“Cinema is a mirror that can change the world.” -Diego Luna

Go watch a Disney movie. 

There are basically two ways to learn life lessons in my book: 1) the hard way, by getting your heart broken and your dreams crushed, or 2), the easy way- by watching a Disney movie. 

I know you have Hakuna Matata memorized, and it’s the only Swahili phrase you can say. Your first exposure to talking furniture was probably Beauty and the Beast. 

And of course, you watched The Little Mermaid 14 times before the DVD mysteriously disappeared because your parents couldn’t take it anymore. 

If you’re like me, the first romances you ever idealized were also Disney romances, and maybe some of your first Halloween costumes were from the classic 90s and 2000s films too.

So if you grew up waiting to become a Disney princess or imagining your dog as an animated sidekick, this is for you.

All those hours you spent watching movies might just have taught you some incredible lessons about courage, joy, and how to stay true to yourself in a world that aggressively manufactures sameness. 

(Also, I tried to give minimal spoilers if you haven’t seen some of the films below!)

Me dressed as Elsa (Frozen) at 12 years old

#1: What Else Can I Do? (Learn from Encanto)

The very thing you are trying to suppress, hide, or change, is the path to becoming even more powerful if you lean into it.

One of the most powerful messages to learn from Encanto is to lean into your shadow self, mirroring some of what Robert Greene writes about in 48 Laws Of Power. 

But what do I mean by this?

Throughout all my high school years, I felt like I had to squeeze and contort myself to fit into a predetermined future box that contained a single career. There was a set list of jobs, and you were just supposed to pick one based on the class you did the best in. 

It was a pretty straightforward algorithm if you had one favorite class, or could easily clump your interests into a definitive job description. 

But for me it was a nightmare, because I loved all my classes, and found all the jobs super cool. 

My solution? 

Suppress, hide, and try to change. 

I loved creative writing with a passion, but this didn’t make sense in the context of science and math. People only saw the link between writing and science if you were planning on going into journalism or sci comm. 

I tried both on, but I knew there was still something missing. 

So what did I do?

Suppress even more. 

It got worse and worse until I took a gap year before college, where like a plant transplanted from a tiny plastic pot to a big wide-open field, my roots spread out wide and far, and I got to reinvigorate my love for writing in all its expansiveness. 

Now I don’t try to suppress; I try to explore. I ask what else can I do?

The answer is always a pleasant surprise. 

#2: When I’m Older (Learn from Frozen)

All the crazy things happening to you now will make sense in the future. Trust the process.

Olaf sings this song in Frozen II as a bunch of crazy things are happening in the plot and he is lost in the woods without the other characters. 

In short, he has every reason to panic.

However, the charming thing about Olaf is that instead of panic, the entire time, he is reassuring himself, “This will all make sense when I am older.”

What I love about this is the fact that while we might usually see Olaf as the naive, childlike comic relief in the film, he is actually right. 

When I was 13, I moved to England from Miami. 

Yes, from Miami, where you have to worry about wearing enough sunscreen, to England, where you have to take Vitamin D pills just to stay sane in the winter. 

As a 13-year-old already halfway through the social Rubix cube of middle school, moving to an entirely new continent and starting over was tough. 

The first year, I had almost zero friends, and was constantly lamenting the gray skies and strange new education system I had been transplanted into unwillingly. 

When my life didn’t play out how I wanted it to, one of the hardest things for me to do was to take a step back and go “This will make sense one day.”

And guess what?

Seven years later, I can confirm it made perfect sense. 

If I hadn’t moved to England, I wouldn’t be who I am today. 

That said, wouldn’t it be so much easier if we could learn from Olaf and walk through the woods when we feel lost, alone, and hopeless, and trust that yes, this will all make sense when I am older?

#3: Gaston (Learn from Beauty and the Beast)

No matter how amazing you are, there will always be people who reject you. Don’t try to make sense of it. 

Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking: “But he’s the villain in the movie. Why are we learning from him?”

Hear me out: Yes, I know Gaston is the villain. I know he is self-absorbed. Maybe even a narcissist. 

Let’s take a step back, though. 

