I Finally Did It.

I have now finally posted my first piece of written content ever — Something I never thought I would do.

Creating in other mediums has always come naturally for me. I have loved photography and design for as long as I can remember, and used those passions to create images, logos, websites and brands that brought me joy.

But when it came to the idea of writing, I felt extremely uncomfortable, and maybe a little scared.

I think I was afraid because the idea of sitting down to write made me feel anxious.

In my mind, it felt almost cocky or pretentious for me to write down and share my thoughts about something that I found interesting or beneficial.

“Who am I to write down and share my thoughts and experiences with people?”

“Who am I to offer any sort of advice? What makes me qualified to do so?”

The idea of allowing someone else to read something I had written made me feel extremely vulnerable — It is like they are getting an insight into my mind.

That’s why, until now, I had never done so.

My Never-ending Interest in Personal Growth.

Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year. We can also do nothing. We can remain as we are. — Jim Rohn

Since my senior year in college (almost 5 years ago), I have spent much of my free time researching, reading, and watching YouTube videos on anything I could find about personal development or “becoming the best version of yourself.”

I loved this idea.

That I am lucky enough to live in a time where I have access to the internet, which is home to an infinite amount of content. And unlike TV or Radio, I get to custom pick everything that my mind takes in. I get to decide everything I watch, read, or listen to.

I began taking in as much information as I could.

I would spend hours watching speeches, listening to podcasts, and reading books by people that had changed the world in a positive way. These visionaries, philosophers, entrepreneurs, and scientists became huge inspirations to me.

I loved the fact that I could take in the knowledge of all the greatest and most influential minds that have ever lived. And what took them a lifetime to learn, I could learn from them in a matter of hours by reading their work.

There was one thing that really resonated with me.

I realized that the majority of these great minds all agreed that true happiness is found inside yourself, not in some external “thing.”

To do this, they all practiced and created daily habits of meditation and writing.

Meditation, to explore their minds and find happiness in the present moment. And writing, to record, organize, and consciously see their thoughts

I felt such a passion and pull to learn more about how the mind worked, how it could be used to live a more conscious life, and how to experience more of the present moment.

When I first began to start practicing mindfulness and meditation, I was able to see just how cluttered my mind really was.

I realized how many random thoughts come into my mind at all times.

Thoughts of the past. Thoughts of the future. Playing through random scenarios in my head. One thought lead to another, and then to another — following them down the rabbit hole.

I was aware how much time is wasted by being lost in our thoughts and our technology.

“We no longer live life. We consume it.” ― Vicki Robin

The majority of us live much of our life on autopilot, addicted to technology and to constantly distracting our minds.

We live in a time where we are distracted from the moment we wake up to the moment we lay down to go to bed.

Most of us wake up and immediately check our phones. We spend hours every single day mindlessly swiping through social media, binge watching random shows on Netflix, or watching youtube videos to kill time.

The outcome is that we never spend any time alone with our thoughts, and as a result, our mind becomes increasingly scattered.

I Couldn’t Walk the Walk

After spending countless hours researching the benefits of exploring your mind, meditation, journaling, and a having few powerful experiences in each, I was suddenly able to give incredible advice to the people around me that I care about.

It really surprised me as to how much of what I was saying to them made sense and really helped them out.

One night, I realized that most of the advice I was recommending, I was not practicing on a consistent basis. I had dabbled in it and seen some short term benefits, but for some reason was not consistently implementing them.

I felt silly.

I had become so caught up in my passion for learning about ways to improve the human experience, that I had become blind to the fact that I was not applying those practices myself.

I realized that if I took half of the knowledge I had gained, and actually applied it daily to my own life, I would drastically improve my quality of life.

I needed to stop consuming the information, and start living it.

The closer you come to knowing that you alone create the world of your experience, the more vital it becomes for you to discover just who is doing the creating. -Eric Leventhal

My Current View on Life

We decide what we experience

I have since been able to create a daily habit in meditation, and in writing down my thoughts.

I passionately believe that our minds are one of, if not the most important elements to our experience here on Earth.

It is our individual thoughts that shape how we view and experience the world — making up our reality.

While I may not have control of everything that happens to me, I do have complete control in how I choose to experience those things.

A Big Step Forward.

This is a big step for me. Sharing a glimpse into my mind.

Writing down and sharing so many of my thoughts.

Moving in the direction of applying and living the things I have learned and now believe in.

By no means am I currently doing everything correct in my life, but I am much more aware from moment to moment.

I feel like I am at the beginning of a never ending journey.

And I am extremely excited to see where that takes me.

It’s time to walk the walk.