The goodlife comes from boredom

Why give your time to things if you aren't going to commit?

The only resource we have is time - it is finite.

This week's newsletter will touch on a few points:

1. The Game of Lifestyle Design (Life in Weeks)

2. A Healthy Amount of Boredom

3. How Expectations Ruin Things

Let's dive into it!
(Reading time: 5 minutes)

You only get 4,680 weeks in your life, that is if you live past 80.

For perspective, the Earth we live, breathe, and experience life on is 236,000,000,000 weeks old.

Mortal life is both beautiful and terrifying.

It presents us with a great question, one many philosophers have been attempting to solve for thousands of years.

What is the good life?

For starters, the good life comes from the ability to organize your mind, time, and attention.

This means you must find a way to structure your limited experience on this earth.

Create a system for your life or be forced into a system you have no control over.

I prefer to think about the micro-actions and smaller achievable goals.

This means a focus on the daily and weekly game plan

Gamification of your life is an easy way to track your progress.

Fortunately for you, the method of daily and weekly measures is much simpler than monthly or quarters.

Because of this simplicity, you can find yourself easily distracted without a clear understanding of the path and destination you are on.

Gamification has a role in our lives, we are humans who love to play.

How do we convert gamification into impact? Incentives.

Let’s understand incentives so we can use them on ourselves for our gamification method.

There are 3 incentive “pillars”

• Economic

• Social

• Moral

The question many researchers ask is:

“Once incentives run out, do we return to our old behaviors?”

In the workplace, my personal opinion is yes.

When you work for yourself and have a clear why incentives only supercharge your life.

Everyone wants to be rewarded for their hard work.

But, so many entrepreneurs or highly-ambitious people rarely pat themselves on the back for their work.

This leads us to ask, what makes someone successful, and can we apply it to the gamification state?

Let’s turn to an Alex Hormozi idea.

Alex Hormozi is an insanely successful entrepreneur and educator.

But, his methods are extreme the man doesn’t even go home for the holidays.

Hormozi says there are 3 indicators that someone is going to be successful:

1. Severe insecurity.
2. A feeling of superiority among others.
3. A deep awareness of habits and behaviors.

If someone has all 3 they’re going to play the game long enough to win.

In your self-improvement journey, defining success is subjective

Which means your incentives are subjective.

Reward yourself for doing difficult things, or even just showing up.

The size of the reward should be tailored to your personality.

Then create a habit tracker (input-focused) to measure how much you’re achieving.

The silent superpower - BOREDOM

Habit tracking, creating goals, and journaling aren't exciting at first.

How can they even compare with the growing entertainment industry?

In 2022, the value of the media and entertainment industry reached 2.32 trillion U.S. dollars.

These are all ventures aligned with keeping you on their platforms and entertained by their products.

How can you expect yourself to be bored in 2024? 

There are layers upon layers of how human beings can distract themselves with entertainment.

You load up Netflix just to see the thousands of options at your fingertips.

If that's not enough for you, there are millions of video games out there just waiting to be explored.

Oh and if it's the human connection you're craving we have hundreds of social media sites waiting to pump you full of ads

Boredom in this world feels like a challenge, it's uncomfortable.

You'd much rather catch up on the new season of your favorite show.

Or you'd prefer to play the new triple-A first-person shooter.

I get caught up in the entertainment industry just like anyone else.

It used to be a way for me to escape the reality I was living in.

If this sounds like you, continue reading

The world we live in is slowly experiencing a change.

It's a change within its people, these people want depth and meaning in their lives.

With all the incredible technology on the horizon and in our pockets, why do so many experience serious issues like anxiety and depression?

If we were to lose all of our technology would people revert to enjoying the boring? 

The answer is no. 

People are evolving with technology as we speak whether it's for the better or worse.

Technology is doing a lot more good than bad.

I firmly believe that with an optimistic view.

But, there are so many problems (especially with younger people):

-Self image

-Comparison obsession

-Mental health issues and physical health issues.

All for what? To spend their free time in a state of consumption?

The "healthy" habits are usually the most boring ones.

I see this as the tech-overwhelm paradox.

People crave depth but they find themselves in a perpetual state of distraction.

Younger people have no idea about their place in the world, but they look up to influencers and celebrities as if they were gods who have descended Mt. Olympus.