In this song, LeFou (Gaston’s bro, if you will) is trying to cheer up Gaston because he is feeling down and out about Belle rejecting him. So he lists off all the things about Gaston that are impressive. 

“Gosh, it disturbs me to see you, Gaston,” he says. “Looking so down in the dumps…There’s no man in town as admired as you. You’re ev’ryone’s favorite guy. Ev’ryone’s awed and inspired by you, and it’s not very hard to see why.”

Wow, so Gaston is a great guy to a lot of people. Yet for whatever reason, his insecurity is blinding him to this because he is hung up on the fact that Belle won’t marry him. 

Imagine how differently Beauty and the Beast would have gone if Gaston just had the emotional maturity to let Belle go, wish her the best, and marry any of the many women who really wanted to be with him. 

My ten-year-old sister once said something very wise, as children have a beautiful tendency to do. 

She said, “Sometimes you want to be friends with someone, but they don’t want to be friends with you. That’s okay.” 

It struck me, because she’s absolutely right.

In trying to bend over backwards for the people who don’t want what you have to offer, you miss out on appreciating the people who are your biggest fans. 

#4: We Don’t Talk About Bruno (Learn from Encanto)

We all have Brunos in the closet, even if we pretend we don’t. “Not talking” about something won’t make it go away. 

Can you tell I loved Encanto?

This song broke the charts because it’s catchy in every language, but really, it’s about being in a family that avoids talking about the hard stuff, in this case about what on earth happened to Uncle Bruno. 

But this doesn’t have to be about family. 

As individuals, we all have Brunos in the closet, and we refuse to talk about them, or even acknowledge them, until they blow up in our faces. 

You know how when you’re driving and your gas is low, your car will give you a little red warning?

50 miles becomes 20, 20 becomes 10. Sometimes, even at 0 miles, you can still go a little further before getting stranded. 

Well, once I got to 0 miles of gas in the tank, and I barely managed to get home. 

It’s easy to ignore a blinking red light telling you to stop at a gas station, but hard to ignore when you’re stranded in the middle of a winding mountain road. 

Address the thing before it becomes catastrophic. How?

It starts with talking about your Bruno.

#5: Spoonful Of Sugar (Learn from Mary Poppins)

Make the hard thing a little more fun. 

Perhaps the only thing more timeless than Mary Poppins is that universal groan right before you start the one long, boring task you’ve been avoiding all week. 

Disney’s solution is simple: take your medicine with a spoonful of sugar. 

Mary Poppins puts it this way: “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job’s a game, and every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake.”

About 2 months ago, I climbed Mt. Fuji with some friends. Before you climb, you are pumped with adrenaline, and at the top you have the wonderful sense of achievement.

In the middle, though, motivation is sparse. 

So what did we do?

We either sang musical number after musical number, or we listened to the rest of the group as they sang musical numbers. 

In the upper half of the mountain, I even came up with a game we all played together, where I would give a word like “boat”, and they would guess a musical number with that word in it. 

Did our legs still hurt? Absolutely, but our minds were on the likes of Hamilton, West Side Story, and Wicked instead.

Playing a game and singing songs didn’t make the climb effortless; it just kept us from dwelling on our sore feet, exhausted legs, and the sense that the mountain just kept getting taller. 

It works just like Mary Poppins claims: “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in a most delightful way.”

#6: How Far I’ll Go (Learn from Moana)

Trust the instinct telling you to try something random and new. It knows something you don’t yet. 

Moana is, like most princesses, unsatisfied with staying in her comfort zone. The difference between her and the rest though, is subtle. 

“I’ve been standing at the edge of the water, long as I can remember,” she says. “Never really knowing why.” Then, later in the song, she confesses, “I can lead with pride. I can make us strong. I’ll be satisfied if I play along, but the voice inside sings a different song. What is wrong with me?”

Nothing is wrong with you, Moana.

Much like Olaf trusts that everything will make sense later on, and like Isabela in Encanto has to lean into her shadow self to realize the true extent of her powers, Moana needs to trust that her urge to explore is telling her something important. 

Last Christmas, I got a small crafting kit under the tree. It came with two short, chunky wooden knitting needles, and a little clump of magenta-colored wool yarn. 

