From TTYL to Transformation
Every email in the last 5 years has ended with:
be well, do good work, stay disciplined,
Sasquatch
Before that I think it was something lame like, TTYL or Thanks,
I put it there 5 years ago as a reminder. Not for others; for myself. It's my internal mantra, always running through my brain.
I know it was five years ago because it’s a time in my life I was treading water. They put me in charge of running back of house for a guitar manufacturer. My wife and I just had our second kid, and I was making 32K a year. Working 60-70hrs a week. Oh and Living in Austin, Tx. Treading water is a nice way to put it.
My entire working career, I’ve had the privilege of doing manual labor. This lent itself to hours of podcasts, audiobooks, music, and academic lectures. I saw this as paid learning time. They’re paying me to do something else, but I’m learning how to sidestep this whole industry. I listened to “How to quit your job?” at work—sorry, JD.
I learned from Gary Vee, Mark Manson & James Clear. I learned Verbal Judo, What’s Worth Doing, and Extreme Ownership.
The words of Jocko overpowered the sound of my bike ride into the “office”.
“Discipline = Freedom.”
It’s a sweaty ride down to the wood shop that doesn’t have A/C.
“pain lets you know you're still alive.”
I open the shop, work till 5:30, go home for dinner and go back to the shop to wrap things up and hit deadlines.
“If you want to be tougher, be tougher.”
I'd pass out, wake up and do it all over again.
Except, this time it was Julia Cameron or Tim Ferris or Neil Gaiman.
Or Derek Sivers
“The standard pace is for chumps.”
Each one; my adopted mentor. Each one pushing boundaries in profound and distinct ways. They have no clue I exist but for years I rode up and down south congress with them speaking to me.
That’s all I could do is buckle down, embrace discipline or get cast into oblivion—I like a good kick in the pants.
Julia Cameron wrote a book about how to care for yourself and set boundaries, but called it the Artist’s Way. Sounds so mystical and woo woo. And it is. But it’s also one book I hold high above any other that I’ve read on creativity and living well. It gave me the will power and longing to keep going.
The Artist’s Way is all about getting out the negative talk and putting in positive talk. Affirmations:
“You already know what to do. Trust your gut.”
“My dreams come from God and God has the power to accomplish them”
“My creativity heals myself and others.”
I’d never spoken to myself in a kind way, but she somehow cracked my shell. And that’s where that sign off came from. It was/is an affirmation AND a gut check every email I send, podcast I record or Vlog I make.
Be well,
(Am I doing well?)
Do good work,
(Am I doing good work?)
Stay disciplined,
(Am I staying on the path?)
Each of my mentors taught me to have a firm grasp on these categories.
Being Well: or living a well-rounded life full of struggles and joys with contentment
If life resembled the flatlands of East Texas, what’s the point? Might as well give up the ghost. The ups and downs are heartbeats of our existence. Now, I’m certainly not diminishing anyone’s pain. I spent nearly half of my life in depression/suicidal thoughts. I know the lows. That’s what makes the highs that so much better.
Like Jocko said, “If I’m experiencing pain, that means I’m still alive. Unlike many of my friends. So I endure with joy for them.” Or Neil Gaiman may speak to you more,
”When things get tough, this is what you should do, Make. Good. Art."
Doing good work: or Doing your best in every situation.
This just feels good. It’s not like a moral thing for me. I just like the feeling of doing my absolute best. Because I know. I know when I’m phoning it in and I that feels gross to me.
Good in the humanitarian sense as well. I’m blessed to have this opportunity to work on such a meaningful project. My wife and I have always sought after the outcasts from refugees to foster kids. We believe in the value of human life. This is by far the most personal humanitarian effort I’ve ever sought after.
%2 of our criminal cases go to trial.
You know, trial where we get our friends together and a judge overseas the whole thing? 98% skip that part.
“Unrestrained power” was the term Justice Michael Donnelly used describing processors and trail judges.
Good work is needed.
Discipline: or doing what you told yourself you would do
Focused, consistent streams cut through rocks. It’s a simple concept, but hard to master. It’s like Co-mentor Derek Sivers told me one time, in a book,
“If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”
This project challenges the status quo and demands careful attention to these areas. It’s certainly easy to allow the cause to consume my entire being. Swallowing up the very core of me and replacing that beautifully multifaceted life with single issue thoughts. But I was made for more than that.
The hope is to find a balance by telling myself,
Be well, do good work, stay disciplined,
Sasquatch
