April 10, 2025
908: You can't live in a cabin in the woods for the rest of your life.
Tolstoy said, "Any self-improvement is impossible if you live constantly in the bustle of the everyday world—but it’s also less possible if you live in constant solitude. (You can’t do that either.)
If you want to improve yourself, the best approach is to develop and establish your view of things in solitude, and then apply it as you live in the everyday world."
I love this quote. It speaks directly to why I bang the drum about starting your day with you. I say this: set time aside every morning and put yourself first.
In this episode I will show you how.
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Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough.
WEBVTT
00:00:01.739 --> 00:00:02.040
All right.
00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:03.029
3, 2, 1. Let's get it.
00:00:03.029 --> 00:00:14.699
Let me read to you a quote that I read from Tolstoy this morning, and it really sets the bar for how I live and why I bang the drum on the things that I bang the drum on.
00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:16.289
So here's what Tolstoy wrote.
00:00:16.289 --> 00:00:26.730
He said, any self-improvement is impossible if you live constantly in the bustle of the everyday world, but it's also less possible.
00:00:27.434 --> 00:00:31.064
If you live in constant solitude, can't do that either.
00:00:32.234 --> 00:00:43.094
He said, if you want to improve yourself, the best approach is to develop and establish a view of things in solitude, and then apply it in the everyday world.
00:00:43.664 --> 00:00:53.384
Bro, absolutely love this quote because it speaks directly on why I bang the drum about starting the day with you.
00:00:53.948 --> 00:01:01.537
Look as much as you wish that you could live in a cabin in the woods away from civilization to Tolstoy's point, you cannot.
00:01:02.497 --> 00:01:11.737
You cannot live your life in total solitude, but you also cannot live plugged in 24 7 to the hustle and bustle in the world.
00:01:11.977 --> 00:01:14.378
This is why I say you gotta put yourself first.
00:01:14.944 --> 00:01:18.814
Set some time aside every morning and put yourself first.
00:01:19.564 --> 00:01:27.993
The way to do that couple things, and the way to do that is to read 10 to 15 minutes.
00:01:28.353 --> 00:01:32.493
I'm a fan of random reading because it's something fresh every single day.
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:34.668
I'm not trying to plow through a book.
00:01:34.789 --> 00:01:36.498
'cause a lot of times that's what we're trying to do.
00:01:36.498 --> 00:01:39.588
If we're just trying to white knuckle it and get through a book.
00:01:39.588 --> 00:01:41.808
This is why it keeps things spicy for me.
00:01:41.808 --> 00:01:42.739
I like to read.
00:01:42.948 --> 00:01:45.168
I go to my bookshelf every morning.
00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:49.188
I look at something at titles and I'm like, what do I wanna read about today?
00:01:49.338 --> 00:01:50.688
What am I struggling with?
00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:51.468
What?
00:01:52.278 --> 00:01:54.859
Just something, and then sometimes I'm just.
00:01:55.459 --> 00:02:01.429
Not like there's nothing really pulling at me and I just stare at it and look at it and I go all around.
00:02:01.429 --> 00:02:06.739
I get on the floor down there,'cause I have books on the floor too, and I pick that one chapter.
00:02:06.918 --> 00:02:10.338
So I go to the, I pick the title, I go to the table of contents.
00:02:10.549 --> 00:02:15.199
I pick a chapter that just jumps out there at me and I read that one chapter.
00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:18.919
Set your timer, 10 to 15 minutes, and you read that one chapter.
00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.549
And then I close the book.
00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:24.709
And then I write about it.
00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:25.490
What is it?
00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:26.509
How do I see it?
00:02:26.598 --> 00:02:27.740
How do I interpret that?
00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:28.819
That's what I want you to do.
00:02:29.209 --> 00:02:31.038
So let me bring it back around.
00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:37.490
I want you to pick a random book, read it, set your timer, 10 to 15 minutes.
00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:41.314
I. Because we all sit there and say, man, I'd love to read more.
00:02:41.343 --> 00:02:41.735
Right?
