep your head above water... This one is for you.

One of the primary purposes of our personal development is to expand our capacity and streamline our effort. We have ambitions to live big lives with impactful careers, great habits, and strong relationships. We’re constantly in search of ways to improve so that then we can put more of ourselves in what we care about. 

However, if you find yourself on the opposite side of the spectrum - exhausted instead of inspired - it’s not a reflection that your self-growth isn’t working or that you’re failing. It’s just because you have a lot on your plate.

Perhaps you’re keeping tough to carry the emotional burden of your family, managing urgent and stressful situations in your work, and knowing that you’re not doing everything you want to be doing for yourself and your own wellness. It can be frustrating to know that so much needs to get done and you just don’t have the energy for it.

First, I want you to be able to accept how things are and give yourself permission that it’s okay to be tired. Everyone has a limit, and being worn out by life is an indicator that you’ve reached yours. 

But that’s not something to judge yourself about or feel ashamed of. It can actually be a really useful tool. It’s a prompt to help you think more about what specifically is causing you more stress, taking up more of your emotional capacity, and pulling from your inspiration. It urges you to audit your conditions, and in that awareness lies the wisdom of what you need to do next. 

If that’s the season you’re in and you want to get out of it, I’d ask you to identify your biggest constraint. Are you limited by time, navigating difficult situations, working with demanding people, or in the middle of something that requires a lot of you? Having an awareness for that it will validate your feelings and give you hope that you’ll be able to work through it. You can’t change what you’re not aware of.

Certain  periods of life are more challenging than others. It’s completely normal to feel the weight of that. But don’t use it as a reason to be hard on yourself. You’re allowed to be tired. It happens, and as long as you find small ways to be proactive about decreasing your commitments and increasing your self-care, you’ll find your way out of it. You got this!

Want to work your way back to where you know you can be? There are 9 micro-routines and micro-actions that create outsized effects in supporting your energy levels, improved daily productivity, and a strong mindset.⁠ ⁠Click here to learn the 9 Super Habits! ⁠

Like the good old days, one of my friends told me to just drop by at his house randomly to hang out. He’s not great at making plans, hardly gets back to text messages and calls, and told me that if I were to just stop in he’s always down to spend some time together. So last Friday I took him up on it and went over to his place.

I’d been over a few times before but this time looked different. I went to the side unit he lives in and it was completely empty.

Not just that he wasn’t there... But all of the furniture was gone.

When I turned around to leave a man I didn’t recognize was standing there curiously. “Hey are you here to see the unit?” He asked. “No, I’m here to see a friend.” I responded.

To that, this main explained how my friend moved out on short notice and has been gone for a week. He then started asking me questions, asked about my story, and before we knew it we were seated at a picnic table for an hour getting to know each other.

We uncovered some friends we have in common but truly, I got to hear his story. He’s a successful startup founder with a big acquisition, spiritually-grounded with extensive training as a Sufi, and a recent father with a 4 month old son.

What struck me most about this was his presence. As a stranger who he found lost on his doorstep, he took time away from his Friday to just connect. In a busy world where everyone has plans and an agenda, it was a rare encounter just like people used to have all the time.

And that’s the ironic part about. The original intention was to just stop by and visit a friend unannounced like the good old days, and instead I began a new relationship with an incredible person just because we happened to be in the same place at the same time.

Taking a step back, there’s a spiritual lesson in this as well. The things you want in life don’t always take the shape you expected them to. The more we can be unattached to the way we want things to be, the more channels the universe has available to deliver you what you need. I showed up for friendship, and I certainly left with it.

In today’s world, with the technologies we have access to, our ability to communicate with people online for free, and so many user-friendly tools available at our disposal… It has never been easier to start your own business and be successful with it. And rightfully so, many new industries have opened up and people have seized the opportunity.

Yet, many people still aren’t winning. They’re not as successful as they know they could be, should be, or want to be. And it doesn't make sense. If it’s easier than ever than why is it still so hard?

That’s because it’s also easier than ever to get distracted.

There’s so much opportunity, so many things to build a business around, and so many ways to move forward that many people don’t stick with one thing for long enough to be successful. They get distracted. And even though all of these incredible technologies and opportunities are available, they don’t create value on their own. You still need to take action to generate results, and the world today is constructed in such a way that we don’t need to work hard to survive.

We live in an economy of convenience where anything we want is available in a click, a world of entertainment and information is in our pocket, and our evolutionary predisposition to be lazy is being amplified by everything around us.

It’s a paradox: It has never been easier to be successful because there’s so much access and opportunity, but it’s never been harder to stay focused to leverage those tools to build something meaningful.

And while I’ve been presenting this specifically about succeeding in business, the same is true for succeeding in anything. Want to get in shape? There are more resources, quality education, and workout plans than ever. But it’s harder than ever to get yourself up and out of the house to do it.

Want to travel the world? Remote work is more acceptable than ever, and planning a trip that accommodates your needs is easy. But simultaneously we’re busier than ever, more overcommitted than ever, and it can be really hard to separate from those things to carve out the time to actually get away.

