Letters To My Son

We should be remembered for the things we do. The things we do are the most important things of all. They are more important than what we say or what we look like. The things we do outlast are mortality.

Success to me is giving full effort, knowing that was the best I was capable of. Full effort means nothing if day-to-day preparation was not all I had. Success to me is giving everything I have into each and every day, each and every moment, training, recovery, family, friends, giving back, inspiring, loving what I do.

You are an artist, and your own architect. Not talking or explaining or promising, but simply showing, leading, earning respect from yourself, attention from the masses, and a place in history.

You have everything you need. And life is not always perfect, but it is always what you make it. How things are, it’s not how they should be or need to be. But how you’ve allow them to be.

Be quiet, still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. If you’re willing to experience the grace and power of solitude.

Normal was every second you wanted to take that easy road, and did not. And from those moments from the normalcy of the day to day, from the very heart of the unspectacular, the extraordinary, is born from this process.

You’ve missed your shot at a promotion. So work harder, put yourself on a pedestal so high that it will be impossible to get past them next time. The past is not telling you know. It’s giving you inside and momentum for the future.

Society will adapt, and conform to you, simply because you didn’t bow down to it. There’s brilliance there, it just needs to be believed in and refined.

When that intersection of real and imaginary blend together, possibilities, multiply. Limitations crumble and fall and failure is no longer an endpoint. It’s an invitation to begin again.

Life becomes simple, and how beautiful simplicity is. It’s shining a spotlight on what matters. It’s clarity. It’s taking control. It’s picking up the clay and molding what you want to mold. It’s opening the door and deciding to walk through.

Think of having a backpack, limited capacity, the things you put in there should provide value on your trip. You’re not going to put things in there that you don’t need, they only way you down, and won’t help you get to your destination.

Vulnerability or safety? Safety, that innate desire to not disrupt or challenge the way things are. Even when you know in your core, there’s more out there. Safety is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Watching life happen through a window is extremely safe, but it means you’re forfeiting the essence of life in exchange for a front row seat to watch others live it.

Here’s to breathing in that ocean breeze, laughing until your stomach hurts. Here’s to reconnecting with an old friend who you met 40 years ago. Here’s to dreaming like there are no rules and living like there’s no tomorrow, to creating your masterpiece one word, one note, one brushstroke at a time.

I could see the aging as a reminder of life’s impermanence, and realize that I have less time now than I did at 19, and set out to make the most of the moments I have left.

How about taking a look at our own harsh judgment of people? What if they had the chance to be everything but jerks? What would that open up in our lives?

There is always a place for you, amidst the summers of life, even when it’s hard to see. Even when it feels impossible, cold, dark, and lonely. You are always on your journey back here. Always.

As we turn to page, we are refreshed and invigorated. But “new” has a short lifespan. New eventually gives way to the same realities we’ve dealt with in the last chapter, the same struggles, the same obstacles. So no, the answer to change is not novelty. It can’t be.

If you set your bar at amazing, it’s awfully difficult to start. Your first paragraph, sketch, formula, sample or concept isn’t going to be amazing. Your 10th one might not be either. Keep persevering. Keep fighting.

This is the Uber practical, scientifically, proven way to bring your dreams to life. Wish + Outcome + Obstacle + Plan.

“Knowing who you are - and who you are not - is essential. But it is only the starting point. All the talent, motivation, and hard work in the world will not be valued or remembered if it does not help another human being”.

So today, and for the rest of your life, focus on the 12 things that make a truly high value man instead of just money, and life will completely changed around you.

“I’m the first to admit we live in a wacky world. I often scratch my head at what passes for “normal” and I’m often pained by the enormous amount of suffering in our communities in the world”.

The public sees it as the random person on the street, or the guy at the end of the bar, or the quiet woman at work, or even perhaps our own best friend that also happens to be a roommate. They don’t see it as a family member, a friend or a neighbor. Our picture is distorted.

When others see how much you have changed, they’ll feel they ought to change, too, for it is contagious. It is magic.

We should all practice mindfulness every single day so when these moments arise, we know how to move forward, productively, and never look back for the answers. Understanding that you only have control over the present moment is the key to being able to turn the page.