This is something I've been aware of for some time, especially after reading The Untethered Soul: a lot of the time, my inner voice is my enemy. It's the voice that talks me into skipping workouts, stressing out over what might happen in the future, or telling me to relax when there are tasks that need to be done. Even after years of being aware of it, it's always persisted. It almost felt like I had no control over it. This weekend I had a weird breakthrough that seems to be sticking. I woke up and the voice started right away: sleep a little longer, skip the walk with the kettlebell, skip the burpees after the walk. I kept pushing it off, but it kept talking. I grabbed my dog's leash and the kettlebell and headed for the door. The voice kept going: "Maybe skip the burpees after. I'm a little sore." "I can just do a short walk." "This kettlebell is heavy as fuck." As I opened the door, I said in my head, "Shut the fuck up," and headed out. The voice got quiet. Any time it crept in, I said it again. When I got back and put the mat down for the burpees, the voice came back. I said it again and did them. The voice started again this morning and I remembered something Jocko Willink says. I told the voice, "You don't get a vote." This is just what's working for me right now, but it's been powerful. How many times has your inner voice kept you from doing what you know you need to do? — Bus

This is something I've been aware of for some time, especially after reading The Untethered Soul: a lot of the time, my inner voice is my enemy. It's the voice that talks me into skipping workouts, stressing out over what might happen in the future, or telling me to relax when there are tasks that need to be done. Even after years of being aware of it, it's always persisted. It almost felt like I had no control over it. This weekend I had a weird breakthrough that seems to be sticking. I woke up and the voice started right away: sleep a little longer, skip the walk with the kettlebell, skip the burpees after the walk. I kept pushing it off, but it kept talking. I grabbed my dog's leash and the kettlebell and headed for the door. The voice kept going: "Maybe skip the burpees after. I'm a little sore." "I can just do a short walk." "This kettlebell is heavy as fuck." As I opened the door, I said in my head, "Shut the fuck up," and headed out. The voice got quiet. Any time it crept in, I said it again. When I got back and put the mat down for the burpees, the voice came back. I said it again and did them. The voice started again this morning and I remembered something Jocko Willink says. I told the voice, "You don't get a vote." This is just what's working for me right now, but it's been powerful. How many times has your inner voice kept you from doing what you know you need to do? — Bus

166: My Inner Voice Is My Enemy

A while back I saw a drone video of two wolves chasing a rabbit. The camera follows them for a while. Total chaos. Every few seconds it looks like the wolves are going to catch him. The rabbit never slows down. Full speed, hard cutbacks, quick changes of direction. It uses everything it has until the wolves finally give up. The reason it stayed with me is because our lives don't feel like that most of the time. We're not out there getting chased. Because of that, it's easy to relax on our health and fitness. But just because it doesn't happen often doesn't mean it can't. Being in shape makes normal life better: more energy, less stress, better mood. But it also matters in those rare moments when things get serious. An accident. A fight. A situation where you actually have to move, run, push, or fight harder than you have in years. That's not the time to realize you're not ready. You don't have to live like prey every day, but it's worth asking: if something heavy hit tomorrow, would your body be able to back you up? If the answer doesn't feel great, today's a good day to start changing that. — Bus

A while back I saw a drone video of two wolves chasing a rabbit. The camera follows them for a while. Total chaos. Every few seconds it looks like the wolves are going to catch him. The rabbit never slows down. Full speed, hard cutbacks, quick changes of direction. It uses everything it has until the wolves finally give up. The reason it stayed with me is because our lives don't feel like that most of the time. We're not out there getting chased. Because of that, it's easy to relax on our health and fitness. But just because it doesn't happen often doesn't mean it can't. Being in shape makes normal life better: more energy, less stress, better mood. But it also matters in those rare moments when things get serious. An accident. A fight. A situation where you actually have to move, run, push, or fight harder than you have in years. That's not the time to realize you're not ready. You don't have to live like prey every day, but it's worth asking: if something heavy hit tomorrow, would your body be able to back you up? If the answer doesn't feel great, today's a good day to start changing that. — Bus

165: Will your body back you up?

