Category: Life

You Are What You Do

From Derek Sivers’ new book,

No matter what you tell the world or tell yourself, your actions reveal your real values. Your actions show you what you actually want.

‘Hell Yeah or No‘

There are podcasts I want to start, websites I want to launch, campaigns I want to champion, but more and more I see my focus, my “spare time,” is devoted to running. My physical fitness.

Hours per week not just to running, but stretching, the food prep, more stretching, the cool down, the extra rest time devoted to recovery from a hard or long workout.

Of value to me – right now – is physical well being. Running keeps me focused, it clears my head, it manages my stress, it helps me unwind, it gives me something to accomplish each day that’s not just a check box in Todoist.

It sounds simple, but it’s become either “Hell Yeah or No” for me. I’ve recently turned away work because it was not a hell yeah. A friend wanted me to start a music-based podcast with him, revolving around one of my favorite bands, but it just wasn’t a “Hell Yeah” for me.

Hell yeah is 11 miles in a snow storm. It’s a 13 mile bike ride, then a four mile in the middle of a heat wave. It’s “just another run” when it’s pouring rain outside.

That’s my hell yeah, and I’m getting better at realizing that.

Nothing is Real

This is a refrain I jokingly toss around, especially lately. COVID-19 is tearing through America, billionaires have made more billions during this horrible pandemic, sports leagues think they’ll play this fall, and like.. I don’t know, nothing seems real.

This lightens the load a bit with work, with finances, with everything else in life. If nothing is real, what matters?

Of course, the opposite is true. Everything is real. The tension, the uncertainty, the loss; everything we’re feeling is very real.

Being present helps. Being in the moment, in the now, absolutely helps. The whole “just mediate 10 minutes a day” thing is very real.

Counting your breaths and being very present on an hour and a half run helps, too.

Money Is a Game

In an episode of Akimbo (“Money Moves“), Seth Godin equates money as a game, not as a personal indictment on your self worth or status. (Permalink here to the time stamp of the below text).

All of the things I’ve talked about are strategies around the game of money. That money is always moving, that money grows, that money costs, that cash flow matters. But it’s a game, it’s not personal. And what we need to do as productive artists and professionals who create things, is to say, when money is involved, we have to put our game hat on. That this isn’t a personal referendum on who I am, and what I am worth. It’s a game, and I can play it to make more money, or I can play it poorly. But as soon as we conflate it with who am I as a human, what do I count for, what am I worth? Then we’re going to lose that game.

I’ve been there, and I know friends there now, and friends that have gotten out. It’s up and down, goes in cycles. But we have to be careful to not equate the lack of work, of money, with our own self worth.

Time is an Asset

I love this piece from Seth Godin:

Twenty hours a week for a year and you can know something that puts you in a new category. Access to knowledge isn’t nearly as difficult as the desire to learn.

The 100 hour asset

I can look on my iPhone right now and see how many hours I spend on social media. But if I spent that time writing? Working on a podcast? Refining my business? Damn, I could be miles ahead of where I’m at now in a year.

Mind you, I try not to flog myself too bad with this, since I do commit many hours per week devoted to fitness, in the form of biking at cycling (this week I should hit 20 miles running and 40 miles biking), but still, doom scrolling through Twitter when I wake up, and when I go to bed… neither times are very helpful.

Food is always an Adventure

I sort of struggle with my weight. When I got my first office job back in 1998, I packed on 50lbs real quick, and I’ve had problems getting it off ever since.

Starting running in 2016 helped a lot, and then working with a nutrionest a bit in 2019 helped, but then I hit a wall. Then the pandemic hit, which has led to all sorts of stress:

when cortisol levels stay high, this is why stress can impact our sleep, energy levels, metabolism, and libido, and lead to declining productivity levels, fatigue, weight gain, constipation, poor concentration, and even depression.

Fast Company

My productivity has fallen off, but my weight gain has been an “issue.” I use quotes because I’m going easy on myself – we’re in the middle of an unprecedented world event, and it ain’t getting any better here in the United States. And really, I’m not eating fast food multiple times a week, or even eating horrible foods – I just love to snack.

Putting this out there because I just don’t see many men talking about this sort of thing. It’s either HOW TO GET RIPPED or RUN FAST or FASTING and shit, and I just don’t want any part of that noise, in part because of working with Grayson Murphy for nutrition and run coaching.

This week I’m trying to eat hearty salads for lunch, rather than my go-to burritos, which are pan-fried in oil with LOTS of stuff (zucchini, onions, broccoli, beans, fake-meat, etc.), so hoping less oil, fake meat, and tortillas will help.

Defeat by Tweet

Trump Tweets, money is raised for Black-led political organizers in swing states. I love this, and signed up to donate a penny each time this idiot Tweets.

Movement Voter PAC (MVP) has vetted a group of Black-led organizations that work in nine key swing states, engaging in local elections including for district attorney, sheriff, and judges.
By focusing on organizations doing work on these issues in key states, we can expand the base of black voters and black political power and have the greatest impact on the outcome of November’s presidential election and the makeup of the US Senate.
MVP has vetted participating organizations for their track record on moving the needle on criminal justice reform as well as their financial need and growth potential.

Defeat By Tweet

It’s All Serious Stuff

This quote is just the tip of an iceberg, a rabbit hole stemming from an offhand Tweet, to the struggle that BIPOC / LGBTQ+ face everyday in life and work:

On one hand, I find myself thinking, “astrology is a silly thing to get worked up over, especially when there are such big, important issues going on in the world right now.” 


But on the other hand, it angers me how deep these systems that marginalise women, POC, queer people, and any other group that’s not cis men, run in our lives. 


And most people don’t even realise that somewhere in Cupertino, a white man is sitting in a conference room making decisions about what categories of apps can and cannot even exist for you to download onto your phone.

Rachel Lo, co-founder of Struck

Nothing Is Real

This is a little phrase I’ve been repeating here and there lately. Perhaps we’re living in a computer simulation. Or maybe in the Fight Club-esque mindset, that our lives are tied to computer records. Deeper yet, we’re plugged into the Matrix, and really we’re all fast asleep, living in a computerized dream world.

If nothing is real, it’s a sure thing that everything is fucked. COVID-19 is as real as ever, and cops (and their budgets) are out of control.

In the mont of June we’ve been raising funds with Metal Bandcamp Gift Club, coming together to raise almost $1,300 for bail and legal funds.

Went to my first protest this past weekend, and kept my head on a swivel, staying alert for any wackadoo who might start any trouble. It felt good, though, and I want to stay involved.

Black lives matter. Defund the police. Pay teachers.

Moments are Moments

My cat broke my french press in the middle of the night, chasing a mouse – on the counter. We live in farm country, so having mice is sort of typical. A 13lb cat slamming into drying dishes, well, that’s something different.

Didn’t realize how much my day is tied to routine. Not having that morning coffee threw me for a loop. Visited my local Starbucks, thinking I could snag from through the drive-thru, but they’re closed now due to the corona-virus.

Work call, work stuff, all without my coffee. All the washed silverware fell back into the sink in a crash. Computer was acting up.

My 3pm, I said “fuck this” and went for a run (well, hit Target first for a new french press).

All those bad moments in the early part of the day – it’s easy to let them keep rolling, and before you know it it’s now a bad day.

I knew I could have stayed home, buckled down on my laptop, skipped my run, probably scroll through Twitter a bit too much, read the news.

I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s possible. Do I always win? Nah. But today, the moments stayed moments, and today was a good day.