Archives for March 2023

20 Things You Need to Stop Wasting Your Time On

03.26.2023 by Marc Chernoff // 27 Comments

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
— Benjamin Franklin

I recently received a thank you email from a reader and course student named Hope. She said our work helped motivate her through an arduous recovery process following a serious car accident last year. Although her entire story was both heartbreaking and inspiring, this one line made me pause and think:

“The happiest moment of my life is still that split-second a year ago when, as I laid crushed under a 2000 pound car, I realized my husband and 9-year-old boy were out of the vehicle and absolutely OK.”

Dire moments like this force us to [Read more…]

7 Good Things You Will Gain When You Let Go of Control

03.24.2023 by Angel Chernoff // 24 Comments

When you try to control too much, you enjoy too little. Sometimes you just need to let go, relax, take a deep breath, and love what is.

This morning I met up with an old friend, someone whom I care about deeply but have internally struggled with for years because I’ve always been worried about her health.

I want to help her heal, because I feel I’m losing her.

I want to teach her the time-tested tools for living a happier, simpler, healthier life that I’ve helped so many other people with — so she can give up her addictions, take up exercise and mindfulness, nurture her needs, and suddenly be transformed into a healthy person again.

But that’s not reality. I want to control something that frightens me, but I can’t do anything about it. Because I’m not in control of anyone but myself. I want to help my friend, but she’s not interested in being helped. She has actually told me so a dozen times in the past.

So today, I let go.

Not “let go” as in “let her go.” I “let go” as in I stopped [Read more…]

One Surprisingly Small Step that Will Change Your Whole Life

03.21.2023 by Marc Chernoff // 19 Comments

Too often people overestimate the significance of one big defining moment and underestimate the value of making good decisions and small steps of progress on a daily basis.

You’re probably familiar with what’s known as the Serenity Prayer. It goes like this:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

There’s an important lesson here — one that’s very often glossed over…

When a chaotic reality is swirling around us, we often try to relieve our anxiety by exerting our will over external things we cannot control.

It helps us stave off one of the most dreaded feelings: complete powerlessness.

With that in mind, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that generally speaking, almost everything is [Read more…]

10 Hard Things You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Do for Yourself

03.16.2023 by Angel Chernoff // 23 Comments

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
— Mae West

This morning a close neighborhood friend, Alison, passed away far too early. While Marc and I have spent most of the day grieving, I’ve also spent this past hour thinking about the fact that our lives are often much shorter than we expect, and that we need to do some pretty darn hard things to maximize our very limited time. Alison strongly believed in doing the hard yet necessary things in life — we talked about this topic on several occasions, and she never backed down from a challenge. So today, I want to reflect on this with you.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you absolutely need to do hard things to be happy in the long run. Because the hard things ultimately build you up and change your life. They make the difference between [Read more…]

10 Harsh Realities that Will Help You Grow

03.12.2023 by Angel Chernoff // 24 Comments

All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.
— Helen Keller

Character and wisdom are both sculpted over time. These qualities come with loss, lessons, and triumphs. They come after doubts, second guesses, and exploring unknowns. If there was a definitive path to personal growth, everyone would be on it.

Truth be told, the seeds of your progress are often planted in your past failures. Some of your best stories will likely come from overcoming your greatest struggles. And your praises will be birthed from your growing pains.

Marc and I learned some of this the hard way. Over the past fifteen years we have dealt with several significant hardships, including the sudden death of [Read more…]