Grab Coffee with Yourself

- 3-min read -

Literally, grab coffee with yourself.

You have a lot to discuss:

your self (values, mission, mantra, brand)
your business (job, startup, foundation)
your development (education, mentality, reflection)
your community (family, friends, partner)
your capital (net worth, spending, investing)
your faith (beliefs, practices, lack thereof)
your health (stamina-strength-flexibility, food, personal care)
your philanthropy (giving, teaching, supporting)
your adventures (travel, entertainment, activities)

This is what I want you to do right now: pull out your calendar - notepad, device, or whatever you use to make plans - and schedule a 50-minute meeting with yourself. Write: "Meeting with [Your Full Name]," set the exact time, location, and discussion topic, and DON'T BE LATE. Remember: 5 minutes early is 10 minutes late - get there early enough to set up.

If you're having trouble figuring out what exactly you're going to talk about, start the conversation by asking yourself the 8 Questions.

Break away from all that surrounds you i.e. separate yourself from your family, friends, and technology, to speak with yourself - to question and understand yourself - outside of other people's biases or opinions of you. This is mentally painful because a) it takes hard work and deep thinking and b) your brain's constantly looking for hits of dopamine through external stimulus. But, you're strong enough - 50 minutes. You may find yourself constantly wanting to drift to your phone. DO. NOT. DO. IT. FIFTY. MINUTES.

This is who you should be getting coffee with.

What's the point? Why I wrote this:

In school we learn about math, science, and history, but not about who we are - that’s for us to discover. Yet... do we? In our day-to-day, we spend time getting to know our friends, co-workers, and even celebrities - understanding them, their stories, their passions - yet we surprisingly don’t spend near as much time or effort getting to know ourselves. And when we're not with others, we occupy every minute of our day - if not attending to tasks - by aimlessly skimming social media EVERY. CHANCE. WE. GET.

Sure you may be one person, but you're your closest person - the person you spend the most time around, yet seem to understand the least. Scheduling coffee with yourself is literally what it is: grabbing coffee, alone, to get to know yourself better. The more in tune you are with yourself, the more you’ll start to develop a harmonic relationship between your beliefs and your behaviors. Your behaviors are your actions, and your actions define the mark you leave on this world.