Ethan's Daily Blog

Consistency is needed when you want to do something big.  Language learning takes time with consistent practice, listening, and applying. No one becomes fluent just learning for just an hour.  Getting fit requires consistent exercising, lifting weights, and eating healthy. No one gets fit by doing just one push up. 

Your current result is the accumulation of all of the actions you made in the past.  If you don’t like your current result, change your action today. 

1. Cue - Make it obvious 2. Craving - Make it attractive 3. Response - Make it easy 4. Reward - Make it satisfying Habit stacking:

We're greatly influenced by our environment.  Overcoming the influencing power of our environment can be done only for short periods of time, with a high degree of commitment.  But, why go against the natural force? To get the results that you want, mimic the environment of those who are already doing what you're wanting to do. Naturally, you'll be influenced by all the things in that environment and the actions you take will change.

Humans are a creature of habits, sometimes it's detrimental to ourselves.  Experiencing different things is important for growth. When we grow, we feel alive. 

Taking care of your health has benefits that ripples into other parts of your life.  Better sleep quality, uplifting mood, better focus, happier relationships, etc.  For the average person, it doesn't matter of the intensity of the exercises, but rather the consistency of it.  Do it day after day and it becomes part of your lifestyle, not just a task.  Decide today for better health. 

Fear is a powerful emotion. It can dissuade us from doing uncomfortable yet important things.  If we want personal growth, it'll requires a stretch out of our comfort zone.  If we want different results, it'll require a change in behaviour.  If we want a change in behaviour, it'll require a change in the state you're in.  Big results require big changes.  Master your fears to allow change to happen. 

There's joy and a sense of accomplishment that comes with autodidactism. Learning doesn't stop the moment you get your degree. To do great things, you'll need a passion to keep learning. 

Dreams don't work unless you take action. The surest way to make your dreams come true is to live them

When you start something, not everyone is going to truly support you.  Not until you create enough value for people, that's when they will start to take notice.  If you have an idea, execute it.  Forget the opinions of your friends and family, it's just noise.  Do you. 

There's two pains in life: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons.  Most things that are going to give you the greatest reward require discomfort initially. 

 The easy part is saying it, the hardest part is doing it. 

Sometimes things can fall apart and it’s beyond your control.  Remain flexible, try to work with what you have, and find a solution if needed as soon as possible.  Those who can adapt quickly usually thrive. 

The feeling of loss is a sobering moment.  It's when we can clearly see, for however long or brief it is, what truly is important in our lives. All of a sudden the chase for more money or success drops to the value of nearly zero. It's negligible.  What really matters is being close to the ones you love and being a good person. 

Keeping consistent with the important tasks require a lot of discipline and sometimes sacrifices. Life throws curve balls and somedays it can disrupt your flow.  If it's truly important to you, make it a non-negotiable. 

 If we continue taking the same action, we will always get the same results.  "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -  Albert Einstein Go do something different!

If you let your learning lead to knowledge, you’re a fool.  If you let your learning lead to action, you’ll change your life.

What are you willing to give up to achieve what you want? There's always a sacrifice. For the pursuit of something great, there's no balance. There can't be.  If it's big and important enough, there will be obsession.  With obsession there are sacrifices. It's just that simple.  There are only 24 hours in a day, how you allocate spending it today will determine what you'll get out of it tomorrow. 

Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. 

Before building a house, there's a lot of planning involved. No one starts building a house by breaking ground and figuring it out along the way.  It would be time and resource consuming, especially if you forget to do the plumbing and electrical before you put up all the drywall.  Planning is needed in many aspects of our lives, it's just something that has to be done if we want to get from Point A to B in a relatively efficient manner.  So why is it that people go through life without planning things for themselves? The answer is that it's a lot of work. It can be stressful thinking so far in the future for things that may not happen.  But should that still stop you from having a plan? The answer is no.  Having a plan is always a good thing. It help keeps you from doing things that you may have to undo. Don't rush trying to build a big beautiful house where you can't live in. 

How should we define success?  For some people it's the quality of life they are living. For others it's how much money they are earning.  For many it's the incremental progression in whatever activity they are doing.  A father who makes just enough to be able to squirrel away for retirement, feed his family, and afford the payments for a home may believe he's living in his version of success.  While a businessperson who sees the father content with his getting-by lifestyle may see that as a failure and would rather define success as owning multiple businesses which generates millions of dollars.  A tennis player looks at the father and businessperson's version of success and it doesn't resonate, because their version of success is being able to one day play in the Wimbledon.  What your own success means to others is irrelevant and is purely tied to your own personal beliefs.  Humans love to compare themselves to those around them, and will strive to achieve or

Time is limited, choose only a few actions to take that will impact the most in moving the needle. 

It would be a lot easier if people just say what they want. It removes the ambiguity and the need to guess. 

If your measure of success is comparing yourself with others, you'll always lose. There will always be someone further than you.  Measure your success by comparing how far you've come along. Focus on trying to beat yourself.  

I wish I had the courage to live the life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.  I wish I hadn't work so hard. I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.  I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.  I wish I had let myself be happier. 

Sometimes we forget to live in the moment.  It's too easy to fall into thinking far ahead in the future, but when in reality tomorrow isn't guaranteed. 

There's a popular quote that's circulating right now and it says, "an ounce of action is worth a ton of theory." I completely agree, but would add a word to it.  An ounce of the right   action is worth a ton of theory. Much like if you shoot an arrow without aiming at your target, you've hit nothing but performed an action. 

Everyone is an actor and the world is the stage. We’re all participating in a play called, “life.” If you start to think that way, you’ll realize that everything is malleable. The things we do, the character we are. We can tailor our character at any point in this play.  Are you currently playing a role as an accountant, but dream of being an artist? If you start behaving like an artist, someday you’ll believe it.  We were all born naked into this world. At some point in our life we decided what sort of role we wanted to play.   

The reason why I love travelling so much is because over time, I truly get the feeling that I'm a citizen of the earth.  Borders are man-made, a fictitious thing we made up to govern and control.  When you see the sea, all you see is the sea.  No labels, no lines.  Just waves crashing and water flowing.  Who makes claim to it is irrelevant, because as hard as we can try,  all things eventually return to Mother Earth. 

If you're doing what everyone else is doing, you can't expect to have an extraordinary life. Be different.