Sabbath Sessions 🎂

41 Quotes, Lessons, and Truths from 41 Years of Living

Jan 01, 2023

Today is my 41st birthday…

And instead of clogging your inbox with yet another *2023 GOALZ* email, here are 41 quotes, lessons, and truths from my brief time on the planet. Sound off in the comments if you agree, disagree, or if any particularly resonate! Happy New Year!

Anyone who says you can’t do something is revealing what they believe themselves incapable of doing.
If you are the smartest person in the room, find a new room.
Action > Everything
“We must master ourselves unless we’d prefer to be mastered by someone or something else.” – Ryan Holiday
Two-question framework to building anything: Who am I serving? How can I serve them well?
You aren’t the right fit for everyone. This applies to both personal and business relationships.
If someone tells you there is only one path to success, they are revealing their own limitations in imagination.
“The professional cannot allow the actions of others to define his reality.” – Steven Pressfield
Two types of relationships: transformational and transactional. You can’t always avoid the latter, but you can perpetually pursue the former.
Bad cultures shatter at scale. Prioritize consistency of value and mission from start-up to scale-up; it is a determinant of success.
“Bad teams, nobody leads. Average teams, coaches lead. Elite teams, players lead.” – PJ Fleck
Bad leadership looks like adamantly and loudly declaring yourself the leader. Leadership is lived instead of stated.
“Influencing others is a matter of disposition, not position” - John Maxwell
Eliminate “zero days” as Justin Welsh describes them: “It could be as simple as spending 5 minutes reading an article, listening to 10 minutes of a podcast during a workout... texting a buddy to ask a thoughtful question, or writing for 90 seconds.” Build routines at the micro level.
Adversity is a blessing; you either overcome or learn. Both are victories.
Your information diet is as critical as your food diet; you become what you consume.
We are a generation drowning in content and starving for context. You don’t need more; you need better.
Four-word framework for improving physical health: eat well, move more.
Despite what billions of marketing dollars and consumer spend may lead you to think alcohol conveys no positive benefit to your life.
If you require steak sauce for your steak, find a new steak.
Your sleep habits probably suck; improve them.
“What’s scarce is trust, connection, and surprise. These are three elements in the work of a successful artist.” – Seth Godin
The same sentiment is overwhelmingly true in sales. Stop acting like a salesperson, and start acting like a person-person.
You aren’t prioritizing solitude enough. Go for a walk. Sit in a quiet room. Breathe. Remember how your own voice sounds absent the noise of life.
Maximize responses, minimize reactions.
Put your phone away for 24 hours once a week. No, you can do it; there was human thriving before we all started staring at screens every waking minute. A digital sabbath practice will change the way you think about everything.
In relationships, distance is a function of action, while space is a function of time.
Space in relationships is healthy and natural; embrace the seasonality of life.
Distance in relationships is caused by one or both parties failing to prioritize the other, don’t wait – go first.
Adopt a you-before-I mindset in your professional and personal relationships, and be astounded at how fruitful your life becomes. You can’t out-give the reciprocity that stems from putting others first.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear
Yesterday is lost. Tomorrow is uncertain. Act now.
Potential is a toxic word. Whether used prescriptively towards the future or reductively in review of the past, it serves no purpose but to separate you from the present moment.
“Studies show that happiness is a function of reality minus expectations. In other words, the key to being happy isn’t to always want and strive for more. Instead, happiness is found in the present moment, in creating a meaningful life and being fully engaged in it, right here and right now.” - Brad Stulberg
The most transformative habit one can build is consistent reading.
Read what you want to read before trying to read what you think you are *supposed* to read. People fail to become consistent readers because they don’t begin by engaging with subjects they are truly interested in.
All reading is fruitful reading. Fiction improves creativity, vocabulary, sense of humor, and the ability to conceptualize ideas. Non-fiction provides the experiential, analytic, and logical framework for applying ideas.
If you don’t like what you’re reading, find a new book. Completionism is overrated.
Anyone who tells you to stop thinking, reading, listening, or learning does not have your best interests at heart.
“Lifelong learning keeps the brain sharp, both preventing cognitive decline and training up memory. It also boosts confidence, communication skills, and career opportunities. These improvements are the reasons psychologists consider lifelong learning foundational to satisfaction and well-being.” – Steven Kotler
You are the only you there ever has been or ever will be, act accordingly.