00:02:41.944 --> 00:02:52.324
This is a way to do that in bite-size chunks, and you could do this all throughout the day if you wanted to, but I will stress, you gotta do this before the world starts pulling at you in the mornings.
00:02:52.925 --> 00:02:57.425
Set a half hour aside, 10 to 15 minutes of random reading.
00:02:58.144 --> 00:03:01.055
Pick the, pick a book, go to the table of contents.
00:03:01.175 --> 00:03:04.144
What book, what chapter jumps out there at You?
00:03:04.384 --> 00:03:05.644
Read that one chapter.
00:03:06.109 --> 00:03:08.538
And then write at least one page.
00:03:08.959 --> 00:03:14.359
It's often gonna be a couple, but at least one page about what you just wrote about.
00:03:14.598 --> 00:03:25.218
Now, here's why I am a fan of and a push to not type, not, not video it, uh, not record it in your audio.
00:03:25.218 --> 00:03:27.649
You can, you can come back around to that.
00:03:27.649 --> 00:03:30.739
But first and foremost, you must write these thoughts out.
00:03:31.158 --> 00:03:34.218
The reason being is, is because your mind is rambling.
00:03:34.564 --> 00:03:36.305
Okay, it's, it's scattered.
00:03:36.305 --> 00:03:37.474
It's all over the place.
00:03:37.805 --> 00:03:40.925
And think of your writing as a funnel.
00:03:41.044 --> 00:03:49.354
So what it does is it takes all of this overwhelm, stress, fatigue, rambling, scatteredness in your mind.
00:03:49.354 --> 00:03:51.093
You got all these things going around.
00:03:51.093 --> 00:03:52.055
I hear voices.
00:03:52.474 --> 00:03:54.125
You have all these things going around.
00:03:54.274 --> 00:03:56.914
And then what it does is it funnels down.
00:03:57.093 --> 00:03:58.894
And so you have to pick up the pen.
00:03:59.269 --> 00:04:01.908
And you have to conceptualize what you're writing.
00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:03.800
'cause you're not gonna ramble when you write.
00:04:04.218 --> 00:04:04.399
Okay?
00:04:04.399 --> 00:04:09.199
You're gonna think about it and then you're gonna be like, okay, how can I put this into words?
00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:09.740
Right?
00:04:10.009 --> 00:04:13.278
You ever have times where you're just like, I, I don't even know how to explain it.
00:04:13.579 --> 00:04:17.658
The reason why you don't know how to explain it is because you haven't conceptualized it.
00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:19.399
But when you do this.
00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:29.949
That 30 minutes, 15 minutes of random reading, another 15 minutes of at least one page every single day about what you just wrote, you're gonna be able to think more clear.
00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:35.019
You're gonna be concise, you're gonna be decisive, and it primes your mind.
00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:43.870
So instead of walking out of the house wondering, I don't know, I mean, you're reacting to the day and you don't know what you're living for that day.
00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:47.408
You're just trying to get through a Monday instead of doing that.
00:04:48.103 --> 00:04:58.093
Because you've set that 30 minutes aside, you wrote, you read, you wrote it out, what it means to you, and now your mind is primed.
00:04:58.423 --> 00:05:04.904
You're gonna go out there to tol story's point, you're gonna go out there and you're going to A, it sets the bar.
00:05:04.994 --> 00:05:16.964
You're gonna go live that, or B and b if you wanna look at it, either R and um, a lot of times what you're gonna do is, is you're gonna write about that.
00:05:18.108 --> 00:05:24.019
And then the world coincidentally intersects with just what you wrote about this morning.
00:05:24.048 --> 00:05:29.569
Dude, I can't tell you how many times I'm like, oh my God, I just wrote about that this morning.
00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:31.218
I just gave that some thought.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.798
And see, you're internally prepared.
00:05:33.978 --> 00:05:35.538
You're mentally prepared.
00:05:35.899 --> 00:05:36.228
Shit.
00:05:36.228 --> 00:05:40.250
You got something to talk about instead of, man, it's supposed to rain this week a lot.
