Tag Archives: growth

Thought Of Art Substack

When you truly challenge yourself to level up life moves extremely fast.

I’ve changed my life situation completely and it’s still going to change as I continue to push. I want to let you all in on what I’ve been up to. It’s a crazy journey complete with failures, wins, blood, sweat and tears.

I’ve decided to release the juicy life details on a new platform called Substack. Surely, you’ve heard of it. It’s a great way to see how many people want to continue reading my writing and how many of you are willing to pay a small fee to do so.

I will have free articles and paid articles.

I’ve just launched my substack, so for now please subscribe if you’re interested in finding out what I’ve been doing, and the MAJOR life lessons I’ve learned over the past 4 years.

Subscribe here: Thought Of Art substack

Everyday is an opportunity to move upward or downward

Move upward or downward.

Move upward or downward.

I talked to an old buddy last night who I haven’t heard from in 1.5 years. He was an old roommate, and since I moved out we simply exchanged a few text messages.

Last night, I decided to call him to schedule grabbing a beer or lunch. Immediately, I realized that my friend wasn’t doing too well. He was even more negative than I remember and began complaining about the exact same things he was complaining about 1.5 years ago.

Last time I saw him, he was struggling financially and hated his job. He would complain about his job everyday and mention how he needs to find something new so he can finally quit. He was also having girl problems, and trying to change his old ways of falling in love too quickly.

One positive aspect, was that he was focused on becoming a photographer. He was really hustling hard and had 3 – 4 photo shoots scheduled every week. It was impressive since I knew he was working full-time already.

What did I learn about my buddy from our short conversation on the phone? He wasn’t moving upward, but moving downward instead.

First, he was still at the same job he hated. The first sentences he spoke were actually about his stupid job and how he’s working on applying so he can finally quit. Because of that, he was still struggling financially.

My buddy was still having girl problems. He had recently been hurt by yet another girl and was feeling depressed. Additionally, now he had the new stress of being in conflict with some of his new roommates. It’s at the point where he is slightly uncomfortable coming home from work. When I was living with him, he was on good terms with all the roommates.

The most troubling thing of all was he had given up on his photography goal. He said he hadn’t been working on his photography for 4 months already. He was taking a break due to financial reasons. Once you lose momentum it’s hard to getting it back…

From the sound of it, the only positive thing my buddy had going for him was a boxing class he was getting ready to attend. At least, he’s doing exercise.

Speaking to him was another reminder about the truth of life. If you don’t actively take control of all aspects of your life, they’re going to sink downward on their own. Nothing stays the same. Positive change doesn’t happen in life, unless you’re actively working towards it everyday. Everyday is an opportunity to move upward or downward.

Stress Out Today and Relax Tomorrow

I recently wrote about a similar topic, but I decided to expand on my previous ideas.

I read a tweet that really got me thinking. It stated, that the whole meditation scene, ‘let it go’, relax, & stoicism philosophy advise, is actually hurting many of us.

Why is that? I like meditation and stoicism…

Today, a lot of people have issues coming from procrastination, and being way too passive. We suffer from passiveness. We wait, and sit around too much. We Google everything. We research everything. We need to know the correct answer before making any move. Even, with something as simple as buying a coffee machine or basic laptop.

We all have huge goals that we’re never going to accomplish, because we are simply too passive, and we procrastinate all day long.

Learning to mediate, relax, and ‘let it go,’ is the exact opposite of what many of us need to do. We are already too relaxed. We are already too chilled from sitting around and staring at our phones and TVs. How many Netflix shows are you currently keeping up with? How much social media apps do you have on your phone?

We need to take action, get stressed out, feel uncomfortable, and actually make moves. We need to let our, ‘fight or flight’ response kick in.

This idea really got me thinking. There are some big time names out there promoting meditation, stoicism, and ‘letting it go.’ When it comes to finding the truth, aren’t we supposed to pay attention to people’s actions rather than their words? Those same people promoting meditation, reached their success without meditation. They spent their days working and taking action. They were constantly stressed out.

Should someone who hasn’t reached their goals be focusing on mastering meditation and practicing stoicism? I don’t think so. I do know that the people telling you to do so didn’t practice any of that stuff. Now that they’ve reached their goals, they’ve decided to spend time on those types of activities in order to expand. The question to ask yourself right now is, is that the best use of your time?

Audit Your Social Circle and Influences

There comes a point in time when you realize certain people you’ve been hanging out with are hurting you more than helping you reach your ultimate goal. It’s not ideal, but sometimes you need to cut these people out of your life. If you don’t actively make an effort to audit your social circle and influences, then you’re not in control of your life.

When you decide to let go of a bad influence, you don’t have to literally tell them that you won’t be hanging out with them anymore, because of x, y, and z. That would be foolish and unnecessary. All you need to do is stop inviting them around you. At the same time, you want to gradually decline their invitations over the next couple of months. When you decline an invitation, you want to have good excuses for why you’re declining. Some fail-proof excuses are extra work hours, and family matters/ gatherings.

If you did things correctly, in the next 2 or 3 months, you won’t be spending much time with them anymore. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about negative repercussions or arguments.

Many high level people control their social circle, and the types of entertainment that they consume. They control the books they read, and the websites they visit. It’s an important aspect of our life that’s commonly overlooked by almost everyone. Most people stumble onto their social circle and influences. They never had a say in the matter. This is not a great way to make friends. You do have a say in the matter, and you should choose carefully.

How great of a person can you become if you surround yourself with negative people, bad influences, and you spend your free time watching stupid shows on Netflix/ YouTube? Not that great…

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn