Question on what's holding you back:

What are the "boat anchors" creating a drag in your life?

As you push for growth in your life, there will be people, actions, behaviors, and things that stand ready to inhibit that progress.

I call these inhibitors "boat anchors" in your life.

You are running the engines full steam ahead, but these "boat anchors" are lodged firmly in the ocean floor, creating an immense drag that holds you back from your optimal performance and course.

Examples of "boat anchors" include:

• People who you allow in your life who laugh at your ambition or tell you to be more realistic. These same people are often focused on the past and want you to remain in the same place you were when your relationship first developed.
• Small actions or behaviors you adopt that are subtly hindering your growth.
• Suboptimal environments that you allow to linger too long.

It's easy to ignore the "boat anchors" if you're still making forward progress, but the drag they create is meaningful and effectively prohibits you from operating at your full potential.

So this weekend, ask yourself these questions:

What are the "boat anchors" in my life? What are the things silently holding me back? How can I slowly, methodically cut these lines and unleash my full power?

Quote on outlasting darkness:

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up." - Anne Lamott

When times are dark, remember that the seeds of light are already being sown.

(Share this on Twitter!)

Framework for considering relationships:

Q1 Relationships

My friend Tim Urban crafted this painfully brilliant visualization for considering relationships in a 2014 post on his famous Wait But Why blog.

The simple idea is that every relationship in your life can be placed within a 2x2 matrix based upon:

1. How healthy it is
2. How enjoyable it is

So all relationships fall into one of four types:

• Q1 relationships are healthy and enjoyable
• Q2 relationships are healthy but not enjoyable
• Q3 relationships are enjoyable but not healthy
• Q4 relationships are not enjoyable and not healthy

Since reading it for the first time, this idea has become a core framework for how I think about relationships.

Focus more energy and time on Q1 relationships. They are few and far between. Cherish the Q1 relationships.

As for the Q4 relationships: Scrub them from your life.

Tweet on being different:

Everyone seems to love Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible stunts, but this video of early movie stunts is more impressive.

And I agree—Buster Keaton was DIFFERENT.

Video on a philosophy for happiness:

​My Philosophy for a Happy Life​

I saw this Ted Talk many years ago but rewatched it this week as I went deep down the rabbit hole for my piece on how we choose to live. It's short and deeply inspiring.

Sam's philosophy for a happy life:

1. Be ok with what you ultimately can't do, because there is so much you can do.
2. Surround yourself with people you want to be around.
3. Keep moving forward.
4. Never miss a party if you can help it.

So much wisdom in these words!