To my surprise, I spent all of Christmas Day knitting in my pajamas until I produced a mug cosy, completing the craft kit. 

In the week that followed, my mom and I went to the knitting shop to pick up more yarn so I could make a bigger project- a scarf.

I kept following that random new obsession, and almost a year later, I have also made a tote bag, hand warmers, and a scarf for my dog!!

Okay, maybe I didn’t defeat any evil demi-gods or giant crabs like Moana did, but I listened to the voice, and it told me I like this- let’s explore it. 

After all, you never know how far you’ll go…

#7: Do You Wanna Build A Snowman (Learn from Frozen)

Everyone has someone looking to them for love and support. Be there for them when it’s easy, but especially when it’s hard. 

Frozen is, ultimately, about sisterhood, and that’s one of my favorite things about it. 

It teaches us how to lean on others, especially in a world that trains women to see each other as competition. 

In this song, we see Anna begging her big sister, Elsa, to build a snowman for her, but it’s never really just about building a snowman. 

This is a plea for connection. 

The powerful message of this song, though, is that connection doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to make it about having a deep, existential conversation. In fact, you don’t even have to spend money.

For Anna and Elsa, it just means going outside together and building a snowman. 

As a proud big sister myself, one of my favorite things to do with my own little sisters is to bake. Whenever I visit, we make something tasty, and in the weeks and months leading up to a visit, we compare notes on what recipes to try. 

It’s not really about baking, although baking is lots of fun.

Really, it’s about connection.

We all have someone in our life who is the Anna to our Elsa, and could use our lova and support. 

Frozen just tells us it’s actually not as hard as we think to provide it. 

Apply What You Learn After The Movie.

Learning doesn’t stop after the credits finish rolling though. 

You can continue to engage with these Disney films by relistening to each of these songs using the links below:

1. What Else Can I Do?
2. When I’m Older
3. Gaston
4. We Don’t Talk About Bruno
5. Spoonful Of Sugar
6. How Far I’ll Go
7. Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

Thought To Action 

1. Upgrade Your Inputs: This week, read one thing that feels above your level—a book, essay, or paper that makes you slow down. Growth hides in friction.
2. Curate Your Feed: Audit your digital spaces—unfollow three accounts that shrink your thinking and replace them with three that expand it and help you learn.
3. Start a “Curiosity Thread”: Pick one question that won’t leave you alone and spend 15 minutes a day chasing it down. (Here’s how to build a personal learning ritual).
4. Try AI as a Reading Companion: Feed a dense article into an AI tool and ask it to explain it five ways—like a teacher, a friend, a skeptic, a poet, and a child. Notice what each version unlocks.
5. Share a Synthesis: Write a one-paragraph reflection and post it publicly or in your notes—learning cements when shared.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post- just my precious childhood memories. 

The post What Disney Songs Helped Me Learn (The Easy Way) appeared first on Green Also Green.

“What is now proved was once only imagined.” – William Blake

Training myself to think bigger.

After reading more about neuroscience this year, and developing greater intention with how I visualize my success, I discovered something crazy: I was used to thinking small.

This thought has driven me toward a long, winding road of daydreams, journaling prompts, and award-deserving mood boards. 

It has all given me a great sense of excitement and enthusiasm for life, and it’s all rooted in one question:

What if?

So many of us go through our day-to-day lives accepting everything exactly as it is. Let’s start there. 

What if you could make X better? What if you could read the book you’ve been meaning to start for 6 months? What if you didn’t have to feel Y or worry about Z? 

This exercise goes beyond personal development though, and can even make for a fun creative exercise in other tasks. 

Allow me to share some of the items on my own “what if” list now:

• What if I learned more about ethnobotany?
• What if I increased my time to action?
• What if I bought a bunch of land to turn it back into natural habitat? 
• What if I bought e-waste and found a way to deconstruct it while preserving the quality of the materials?

The Enduring Power Of “What If”

#1: Deepen your understanding. 

In adding items to my “what if” list, I have learned the skill of asking increasingly more obscure, random hypothetical questions. 