As far as I see it, the difference is simple: Those who are successful in today's world are the ones who actually follow through.

If you have access to the tools, use them. If you commit to a business or strategy, stick with it and don’t waiver. If you know what you need to do, do it. Access is abundant, but follow through is rare. And those who figure it out are the ones who capitalize on all of the opportunities today’s world has in store for them.

If you want to start following through and create the success you see for yourself, you might be able to learn from my personal Follow Through Framework. I call it my Self Improvement Scorecard, check it out here if you want to see how it works.

Let’s talk about the age-old question that is “what’s the meaning of life?” Easy topic right?

In the grand scheme of things, our life is pretty meaningless. At some point our planet will no longer exist, and everything that ever happened on it will have zero significance because it’s all gone. It can make your life feel really unimportant because no matter what you do, it’s all going to be erased.

And while that’s true over the long-term, it discredits what’s happening right now. In the world today there is joy, suffering, excitement, tragedy, and so much that people are experiencing. Our choices and actions today can feel insignificant because in the whole wide world, what are we going to do that’s actually going to change the course of humanity... But if you zoom in one layer further, your influence can be felt.

Your family, immediate community, collaborators, and even the strangers that you encounter - Your actions impact their experience. You can ruin someone’s day or be their hero. You can add to their stress and negative outlook, or you can be a refreshing source of gratitude. You can be the light that brightens their darkness… And I don’t care how big the world is, or how meaningless our planet’s history is on a universal scale, it matters.

You are more than just a speck in the world, you are the creator of it.

Because even in the macro picture of how the world operates, think about how it got there. It was from the collective actions of all of humanity. It didn’t happen randomly, it is the effect of every single person’s choices, actions, and influence. Yes, some figures are more influential than others, but ultimately they’re just shaping the systems that then drive each individual’s actions. It’s the individual, you, who builds our future every single day locally and globally.

What this means is - it is critically important that we are thoughtful about what we do. As long as we operate unconsciously, we’re aligning with the systems created for us and contributing to the world other people want to see, which in many ways we probably disagree with. But when we’re intentional about what we do, we start creating the world we want to see!

How you navigate that is your choice. You can create your own ways of doing things or align with people who also believe in what you believe in. Do not underestimate the power of your existence and the role you play in creating a better future.

Let me share my vision with you, and if you agree with it, then let’s get to work.

I believe that the most wasted resource on Earth is human intention. People have great ideas that they don’t follow through on. And I believe that if people were only to take action on their good intentions - to change their life and be the healthy, highly focused, disciplined person they’re capable of being, and to change the world by getting more involved in impact projects and initiatives that speak to their heart - the world would be a much better place.

So that’s what I’m building! And if that’s what you want to see in the world too, then let’s build it together.

A few weeks ago I reconnected with a friend who’s one of the most intense people I know. His name is Akshay Nanavati and in November he attempted a 1700 mile quest to become the first person to cross the continent of Antarctica, coast to coast, alone, without the assistance of sled dogs or kites. Unfortunately his adventure ended about a third of the way in, which all things considered was an incredible feat, and when we connected on the phone he was telling me phenomenal details about his experience.

Before starting, Akshay called this journey the Great Soul Crossing knowing that it would be a personally transformative experience. With that in mind, when I was on the phone I asked him something along the lines of, “With all of that time to contemplate life and existence, what’s something that stood out as a life-changing learning?"

Keep the conversation light... y'know?

To that, he started explaining to me the Paradox Of Oneness. Conventionally, we see things in life as a polarity between two ends - Life and death, good and evil, right and wrong, love and hate, happiness or sadness. Opposites are completely different in how we think about them and experience them. 

But that’s the superficial level… The paradox is that there’s a contradiction arguing that opposite ends of the spectrum are just different expressions of the same truth. That our differences in experience does not mean there’s separation between two things, but that there’s a necessary diversity that gives the highs and lows meaning. Life only has meaning because there is death, and love is only significant when compared to hate. We wouldn’t be able to feel to full extent of the emotion if the other didn’t exist. 

Here are a few examples to make it more tangible: You’re afraid to give a speech, but then after you finish it you feel deep pride and joy. Or you suffer for years training to cross Antarctica so that when you get there, you’re overwhelmed with inner peace. 

To put it another way, the Paradox Of Oneness explains how when you’re feeling pain it’s very difficult to feel bliss at the same time. Yet in order to have intense feelings of bliss, it requires past pain and suffering. This suggests that the pain is part of the bliss, and the bliss is part of the pain, even though they create such dramatically different sensations.

This paradox isn’t new to Akshay’s world - It’s something he’d already built his life and mission around, but it took on a deeper meaning during his expedition. His brand Fearvana is the marriage of Fear and Nirvana, encouraging people to do the things they’re most afraid of or think are impossible in order to squeeze more fulfillment out of life.

It was a fascinating conversation and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, and at the very least my sharing it helps you find purpose in everything you’re going through, good and bad, because it’s all contributing to your life experience.

