This morning I woke up in Moab Utah and realized I didn’t have to drive into my cubicle at Intel in Santa Clara, Ca. I felt sympathy for everyone who has to wake up on Monday knowing they have to do work they aren’t interested in. We are here too short on this Earth to spend it on man-made activities of work, especially work that doesn’t give us fulfillment.
My sympathy was briefly panic that I had to “go to work” and recalling dreaded Sundays knowing the new week of work was about to begin….
Then immediately felt appreciation that I get to help run AppSumo.com, make YouTube videos that help people on their business journey and get to live my life as much the way I want as possible. I want this for everyone.
The feeling above is a great reason I enjoyed the book The Saint, Surfer, and CEO by Robin Sharma. It’s a parable of a guy re-evaluating his life to live if the way he really wants.
I must WARN this book has more quips and one-liners than a Tony Robbins seminar. In all of it’s woo woo and euphemisms, there are many nuggets of wisdom to gain from his journey.
It’s a quick read with some powerful messages I’ll summarize below.
The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next for me, and my human exploration is a never-ending process.
I think of this question a lot. OH, once I get to the end of work / relationship / money / etc then it’ll be over and it isn’t. Great realization there’s always another mountain to climb and keep enjoying the journey.
There’s a place deep inside every single one of our hearts that knows all the answers to our biggest questions. Opening your heart is also about trusting your instincts more often and being open to the surprises that weave in and out of our lives.
I fully believe we all know the answers – easy and hard. Whether we want to listen to it is a whole other story.
But I’ve found that when I’ve made time for silence, stillness, and solitude, the voice of truth begins to speak.
Amen. The more I’ve had time alone on my bike, sitting in my room or just away from other people has given me great insight and clarity for myself.
Some people believe that relationships come to us as assignments. Some last for weeks, some for a lifetime—but they all come to teach us big lessons that are meant to spur our growth as people.
This has been so true of people, books, events, etc. Maybe we are looking for them, maybe it’s an amazing coincidence or just that we are looking for things to be this way in life. “Oh I can’t believe I met someone while I was on Tinder.” I’ve heard but you are on a dating APP. Anywho, I love the serendipity of life and blessings that it brings if we are open to it.
But our greatest mistakes also carry our largest lessons.
True…If we are open to seeing them as lessons. Not always easy to process or internalize after the incidents.
Journaling is a powerful practice for self-change.
True. Helps us think through things and get clarity on our desires.
Each time you’re just about to go into your old, self-defeating behavior, make a wiser choice.
Easier said than done but nice to remind ourself before that happens. Also been noticing NOT to punish myself badly for making mistakes. Be gentle.
Fear again, which is a natural human reaction that’s certain to come up when we’re stretched to think or do something new in our lives.
Fear is scary and there’s always some edge where fear exists. Great to recognize that it’s highlighting some level of growth that gives us a more colorful life.
Just sit with your fear and actually try to melt into it. And nothing very good or very bad ever lasts for very long.
Nothing lasts forever. And most fears aren’t as bad as we give them credit for.
“The world really does want you to win.
Nice to hear this. Good reminder there’s nothing against us. Just our internal minds. Unless there really is someone who’s super against you, that sucks.
But I believe that happiness isn’t a place you get to—it’s an inner state you create. Anyone can be happy—it’s available to everyone and is available right now.
Think of this quite often. It’s not some destination where finally fulfillment happens, it’s really anytime / anywhere; only if we allow it.
‘What did I do in the past that made me feel good about myself?’
Great point. Go revisit things we enjoy for ourselves or make us feel great about ourselves. For me it’s writing book reports like this 🙂
The more you focus on what’s good about your life, the more good you’ll seem to attract.”
Hanging with my buddy Tynan he says he loves himself a lot and tends to skew to thinking positively as often as possible. I reflected this morning how grateful I am for everything in life. There’s way better things going on in all of our lives than we even realize.
You must learn to become very strategic in your life. Always be thinking about what your best life looks like and what you want in your ideal future. Then break that vision down into a strategy to execute it under.”
I love the idea of being clear where you want to go and also being open to what just happens in life. BOTH work. Embrace both of them.
Here’s a cheesy line to leave you with: “Breakdowns always lead to breakthroughs.”
#book-report
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