Exploring their answers often reinforces fundamental concepts that are tangibly applicable in my life. 

For example, in studying geochemistry, I got to thinking, “why isn’t there silicon-based life on earth?” Like carbon, silicon is what you would call tetravalent- it has just as many valence electrons as carbon, and thus, you would imagine, just as much opportunity to bond. In fact, most minerals on earth are silicon-based. 

After asking around and exploring this idea, one of my peers shared some papers he wrote on the subject, which I got to enjoy reading. 

In the end, asking a “stupid” question allowed me to make connect with others while deepening my own awareness of key concepts within geochemistry and evolutionary biology. 

#2: Challenge your assumptions. 

Let’s talk about “what if”’s favorite cousin, “why not”. 

For most of my life, I believed the narrative of choosing one career and using that end goal to make all my decisions. 

It was: if you want to be a doctor, read chemistry books. Wanna be a lawyer? Read about philosophy. And if you like both chemistry and philosophy, just pick one for crying out loud!

For a long time, it was tormenting to be the kid who simply liked everything. I was overwhelmed by the infinite paths I could take, and simultaneously saddened by the fact that they all seemed to lack the crazy diversity I dreamed about. 

Then I asked a question: Why not cultivate my unique portfolio of skills and interests? Who says I can’t design a career perfectly suited to what I’m good at, interested in, and hoping to get out of life?

When I asked this question, I realized that the answer to this “why not” boiled down to two things: fear of uncertainty and not wanting to put in the effort to discover the life that would truly fulfill me. 

Most of us do not realize how much we take for granted- intellectually, in our relationships, in the way we live our lives. 

So start asking yourself “why not”, and you might be surprised by the answer.  

#3: Realize your big dreams are attainable.

Here is some tough love: you’re not special. 

Throughout the course of human history, millions of people have also faced heartbreak, loss, financial ruin, and uncertainty. Many of them have also come out of those things with the reinforced determination to have crazy amazing lives. 

So what if there was a way to chart the path from exactly where you are to the amazing world, life, or career you envision?

What if you are not limited by your circumstances, but instead by your creativity?

We tell ourselves certain things are impossible for us, but when we ask “what if”, we realize an unsettling but reassuring fact. Actually, there is no real reason why someone else in your position could’ve gotten/done that thing and not you. 

When I do this exercise for myself, it can be disheartening. I realize that the responsibility to create what I want is fully up to me, and in a lot of ways, I fail at it.

Yet after that stark realization, there is also a glimmer of hope- yes, it’s up to me, but also, I have every power to fix it. Why? 

Well, why not?

What if it works?

Go and see for yourself. 

Open a new “Note” on a note-taking app, and title it “What If List”. 

Write one question. Make it crazy. Make it unhinged. 

Let’s see where it takes you. 

Thought to Action

1. Start a “Future Self” Journal: Write one page from the perspective of your dream self—what are you building, learning, wearing, prioritizing? Use this to guide daily decisions.
2. Identify Your Personal Design Criteria: What makes a task or project feel deeply worth it to you? Make a mini checklist. Use it to evaluate new commitments before saying yes.
3. Create a “Someday Stack” of Ideas: Start a list of crazy, impractical, or ambitious project ideas that you don’t have time for yet. This becomes your personal innovation vault.
4. Study Someone Whose Job Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago: Look up someone in a role like climate designer, circularity strategist, or biofabrication artist—and reverse engineer how they got there.
5. Fuel Up With Fiction That Thinks Ahead: Read a sci-fi or speculative fiction book this month. Start with something weird. It will stretch your imagination more than any TED Talk ever could.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post. 

The post Use This Secret Tool To Build A Crazy Imagination appeared first on Green Also Green.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” – Henry Ford

When Nothing Looks Like Your Mood Boards

In a world of Instagram filters, ugly things are rebellious. 

I have been in an ugly war with acne since I first dipped my timid little toe into the waters of puberty. 

Since then, I have tried just about everything short of accutane- Differin, tretinoin, antibiotics, spironolactone, pimple patches, various cleansers, not eating nutritional yeast, cutting down on dairy, and, of course, plain concealer. 

