Bite-Sized Philosophy

50 Episodes. Wow. This was my goal when I started this show nearly two years ago, and we're there. We did it. I said at 50 episodes I could re-evaluate if Bite-Sized Philosophy was a project I wanted to continue, and for the moment, it still is. I'm planning to renew the show for 24 more episodes in 2022 and then will check in again at episode 74. This is the past-year review. The New Year is upon us, and that means there will be all sorts of resolutions. Promises to ourselves that we don’t keep very well and don’t have a lasting impact beyond January 31st, and sometimes not even that long. So instead of making new year’s resolutions, what about conducting a past year review? As we talked about on Monday’s episode, there are many ways to approach the new year. Monday we talked about defining personal values to bring more clarity to hard decisions in 2022, and today is about doing a past year review of 2021 to shed some light on what actually mattered from this past year that we want to bring into 2022 and what we really want to leave in 2021. To do this exercise, you’ll need your 2021 calendar. However you track your events and schedule, as well as maybe a journal or any other way you keep track of what happens in your life. For me this means Google Calendar. I also have journals, but my Google Calendar has enough on it that I don’t need them. Then you need a way to take notes on your year. I used a Google Docs form and a powerpoint this year, but the last two years, I’ve done this by hand in a journal because I set aside more time. Either way, we’re looking at the hobbies, activities, projects, and events that happened in 2021 that we enjoyed, didn’t enjoy, or had mixed feelings about. I try to keep this pretty simple, so I use a highlighter for it. Green is enjoy, red is not enjoy, and yellow is some of both. It doesn’t need to be too complicated, the point is to get through your whole year, so the simpler the better. Then, I turn to January of 2021 and get started. Start week by week and write down the major things that happened in your life. This could be classes you took, leagues you were in, hobbies you did regularly, and people you saw consistently, as well as projects or other commitments. Go week by week and jot down the major engagements throughout the year, week by week and month by month, until you have a whole list of what you were involved with in 2021, and then take a highlighter and put them into these three categories: Enjoyed, mixed feelings, didn’t enjoy. And there you have it. Your year in review that informs what you want to be involved in next year. Do more of what you enjoy and less of what you didn’t enjoy as much as you’re able to, and your 2022 will have a good chance of being better than your 2021. It’s less rigid and defined than new years resolutions, but if you keep this in a place and refer back to it throughout the year, it can provide a template for you to enjoy your life more next year than you did this year, even if this year was great. For me, this means more of my podcast, more drawing, more journaling, and more classes and leagues like axe throwing, martial arts, and creative exercise like that sort of thing. Less volunteer projects for organizations I’m not invested in, less umpiring for sports, less binging Netflix, and less fantasy football leagues. For more Bite-Sized Philosophy content, subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my email list for a fun story delivered right to your inbox every single Friday! Text me! 323-609-5262

Think critically. Pursue self-awareness. Learn to question yourself and grow from that. Through all your experiences, you can grow. If you like what you hear, give Jack a follow on Twitter and get to know him! Interested in doing the 21-day No Complaint Experiment with me? The first 9 people who fill out this form, I'll buy you a bracelet to do the challenge with me and we can learn and grow together to cut out needless complaints. I talk about this more in my email list this morning! For more Bite-Sized Philosophy content, subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my email list for a fun story delivered right to your inbox every single Friday! Text me! 323-609-5262 Jack Caporuscio (@ClinicCapp on Twitter) runs the No Cap podcast on Fantasy Football and works for Pro Football Network. Jack is a critical thinker and hard worker whose quality shines through in all of his work. This is episode 5 of a 7-part interview series publishing all week on Bite-Sized Philosophy.

Jack Caporuscio (@ClinicCapp on Twitter) runs the No Cap podcast on Fantasy Football and works for Pro Football Network. Jack is a critical thinker and hard worker whose quality shines through in all of his work. This is episode 2 of a 7-part interview series publishing all week on Bite-Sized Philosophy. Put your phone down. It may sound like parenting, but we all need a little parenting sometimes, right? There are a ton of benefits to being off of screens, and very few benefits to staring at a screen all day. Today’s episode is similar to episode 20 of this show, so you can listen to that episode here. If you like what you hear, give Jack a follow on Twitter and get to know him! For more Bite-Sized Philosophy content, subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my email list for a fun story delivered right to your inbox every single Friday! Text me! 323-609-5262

Text me! 323-609-5262 Jack Caporuscio (@ClinicCapp on Twitter) runs the No Cap podcast on Fantasy Football and works in the non-profit space doing email marketing. Jack is a critical thinker and hard worker whose quality shines through in all of his work. This is episode 2 of a 7-part interview series publishing all week on Bite-Sized Philosophy. What does success look like for you? Jack has put some time and energy into figuring this out for himself, and I’m in the process right now. Our whole lives, everyone around us wants to have a say into the answer for this question. Strangers, friends, enemies, social media trolls, parents, siblings, cousins, self-help gurus, everyone. But you need to put the time in to figure this out yourself. What is it? If you like what you hear, give Jack a follow on Twitter and get to know him! For more Bite-Sized Philosophy content, subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my email list for a fun story delivered right to your inbox every single Friday!