Solution? Disconnect, go for a walk, meditate, and plan your life.

Pursue moderation, in all things.

I'm not saying to ignore entertainment completely because entertainment itself is a part of the good life.

Art is a form of entertainment, but not all entertainment is art.

And without art, life seems to lack vibrant colors (fulfillment).

Just sprinkle in some of your 4,000 weeks with difficult endeavors.

If it's a challenge, it's probably your purpose.

You should choose the path of least resistance

I choose work that feels like play.

But only doing the bare minimum in life is living life on autopilot.

Take control, and stop living to just get by.

Journaling is a useful tool because it shows you the contents of your mind.

To write is to think vertically.

Inside our minds is this jumbo mess of chaos.

The more time you spend in a maintenance state, the better you'll feel.

The hard part is the start because you've never allowed yourself to dream of the potential your life holds. It feels ridiculous.

Hold no expectations about new experiences (a story about documenting an elopement)

It's July 31st, 2023 - a beautiful sunny day out in _Canyonlands National Park.

I am driving on the highway attempting to get to my destination before the precious sunset.

It’s just my empty water bottle, camera, and I.

I'm a little anxious as I am about to photograph an elopement for a couple I have never met before.

10 minutes late, I'm feeling worried the potential photos are not going to turn out well because of how nervous I am.

I’ve been told in the past I don’t look nervous when I am. 

Hopefully, my clients don’t get a whiff of my nerves.

I haven’t photographed anything or anyone in a few months.

I know I can at least get a few good shots.

I show up and my clients are all dressed up, in the parking lot outside of the trailhead - “Oh crap, it’s showtime.” 

At this point, I'm asking myself if I want to keep doing photography. 

When I first started doing this I never understood how serious it was.

You are documenting one special day for these individuals that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

My clients were awfully pleasant to be around at first contact.

I perked up instantly and asked them to follow me in their car to our spot for sunset. 

When we arrived at our destination, there were tons of tourists.

My heart drops, every time someone new shows up I get frustrated as if they were going to ruin the photos.

In my last shoot in this location, we were in blissful solitude in alignment with the red rocks.

It’s a small slice of heaven for elopement/engagement photographers.

Overcrowding was the first problem and there's no way this can get any worse.

I never thought I would be wrong, but the second issue arrived just in time to hammer a nail in my idealistic coffin.

You see, I spent the whole week before watching the weather just hoping for perfect conditions.

Fortunately, no rain but, the cloud coverage is too thick for the sun to shine through.

I am feeling terrible for my clients, they traveled from Michigan to shoot with me.

I regret coming out here at this point, anxiously I begin to ask if they want to reschedule.

Recently my passion for photography has been taxed.

I'm contemplating if I want to continue down this career path.

My clients are great people who share a great love 

I just keep photographing them in the available light we have.

The thought, "These photos are going to be terrible due to the lack of light."

But when people are in love, it shows.

We are finishing up on the slopes of this rock, then I hear a massive BOOM.

A lightning storm is right in front of us.

My body reacted before my mind could, I instantly positioned them in front of this almighty storm.

I proceed, to snap a few shots of them inside the lightning storm too stunned to speak.

I never thought how moody storms could make for a unique portrait session.

I showed them my camera with my grip fueled with nervousness.

Then, the man’s whole facial expression changed with awe and joy.

Helping create a vision for other people is the most fulfilling feeling in the world as an elopement photographer.

My initial expectation was a crutch, it hindered my ability to enjoy myself and go with the flow 

I am driving home, with happy clients and genuinely good photos.

Out of nowhere, I am watching the moon break through cloud coverage.

On top of that, the most gnarly lightning storm I have ever seen in my hometown.

The red rocks, mixed with the blue of the lightning and the grey clouds.

All while the moon acts as our main subject.

The beautiful show Mother Nature is putting on in front of me is well worth coming out here for a photoshoot.

The point of this all is:

When you have expectations for things your laziness or fear will force you to say no before you even know the true potential of an opportunity.

Say yes now, figure it out later.

I am grateful to witness what I did, the moment I got back to town it started to rain more than ever.

In 2022 we had a 100-year flood. Is this the next one?

Monsoon season has arrived.

And so has my hope for a better life.