⏱️ Don’t be afraid of the inconvenience

I. Focus on what you can control.

There will always be someone more talented. Someone with more resources. Someone with better connections, a better situation, and better odds of success.

But that’s not what matters.

What matters is this: when you get your chance, make the most of it.

Be prepared. Be ready. Go for it.

Focus on what you can control.

———————-

II. Everything that matters requires inconvenience.

Kids take your time, restrict your freedom, and cost you money. Yet the meaning, love, and happiness a parent gains from their children over time cannot be matched.

Being healthy takes your time (exercising), intentionality in eating, and money (real food costs more). Yet living pain-free, with reduced stress and the energy to enjoy life, is invaluable.

Developing a skill requires continual practice over a long period of time, pushing through stagnation, resisting the urge to give up, and watching others seem to coast while you put in the work. Yet having a better job, the ability to enjoy a specialized expertise, and a deep sense of accomplishment is the difference between merely existing and truly thriving.

Everything that matters is inconvenient in the moment, but it leads to a richer and more meaningful life in the end.

Everything that matters requires inconvenience. Don’t be afraid of the inconvenience.

I. Laurie Buchanan on choosing our behaviors:

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”

II. John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, on what matters most:

“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, the author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch 22 over its whole history.

“Heller responded, ‘Yes, but I have something he will never have … Enough.'”

Your Future Self Will Thank You by Drew Dyck

A book about self-control and creating better habits. It is written in a conversational tone and is easy to read.

I've read a lot on this topic, so there wasn't much that was new for me. However, I did enjoy the book's Biblical focus, and that aspect was unique.

None of the studies referenced were new to me, nor were any of the concepts, as I have read a lot of books in the genre. I enjoyed some of the personal stories, but I didn't take away anything new from the book.

My rating, therefore, isn't fair to the book itself. If you are looking for a book on this topic, this is a pretty good entry-level option. For me, however, it wasn’t that helpful because I've read so much on the topic already and there wasn’t anything in this book I hadn’t read elsewhere.

6/10

P.S. Taking a call in the bathroom…