The Graffiti Machine

I heard this quote in a Jim Rohn audiobook this morning and it hit me pretty hard: "An ounce of discipline weighs less than a ton of regret." On one hand, I write a list of tasks to accomplish and I knock them out. I do this seven days a week. But there's still a part of me that knows I'm leaving things on the table. I'm not a "hustle culture" kind of dude, but I have a lot I want to get done in the short time I have on this planet. An ounce of discipline can simply mean chipping away at your goals. You don't have to grind yourself into the ground; in a lot of cases, that's unproductive. The question is: how do you use discipline to make real progress? Focus on what you put into the hours rather than how many hours you put in. What tasks move the needle the most? That's where the ounce of discipline should go.

I have a little ritual in the morning. After I walk my dog while carrying a kettlebell, I make a cup of coffee and read while drinking it. A lot of times, my dog interrupts the reading session. She's still hyped up from the walk and gets excited when I sit down. She'll jump on my lap and get pets. Sometimes I just want to get my reading done, but I have to remind myself that one day I'll miss her interrupting the reading. Nothing is permanent in this life. It's hard to remember that we won't always have everything and everyone we love. Don't waste the moments. One day you'll miss them.

We all can find ourselves in a rut from time to time, lacking motivation and having difficulty getting things done. When this happens to me, I try to remember the best way to find motivation is to make progress. While motivation might pop up from time to time, that isn't reliable. The most reliable way to find motivation is to create it with action. If you feel like you can't get yourself to move forward, just write a list of a few things that will move you forward. A little bit of progress and checking the tasks off the list will not only create motivation over time, it'll compound. A little bit every day turns into a lot over a week, month, or year.

I saw this video the other day. It was a race car driver saying "I'm just gonna put my foot on the floor and I'm not lifting until I see god or the checkered flag". It got me thinking about this kind of all in mentality that can be really difficult to achieve. How do we get this kind of mindset when the shit we need to do is the last thing we want to do? I'm still trying to crack that code—one thing that might help is to shift our thinking to focus on the payoff of the action rather than the effort. This was something a guy named Scott Adams talked about. The reason a lot of us don't go all in on things is we get trapped into thinking about everything it will take. The actions aren't fun. The work is hard. If we focus on the payoff, it might push through the procrastination.

Lately I've been paying closer attention to what gives me energy and what drains it. The biggest thief? My phone. In this episode, I break down how scrolling kills momentum, what I've been doing to snap out of it, and a simple trick to get back on track fast.

I was thinking about some concepts that are seemingly at odds with each other, but they aren't. We're only alive today. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn't happened. Living in the present is all there is, but does that mean you can't learn from the past or plan for the future? No. Let's break it down. How do you use today to make your life better? If you have regrets from the past, you can use today to reflect on them, learn, adjust, and grow from those things. For the future, how do you live in the present and plan for the future? Isn't that going against living in the moment? I don't think so. We can use today to visualize our ideal future. It sets a target for where we want to go. Once you have that vision, you can then identify what you need to do daily to move towards it. What does today look like? We've decided what we've done in the past that we don't like, identified things we want to change, and now we can do things differently. We've created a vision for what we want in our future. That should give us some general ideas on what we need to do daily to move towards it. We don't need all the answers, we just need to move forward with that target in mind. Write down a list of five things that'll move you forward. Those things can be action steps to get you closer to your future, could be habits to correct past behavior to become the person you want to be, or habits that your future self needs to get you where you want to go. Knock out a list of 5 things that move you forward every day. You're living only today while working towards the future and adjusting based on lessons from the past. Is it easy? Hell no. But it's worth it.

Being able to build and keep momentum has been huge for me. We all go through phases—on track, off track, fired up, burnt out. That's life. The hard part is getting back on track when you're off. That's where building momentum comes in. Forget waiting for motivation or inspiration. Just start, even if it's small, and don't sweat the outcome. Consistency beats perfection. The flywheel effect is real. When you keep pushing, momentum starts working for you. And if you fall off? No problem. Just repeat the process. It's all about building momentum over and over.

I read the quote 'What's it going to take?' in the book Market Outrageously. It was talking about actually looking deep at a goal and trying to get to the bottom of what it would take to accomplish. Even seemingly impossible goals are worth trying to break down. In my life and business, I have goals that are overwhelming to think about. When I read this part of the book, I was inspired to actually dig into it much further. Things start seeming much more achievable once you start breaking it down into smaller chunks. Ask yourself this question about a goal you have, then sit down and try to figure out what steps you need to take to make it happen. There is a lot of clarity that can be achieved with this.

We all have those small tasks we avoid—paperwork piling up, a cluttered office, or something simple that feels like a hassle. For me, those things build up in my mind and start to weigh on me. But when I finally take care of them, there's always a sense of relief. Research shows that unfinished tasks, or "open loops," take up mental space and increase stress. The more we avoid them, the more they quietly drain our energy. Tackling them right away frees up that mental clutter and makes life feel lighter. Stop waiting. Do it now. It's worth it.

January of 2025 marks 10 years of the current version of Machine—I say current only because I started Machine in 2002 as a motion graphics business then transitioned into what we have now in 2015. It's been quite a ride so far, but it still feels like we haven't even started yet. In 2015, it was mainly a one man show. I lived in the back of the shop with my four dogs. No heat, air, hot water, kitchen, shower, or any of the creature comforts we're used to. I cooked on a hot plate and showered at the YMCA. I was all in on the vision, but it wasn't a clear vision at all. I just wanted to do something positive for the graff culture by opening a place for writers to gather, blackbook, attend art shows, etc. Over time, it developed into what you see now. Lots of ups and downs and a huge amount of great memories. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this. Team members, customers, supporters, collaborators, everyone. We have a long way to go. — Bus P.S. Rest in peace Kub, Herbie, Hooper, and Shortie. I think about you all the time.

When I'm having trouble creating, I use this technique and it works every time. Just start. Sometimes you'll have to force yourself to do it—make anything without worry, just to get moving forward. The longer you go, the more momentum you build. Every now and then, you'll discover something that feeds the fire. Keep exploring, keep making. Eventually, it'll feel like it's flowing on its own. From there, all you have to do is maintain it.

Think it was easier when you were younger? Yeah, maybe. But here's the shift: it's never going to be easier than it is right now. Whether you're 20, 51, or somewhere in between, today is your best shot to make a move. In this episode, I dig into a perspective that hit me recently and has kept me motivated—whatever it is you're aiming for, don't wait around. Start building those habits, set the foundation, and don't let the moment slip. It's only getting tougher from here, so jump on it.