The Vs. Studio Blog

“When you drink water from a cup, it becomes part of you. When water falls on you like rain, it evaporates a few minutes later.
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Similarly, thoughts can be consumed or dismissed. Is this thought nourishing? Is this feeling something you should drink? Or is it more like getting caught in the rain?
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You’ll always feel the rain, but you don’t have to drink the rain. You can let the thought pass and in a few moments the sun will return. You don’t have to claim everything you feel.” -James Clear

Buckets of rain
Buckets of tears
Got all them buckets comin’ out of my ears
Buckets of moonbeams in my hand
You got all the love
Honey baby, I can stand -Bob Dylan, song “Buckets Of Rain”

Long as I remember the rain been comin’ down
Clouds of mystery pourin’ confusion on the ground
Good men through the ages tryin’ to find the sun
And I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain? -CCR, song “Who’ll Stop The Rain”

Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red
Crying’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining
Because I’m free
Nothing’s worrying me -B.J. Thomas, song “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”

Just like you can’t control the rain, you can’t control your thoughts.

But you can control which raindrops and thoughts you want to pay attention to.

P.S. – This scene.

Some people, hoping to avoid responsibility, insist that they don’t have great power. That’s a choice, but it might undermine what we’re capable of…Agency and freedom go together. We have more choices than we want to admit. When Ahab decided to become a whaling captain, everything that happened after that was related to his initial choice.

What do we make? The answer is simple: choices.

Owning our choices is a celebration of our future agency. You don’t get yesterday over again, but you do get to make new choices tomorrow. -Seth Godin

Maybe you didn’t get to choose this circumstance. Or maybe you did.

Either way, the gift is that you get to do something about it.

Yes Spidey, with great power comes great responsibility.

But the inverse is also true, with great responsibility comes great power.

Own your choice. Own your circumstance.

And then go do something about it.

If you really feel the need and urgency to go out and prove something, then instead of trying to prove it to the world or other people, why not just prove it to yourself. That’s all that matters anyway.

“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will. Then your life will flow well. -Epictetus

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a [person] perfected without trials.” -Seneca

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.” -Marcus Aurelius

(1) Wake up early.

(2) Always be on time. Better yet, always be early.

(3) Stop complaining.

(4) Stop taking things personally.

(5) Focus on effort, not results. Trust the process.

(6) Be strict with yourself and tolerant of others.

(7) Go for long walks. Preferable with a friend and in nature.

(8) Stop comparing yourself to others.

(9) Focus on the essential. Eliminate the rest.

(10) Don’t suffer imagined troubles.

(11) Carpe Diem

(12) Memento Mori.

P.S. – H/t to Ryan Holiday and his Daily Stoic for inspiring several of these.

“Genius is infinite patience.” -Michelangelo

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” -Albert Einstein

“Write, and print if you can; if not, still write, and improve as you go on…Work for twenty years, and then you will some day find that you have a style and place of your own.” -Louisa May Alcott

“Ninety percent of success can be boiled down to consistently doing the obvious thing for an uncommonly long period of time without convincing yourself that you’re smarter than you are.” -Shane Parrish

Once you know what it is you want to do, the challenge is then seeing it through all the way to the end.

How long will that be?

Well, that depends on the medium and what it is you’re shooting for. It takes what it takes.

The talent is in the patience. Don’t give up. See it all the way through. You’ll be so glad you did.

“More weight.” -Giles Corey from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

Are you just too old or too young to carry?
Time stands in a duel and I stand for you
Are you just too old or too young to carry?
Time stands in a duel and I stand for you

Now lean and use your weight
That’s what a shoulder’s made for -lyrics from the song “Time Stands” by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

“I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” -Atlas responding to Zeus

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time -lyrics from the song “Carry That Weight” by The Beatles

When you get weighed down by life, sometimes all you can do is just carry that weight. Day by day. One day at a time. Carry that weight.

And if you’re fortunate not to be bogged down by the weight of life, then look around and see who is. And offer to help them carry that weight.

“Outcomes follow energy.” -Sahil Bloom

Looking for a simple, yet extremely fulfilling goal for 2026?…

Spend more time doing things you like and hanging out with people you like.

If you don’t know who and what those things are, then spend time each day figuring it out. Your energy level and feelings will be your guide.

P.S. – This energy tracking calendar.

When things are rocky and you’re going through a very uncertain time, it’s tempting to search desperately for certainty. And the more you try, the more it eludes your grasp and the more upset you get.

Instead, try flowing with uncertainty.

One day at a time my friend.

“Optimism is the belief that the future will be better, hope is the belief that we have the power to make it so.” -Chad Hellman

“To cultivate hope, people need three things: They first need to be able to envision a better future, either personally or collectively. Second, they need the willpower or motivation to move toward that future. And third, they must be able to chart a path from where they are to where they want to be.”

“It is hope that gives life meaning. And hope is based on the prospect of being able one day to turn the actual world into a possible one that looks better.” -Francois Jacob

“Hope” is the thing with feathers
by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

Wanna cultivate more hope?

First, believe you can make a difference in the world. Then, take continuous action to support and substantiate that belief.

Hope leads to action which leads to progress which leads to more hope. It’s a beautiful, virtuous cycle.

P.S. – This NYT article on Hope.

“Only the unsatisfied do things. The satisfied do nothing. Unsatisfaction is the stimulus to achievement. Satisfaction is destruction and leads down to the chamber of death.” -Jack London

if you’re feeling unsatisfied, but you actually do something productive with that feeling, then it’s a gift.

If you’re feeling unsatisfied, but you do nothing with that feeling other than whine and complain about it, then it’s still a gift. You just chose not to accept the gift.

Do something. Anything. Make it happen. This is the year.

Go make your art.