So many times, I have heard well-meaning internet-people with no dermatological qualifications sell me another easy fix, as though I haven’t already cried myself to sleep and searched the entire internet seventeen times over for solutions. 

Now, it has been almost a decade of pimples and acne scars, a decade of hearing people with clear skin complain about having “breakouts” which look 10 times milder than my face has been since I was maybe ten.

But there is one thing my acne taught me all these years that made me stronger. 

I learned that my reality will never fully match my “ideal”. 

Now, I continue to struggle with acne. 

I continue to struggle with bad days, and failures, and rejection, and insecurity. 

There are days when I feel like I’m losing this big race of achieving success as early as possible. 

There are days when I feel ugly, and stupid, and absolutely worthless. 

Acne made me confront this question: What if your reality is always imperfect?

No one starts with clarity.

We like to think we start with clarity, just because we made the mood board and announced our 5-step process to achieving success. 

The truth is a little murkier. 

While it helps to plan and visualize, clarity comes mostly from action. 

#1: Share the draft anyway.

Long-term consistency > short-term perfection, so don’t wait until everything is exactly perfect!

The longer you wait, the higher the bar will get for what it takes to finally be “ready”. 

When we train ourselves to have an excuse for what we do/don’t do, we form a habit of making excuses. 

Instead, take that first wobbly step. Open up that course you keep saying you want to take. 

Send those cold emails you’ve been meaning to pitch. Knock on the doors of people who will mostly reject you. 

Make bold requests that will likely get denied. 

Ask for feedback. Have the audacity to make mistakes publicly. 

Perfectionism is just another way fear manifests to protect us from the big scary monsters hiding behind true effort. 

So to start is not just about starting; it is about having the courage to face reality head-on, and realize that you are way more capable than you thought. 

#2: Keep a list of “Bad Ideas”.

How many times do we decide not to do something just because it might not work out?

Too often. 

Don’t get me wrong- we all have ideas that if we acted on them, we would regret it later, but what if we had better practice at getting our ideas out of our head, onto a list, and maybe even into conversation with someone else?

This is not about impulse-driven decision-making; it’s about getting your ideas out without the pressure to prove they’re amazing. 

Because let’s face it: most of your ideas will not be amazing.

But if you learn how to capture them and think them through, you will make sure that the day you have a real breakthrough, it doesn’t go by like just another “shower thought” or “daydream”. 

Trust me, that day will come, and it will only be possible because you took the time to take your ideas seriously. 

#3: Ask for accountability.

One of the single biggest motivators for me to make progress in my life is, sadly, the social pressure to follow through on my commitments. 

It is the people-pleaser in me that needs everyone to think she is in control of her life and doing great. 

For most of my life, this has been a shortcoming of mine that I have sought to overcome. 

That is, until I realized it could be turned into a strength. 

What if I leveraged people-pleasing to make sure I do what I say I’m going to do?

I put this idea to the test, and found that it was golden. When I use my career coach or a group of friends to make sure I complete a task or bring a project to success, I am ten times more likely to prioritize that thing and make sure it gets done. 

As sad as it may be, we often care more about what others think of us than what we think of ourselves. Yet, often we are also the only person who can say what tasks are the highest leverage at any given point. 

So bring someone else in on the loop, promise to text them when X is done and Y is submitted. Feel the pressure to not let them down, and soon, you will find it is impossible to let yourself down as well. 

You are free.

Having acne sucks, but it means you learn to stop defining yourself by the quality of your skin. 

Likewise, when you embrace the ugly beginning of a project, or the ugly rejection when you apply to dozens of opportunities that mostly tell you ‘no’, you free yourself to stop being defined by rejection and failure. 

Even more importantly than freeing yourself, you will know yourself. 

And isn’t that the mission of a lifetime? 

Becoming who you truly are.

Thought to Action

1. Make Your “Ugly List”: Write down 5 things you’ve been too scared to start and commit to beginning one this week—ugly on purpose.
2. Create an “Ugly Drafts” Folder: Store your roughest starts and revisit weekly.
3. Try a 24-Hour Debrief: After beginning a project, come back the next day and reflect—did the cringe evolve?
4. Post Before You’re Ready: Share one in-progress idea publicly or with a friend to build momentum.
5. Talk o People In Other Fields: Use these 11 tips to start conversations with people from other fields. 

