only when you know how to stop, do you know how to go on.

"One's speaking must be shaped by the quality of the listener. So, when you're listening to me I am compelled to speak more sense. I am compelled to speak more truth. In a lot of modern conversations, no-one is listening, so no-one cares what they say [...] The quality of listening informs the quality of speaking."

I want to be able to channel my knowledge and potential. One day I will just explode.

You question yourself. You doubt your life. You feel miserable some days. This means you’re still open to growth. This means you can be objective and self-aware. The best people go home at the end of the day and think: “or...maybe there’s another way.”

Real time is slower than social-media time, where everything feels urgent. Real time often includes periods of silence, reflection, growth, space, self-forgiveness, processing with loved ones, rest, and responsibility.

I began to turn this perspective re-frame into a game: Train your senses to find five beautiful things in a row. Once I found one, I forced myself to spend ten full seconds — the time it takes to sing the chorus of Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” — taking in the beauty before looking for the next one. This game is awesome because it takes you out of your head, out of the ruminating mind (what my former psychology professor called “the yammer”), and places you squarely in the present.