Lifestyle Design

Solo travel

April 17, 2025

There’s something very special about travelling alone.

Dining by yourself in an unknown city has a certain romance to it. (You also feel like an undercover food critic.)

These people live their lives here, parallel to your experience of novelty is their experience of the mundane; they know these streets, they may have grown up going to this same restaurant. Their grandma lives up the road.

You’re calling all the shots:

Smiling at strangers. Or not.

Leaving the hotel. Or not.

Connecting to the place. Or not.

Who are you when no one is watching?

Ooh, Barracuda

March 17, 2025

Tony Robbins tells a very inspiring story of a day he hit a threshold. He was living in his tiny apartment in Venice Beach, LA. He was unhealthy in all areas of his life and he knew he needed a change.

He went outside, put his head phones in and ran as hard as he could along the beach. He even remembers what song he was listening to as he ran with everything he had:

Barracuda by Heart.

At the end of his run, dripping in sweat he pulled out a piece of paper and began writing furiously what he demanded from his life. A new set of standards and a compelling set of goals.

I was in Venice beach the other day and as a sort of pilgrimage I ran along the beach listening to that song. Then poured my excitement and energy in to a tiny piece of paper. The scribbled rectangle is a tiny work of art that outlines my dream life and now it lives happily in my wallet.

It was an awesome experience.

GPS

March 13, 2025

This is a great idea from Ali Abdaal.

He suggests we think of goals in terms of ‘G.P.S’.

Goal

Process

System

It also provides a helpful metaphor for something of a GPS device to get us to our desired destination.

Ali says goals can be a unhelpful if they’re a little too lofty or ambiguous. The GPS frame allows us to break it down in the the parts and honour the processes required to get there. The idea being that processes are actionable and on a given day we can look to GPS and have certainty that the thing we do that day takes us toward our action.

GOAL: The outcome, what are we working toward? The example Ali gives is his current goal to be in the greatest shape of his life.

PROCESS: What will we do to get there? How have other people done this? What are your best ideas to get there? Ali’s example: lift heavy things often, eat the right food and move his body.

SYSTEM: This is how you implement this every day. What will you actually do consistently to get there? Ali’s main systems was to eat 160 grams of protein a day, have a gym session with a trainer and get 10 thousand steps. Each morning he asks in his journal how will I get 160 grams protein, when will I work out and when will I get the steps in?

What I love about the the system is it can be easily repeatable and if you select the right processes either though trial and error or modeling success, you don’t have to think about the goal all that much; it’ll just be a by-product of your excellent systems.

Hire a guitar

March 12, 2025

I’m in LA for a week taking a break from tour.

I wanted a guitar to play while I relax near palm trees and movie studios.

It never occurred to me that you can just rent a guitar. That seemed like kind of extravagant thing to do for some reason. It really isn’t, it cost me about 50 bucks.

I love these kinds of actions because they bust up unconscious limiting beliefs.

Just because it’s something I haven’t done it before doesn’t mean I can’t do it now.

What would be awesome to have in your life and how could it actually be a reality for you?

Not a fluke

March 5, 2025

The last few days I have been astoundingly productive.

I’ve lived into all of my aspirational identities.

I’ve run my business, met with clients in other timezones, created products, caught up with friends across the world, eaten well and made a film every day. I’ve also written every day.

Pretty near perfect.

Looking back and counting all I had done, I caught myself thinking that it was just a lucky streak. That this isn’t ‘normal’.

I’m glad I caught the belief before I adopted it.

What if this is just a new normal. That life really can be all you want it to be.

To have that be true you first have to belief if.

Time out

February 25, 2025

I’m in Kissimmee in Florida.

Today felt like the first day off from the show I’ve had in a long time. I don’t think that is actually true- but I think because we are here on a mini break and not doing shows in this town it felt like that.

My co-star and tour manager were off adventuring today and I really relished the opportunity to stay in the air bnb and have a complete day on my own.

It was deeply recharging. It really did feel like a time out from life.

It’s like life is a movie playing in the cinema and you pop outside for some fresh air for a second. When I turned 30 I had a whole week like that. I returned to the movie a slightly upgraded version.

I’m on the top floor of these condos overlooking a man made lake, a hundred other condos and a community pool. I haven’t really seen a soul today. It’s been raining all day. I’m in this anonymous town I know nothing about (aside from the fact that The Florida Project was filmed down the street).

I quietly strolled to the super market in the rain. I made some food. I did a bit of work. I swam. I made a little film. I packed my bag for a travel day tomorrow. I feel ready for the next little chunk thanks to my time out.

I’ll head back into the film now.

Ai prompt: picture in the style of the nighthawks (hopper) painting of a man outside a cinema getting some air, it’s dark and rainy

Passive vs Leverage

February 17, 2025

I spent some time in the past trying to chase this idea of passive income- that is not needing to work for money. It sounds tempting right? Making money and then just doing what ever you want.

