One of the wildest things I’ve noticed now that I’m not depressed anymore is how much more enjoyable life is, especially the mundane parts of it.
It’s genuinely one of my favourite things now to wake up (early) in the morning and just sip my tea and journal. Like sometimes I catch myself kicking my feet when the tea is just the right temperature.
I never really enjoyed tea or even journaling; I did them for the benefits, but the actual process wasn’t something I found inherently enjoyable, but it suddenly is????
Also, food tastes so much better in general, and when I listen to music, it’s like I'm hearing beats and notes I never noticed even though I've played those songs for years.
It’s like the depression dulled my senses and had me just going through the motions. Everything just feels sooo much better, it's insane!
Be delusionally optimistic about your future. You mind will try to stop you. Give you all kinds of reasons why you will fail. It's not the truth. It's fear. Fear of uncertainty. Do not fight it. Just ignore it. Believe that anything is possible. Your belief is the spark that keeps you moving forward.
The most dangerous plan is the one that assumes your future self will have more courage than you do today. He will not magically appear. He is built through the ugly first action you take while afraid, tired, uncertain, and unseen. Every delay hands him less evidence to stand on.
The older I get, the more I realize there's a cost of entry to unlock the things you want in life. Freedom is unlocked through focus. Deep relationships are unlocked through hard conversations. Health is unlocked through discipline. Embrace it. Pay the cost of entry with pride.
If you don't know what to learn, start writing.
Writing teaches you how to think, how to learn, and how to attract an audience that supports your work. Those 3 skills are needed more than ever.
Underrated life advice: Make yourself easy to root for. Be kind. Be reliable. Celebrate other people’s wins. Work hard without complaining. Carry good energy into rooms. You'll be shocked by how many doors open for you by making life better for others.
Early career advice: Work harder than you think you can. First, because the more you work, the more context you get, the faster you catch up to speed. Second, because the harder you work the more you increase your capacity to work hard. Just like in cross country, the more miles you run, the more miles you can run.
One of the best pieces of life/career advice I’ve ever received:
Do not do X in order to do Y. Just do Y.
You get ready for something by just doing the thing
not everything needs your urgency. not everything needs your immediate response. some things need your patience, your discernment, and your refusal to abandon yourself in real time.
Most people think inconsistency is a system problem.
So they:
- Start scheduling
- Build a new workflow
- Map out the whole plan
And still burn out in three weeks.
Discipline only runs on something real underneath it.
Without that, no system will keep you going.