“What you think is attainable is just a function of what you know at the moment. Remember that great expectations create great capabilities. If you limit your goals to what you think you can achieve, you are setting the bar way too low.” – Ray Dalio
Happy new year 🙂
So many topics come to mind for our first email of 2024, but these five words ring loud above the rest:
You’re stronger than you think.
Here’s what I mean…
At our retreat last summer, one participant increased his daily meditation time from 10 minutes to 45 minutes, overnight.
Not because he wanted to, but because he had to:
That’s how long we sit for every morning, and it’s not optional.
The first day was tough — brutal, even — and he spent most of the practice praying for the bell to ring.
The second day was still tough, but easier.
The third day was even easier, and by the fourth day he was shocked to realize that sitting for 45 minutes felt totally comfortable.
In other words, the capacity was inside him all along — he just had to push through a little pain to get it.
And so it goes:
Right now, as we speak, almost all of us are capable of an immediate 2-3x intensity increase across every dimension of life.
We’ve coddled our mind into thinking we’re going hard as hard as we can, while a long list of things we know we should be doing (and should stop doing) sits undone.
Almost all of us could immediately:
* Double or triple our meditation volume
* Read instead of watching tv
* Cut back on 80% of our social media consumption
* Go to bed 30-60 minutes earlier
* Increase the volume / intensity / frequency of our physical training by 1.5-2x
* Completely cut out junk food and replace it with healthy food
* Listen to our nervous system instead of our ego, back off when necessary, rest more deeply, and be uncompromisingly gentle with ourselves while at the same time pushing ourselves towards deeper and greater challenges.
(and the list goes on…)
What’s stopping us?
Some temporary discomfort, and the belief that we’re not strong enough yet.
So this year, let it be our battlecry:
You’re stronger than you think.
There is way (way) more capacity within you, if you’re willing to strap up and earn it.
Happy 2024, partner.
A new level begins…
– T
P.S. For bonus points:
Think about how this principle applies not only to pushing harder, but also relaxing and becoming softer…
(ahhhh, paradox…)
…And I’ll see you back here tomorrow 🙂
