Happy Friday — I hope it’s a joyful one!
On Thursday, Live Free celebrated a new milestone that I’m excited to share. What do you think it is? 👀 Scroll down to find the answer.
In the meantime, here is an exercise, reflection, and quote to spark curiosity, consciousness, and change. I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter.
Curious
A question that I am curious about this week:
Nostalgia flooded my brain as I watched a YouTube clip of the 2002 FIFA World Cup video game.
I began reeling in the years of growing up with the evolution of PlayStation.
Thinking about my favourite games — I recognized a common theme that drew me in.
It was the ability to customize.
Developers design games for you to decide exactly how you want to experience it.
You are in control.
That thought led me down another path.
Am I experiencing this game called life exactly how I want it to be? What are the daily commands driving my actions? Am I building a character that I love?
If not, what daily commands (habits) do I need to introduce, maintain, or stop altogether to experience the game exactly how I want to?
Exercise: Imagine yourself as a game developer. You are in charge of building the main character (you). What daily habits will you program to create a character you love?
Conscious
A reflection on recognizing when you are being productive and when you are avoiding presence:
Pointless productivity prohibits presence.
Productive and pointless don’t go together, but I enjoy alliteration.
However, I’m not just cramming words together for my pleasure. There’s a message in there.
Pointless productivity is when someone is doing “work” that isn’t moving them any closer to their goals.
They think they are being “productive” — but in reality, they are engaged in the act of busyness.
The egoic mind will find a rational despite the truth they feel inside.
I’m not judging. I’ve done it.
When I got honest with myself, I discovered fear was the root cause.
Fear that I am not moving and growing fast enough.
These are dangerous waters to charter.
If you let your ego control your actions, you risk:
Damaging important relationships
Progress on health goals
Increasing isolation
Burnout
Your future self will not appreciate your avoidance of presence today.
Protecting presence can be achieved in two simple steps:
Reflect: Consciously examine your actions. This ceases unconscious behaviour and creates presence.
Reframe: Reassess your priorities each day. This keeps you focused on what is important.
Change
An idea from Sahil Bloom to help change your mindset toward taking action:
This is tough for perfectionists, those who fear failure, and those who avoid rejection.
I’ve been there.
Caught up in the cheap dopamine cycle of ideating and planning. It feels like action, but it’s not.
Successful people who we place on pedestals are not from another planet. They are normal people who acknowledge the cost you inherit for pursuing what matters and pay the tax anyway.
Some incredibly intelligent individuals are out there, but intelligence alone doesn’t mean anything.
My Dad has a saying for wasted resources:
“There’s no point having a dog and barking yourself.”
Finely tuned strategies or a bucketload of knowledge is no use if you don’t put it to work.
A plan will never give you the feedback that action will.
Failure is feedback.
Reframing failure as feedback will be the difference between making progress or staying stuck.
If you’re reading this and ready to take action but are unsure which parts of your plan you should trudge ahead with and which ones you should be strategic on — tune in for next week’s newsletter.
Sneak peek: It is a nugget of wisdom I captured from attending a business and life talk delivered by the hugely successful entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett.
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Milestone Reveal (& what’s in it for you 👀)
On Thursday, Live Free surpassed 100 subscribers 🎉
I am grateful to every one of you who choose to spend a few minutes with me each week.
But this isn’t about me, it’s for you.
You see my mission is to build a community of people from every corner of the globe who live each day without limits in the pursuit of what truly matters to them.
I left my job and made wholesale changes in my life to pursue this mission.
The growth of the Live Free newsletter is critical to the continuity of the pursuit.
With that in mind — I want to reward YOU for attracting like-minded people to Live Free.
The referral program I designed aims to bring you closer to the heart of the mission.
You have an opportunity to join LVN Club — a private online community of like-minded people supporting one another to pursue what truly matters to them.
You can also access free 1:1 coaching.
I won’t always be able to offer this — so it is a great opportunity to capitalize on over 1,000 hours of coaching experience for free.
I’m excited to meet more people like you!
This is only the beginning. Together we can go far.
With love,
Niall
How to participate
1. Share Live Free. When you use the referral link below, or the “Share” button on any post, you'll get credit for any new subscribers. Simply send the link in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends.
2. Earn benefits. When more friends use your referral link to subscribe, you’ll receive special benefits.
Get a Personal Hand Written / Video Thank You Message for 3 referrals
Get access to an Exclusive LVN Club Community for 10 referrals
Get a 40 Minute 1:1 Coaching Call for 25 referrals
To learn more, check out Substack’s FAQ.
If you enjoy reading my work, please click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
Awesome milestone Niall!
I very much like the intro of this post, nice analogy.
2 years ago I had the big realization I was playing the victim in my own life, blaming everyone and anything for my misery. Ofcourse that's a lie we love telling ourself. It made me switch from a victim to an owner mindset.
It's still something I'm working on today, but that was my reframing of the game.
Happy to follow you here on Substack!!
PS also super cool mission! I love that you share it, I haven't settled on mine yet, but you inspire me.
Congrats on the subscriber milestone! That's something to celebrate.
This is something I still do on a weekly basis: "Pointless productivity is when someone is doing “work” that isn’t moving them any closer to their goals. They think they are being “productive” — but in reality, they are engaged in the act of busyness."
We in the Western world value productivity. It's a badge of honour. Of value. Of worth. Though I try to be more ruthless in doing only meaningful work then stepping away from my computer I still feel like I need to spend a certain number of hours working even when the work I'm doing is minor, small impact stuff.
Thanks for the reminder to work smarter as I head into the weekend, Niall.