I did an interview with a guy named Marcus Anderson some years back and he said something that stuck with me: "There's only one level of commitment. Total." That's a pretty powerful way of looking at things. We can only commit to so many things. It's easy to catch myself wanting to be an expert in a lot of areas, but it isn't possible to fully commit to everything. Some people spend their whole lives being a musician, an artist, an entrepreneur. You can get pretty good at a lot of things, but most likely not world-class at all of them. If you want to be world-class at something, it probably takes a level of commitment that's far greater than we think. It's worth asking: what's the one thing you're willing to go total on? — Bus

I did an interview with a guy named Marcus Anderson some years back and he said something that stuck with me: "There's only one level of commitment. Total." That's a pretty powerful way of looking at things. We can only commit to so many things. It's easy to catch myself wanting to be an expert in a lot of areas, but it isn't possible to fully commit to everything. Some people spend their whole lives being a musician, an artist, an entrepreneur. You can get pretty good at a lot of things, but most likely not world-class at all of them. If you want to be world-class at something, it probably takes a level of commitment that's far greater than we think. It's worth asking: what's the one thing you're willing to go total on? — Bus

164: There's Only One Level of Commitment

Taking action is the best stress reliever I know of. Sometimes I wake up with a feeling like time isn't just ticking away, it's slamming away. Like the arms of a giant clock; every second the giant arm slams into place with a thunderous sound. The main thing that usually worries me is running out of time before accomplishing my goals. On these mornings, I take action quickly. As soon as action is being taken—real action—I start feeling the stress lift away. Get a workout in, start knocking off tasks from your list, chip away at the things that are plaguing your mind. It's not always the things outside of our control that cause the most stress. It's often the tasks we're avoiding.

Taking action is the best stress reliever I know of. Sometimes I wake up with a feeling like time isn't just ticking away, it's slamming away. Like the arms of a giant clock; every second the giant arm slams into place with a thunderous sound. The main thing that usually worries me is running out of time before accomplishing my goals. On these mornings, I take action quickly. As soon as action is being taken—real action—I start feeling the stress lift away. Get a workout in, start knocking off tasks from your list, chip away at the things that are plaguing your mind. It's not always the things outside of our control that cause the most stress. It's often the tasks we're avoiding.

162: Action Is the Best Stress Reliever I Know

Bus and Kub have a conversation about the Us vs. Them mentality.

Bus and Kub have a conversation about the Us vs. Them mentality.

016: Us vs. Them Mentality

Bus and Kub discuss loyalty in graffiti culture.

Bus and Kub discuss loyalty in graffiti culture.

015: Loyalty

Bus and Kub have a discussion about an ancient philosophy called Stoicism and how it can be used to improve one's mindset.

Bus and Kub have a discussion about an ancient philosophy called Stoicism and how it can be used to improve one's mindset.

014: The Stoic Path

Bus and Kub answer a listener's question about a conflict that leads to a conversation about beef in graffiti culture.

Bus and Kub answer a listener's question about a conflict that leads to a conversation about beef in graffiti culture.

013: The Futility of Beef

Bus and Kub discuss an idea called Sharpen the Saw and relate it to graffiti; the concept is a metaphor for self development.

Bus and Kub discuss an idea called Sharpen the Saw and relate it to graffiti; the concept is a metaphor for self development.

012: Sharpen the Saw

Bus and Kub have a discussion about mental toughness, how it can help in personal growth and how it can help overcome adversity.

Bus and Kub have a discussion about mental toughness, how it can help in personal growth and how it can help overcome adversity.

011: Mental Toughness

Bus and Kub have a quick discussion about the mission for the podcast and answer a listener's question about a writer trashing the yard.

Bus and Kub have a quick discussion about the mission for the podcast and answer a listener's question about a writer trashing the yard.

010: The Mission + Q&A

Bus and Kub discuss the pitfalls of not having one's ego under control and how humility can be the answer to a lot of animosity in graffiti culture.

Bus and Kub discuss the pitfalls of not having one's ego under control and how humility can be the answer to a lot of animosity in graffiti culture.

009: Ego

Bus and Kub discuss the concepts behind building a company culture in business and relating those concepts to graffiti culture, crews and individual writers.

Bus and Kub discuss the concepts behind building a company culture in business and relating those concepts to graffiti culture, crews and individual writers.

008: Building a Culture

Bus and Kub have a discussion about gut feelings, core values, following your own path and how it all applies to graffiti culture and personal growth.

Bus and Kub have a discussion about gut feelings, core values, following your own path and how it all applies to graffiti culture and personal growth.

007: Gut Feeling

Our goal is to uplift the graffiti culture by sharing personal development information from a graffiti writer's perspective; improve the culture by helping writers improve themselves.

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