“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
– Jim Rohn
Why don’t most New Year’s resolutions succeed?
Tag: LIfe Lessons
Categories
The Power of Perspective
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”
— Socrates
I take a long walk nearly every single day.
It is one of the many reasons I was able to lose 40(ish) pounds, but I don’t do it only for the health benefits. I also do it for my mind. The walk allows me to get away from the spreadsheets and Zoom meetings, work on solving problems that seem unsolvable, and helps me generate ideas and breakthroughs, for both my personal and professional life. It helps my mental state as much as — if not more — than it helps my physical state.
Of course, there are side effects to everything and my daily stroll is no different.
“Having a bad boss isn’t your fault. Staying with one is.”
– Nora Denzel
There are three people I think about virtually every single day:
- My late mother
- My late best friend
- My former boss
The approach of Westside Gunn and his crew offers valuable wisdom for not only music, but business, writing, and even life
“I really like that whole, like, cliquing up, Griselda shit. It’s just ill to me…I think what they’re doing is great. It just reminds me of a different time and it’s not easy to do. To make that music and just come off wavy and be interesting.”
— Drake
The 2010s was a decade in which the line between rap and other genres became not only blurred, but largely nonexistent. Referred to by some as the “melodic era,” it was no longer a rarity or even a surprise to see a hip-hop artist transition into harmonizing, and while that had certainly been done in the past, it now became de rigueur as Drake, Young Thug, and many others rode that wave to stardom.
At the same time, some dudes stepped onto the scene and began flooding the market with their own music that sounded fresh but at the same time reminiscent of projects that had been released in the mid-’90s. No singing, no theatrics, just grim street tales of drugs and violence delivered over grimy, pounding basslines, creating a “gnarly sound inspired by the slimy criminal underbelly of Buffalo, New York.”
Categories
My Best Writing of 2021
This is the post where I lay out the best things I wrote this year. Maybe, in a year like this when my productivity was lower, it might include everything I wrote. We’ll never know (don’t check).
“Kid’s a scribbler…”
Film adaptations are tricky. How can you boil down 400 or more pages of story, themes, and character development into a two hour film without losing the impact of what was on the page?
Anyone that has had their favorite book turned into a movie knows the feeling of being simultaneously excited and anxious, hopeful and terrified, at what the outcome will be.
Now it’s my turn, as the film adaptation of The Tender Bar, the book that completely changed my life, is set to be released in theaters and on Amazon Prime Video.
I was recently listening to a podcast and the closing question was “What is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?”
The guest had a great answer. Did I?
“I thought about losing weight once, but I don’t like to lose.”
— Unknown
The Decision
It was not a New Year’s resolution per se. As the ball dropped on the strangest and, in some ways, most difficult year most of us had ever experienced, I didn’t make a grand pronouncement to lose weight. I didn’t write it down or post a status update about it or scream it to everyone I encountered in January. Rather, it was more of a hazy, general goal.
It’s time to get healthy.
I received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine yesterday.
Categories
A Perfect Moment in an Imperfect Life
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”
— Emily Brontë
As a parent and homeowner, it can be difficult to not become a slave to tasks.
The Passion of Christopher Pierznik 