I mean yeah everyone needs a holiday.

But I’m not interested in doing nothing. I want to help. I think we all do. Providing something of value for people who care is one of the meanings of life, I think.

I don’t think we should be chasing some ‘passive’ form of income. I agree that we shouldn’t make bad trades for our time. Selling time for a low dollar amount and doing that over and over again is very limiting (being stuck in this frame probably drives the interest in the opposite, which is doing nothing at all for money).

Instead we should be looking for leverage.

Leverage means the time you put in has a further reach. It has long term value. Over time and across location.

It’s the difference between teaching a lesson to one person live in a coffee shop one morning, and recording yourself delivering the same content and creating lessons notes, a worksheet and flash cards along side it.

The latter can deliver value on your behalf without the time it would take to do it each time.

Makes sense, right?

That’s leverage. So next time you need to teach the person the thing, it’s a two minute email with a link rather than organising the coffee date, revising the content for yourself and delivering the goods- hours of work.

The value is no less (taking out the in-person aspect which I agree has some value), but the time is WAY less. That’s leverage.

Focus on investing your time on high leverage action items.

How can this have a life beyond the time I’m taking now? How can it be this way by design?

How can the work I put into this compound over time?

In what ways will this buy me back time in the future?

Don’t hunt for shortcuts to passive income- be very active in your pursuit of providing massive value for people in a way that is repeatable and with the largest lever possible.

Because when you have a big lever, you can help even more people even faster. And that’s the real goal.

And sure have a holiday now and then. And your leverage will most likely allow you to be paid while you do it.

To be te noun, do the verb

February 12, 2025

Who is someone you want to be like?

I’m a massive fan of Fred Armisen. He’s a prolific writer, a talented musician and an insanely skilled actor.

A few years back I was trying to figure out how I could steal some of what he’s got; to be like Fred! I’d heard this advice:

To be the noun, do the verb.

In short- an actor acts, a director directs, a painter paints and so on and so fourth.

That was a little abstract for me and felt a bit vague and un-actionable. So I dove a bit deeper into this and thought more about all the things that Fred would do on a regular basis that contribute to him being the prolific creator he is.

Here’s some of the things I listed:

What Fred Does

Write scripts. Does stand up. Pitches ideas. Has meetings with like minds. Produces shows. Acts. Creates characters. Tests characters on friends. Observes people and uses it in his work. Listens to a wide range of music. Watches a wide range of film and tv.

This becomes a little guide map for how to be more like someone you admire. You could even put these in a hierarchy of things that are most important to the aspect of the person you aspire to be like.

Try doing those verbs a hundred times or a thousand. See where you end up.

(Definitely don’t just do it ten times and give up, that’s not good science- you need a big sample to make a call like stopping)

A recipe for fulfillment

January 29, 2025

I thought it would be useful for me to describe here what experience is like when I love life the most.

It’s a collection of feelings and meanings. I suppose you’d call these rules for what has to happen in order for me to feel good. I love feeling enthusiastic, inspired and excited.

It’s when I feel compelled by the future, clear on what I’m doing now and where I’m going. When my senses are receptive enough to enjoy what is around me. That means I’m not tired, food hasn’t dulled me or made me tired. When I can connect and enjoy the people around me and feeling in crystal clear presence with them. When I don’t feel like there’s something I need to do pulling my attention. Or if I feel certainty that there will be time to do the jobs I need to do. When I feel adequately challenged, perhaps at the edge of my ability- but not too far of course! When I feel like I am growing and growing in order to move toward where I want to go. If I feel like my work matters and it is providing value for others. If everything I want and need to do is written down, categorised and scheduled.

What has to happen for you to feel really good and enjoy your day to day life experience?

Answering this question is helpful. If I can spend as much of my time as possible in this zone and shorten the gaps between between these times, I’ll be pretty happy with the experience of my life.

Capturing Magic

December 30, 2024

Here’s a little exercise I’ve done the last few years on New Year’s Eve.

1.List all your favourite times of the year.

These can be long stretches or little snapshots- anything you think back on fondly from the year gone. For me one year I had a certain month travelling during winter where I was in an excellent flow with my creative work. Then there was this walk I took with my mum. I also had a sweet conversation with my niece on a log on a beach at sun set. And I really enjoyed being on tour for a show. And reading a particular book over croissants. As you can see there’s no upper or lower limit to the things you can list. The idea here is to capture the magic.

2.List the commonalities

What are some of the overarching themes in these experiences? Using the above, I found that spending time away from home to complete creative tasks was good and enjoyable for me. Being in nature with people I love. Having a good fiction book on the go.

You should then have a pretty specific and juicy list of things that ensure you enjoy your experience of life! The idea is you can curate and plan your upcoming weeks and months using these themes as guides for how you spend your time.

You can also do the same exercise for the opposite-

What are times you didn’t enjoy this past year?
What are the commonalities?
How can ensure you don’t experience these this year?

JUSTIN ROGERS

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