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If I mess this up then none of the other stuff below really matters.

In a social context, a work context, it seems like what’s usually the case is that a) the ‘hard thing’ is the thing I should do and b) I know that but don’t want to, because it’s hard.

This could mean getting out of bed immediately after I wake up, instead of trying / failing to sleep more or doomscrolling on my phone.

I still don’t know the best way to describe this and it might sound backwards, but I feel my best when it feels like I am at my best. And I feel like I’m at my best when that’s pulled out of me by facing something difficult.

It’s this weird contrast where something sucks and it’s hard and it’s hard and it’s hard... and then finally it’s easy and I’m in flow state. Maybe a runner’s high is the best example?

There are probably highly scientific, way less romantic sounding explanations as to why, but I want to keep pushing myself to embrace discomfort and be less soft.

We talked about this in my college baseball program and I think it’s a cool concept.

Intent doesn’t have to refer to swinging a bat or taste like some gross flavor of eyewash hustle porn. It doesn’t mean running as fast as possible in any direction unless what we want to achieve is to be anywhere else, quickly.

Having intent means knowing what we want to achieve and and focusing our effort.

I feel like the hardest part of doing hard things, for me, is all of the thought and preparation that goes into determining which hard things are worth doing and why.

Thought and preparation alone is not enough, but I think it’s what sustains us in the valleys of the short and medium-term towards progress.

There's value in doing hard things and choosing the right hard things to do.

I almost went with ‘be interesting’ instead, but something more process-oriented / not completely self-centered probably can’t hurt.

Maybe the biggest reason I’ve been afraid of setting goals in the past is that I’m afraid of ending up as someone who ‘accomplished’ a lot, but is miserable and empty.

It's easier to optimize (and set goals) for what we can quantify, but I feel like the s*** in my life that matters most, and that will matter most, is qualitative.

I have a clear idea of the type of person I want to be and think that deserves more attention than a job title I want to have or things I want to own.

Dating is fun (sometimes, definitely only sometimes) in that it’s revealed to me how little I know about basically everything.

To avoid knowing basically nothing about basically everything, I want to ask great questions... and that’s really only possible if I’m listening well, not just waiting to respond.

‘Be present’ could have easily substituted here but similar to how effort can spark interest, I think gratitude can pave the way for presence and clearer perspective.

In high school we read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which is basically Hamlet but from the perspective of two supporting characters (think Lion King 1 1/2).

Those supporting characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, star in the play that is their lives, just like we do, every single day. It’s the spotlight effect.

Gratitude exists in the overlap between our own and others’ lived reality. In 2022, I want to be less consumed by my own narrow reality (Ralph’s is out of rolled oats again, why are you doing this to meeeee) and spend more time in that intersection.