Motivation & Mindset Archives

June 24, 2025

Picking Up New Hobbies in Middle-Age

We're never too old to pick up a new hobby. I've actually done quite a few new things in middle-age which has made middle-age a surprisingly fresh time for being alive! My picking up new hobbies have been mostly unexpected and part of a growing sense of giving things a try and not putting up as much of a fight when my wife tells me I should go do it! One of my newest and most enjoyable hobbies has been a curiosity of mine for a very long time. If you would have asked me if I'd be learning how to play piano in middle-age, I would have told you "You're crazy! That ship sailed decades ago." But in reality, my ship never left dream harbor. I had just been too chicken, too contemplative, too busy, too fearful, too focused on money, too...too...to do anything about it. Until I just went and did it. It's time to sail away from dream harbor and wash away the fear of trying.

November 23, 2024

Advertising: The $1 Trillion Industry Influencing Our Daily Decisions

A love-hate relationship at the core, advertising is an age old phenomenon living between data-backed science and abstract dreams. From massive sport event commercials to the pesky interrupting ads on YouTube, ads affect just about all of us. Is there a winner or are we all losing the game for our hard-earned dollars on both sides of the advertisement spectrum?

May 26, 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – The Ultimate Pharisee

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has experienced an exponential surge in capability and popularity lately, thanks to Open AI's ChatGPT. While it wasn't the only AI system around, it became one of the easiest for everyday people like you and me to access and play around with. Naturally, our human tendency to fear that which we don't understand took hold immediately and everyone wants to know what jobs, or more importantly if their job, will be replaced by our smarter, more efficient, and less whiny robotic counterparts. Similar to any technological leap, many jobs will be impacted. But will AI's influence stop there or cross into the spiritual realm? Can AI advise on spiritual matters? How about matters of the heart? Is it a noisy gong of "head knowledge" or a reputable advisor with more scriptural backing than most Christians?

January 13, 2023

Willpower: Your Most Important Mental Resource

Can we increase our willpower? Yes! Willpower and it's close friends; discipline and self-control, are like any muscle in the body. The more intentional focus on growth you provide it, the stronger they become. With willpower, we can move mountains. Namely, the mountains of our stubborn mind and body. We can will ourselves to act, to do things and go places we previously believed to be impossible.

December 31, 2022

What Many People Misunderstand About Passive Income

Earning money while we sleep sounds like a pretty sweet deal. But why then isn't everyone already doing enjoying the fruits of passive labor? Many people misunderstand that while passive income is very real, the hard work required for it to show up in their lives is also real. Passive income is a bountiful harvest from the planning, toil, and patience of focused effort typically over a long period of time. I'll show you how passive income works for me and the very active steps I took so you can begin seeing passive income in your life too.

December 30, 2022

In Search of Solitude: The Importance of Spending Time Alone

It's been said that all man's miseries originate from being unable to sit alone. As children, we are punished with time outs alone. Parents often like want teenagers staying home alone. Prisoners who don't follow the rules are sent to solitary confinement, a consequence known to break even the most hardened minds among us. We believe solitude is an enemy and being alone is a sign of failure. Failure in life, failure in relationships, and even failure in performance. In many ways, we confuse aloneness with loneliness. But this isn't true. Spending time alone through intentional solitude can be a game changer in helping us push through life's roadblocks.

December 12, 2022

What is Holding You Back from Achieving Your Goals

Everyone has goals. Some are written down. Some are pie in the sky abstract dreams. While having a clear goal is certainly the first big step in the journey of achieving goals, there are many things we do intentionally and unintentionally that make goal achievement near impossible. Let's see if any of these 5 things are holding you back from achieving your goals.

December 5, 2022

The Dangers of ‘Goblin Mode’ and 5 Healthier Self-Care Tips

The term 'goblin mode' has landed, as if 2022 couldn't get any crazier. You may be one of the hundreds of millions that have no clue why goblin mode is popping up all over the news and social media. Or, you may be one who's already gone full goblin mode and chosen a life of unapologetic laziness and greed to feel better in these desperate times. In either case, we should all be aware just how dangerous goblin mode is to ourselves and the society we find community in.