Boredom as a Canvas

Hello! 

The other day on one of my runs, I decided that my number one fear in life is to not reach my potential. I say this so matter of factly because it seems like every six months I have a new “greatest” something, but this one has sent me down a rabbit hole. 

One of my favorite semi-regular things is when Alex Hormozi and Chris Williamson get on a podcast together. They are both quote people, so much so that Hormozi tweets essentially one-liners every single day. 

For this most recent session Chris Williamson grabbed 41 of Alex Hormozi’s tweets, and they just sat there, read them, and discussed. Most of the ideas are pretty existential, so if you are into that kind of thing, you would like it. 

During the session, they brought up a James Clear quote that I had never heard before, and then Chris brought it up again in another interview with Jimmy Carr. 

“If you don’t want to live the lifestyle, then release yourself from the desire. To crave the result but not the process, is to guarantee disappointment.”

Jimmy Carr responded with one of my favorite thoughts I have heard in awhile, “I am amazed by all of the incredible things I will never do.”

A part of living a disciplined life is not just habits it is also what you allow yourself to spend your time on. We are all talented in our own right, and there are probably talents going unused, don’t let the fear of missed potential stop you from pursuing the most important thing deeply. 

Bear with me, I am trying to weave together a foundation for this week’s thought. 

My favorite idea as I left college and entered into corporate america was from Wallace Stevens, a great American poet who also worked at an insurance company. The idea was, a boring life is a blank canvas. 

I am officially a month into my new job. I haven’t worked in an office since 2019. I spent most of my 20s not in an office or with “hours” or with a boss. 

The interesting part is, I snapped into my routine. I love my morning runs before work, morning reading (or in this case newsletter writing), even my commute is pretty great sometimes. 

My brain feels way more clear, my habits are locking into place, and I feel way more creative. 

I think most people would assume the opposite for someone with a background like mine, but you know what I think it is? I finally have a blank canvas, not to build another business or to write the next great newsletter, but to build the lifestyle that I want. 

I am unsure what my goals are for this role or my next, they seem to oscillate, but what I am certain of is that I have my eyes dead set on the life I want to live, and building the habits to form the lifestyle necessary. 

I have decided that not wasting my potential is one day at a time, I may not know what it looks like, but we only have a couple brush strokes on the canvas. 

Kyle