Tag: comfort

Entropy Means

Post author By jrlsage
Post date June 23, 2017

First, what is entropy?

Entropy: A lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.

Why does that matter?

Order means useful. Disorder means not useful.

According to the latest in physics, entropy affects all things. All. Things. Left alone, everything we see, touch and hear fall into disorder. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy can never decrease in a closed system.

As long as we work in closed systems, there is no way out.

The only way to avoid total disorder is to open up the system.

How do you open up the system? Ask yourself:

Have I experienced anything new lately?
When is the last time I investigated something “old” with fresh eyes?
Am I dealing too much in “comfort?”

If you feel yourself reaching a state of disorder, it’s worth asking yourself those three questions.

Tags comfort, entropy

Blog Post

Avoid Junk Talk, Get Your Time Back

Post author By jrlsage
Post date October 18, 2016

“Junk talk” is real

Junk talk. Definition: irrelevant words that occur during meaningful conversations.

We lose the opportunity just to say the things that matter by saying the things that don’t.

Junk talk is the noise that surrounds our signal (our truth).

We bury our “signal” with “junk talk,” usually because “signal” is scary.

It is easy to feel better when someone rejects a signal mixed with noise because we can blame the “noise.”

It’s easy to add junk talk to our conversation, pitch, or resume because we have an excuse. We hide by saying too much.

We use excuses. As a result, we live in “comfort.”

Comfort is short-term safety. Comfort is a trap. It keeps us stagnant and as a result, we focus on the battle instead of the war.

Our time matters.

When we avoid the uncomfortability of losing we waste time.

Avoid junk talk and get your time back.

Your time better spent improving signal or changing it.

Tags comfort, junk talk, signal, uncomfortability

Blog Post

Go into the Sun, and Before You Do, Find Shade.

Post author By jrlsage
Post date October 9, 2016

Extremes wear us down

If the light is uncomfortable growth and the dark is comfortable stagnation, then darkness is home for many of us.

We spend a lot of our time in the dark.

So much so that unfiltered sunlight hurts.

It hurts so much that it can convince us to go into the dark and stay there.

That’s why it’s dangerous to go out into the sunlight and stay there. Too much pain at once convinces us that the sun isn’t for us.

It is.

Humans don’t do extremes well. We can manage them fine. When our backs aren’t against the wall, we retreat as soon as we can to comfort.”

The best change is a sustainable one.

Using this metaphor, we have to realize that when we want to go directly into the sun from the darkness, we need to plan “shade” periods.

The shade is a tool. It allows us to take a break from the sun while not going completely back into darkness. We can recharge, and see our next steps.

Sometimes we just need to take a break.

A retreat isn’t “defeat.”

Tags comfort, comfortable, dark, extremes, growth, shade, sun, uncomfortability

Blog Post

We Agonized Over Nothing, And We Did the Next Time; Too

Post author By jrlsage
Post date April 17, 2016

Make a choice

If you want to grow, start deciding.

When you start making those decisions, get a journal and write them down.

We agonized over wrong and right, the future, the past, and its potential. The odd thing is, in 99% of our decisions, none of those things mattered. What mattered was follow through and accountability.

It’s easy to fall into the “routine of comfort,” or the things that we do to feel OK. We all have a list, but for me, if I notice myself watching sports, diving in on Reddit, or perusing Facebook, then I am there. I am hiding, trying to avoid something. That’s failure.

We can’t avoid failure. But by avoiding follow through and accountability, we shrink our chances of growth.

Tags comfort, decision journal, decisions, failure, follow through, growth, uncomfortable