One of the most fulfilling things we can do in life is pursue a goal that is challenging and gives us purpose. In my mind, personal development is a vehicle to help us make the most out of life, both in maximizing who we become and what we can contribute to others. Central to that process is identifying what you want and working hard to make it a reality.

Many people talk about what it takes to set and achieve goals, but today I’m going to take it in a different direction and get really tactical about it. When you break down goal achievement into its most essential parts, it actually becomes a lot simpler than it seems. 

First, you need to set your goal. A goal is just a representation of what you want your reality to look like. The more objective the goal the better because then you can more accurately measure your progress against it.

To shift reality in the direction of your goal, you need to take intentional action. Ideally this action has a lot of leverage in that it causes big shifts in reality that are as aligned and effective as possible. You never know perfectly well how an action will shift reality, so you select the actions that you believe have the highest likelihood of generating the results you want. 

All actions, no matter what they are, take time to do. So if you want to achieve your goals and ensure you’re following through on the required actions, you need to create a plan that allocates time for taking action. The best way to manage your time is by creating a schedule - a plan made in advance that incorporates all of the most important and highest priority actions that help you sustain progress toward your goals.  Having a schedule dramatically increases the chances that you’ll follow through with an intended action because you’ve dedicated a certain time and date to making it happen. Otherwise you’re hoping to remember to do it, and leaving it up to chance and less reliable systems. 

Now when it comes to increasing your consistency in creating a schedule for the day, you need to build a routine for it. Planning a scheduling routine is a pretty ‘meta’ concept - you’re setting aside time to organize how you’re going to spend your time in future moments. And building a reliable routine helps you to make a schedule consistently.

And to get consistent with a new routine, the best way to prompt yourself to do that is by having it cued in your environment. My favorite type of cue is an alarm that you set in your phone. When it goes off, it completely disrupts your consciousness, brings your attention to the desired routine, and prompts you to complete it.

All that to say... Setting an alarm is your first step to achieving your goals - Especially when that alarm prompts a night-time routine where you create a schedule for the next day, including time for your highest priority action items that most contribute to your most meaningful goals.

And that’s why setting an alarm is the very first thing you do in the 21 Day Super Habits Challenge. In just 3 weeks of building habits, routines, and systems off of one single alarm, you can set the foundation that helps you improve anything about your life.

It still takes work, but if it were that simple to achieve your goals, isn’t it worth a try? Click here to learn more about it, and don’t underestimate how impactful doing the right things can be!

If you want to improve anything - your health, your business, your network - you need to get started. Life change doesn't happen on its own, you need to be there to initiate it, and you can’t do that until you show up to do it. For many reasons that we’ll get into soon, showing up is hard to do. But there’s an outsized payoff to it that just about always makes it worth it: Either you win and get what you want, or you learn and you’re more prepared to win in the future.

James Clear, author of ‘Atomic Habits’, goes so far to say that there’s an ‘art to showing up’ which basically means that you can get creative in how to make it happen more often. His favorite recommendation is to use the 2 Minute Rule. For whatever new habit you need to start showing up for, just commit to doing the version of it that takes 2 minutes or less to do. For example if you’re trying to get in the habit of exercising, just take 2 minutes to get dressed for it. 

Or, if it’s not a habit but an experience or opportunity you need to show up for, you can break that down into 2 minutes as well. A networking event could be as simple as committing to being there for two minutes, or for a bold email you need to send you can commit to writing the subject line and the first sentence.

And the reason this works is because once you get started with something, the rest of the behavior naturally flows from it. When you’re thinking about doing something, your mind has a hard time quantifying it and blows it out of proportion. Once you’re in action, expectations tend to normalize, and whatever fear, doubt, embarrassment, or discomfort you were feeling beforehand… A lot of it goes away once you get started. 

Showing up is everything. Ed Lattimore has been quoted saying “The heaviest weight at the gym is the front door” and that’s because it’s the one that the fewest people have the strength to move".

The challenge is, showing up is hardest to do right after you didn’t. But it's when you most need to. You made a commitment and didn’t follow through, broke a streak, or set an intention and missed it… What happens next?

Naturally we want to avoid acknowledging the error, and we let a mistake one day turn into a week or a month of more mistakes. But when you show up after it, make yourself look honestly at your performance, and hold yourself accountable to the expectation you set, that’s how quickly make up for a mistake to lapse in judgment and get back on track.

That’s why I have the daily discipline of reviewing my day and my performance in my Self Improvement Scorecard. The practice of it makes me honestly reflect on how I did, the choices I made, and evaluate if I held myself accountable to my own high standards. Showing up there helps me show up everywhere else in my life. It clears my slate and helps me turn failure into lessons, as well as celebrate my successes. If you want to see my Self Improvement Scorecard, which I trust with my biggest goals and dreams, in action - Click here for the video I made where I walk you through it.

And if you’re feeling stuck with big ideas but little follow through, it’s because you haven’t mastered the art of showing up. Start there and everything else will change!