Have you ever found yourself lying awake at night while your mind swirls around something again and again to the point where you feel paralyzed to do anything about it?

And you know what? That’s okay. It’s no fault to have simply not lived long enough. I wish we talked about this more. I wish we acknowledged that there is no 5-step manual that can ever match or make up for actual living.

Few things in this world define us more than music. Not just as individuals, but entire generations. Music has a unique way of telling our stories, helping us communicate, and navigating our victories and our failures.

It’s choices you’ve made, not who you are. Why do we always talk about this like when you do it, that’s it? Like that’s how people will know you and remember you forever? As a bully.

People complain on social media, the news, etc. all day every day. Memes are created from complaining, people go viral ranting about something petty. We’ve been raised to complain. 

Have you ever found yourself daydreaming not about something that might happen in the future but about something that already did in the past?

While women are born with it, it does need to be mastered. And once mastery is achieved, she is exalted into a different stratosphere among her peers. Some guys will argue they have similar skills, but the reality is they are just fooling themselves. 

Research is currently being conducted on what is referred to as “smartphone dependence” and one study reports that 60% of 2,097 American smartphone users cannot go one hour without checking their smartphones, a condition now called nomophobia (Hussain, et al., 2017).  

Sometimes things happen to us that we don’t even realize had such a big impact until we go to therapy years later and the counselor picks up on it.

But the truth is, my parents didn’t have some strategic plan for getting the family together each evening for a meal. We were all home anyway and didn’t have the money to eat out. There was no ulterior motive or hidden benefit they knew about.

We can’t let fear decide our goals and dreams. We can’t let fear control the decisions we make. Fear is designed to keep us alive in a fight or flight moment, not as a governing principle for a lifetime. 

History is full of people who tried something, found it didn’t work, and then went on to find success and meaningful work in a totally different field (Ruggeri, 2017).

Here’s a few signs that it may be time for you to consider quitting something (Pinola, 2012).

Did you know that ⅓ of U.S. adults take DAILY naps? And that men are more fond of naps than women typically (Mayo Clinic, 2020)? There are several benefits to taking a nap. This can include using them as a way to relax, reduce fatigue (of course), improve mood, and increase alertness.

This routine created an unhealthy balance in my life. I worked and worked and worked. And then just stopped. Sleep and repeat. Day after day. I didn’t make time for any play. Nothing fun. No hobbies. No unscheduled shenanigans. I may have felt like I was getting enough rest because I was getting a good amount of sleep, but I was still very much off balance. 

I’m also not talking about the kind of breaks that involve eating a sugary snack or looking at Instagram or Facebook. A break that is going to help is completely shifting your focus from the subject you’re working on. This break should also involve something that will bring positive emotions.

Everyone is a leader in some capacity because we have influence (even if only a little) over other people. And it's a bit sobering to think that your influence in another person's life can impact their growth and success as a person. In other words, people's lives can be better because of you. 

“It helped.” No one else said anything until Damien brought up the football game from the other night. They played until Parker’s dad opened the front door and yelled that it was time for dinner. That night in bed Marcos couldn’t stop thinking about what Parker had said, that it had helped. Could it really help him too?

Despite my complete inability to play, I really enjoyed learning, and it became one of my all-time favorite hobbies. But playing (kind of) guitar was something I fell into for all the wrong reasons. So how do you choose a hobby that is perfect for you? 

I recently discovered something that I knew all along. I know what you’re thinking. That doesn’t make any sense. Let me explain. Have you ever believed something that you weren’t entirely sure was accurate until someone much more intelligent than you verified for you what you already thought to be the case? 

I knew it! Social media is not reality. But wait, we already knew that. But then why do we so needlessly get sucked into believing people are posting accurate representations of their lives? We tell ourselves that what we are seeing is not reality, but there is still this tiny voice in the back of our minds trying to convince us otherwise. And then we go and listen to it. 

Why?