Investing in your future self

There are many ways to make frequent, incremental changes that yield meaningful long-term results.

Investing a portion of the money you earn is wise and practical, but need not apply only to finances.  Every small action you take today that advances ‘future you’ is beneficial.

This means everything from getting your running clothes out for the morning, or writing down tomorrow’s priorities before bed tonight, to spending ten minutes per day doing that thing you want to become an expert in.

Important but non-urgent tasks determines future you.

Are you a chef or a cook?

‘Chef’ and ‘cook’ are incorrectly used as synonyms.  Cooks excel when they can implement recipes created by others, perhaps with their own added flare.

Chefs invent recipes.  They use first principles as ingredients, and achieve outcomes using creative means, sometimes constructing something never seen before.

Copy or create?  Conventional wisdom or new design?  Neither is superior.  There is a wise place for each.  Food is just a metaphor here.  It’s valuable to reflect on whether you’re operating as one or the other in each important area of your life.

You are not your thoughts

It’s funny how we say ‘I am angry’ but no one would think to say ‘I am a broken arm.’  We know that we are not equal to our emotions, we only experience them (for a much shorter time than an injury).  Just because you feel, think, or even say something out loud, doesn’t mean it has to define you forever.

You are not your thoughts.

An important distinction of mindfulness is remembering that you don’t have to believe everything you think.