Sources

No external sources were used for this post.

The post How To Make Peace With The Ugly Beginning appeared first on Green Also Green.

“Never waste any time you can spend sleeping.” -Frank H. Knight

Unfortunate PSA: Your day is not 50 hours long. 

You will find it’s only 24. 

And here’s the math: 

8 hours sleeping +

8 hours at work/school/studying +

30min shower +

20min. For using the toilet at various points +

2 hours for commuting- to work/gym/school/pickup kids/drive to grocery etc. +

2 hours eating (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) +

1 hour Household chores- laundry, cooking, cleaning +

2 hours phone time (answering texts/DMs, checking social media)

 = ~24 Hours

If you want to do anything else in your day, you either have to sleep less, work less, commute less, do fewer household chores, or abstain from going to the bathroom or eating with your family or friends (or, let’s face it, with Netflix). 

We have heard how to do 15-minute workouts and how to eat only 1000 Calories a day- how to budget away our money, calories, weight, and living room space. 

But what about our lives?

How do you actually live a fulfilling life of aimless hobbies, meandering walks by the sea, and slow afternoons of cuddling with your dog when you only get 24 hours every day, and you can’t give up another hour of sleep (no, you are not one of those people who can function healthily with 5 hours of sleep. I don’t care what you keep telling people.)?

You can try blocking off yet another 14.5 minutes on Google Calendar to do what matters most: live. 

Or you can make a few big decisions to eliminate the dozens of smaller ones that eat up your life every day. 

Today I want to talk to you about these big decisions, so that you can finally pursue the work you love, the life you dream about, and, of course, the not-so-stupid, stupid interests you’ve been putting on hold since childhood. 

Easy no’s.

While we want to say no, it might not be easy to actually do it.

So first I want to talk about how to cut out the tasks we want to say no to, but can’t figure out how. 

#1: Unconscious content consumption. 

In my own journey toward cutting down on unconscious content consumption, I have discovered a few key facts about this particular time-drain:

1. We are all underestimating how long we spend scrolling each day. 
2. We are so used to the dopamine hit of intense content consumption that we often experience withdrawals, making it incredibly difficult to “quit” social media even if we wanted to. 
3. If you quit Instagram, you will scroll more on YouTube shorts. 
4. People will start talking to you about Instagram, and then interject with “Oh, you’re not on Instagram anymore,” as though you have been on a restrictive no-carb diet and they feel some pity because you haven’t seen the latest viral cat video.
5. You will be annoyed when you hang out with the people you love, and see that they prefer scrolling than actually paying attention to you. 
6. Ergo, you can never escape social media. 

Let me say that again- you will never escape it. 

That’s why this is an easy-not-so-easy no. 

We would all like to believe we prefer real life to screens, but we have never even stopped to ask ourselves how this is supposed to work when the world demands that we use these same exact screens to socialize, market our business, communicate with each other, and stay up-to-date. 

So I am not going to wag my finger at you and tell you to throw your phone into a lake.

Instead, let’s try something else. Let’s get strict about phone usage the way we are strict about alcohol consumption or sugar. 

What if…

#1: You designated certain days for no-YouTube, no-Instagram, or no-Facebook? This way, you don’t have to quit completely, and you can still get back all that time during the week to read, see people in real life, go to the park, walk your dog, and so on. 

#2: You installed a shortcut on your phone that creates a buffer before you open any social media app. I still use YouTube, but every time I open it, I have a shortcut installed with an app called “one sec” that makes me wait 10 seconds before actually opting in to go to YouTube. 

It also has an option for “I don’t want to open YouTube”, which just takes me back to my home screen. Making the process of opening YouTube that much more aggravating is enough of a deterrent for me to help me stay off the app. 

#3: You switched your phone to black and white mode? 

I have done this, and now anytime someone sees my phone open, they cringe. The upside is that, once again, using my phone is such a depressing experience that I am not tempted to sit on it for hours. 

