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Ideas, taken seriously, compound.
This week has been one for the books. Throughout the last year and a half of writing, I’ve done immense work to clear up my mental landscape and get my shit straightened out. And the truth is…it worked.
Not only has it worked, but it’s compounding. Things are building off of one another in my mind. Frameworks overlapping. Patterns of behavior becoming permanent. And a state of sharpness I’ve never felt before.
It’s an amazing spot to be in, but it’s taken a shitload of hardwork. Plus tears. Plus sweat. Plus some gray hairs.
This week, I chose to catch a new groove and level up across the board on my existence. I demanded more of myself.
Not in a negative, punishment-type way. More of a you are capable of excellence type way.
Whether it’s staying on top of chores, scheduling, work stuff, presence, communication, movement, nutrition, all of it.
It’s weird, but it turns out that it’s easier to excel at everything than just one or two things. It’s an entirely different approach.
It’s a shift from discipline to devotion.
I became devoted to betterment this week. And as soon as I did, the world responded with the clearest signs & signals.
Here are a few as an example:
WILD.
So, anywho, it’s been quite a magical week and I don’t have any new ideas to share. Instead, I wanted to circle back on the 5 most fruitful ideas I’ve put to use so that you too can implement them and reap the compounding results in your own life.
Oh, and by the way, I ranked these from Impactful (1) to Most Impactful (5).
Let’s dig in:
One of the biggest advantages of living in the time you do is the cognitive surplus you’re allotted each day.
You have several hours each week when you’re not working or sleeping. And chances are, a portion of those hours can be put to a different use.
Yes, of course, get your relaxation in, but make time to explore your curiosities in a more tangible way…Make Something!
Other than this writing I’ve been doing, the best example I have of being productively curious is from creating the Psychedelic Grad community.
It led to a ton of serendipity with the people I have been able to meet, opportunities presented, and perceived credibility gained.
I put many of my surplus hours to use instead of consuming as usual and it worked out. Even if it didn’t, it was such a fun thing to get involved with that I don’t regret it.
I’d bet there’s something you’re into that needs your energy & creativity to exist too.
You know you’re starting to properly address your mortality when your behavior begins to change. Until then, it still hasn’t sunk in.
Once you do gain that perspective, you can start jumping into things like the envy and jealousy you’re holding onto. You realize what you ought to cherish in your own life and how you don’t actually want what they have to a T. Remembering that at some point you’ll be dead and gone (and basically forgotten about) will completely minimize the importance of other people’s opinions of you. There’s no need to wait for approval to live the life you want to live.
If you need the world to love and accept you before you act, you’ll be waiting eternally.
Wikipedia defines it as "a decision-making strategy or cognitive heuristic that entails searching through the available alternatives until an acceptability threshold is met."
It means to make ‘good enough’ decisions. It's better to make quick good decisions and iterate each time for improvement, than aim for perfection & spin your wheels for too long. 'Good enough' keeps you moving.
You’ll be wasting the valuable resources of time & energy if you opt to try and make a perfect decision. The regret factor here is important because what you deem to be the perfect decision can still end up being the wrong decision - in which case you’d have more regret about than a satisficing decision that required much less effort.
Time is weird and having to hold the entire future of your life in mind at all times is burdensome.
Something that is providing me with immense relief and focus is switching my attention to just the day at hand. And not in some ‘live each day to the fullest’ cliche type way either. I mean literally to make the boundaries of your mind and focus exist between waking up and going to bed that night. I find that it’s less taxing mentally and I’m able to deviate less from what I set out to do each day when all I have to conquer is the next 24 hours, vs. months, years, and decades ahead.
By lowering the bar of what you’re up against, you can go farther with less mental strain, more goal accuracy, and a deeper lived experience.
Highly recommend.
There’s no other idea that’s changed my mental landscape more than this one.
Active Imagination gives me the ultimate tool for personal growth, self-healing, and inner exploration - nothing else has come close. And the best part is I’ve already gotten so much out of it with only barely scratching the surface. It’s really founded on a paradigm shift from thinking I’m just this one singular voice in my head to recognizing I’m actually made up of like a few hundred characters within.
This technique is all about learning to work with those characters, reducing their burdens, and making the unconscious conscious.
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Hopefully you get as much value from implementing these ideas as I did.
They’ve changed my life for the better in impossible ways.