00:05:40.788 --> 00:05:41.869
All that small talk.
00:05:41.869 --> 00:05:44.238
No, man, you're, you're talking about it.
00:05:44.238 --> 00:05:46.459
You set the, it primes your mind.
00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:53.478
You set the sale, you set the bar, you go live that, and then you rinse and repeat tomorrow.
00:05:53.689 --> 00:06:04.639
Dude, if you will do this for the next 30 days, it is my prayer that that 30 days you'll begin to see a noticeable dip.
00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:06.019
There's no way you can't.
00:06:06.408 --> 00:06:06.889
No way.
00:06:06.889 --> 00:06:14.240
You can't, if you do what I just told you, if you do this in the next 30 days, you're gonna see a big difference.
00:06:14.569 --> 00:06:17.959
And hopefully this creates a lifestyle for you.
00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:18.199
Do.
00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:25.879
When I don't read and write every single morning, I'm like, I'm whatever, Dr.
00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:29.524
Jackal, Mr. Hyde, I don't know which one was, I'm just not cool at all.
00:06:30.185 --> 00:06:34.024
Because I just kind of bumble and stumble along through the day.
00:06:34.024 --> 00:06:35.495
It just, my day's outta sync.
00:06:35.495 --> 00:06:41.495
This is the thing, man, that just puts those grooves in there and it just sinks up and it locks.
00:06:41.644 --> 00:06:47.824
And then that way, man, I got the wheels turning and I'm not reacting to the day the world is gonna pull at you.
00:06:47.884 --> 00:06:53.404
That 30 minutes, okay, you still got 23 hours and 30 minutes more.
00:06:53.735 --> 00:06:56.105
The world's gonna be pulling at you from there.
00:06:56.793 --> 00:06:59.464
But for that 30 minutes, put that time aside.
00:07:00.184 --> 00:07:02.613
Do that and watch a difference.
00:07:02.704 --> 00:07:03.694
Alright, let's get outta here.
00:07:03.694 --> 00:07:04.264
Keep it simple.
00:07:04.264 --> 00:07:04.803
Keep it moving.
00:07:04.803 --> 00:07:05.283
Never settle.
00:07:05.283 --> 00:07:05.524
State.
00:07:05.524 --> 00:07:06.184
Tough piece.
00:00:01.739 --> 00:00:02.040
All right.
00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:03.029
3, 2, 1. Let's get it.
00:00:03.029 --> 00:00:14.699
Let me read to you a quote that I read from Tolstoy this morning, and it really sets the bar for how I live and why I bang the drum on the things that I bang the drum on.
00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:16.289
So here's what Tolstoy wrote.
00:00:16.289 --> 00:00:26.730
He said, any self-improvement is impossible if you live constantly in the bustle of the everyday world, but it's also less possible.
00:00:27.434 --> 00:00:31.064
If you live in constant solitude, can't do that either.
00:00:32.234 --> 00:00:43.094
He said, if you want to improve yourself, the best approach is to develop and establish a view of things in solitude, and then apply it in the everyday world.
00:00:43.664 --> 00:00:53.384
Bro, absolutely love this quote because it speaks directly on why I bang the drum about starting the day with you.
00:00:53.948 --> 00:01:01.537
Look as much as you wish that you could live in a cabin in the woods away from civilization to Tolstoy's point, you cannot.
00:01:02.497 --> 00:01:11.737
You cannot live your life in total solitude, but you also cannot live plugged in 24 7 to the hustle and bustle in the world.
00:01:11.977 --> 00:01:14.378
This is why I say you gotta put yourself first.
00:01:14.944 --> 00:01:18.814
Set some time aside every morning and put yourself first.
00:01:19.564 --> 00:01:27.993
The way to do that couple things, and the way to do that is to read 10 to 15 minutes.
00:01:28.353 --> 00:01:32.493
I'm a fan of random reading because it's something fresh every single day.
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:34.668
I'm not trying to plow through a book.
00:01:34.789 --> 00:01:36.498
'cause a lot of times that's what we're trying to do.