My daily screen time is usually 2.5 hours, between answering texts, listening to music, using Safari, taking notes, and (you guessed it) YouTube shorts, and when I am not on black and white mode it will often go up on average by an entire hour.

#4: You left your phone in another room for a few hours every day. Every time I do this, I experience so much peace. 

Something about knowing you can’t get bombarded by notifications…

#2: Emotional labor from saying yes out of guilt. 

Growing up, I had lots of allergies, but the biggest one was probably to the word ‘no’. 

Will you join my club? Yes, that sounds so fun!

Will you stay after school for this event? You know it!

Will you come and see this movie with me? Absolutely, I love that actress! 

(*anxiously looks up the name, because I have never heard of them in my life*)

It was a real problem, because with every additional ‘I guess I’ll do this’, I was saying no to an ‘I wish so badly that I could do that.’

In the end, no one is happy, because you are never fully committed, but never fully honest about it with them or yourself. 

Life is too short for saying ‘no’ to what you really really really want, and that means it’s also too short for saying ‘I guess so, sure’. 

What if…

#1: Instead of saying “Yes”, you said “I’ll get back to you later with an answer.” It gives you time to evaluate your excitement and enthusiasm, and seriously think about what are the other options of how you could spend your time in a way that makes you excited. 

#2: You made your automatic answer ‘no’ or ‘probably not’ instead of ‘yes’. Realistically, we don’t truly pursue most opportunities available to us, so why not adjust our behavior to align with that reality?

How you spend your 24 hours is how you spend your life.

Have you ever heard that quote that goes “How you spend your days is how you spend your life?”

Me too. While it’s unclear who said it first, its wisdom rings alarmingly true. 

Do you spend your 24-hour allowance on joy, growth, and purpose? 

What about spending it moving your body, stretching your mind, and connecting with cool humans (and dogs)? 

I hope when you lay down to rest, it’s with a content smile. 

If so, you have succeeded.

Thought to Action

1. Make Your “Ugly List”: Write down 5 things you’ve been too scared to start and commit to beginning one this week—ugly on purpose.
2. Create an “Ugly Drafts” Folder: Store your roughest starts and revisit weekly.
3. Try a 24-Hour Debrief: After beginning a project, come back the next day and reflect—did the cringe evolve?
4. Post Before You’re Ready: Share one in-progress idea publicly or with a friend to build momentum.
5. Talk To People In Other Fields: Use these 11 tips to start conversations with people from other fields. 

Sources

No external sources were used for this post.

The post How To Find 24 Hours In A Day. appeared first on Green Also Green.

 “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” -Carl Jung

What Is Cool?

When I think of “cool”, I think of Codie Sanchez. 

I’ve been following her journey for about five years, and the life and business(es) she has built never fail to inspire me. 

After working on Wall Street for several years, she left to buy “boring businesses” like laundromats and teach others how to do the same. Now, she has a huge following on several social media platforms and a New York Times bestseller, “Mainstreet Millionaire.”

What I love about her journey is how many times she started over. 

Her beginnings were as a journalist, reporting on various atrocities in Juarez, Mexico, which resulted in her being awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Award for print journalism. 

In 2008, right before the financial crisis, she made the first switch and took her first job at Vanguard. After this, she continued to grow, working at places like Goldman Sachs, First Trust, and State Street until 2020. 

That’s when she launched Contrarian Thinking, a finance and media company that is still going strong today. 

That’s two times where she pressed ‘reset’ and built an entirely new path with great success. 

And she is still doing it today, combining what she has learned about media and finance to bring into the world something it has never seen before. 

She is unstoppably cool because she carved a radically unique path that was deeply rooted in values and impact, while also being unapologetic in how she thinks, works, and creates.

My goal is to use the same approach in my own life and work, and today I want to talk to you about 3 ways I am doing just that. 

#1: Saying no to false binaries.

For a long time, I tormented myself with the thought that I had to choose between all the subjects I studied in school. 

I could have a career in chemistry or a career in English. 

I could be a science student or I could love humanities. 

Still a student, albeit at university and not high school, I am faced with similar decisions between majors, minors, and class schedules. 

However, now, I’m much more relaxed about the whole thing. 

