The Long Way Around

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

The stoic talks about freedom, happiness, and respect come from our choices. What a lot of people do is chase those via career goals and objectives. This goes back to living in the present. We look towards the future and miss out on the things we have right here and now. The little moments in life. I’ve reached my career goals. I was working towards financial freedom for my family. Along the way I probably missed out on a lot of moments that would have brought their own freedom, happiness, and respect.

The Definition Of Insanity

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Trying to change and do the same thing over and over is the insanity the stoic is referencing. I’ve felt this insanity. I’ve also noticed that the insanity becomes weaker over time. It becomes easier to fight urges and impulses and to change one small thing. That’s what I try to learn from. It’s said that if you want to change a habit start small. For me this often means screwing up multiple times before change occurs.

This could be similar to practice where we continue to do the same thing bad over and over again until we finally figure it out. I’ve done this with golf. My bad days used to be scores in the 120+ range. I’ve since come down to my bad days being in the high 100s. My good days are scores of mid-90s. I count to 10 on each hole too by the way (I’ve noticed some players choose to stop at eight).

Same thing with behaviors. I’ve worked a lot to change my bad ones and that’s sometimes hard to see. Unless I look back a year and realize that I have changed a lot. I’m doing things very differently and I’m a bit happier. Things feel clearer. There’s still work to be done. That’s the journey of life.

Take A Walk

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

I’ve started to walk more over the past year. Prior to the pandemic I would try to walk during lunch. That’s increased a bit since working from home. The commute time is often spent walking. I do wonder if running can be seen with similar benefits. I try to do that as part of the start of my day. Then I walk during lunch. I have struggled with getting off work and not being able to compress. A walk may be beneficial at that time. When we start going back into work I do intend to start walking after getting to the office. I had the opportunity to do that a couple months ago and it was a nice way to start the day.

Calm Is Contagious

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

I learned calm from bagging groceries as my first job. There’s a lot going on when there’s a rush and the only thing to do is keep plugging away. I feel that’s helped me throughout my career. I don’t see value in freaking out during situations. That helps when you’re dealing with things like a website defacement or an employee walking out with all the documents of the company.

People at work have asked me why I’m freaking out about an active incident. I’ve told them that someone is doing something right now that we’ll find out about in three months and ruin our day. There’s no sense in freaking out over an incident because there’s usually another one down the road.

Daily Stoic(s)

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Wednesday - Offense or Defense

I’ve always been more of a defensive guy. In baseball I appreciate low scoring close games with dazzling pitching and defense. I’d rather see a perfect game or no-hitter than the cycle or a milestone homerun. It’s the same in video games. I’ve often the healer or other support role. It’s interesting how I can find those same themes in my life.

Yesterday - Prepared and Active

I learned in golf that if I went in expecting to have a good round, I would often shoot my worst. Now I try to go into a round with no expectations and let the game come to me. I can start off a round poorly and end up with a great round. I can also start with an awesome round and watch it fall apart during the end. Then there are the rounds where it all comes together.

Today - Stay Focused On The Present

When I swing in golf I’ve started to stay in the moment. Focus on the body part movements and let the results come as they are. If I’m thinking about results good or bad I tend to end up hitting a poor shot. I feel when I’m more in the moment, that’s when I have my really good shots.