00:01:36.498 --> 00:01:39.588
If we're just trying to white knuckle it and get through a book.
00:01:39.588 --> 00:01:41.808
This is why it keeps things spicy for me.
00:01:41.808 --> 00:01:42.739
I like to read.
00:01:42.948 --> 00:01:45.168
I go to my bookshelf every morning.
00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:49.188
I look at something at titles and I'm like, what do I wanna read about today?
00:01:49.338 --> 00:01:50.688
What am I struggling with?
00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:51.468
What?
00:01:52.278 --> 00:01:54.859
Just something, and then sometimes I'm just.
00:01:55.459 --> 00:02:01.429
Not like there's nothing really pulling at me and I just stare at it and look at it and I go all around.
00:02:01.429 --> 00:02:06.739
I get on the floor down there,'cause I have books on the floor too, and I pick that one chapter.
00:02:06.918 --> 00:02:10.338
So I go to the, I pick the title, I go to the table of contents.
00:02:10.549 --> 00:02:15.199
I pick a chapter that just jumps out there at me and I read that one chapter.
00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:18.919
Set your timer, 10 to 15 minutes, and you read that one chapter.
00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.549
And then I close the book.
00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:24.709
And then I write about it.
00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:25.490
What is it?
00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:26.509
How do I see it?
00:02:26.598 --> 00:02:27.740
How do I interpret that?
00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:28.819
That's what I want you to do.
00:02:29.209 --> 00:02:31.038
So let me bring it back around.
00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:37.490
I want you to pick a random book, read it, set your timer, 10 to 15 minutes.
00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:41.314
I. Because we all sit there and say, man, I'd love to read more.
00:02:41.343 --> 00:02:41.735
Right?
00:02:41.944 --> 00:02:52.324
This is a way to do that in bite-size chunks, and you could do this all throughout the day if you wanted to, but I will stress, you gotta do this before the world starts pulling at you in the mornings.
00:02:52.925 --> 00:02:57.425
Set a half hour aside, 10 to 15 minutes of random reading.
00:02:58.144 --> 00:03:01.055
Pick the, pick a book, go to the table of contents.
00:03:01.175 --> 00:03:04.144
What book, what chapter jumps out there at You?
00:03:04.384 --> 00:03:05.644
Read that one chapter.
00:03:06.109 --> 00:03:08.538
And then write at least one page.
00:03:08.959 --> 00:03:14.359
It's often gonna be a couple, but at least one page about what you just wrote about.
00:03:14.598 --> 00:03:25.218
Now, here's why I am a fan of and a push to not type, not, not video it, uh, not record it in your audio.
00:03:25.218 --> 00:03:27.649
You can, you can come back around to that.
00:03:27.649 --> 00:03:30.739
But first and foremost, you must write these thoughts out.
00:03:31.158 --> 00:03:34.218
The reason being is, is because your mind is rambling.
00:03:34.564 --> 00:03:36.305
Okay, it's, it's scattered.
00:03:36.305 --> 00:03:37.474
It's all over the place.
00:03:37.805 --> 00:03:40.925
And think of your writing as a funnel.
00:03:41.044 --> 00:03:49.354
So what it does is it takes all of this overwhelm, stress, fatigue, rambling, scatteredness in your mind.
00:03:49.354 --> 00:03:51.093
You got all these things going around.
00:03:51.093 --> 00:03:52.055
I hear voices.
00:03:52.474 --> 00:03:54.125
You have all these things going around.
00:03:54.274 --> 00:03:56.914
And then what it does is it funnels down.
00:03:57.093 --> 00:03:58.894
And so you have to pick up the pen.
00:03:59.269 --> 00:04:01.908
And you have to conceptualize what you're writing.
00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:03.800
'cause you're not gonna ramble when you write.
00:04:04.218 --> 00:04:04.399
Okay?
00:04:04.399 --> 00:04:09.199
You're gonna think about it and then you're gonna be like, okay, how can I put this into words?
00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:09.740
Right?
