How to Stay in Awareness? Use a Continuous Check-In
When I first started training for my first IRONMAN Triathlon with its 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run, the distances seemed overwhelming. One of the best pieces of advice that I ever received was to do a continuous check-in with my body and my...
Peter Positive (or Choosing My Own Weather)
Peter Positive. That’s what Peter’s friends call him. The glass always seems to be half full to Peter. When I talk to him, I believe that he actually looks at the world this way because he exudes his positivity through his words and actions. He doesn’t complain. When...
Asking What Else Might Be True?
With everything going on in the world today and instant access to "news" (I use that term loosely these days), "What else might be true?" is a question worth asking because we appear to live in a world of many different realities. Truthfully, we do live in a world of...
The Daoist Principle of Wu Wei
One of the key principles of Daoism is the principle of wu wei, which can be loosely translated as effortless action; doing by not doing; doing without goals or desire; or spontaneous doing. In martial arts training, for example, instead of meeting an attacker’s force...
Do You Take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill?
Do you take the red pill or the blue pill? In the movie The Matrix (1999), Morpheus offers Neo a choice to learn about what the matrix—the nature of reality—really is: This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story...
A Felt Sense of Urgency
In this moment in the world, there is much darkness, complexity, ambiguity, and injustice with sharp political divides. I feel a sense of urgency to wake up, grow up and show up fully in this all-hands-on-deck moment that we appear to be living in. Even without this...
Helping Other People Find Their Greatness
In several of our conversations, Peter has shared that his mission is to help other people find their greatness. He wants to inspire greatness in others. In his words, "I am in the business of providing HOPE to myself and to others. I like to inspire myself as well as...
Living the Questions Versus Seeking the Answers
If I had to pick the single most significant principle guiding my life choices right now, I would choose curiosity. In other words, I'm living the questions. To me curiosity means asking questions from a place of not knowing. I am making choices from a place of not...
Someone on the Plane Has the Answer
Feeling stuck with a problem? Not sure how to overcome a challenge? Someone has the answer, but who? I like Peter's idea: Fill up a plane with people, take off and ask for help. Chances are that there will be someone on that plane who can help you identify potential...
The Meaning of Life Is Perhaps a Specific One
When Peter and I started exploring the question of How Much Time Is Left? we discussed how the question could be a question about finding meaning and purpose in the limited time we have left in life. As Peter's stepmom Lucille reminds us, "None of us is getting out of...
There’s Always That Moment
In the movie The Sea of Trees, Matthew McConaughey’s character Arthur says: “There’s always that moment. The big, life-changing moment that knocks us on the floor and reminds us what really matters.” When I was diagnosed with cancer at 23, that was “that moment.” I...
What’s Your Pain Point?
David Allen said: “The beginning is half of every action.” Lao Tzu is said to have said: "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." But, what is the impetus for taking that first step? Peter and I talked about pain points as potential triggers for...
None of Us Is Getting Out of Here Alive
Peter shared this reminder from his 90-year-old stepmom, Lucille, that death eventually comes for all of us. When I was in my teens and 20's, I felt like I had all the time in the world and death was something that happened to old people. I still had a whole lifetime...
Was It Worth It?
"You gave your life to become the person you are right now. Was it worth it?” ~ Richard Bach in Messiah's Handbook ~ I love this question by Richard Bach, as it helps me put my life in perspective as me being an active participant everything I've done and...
The Inspiration for “How Much Time Is Left?”
“How much time is left?” asked a student in Peter's indoor cycling class. During the class, the instructor was guiding the students through a set of hard, high intensity intervals where the students had to both add resistance and pedal harder in order to simulate...