"Start as you mean to proceed..." is a saying I've been familiar with for a while now.

I just looked up the original quote, and it's "Begin as you mean to go on". Same same.

I'll sometimes take some time before I start things. It's the battle between "just start" and this quote above.

There's diving recklessly into something and calling it "taking action", and there's never starting something and calling it "being smart" about something. Which is often time just being scared to fail, or fear of humiliation (of failure).

And I think the underlying element that renders both ends of that spectrum moot, is actually just figuring out what your intention with the thing is.

"Why do you want to do this thing you're trying to do?"

You get that clear, you're halfway there.

Picking a lane and sticking to it.

Not for anything external, go inwards.

Focus. Discipline. Purpose.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

If you're only focused on your lane, you can only compare yourself to your previous self.

That's where you want to be.

Whichever lane you decide on. Stay in it.

Life's not that serious.

How can it be when we're mere ants on a rock hurtling through space?

The ultimate thing that happens to us, is we die. I was going to say ther worst thing is death- but the usual counter to that is often "there are worse things than death..." meaning torture, or a life of pain.

But ultimately, we ALL have death to look forward to. The end. Literally.

So, what is there to be so serious about?

I'm not saying to hedonistically throw your life around, and eventually away, I'm just saying life is exactly what we make of it.

And whatever that is, it ultimately doesn't actually matter.

“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well.” —EPICTETUS

So, don't sweat the small stuff.

A wise man once said "Discipline equals freedom" (I'm sure a dark "work sets you free" parallel can be found here, but let's stay focused).

Getting up at 5am to walk and do pushups is not "fun". It's not the most difficult thing to do in the world, but it's not easy either.

But in doing the hard things, conditioning your mind, body and spirit, you make life lighter.

Whether that means you just feel good, and optimistic going into your busy schedule and hectic lifestyle.

Or, you realise you don't actually need, or even want the things that are taking up all your time-

Doing the hard things is like fire, if you're exposed to it momentarily it burns away the loose, scraggly ends of your existence and leaves behind what was strong enough to withstand it and remain unaffected.

Do the hard things.

As busy and hectic as life can get, do your best not to get "lost in the sauce".

It's easy to do when you're in a new space doing your best to get good in that space.

You forget the spaces you've already been, and got good in.

So, don't forget everything you've been through, that's brought you to the start of the new space.

'I am I and my circumstance; and, if I do not save it, I do not save myself.' José Ortega y Gasset.

You get more of what you focus on, so make sure "you" are still in the picture.

If you do what everyone else is doing, you'll have what everyone else has- is that what you want?

Stay focused in the sauce.

Alignment between the many dispirate aspects of your life can bring balance.

The idea of making something "frictionless", means to remove those things that are causing friction, a contrast or contradiction.

When things are aligned they "line up" and flow in one direction. Life isn't like that (at least not one I'm familiar with) because it's full of many things, all going in their own direction.

So, what do we do?

Live with friction, sure, that's always a possibility.

Or, sit down, do some big picture thinking and figure out what one big picture of what you want out of life might look like.

I like this saying.

You can interpret it a number of ways, but the way I like to think of it is this:

Have a strong opinion- whatever it takes to get there; research, discussion, learning etc.

Don't just have an opinion, make it one worth holding, make it strong.

But hold it loosely.

What does this mean?

It means, be ready to change your opinion if you get better, newer, more accurate, more useful information.

To have a strong opinion, is not the end goal, it's the starting position.

To hold it loosely, brings you into the game- where you, and others, put yourselves in a position to advance, progress, develop and evolve those positions and knowledge, not to hoard, stand still and be rooted to the spot.

But be ready to change, advance, progress towards your north star.

So, form strong opinions, and hold them loosely so you may grow, and move, and see the world.

Your life can fit into a box.

You have your work space, your personal space, the spaces you want and the spaces you have. All inside the box.

There are activities that reinforce the box.

Makes you feel better about the box. Makes the box make sense.

Enhances all things to do with living in the box. A perfect unit of measurement, that fits neatly, one edge or another, into the space inside the box.

Doesn't take much to get going, but you need to get the "get going" part done.

It doesn't have to be amazing, it's not all relying on a single moment or point in time.

Just start.

And like that previous sentence, don't add anything after it, the point of that sentence finished at '.'

We all have an idea of what "normal" is, so who told you what that is?

Who defined that for you, and on what authority did they make the claim, that this or that was "normal"?

Societal norms, we understand, are what we have collectively agreed is "acceptable", for the greater good (supposedly).

But outside of that consensus, all other forms of "normal" are just our own perception and judgement of what is or should be considered "acceptable", person-to-person.