I don’t read Reddit when I’m traveling to a new place. I’m not on my phone watching YouTube videos. I don’t scroll through Instagram or see what is going on in my email inbox. I like to make the most of my time traveling, especially when traveling for pleasure, and I generally do a good job of living in the moment and being present in a new place.

What if I lived like this? What if everyone lived like this? Why not adopt this value-based thinking to the time we have during a normal day at home?

To answer a rhetorical question, the answer is that we take the hours in our normal, everyday lives for granted, assuming that there are always more days to fill. I believe this is a dangerous assumption.

Preface: I don’t pay for Spotify premium, so I get (have?) to hear commercials.

TD Bank’s new marketing narrative makes me sad. Here’s why. The main narrative, which has been spun off into many different situational examples, is that an unanticipated expense caused an overdraft. Thankfully TD bank is nice so it doesn’t penalize you. Fair enough. Overdraft fees are insulting, and reflect the soullessness of the banking industry.

However, what saddens me is the examples that TD uses. All of them are what I would consider small dollar amounts, such as an extra bus ticket. None of these costs should be big enough to trigger a negative bank account balance in anyone’s account. But, the fact that TD is marketing this way suggests it is a common situation. According to Bankrate’s annual study, 1 in 5 people in the US have no savings for unexpected expenses.

Whether by the current political or economic system, or by an addiction to consumerism, Americans are over-leveraged. There shouldn’t be payment plans for small purchases, and the average American shouldn’t have to worry about a bus ticket overdrawing their account.

Where do we go after the Information Age? Several authors have dubbed our current time as “the Age of Experience.” If that is true, it won’t be for long. Artificial intelligence is poised to shake up the world. Like social media, and Spider-man, it has great power and great responsibility. I anticipate that it will follow in social media’s footsteps by accelerating and magnifying both the good and the bad of humanity. Unfortunately, I don’t think our existing political, mental, and social landscapes will be able to keep up.

There is direct correlation between how you value things and how you value people. This isn’t my idea. I discovered it while reading Naomi Klein’s intro to “Let my People Go Surfing” by Yvon Chouinard. This simple truth hit me hard.

Put differently, if you or your company views its employees as disposable “Human Resources” to acquire or terminate based on the bottom line, it likely views the widgets it sells in the same way. Rehabilitation and repair are not good for the bottom line of our financial balance sheet, but they are good for the bottom line of our lives. We make movies about the broken becoming whole for a reason.

How ironic then, that in order to “win” we deprive ourselves of an important tool that brings incredible value not only to the environment or to employees, but to ourselves as well.

I believe happiness is a non-zero-sum game. I hope that one day, we (myself included) will be able to move past the greed and start building a world where we truly value people and belongings as the extensions of ourself that they are.

Why do so many people who don’t exercise regularly, hit the gym or lace up their running shoes only while on vacation?

I used to think these folks were misguided, and suspected many had grandiose, unrealistic expectation of what results only one week of exercise will yield. After becoming one of them during my last vacation, though, I think I understand.

This is not a lack of knowledge regarding exercise, nor a desire to prove something to themselves or others. Alternatively, I suspect this is because many view exercise as a reward for themselves for finishing their “real work” and pressing to-do’s

Now that I break it down, keeping a healthy body is the most legitimate of tasks, and one I aim to tackle first going forward.

My favorite coffee shop is also an expensive coffee shop. They easily charge 1.5x to 2x what a similar beverage would cost elsewhere in this area. People happily pay this, and the shop is always busy.

Why?

The beverages are good and the service friendly. But so are other local shops.

What I believe sets them apart is the feeling you receive as a patron. Similar to Apple products, it is not about the capabilities of the computers (more can be had for less money), it is about the feeling you get when you are part of the cool, smart, sophisticated group. In the case of the coffee shop, I believe 90% of this feeling comes down to the design of the establishment. Here is what I’ve noticed about the space.

1. It is in a walkable neighborhood, which facilitates community and a feeling of belonging.

2. It is human scale. It has 10ft or less ceiling with large chandeliers that bring the scale down further around the tables. It has 7-8 tables inside and 4-5 outside. Further, tables are situated at the perimeter of the room, allowing a feeling of security. This well-studied concept of “ninja-proof-seats” is missed by so many establishments. A ninja proof seat is one where your back is to the wall and you have a good view of your surroundings, preventing others from sneaking up on you. It is why, when you sit in the center of the room, you have that uncomfortable, almost imperceptible feeling of being insecure and on display. The coffee shop does a good job of creating seating spaces that feel safe.

3. Ambient noise. Music is always playing, loud enough that conversations around you aren’t distracting but quiet enough for you to hear the people at your table. This gives a feeling of privacy, despite others being nearby.

4. In the rare times when it is not busy, it still feels occupied; the decor fills out the space and makes the space feel dynamic. It does not have the sterile feeling typically found in a franchises where the ceiling is acoustical ceiling tiles and the wall decor is large pieces selected for their efficiency in filling up the wall spaces.

These design choices don’t reflect a huge capital investment, so it’s baffling to me why more shops don’t adopt similar design thinking. Perhaps design upgrades are perceived as nonessential costs? Maybe it’s time to reconsider.

Businesses and organizations have mission statements to help guide them and ensure that they stay on track and accomplish what they were created to accomplish.

Why don’t you?

I was talking to a friend recently who noted that her mom has a personal mission statement hanging on her wall. After she said this, I was astonished. How is this not the rule of human existence? Rather it seems to be the exception – I have yet to find another person that does this.

One of my favorite books is A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. The big idea behind the book is that human stories easily become boring unless one adopts a sort of intentionality of living a good life; similar to how a good book has intentional conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution. What better way to introduce a healthy conflict in your life than a personal mission statement, calling you to action?

There is always a rhythm in life. I’ve noticed that even when my life or others’ lives seem chaotic or unplanned there is still a pattern. When I am managing my time poorly and not in a good routine of exercising after work, cooking a nice dinner, writing in the evening, and getting to bed early, there are still background habits that emerge as a routine.

These background habits may be: working until I can’t think straight, eating out or warming a frozen dinner, bingeing reddit and procrastinating going to bed. I find that whether I am in a good routine or a work-obsessed routine, I am taking the same amount of time away from my work. The difference is that one routine is intentional and far more rewarding.

There is a temptation, when trying to get a big project over the finish line to think that you will get back into a pattern after this milestone or after that event. However it is helpful to realize that you are already in a routine, it just may not feel like it, and it may not be serving you well.

Life is now. It is not in the moments reminiscing about past lovers, better times, and a simpler world. Life is not continually anticipating or even expecting that surely there are better times ahead. Life is now. It is happening around you and me. No matter how beautiful or painful, right now you are living through the moments that you will look back at with a sense of nostalgia. Drink it in. You will never get a second chance to experience this moment the first time.

The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

– Thomas Macaulay

I find that I waste far less time when I’m around other people. Even if I’m not actively engaging with others, the mere presence of another human keeps me focused. Whether I know these other humans or not, it’s as if I have something to prove.

I need to develop time character – how I spend my minutes when someone is watching vs. when no one will ever know.