Against Traffic

SISU is a Finnish term - and it is the art of just standing up, acting like you've been there before, and is the most intimidating way to be in the world. 

You never know who is watching you that could be the bearer of opportunity. Today's podcast is all about situational awareness in the face of adversity. Here's a story from my youth that shaped the way I think about the world. 

Never go after the easy answer. It's a lie. The easy answer is never painful...it's called easy for a reason. 
Always go after a more complicated future...more complexity will challenge you and test you at every turn. 
Go after pain.

In June 2019, I climbed Mt. Rainier. The ascent was pretty awesome. The descent, however, was horrendous. It's taken me a year to learn something from it...never allow yourself to reach the summit in your own life. 

Charles Dickens once wrote - "This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in."

The reason he wrote this was because he understood one fundamental truth - that action is living and inaction is death. Furthermore, he understood that simply being thoughtful about your decisions was action in and of itself - which staves off death. And death is found when others make decisions for you without you thinking critically about the consequences of those decisions. 

It's been two years since Anthony Bourdain's suicide. Today I talk about some of the lessons that he inspired me to think about...specifically about how to make every day count, whether travelling, eating, reading, or listening. 
The willingness to dive into this world with the intention of LIVING each moment is something we all need to remember to do.  

This podcast is all about personal responsibility, and what it means to take control of this life in a real way. 

I learned about the concept of Pronoia (aka the opposite of paranoia) from a conversation that Joe Rogan had with Duncan Trussell about a month ago. 
I have been using this in my daily life ever since - the concept that the Universe is conspiring FOR me, rather than against me. 
Take a listen and see what you think. It might help.

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be" - Kurt Vonnegut

In today's podcast, I discuss hedonic adaptation and how fast we can adapt to any given situation - for better or worse. 

The world has basically shut down due to COVID-19. However, this is not a time to sit and wait it out. This is an opportunity for growth and introspection that rarely occurs in our lives. Today Lee talks about how to seize this time and not let it slip through our fingers.