The most interesting man in the world

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Greg’s Lifestyle Design

I read The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss about 4 years ago.

The book opened my eyes to alternative ways of living.

It was one of the first times I realized there were other options; I didn’t have to follow the herd.

And it was, perhaps, my first introduction to lifestyle design.

I remember reading about Tim’s achievements:

• First American in history to hold a Guinness World Record in tango

• Speaker of 5 languages

• National Chinese kickboxing champion

What? How do you even do that?

He was, to me, the most interesting man in the world.

And I’ve been a listener of his podcast ever since.

In his recent episode with Andrew Rosener, they discussed a variety of lifestyle design principles.

First, they talked about optimizing for freedom of time and location.

This resonates with me and comes up a lot in lifestyle design.

But the more unique conversation came when they began to discuss novelty.

Andrew views novelty as the meaning of life — Doing something new, unique, and authentic; not being like anyone else.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that is the whole meaning of life, but it is an important piece in my eyes.

Novelty creates excitement.

The last piece he offered that I wanted to share is this, “Everyone has those itches that they want to scratch. But ask yourself why? Where did that idea come from? Probably from someone else that wanted that.”

This is a great call out and a trap I’d like to avoid as much as possible.

That is why I believe in exposing myself to as many unique ideas as possible so I can pick and choose what resonates with me and I’m not stuck with something that doesn’t fit just because I thought there was no better option.

Weekly Write-up

I had a call with a Life Coach this week. It was my first time engaging with anyone in that profession.

The call went well and turned out to be very helpful.

We discussed my goals and some obstacles that are getting in the way, self-doubt being a big one.

About halfway through, he said something that made me think:

“Your self-worth is completely made up”

Well, yeah, of course it is… I guess?… What does that even mean?

It sounds both confusing and obvious at the same time.

He went on to say that, self-worth is who you think you are. Change your thoughts and you change your self-worth.

As we continued the conversation, I realized it wasn’t so much the self-doubt that was getting in my way, it was the reason for the self-doubt: expectations.

He asked, “What would it look like if you were to show up as your best self?”

The answer came quickly. I show up at my best when I adopt the beginner’s mind.

It doesn’t always look the same, but the core truth is:

There are no expectations for a beginner.

When I adopt the beginner’s mind, I’m free to fail and try new things.

I have nothing to lose and am open-minded.

Ok great. Now how do I get there?

That is what I’ll be working to figure out.

I often adopt the opposite mindset. I envision success. I’ll think, “I should be good at this.”

“Should” is what gets me into trouble. “Should” is expectations.

And not just my expectations, but the perceived expectations of others.

When I go down that road, I feel defensive. I’m closed-minded. I’m focused on outcomes or on what others will think of me.

It’s not helpful and it’s not the way I want to show up in the world.

So, I know how I want to show up and I know how I don’t want to show up.

Now comes the work.

Content Recommendation

amandaoleander

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I saw this video on social media this week. It ties in well with my weekly write-up. It is less than a minute and is worth the watch.

AI Art Piece of the Week

Cheers ‘til next week,

T.O.