Why? 

Because I realized my decisions were just that: decisions about majors, minors, class schedules, and exams. 

I didn’t stop being interested in the living world when I stopped taking biology. Similarly, I didn’t stop thinking and reading about philosophy when I decided on two STEM majors. 

My brain still mingles with dozens of “subjects” regularly because I choose to explore them. 

The secret, though, is that now I’m in control of how I explore them. 

I have learned how to mix and match everything I like to do and learn so that I have an education based in freedom, podcasts, books, travel, self-directed projects, and incredible (often random) conversations.  

It’s not “choose humanities or science”, “lawyer or doctor”, or “good at/bad at”. 

Being unstoppable cool is about knowing exactly what your decisions mean and what they don’t. 

It’s about knowing that whatever options you think you have, there are probably seventeen more invisible options that are that much more aligned. 

#2: Filtering your input. 

As a recovering people-pleaser and life-long paralysis-by-analysis girl, my single biggest source of doubt has just about always been other people.

Sometimes it’s some random unqualified charlatan on social media. 

Other times it’s someone very close, like family or friends who have known you your entire life. 

But as yet another internet charlatan, my advice is this: don’t take all advice. 

Because, unfortunately, most of the people whose advice you are getting are probably completely unqualified. 

And what is advice?

Experience repackaged as wisdom.  

But this isn’t just about advice. 

It’s also about media consumption and quality. 

Deliberately evaluate what you consume now, and what type of media you want to consume ideally. Be brutally honest. Most of us lose a scary amount of time to mindlessly consuming other people’s opinions. 

Finally, try being a better friend to yourself, because the way you talk to yourself is one of the most influential inputs around. 

What does that mean?

Stop calling yourself “stupid”. Make your bed. Buy yourself flowers. Give yourself pep talks. 

Yes, it will feel weird at first, but based on personal experience, I have never regretted waking up to flowers on my desk. 

#3: Performative productivity vs Slow Creativity. 

Of all three points in this post, this one is the hardest for me to live out. 

Why, I have spent many a late night wondering, do you hide behind a laptop in Sisyphus’ Inbox while also procrastinating on the important thing that you can do on your laptop?

An answer usually never came, and truth be told, I felt ashamed. 

The way I see it, if you’re going to procrastinate, choose something fun, something memorable, something that isn’t productivity porn. 

But there is a deeper dilemma here, and it is the fact that most of the time when we procrastinate on the important stuff, we justify it to such an extent that we can almost convince ourselves we aren’t procrastinating. 

Hence, me taking notes in the least efficient way while preparing for class because I would rather learn the easy way rather than the effective way. 

That alone has cost me hundred of hours that I will never get back. 

To honor those hours I have lost on pretending to be productive, I made a vow to be lazier. 

Yes, you got that right. 

I made a vow to spend less time in front of a laptop and to spend my extra time actually living. 

While it’s been hard, and I still find myself floundering at times, it ends up meaning that I actually make progress when I do sit in front of a screen. 

So say no to performative productivity. Say yes to slow creativity and progress.

Because you’re in it for the long game, not the short-term self-esteem boost or the aesthetic Instagram post. 

Claim the person you want to be. 

Being cool is about becoming, not about ticking off an arbitrary checklist that society has decided is the moving finish line of success. 

It’s not about following trends and wearing your hair in a slickback with a perfect set of nails and a wardrobe full of neutrals.

Instead, being cool is about who you are and how you act, not what your Instagram and LinkedIn look like. 

Thought to Action

1. Redefine “Cool”: Write your own definition—what draws you, not what sells.
2. Try a Micro-Rebellion: Create or wear something that feels fully you, even if it’s outside your comfort zone.
3. Start a Curiosity Journal: Follow your questions like da Vinci—capture 1–3 curiosities each day.
4. Read Fiction with Designer Eyes: Notice how stories spark material or systems ideas—see my insights here: 3 Easy Ways to Unleash Creativity and Innovation
5. Replace Performing with Experimenting: Trade one habit driven by approval for one driven by pure creative curiosity.

Sources

The post How I Learned To Be Unstoppably Cool appeared first on Green Also Green.