00:04:10.009 --> 00:04:13.278
You ever have times where you're just like, I, I don't even know how to explain it.
00:04:13.579 --> 00:04:17.658
The reason why you don't know how to explain it is because you haven't conceptualized it.
00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:19.399
But when you do this.
00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:29.949
That 30 minutes, 15 minutes of random reading, another 15 minutes of at least one page every single day about what you just wrote, you're gonna be able to think more clear.
00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:35.019
You're gonna be concise, you're gonna be decisive, and it primes your mind.
00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:43.870
So instead of walking out of the house wondering, I don't know, I mean, you're reacting to the day and you don't know what you're living for that day.
00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:47.408
You're just trying to get through a Monday instead of doing that.
00:04:48.103 --> 00:04:58.093
Because you've set that 30 minutes aside, you wrote, you read, you wrote it out, what it means to you, and now your mind is primed.
00:04:58.423 --> 00:05:04.904
You're gonna go out there to tol story's point, you're gonna go out there and you're going to A, it sets the bar.
00:05:04.994 --> 00:05:16.964
You're gonna go live that, or B and b if you wanna look at it, either R and um, a lot of times what you're gonna do is, is you're gonna write about that.
00:05:18.108 --> 00:05:24.019
And then the world coincidentally intersects with just what you wrote about this morning.
00:05:24.048 --> 00:05:29.569
Dude, I can't tell you how many times I'm like, oh my God, I just wrote about that this morning.
00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:31.218
I just gave that some thought.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.798
And see, you're internally prepared.
00:05:33.978 --> 00:05:35.538
You're mentally prepared.
00:05:35.899 --> 00:05:36.228
Shit.
00:05:36.228 --> 00:05:40.250
You got something to talk about instead of, man, it's supposed to rain this week a lot.
00:05:40.788 --> 00:05:41.869
All that small talk.
00:05:41.869 --> 00:05:44.238
No, man, you're, you're talking about it.
00:05:44.238 --> 00:05:46.459
You set the, it primes your mind.
00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:53.478
You set the sale, you set the bar, you go live that, and then you rinse and repeat tomorrow.
00:05:53.689 --> 00:06:04.639
Dude, if you will do this for the next 30 days, it is my prayer that that 30 days you'll begin to see a noticeable dip.
00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:06.019
There's no way you can't.
00:06:06.408 --> 00:06:06.889
No way.
00:06:06.889 --> 00:06:14.240
You can't, if you do what I just told you, if you do this in the next 30 days, you're gonna see a big difference.
00:06:14.569 --> 00:06:17.959
And hopefully this creates a lifestyle for you.
00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:18.199
Do.
00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:25.879
When I don't read and write every single morning, I'm like, I'm whatever, Dr.
00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:29.524
Jackal, Mr. Hyde, I don't know which one was, I'm just not cool at all.
00:06:30.185 --> 00:06:34.024
Because I just kind of bumble and stumble along through the day.
00:06:34.024 --> 00:06:35.495
It just, my day's outta sync.
00:06:35.495 --> 00:06:41.495
This is the thing, man, that just puts those grooves in there and it just sinks up and it locks.
00:06:41.644 --> 00:06:47.824
And then that way, man, I got the wheels turning and I'm not reacting to the day the world is gonna pull at you.
00:06:47.884 --> 00:06:53.404
That 30 minutes, okay, you still got 23 hours and 30 minutes more.
00:06:53.735 --> 00:06:56.105
The world's gonna be pulling at you from there.
00:06:56.793 --> 00:06:59.464
But for that 30 minutes, put that time aside.
00:07:00.184 --> 00:07:02.613
Do that and watch a difference.
00:07:02.704 --> 00:07:03.694
Alright, let's get outta here.
00:07:03.694 --> 00:07:04.264
Keep it simple.
00:07:04.264 --> 00:07:04.803
Keep it moving.
00:07:04.803 --> 00:07:05.283
Never settle.
00:07:05.283 --> 00:07:05.524
State.
00:07:05.524 --> 00:07:06.184
Tough piece.