Fear drives us and controls us in our lives, but perhaps not the way it should. Instead of running from the things that scare us, we should run towards them. Do the thing today that scares you. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it.  Every day, I try to do something that scares me, whether that's sending a cold email to someone I've never met or publishing a podcast (yes, that scares me). I try every day to do something that I'm afraid of because it helps me to grow, it helps me to learn, and it helps me to share my purpose with the world. I hope you can, too.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." This has come to be the refrain of the defeated, but in fact, it should be celebrated. The only ideas we should follow are the ones that seem like good ideas at the time. There are too many factors at play for every good idea and decision to turn out well, but that doesn't need to make them a bad idea or a bad decision. Instead, it just means fortune wasn't on your side. It simply means that you didn't catch the break you wanted. We should celebrate ideas that seemed good at the time. We should celebrate taking risks that seemed like a good idea at the time. The results won't always match the process, but following a good process will lead to more good results than following a bad process will. Good ideas will turn out well more often than bad ideas will. Celebrate ideas that seemed good at the time, because eventually, those will turn into good results.

In this episode of Bite-Sized Philosophy, I'm starting a new series looking at quotes and ideas from Dr. Richard Carlson in his book: Don't Sweat The Small Stuff (and it's all small stuff). This is the main idea of the entire book (which you can buy at a used bookstore or online), and helps to put things in perspective. What really matters? Is it family? Is it a cause? Is it that someone isn't properly wearing their mask in the store? Focus on what's truly important, and don't sweat the small stuff. As always, you can find me on Instagram or on Twitter and I want to continue the conversation there! Let me know what you think... Joel

This is the 5th and final episode with Kyle Hagge, episode 58 of this podcast, and 8 of the 24-episode series in 2022. You should write down your thoughts and theories, in a private journal, in a public blog, just somewhere. It forces you to reinforce your thoughts and refine your ideas. That's a part of why I started this podcast two years ago! This week has been fantastic, and such a great conversation for me to learn from and be able to listen back through with Kyle. Monday, we talked about building community in a pandemic, Tuesday we talked about weak ties and a challenge network, Wednesday was about New Years’ Resolutions and goal-setting, Yesterday, we talked about Range and Career Growth, and today is about The Process, and about writing down thoughts and theories. If you didn’t listen to the show throughout the week, these episodes are still up, they always will be, and I really recommend taking some time, whether that’s this evening, or this weekend, and listen through the entire conversation. Kyle really brought it, and there’s so much in these episodes that I’m learning from and applying, and I hope you get to learn something from these episodes, too. That’s why I do this, so I can learn and grow, and so you can learn and grow with me. This week on Bite-Sized Philosophy is an interview series with Kyle Hagge. Kyle has been a podcast producer, non-profit co-founder, and now is the lead community manager at Morning Brew. He is passionate about justice, community, and innovation. Not just the buzzwordy kinds of justice, community, and innovation, but about how people can actually implement these topics in our careers and in our lives and he’s living that out in his current role at Morning Brew. Find Kyle on Twitter or LinkedIn This week’s topics range from weak ties in relationships and finding community as an adult, to goal-setting and skill-building, all the way into ways we can tell more useful stories about our careers. As always on Bite-Sized Philosophy, this show is about conversation. Between Kyle and me, but also with you. To make that possible, here’s my phone number: 323-609-5262. Text me and let’s talk. Resources (from all week long):  Range, obviously. Kyle’s Conversation with Range author David Epstein Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day The Defining Decade - Meg Jay  LearningBrew: Business Education Without the BS  Why You Need A "Challenge Network"

You've got this. You've made it through hard things before, maybe even this type of hard thing. You can make it through this one. This quote is from the Youtube channel ⁠Exurb2a's video The Answer is not a Hut In the Woods⁠.

In this episode, we explore the teachings of Seneca and Matsuo Basho, emphasizing the importance of seeking what the wise sought rather than merely following their footsteps. The discussion includes reflections on admired figures like Ryan Holiday, Adam Grant, and Brene Brown and the temptation to emulate their career paths directly.

You're doing great, and I'm proud of you. Keep up the good work. Take a moment and reset. Are you doing what you want to be? Are you on track? What track is it that you're on? It's never too late to reset. Keep it up.

Exploring is hard, and moving is scary. But that means they are worth it. Check out the most popular episodes below: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0qrEo3aE9GRmPFuKsBARaP?si=EqHUivg3RZ6hv1P3ga3Gjw https://open.spotify.com/episode/7l69ibGB8FxGvnEXOGp8iu?si=SXPHy-rYTbyECWG4TS-REg

Resolutions are out, words of intention are in. We've got a challenge, some ideas for words of intention, and reflection in this show. Tune in and let me know what you're planning for 2025!

So often we do things two or three things at a time. This week, take some time for yourself and do one thing. Schedule it. Block out time. Do one thing at a time, just because you like it.

Today talks about The fresh start effect where your birthday, a new year, anything that's a new situation actually is more effective at changing habits than just a random Tuesday in June. With New Years’ just in the rear-view, how are you doing with your goals? How are you doing with your resolutions? Use this episode as a reminder and a boost for your resolutions to be able to jump-start the new year and make it as good as you can make it. This week on Bite-Sized Philosophy is an interview series with Kyle Hagge. Kyle has been a podcast producer, non-profit co-founder, and now is the lead community manager at Morning Brew. He is passionate about justice, community, and innovation. Not just the buzzwordy kinds of justice, community, and innovation, but about how people can actually implement these topics in our careers and in our lives and he’s living that out in his current role at Morning Brew. Find Kyle on Twitter or LinkedIn This week’s topics range from weak ties in relationships and finding community as an adult, to goal-setting and skill-building, all the way into ways we can tell more useful stories about our careers. As always on Bite-Sized Philosophy, this show is about conversation. Between Kyle and me, but also with you. To make that possible, here’s my phone number: 323-609-5262. Text me and let’s talk. Resources: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

When you spend time worrying, is that time well-spent? Often for me, instead of helping me be more prepared for something, I just feel the emotions, stress, and anxiety in full before it all happens. Then, when it actually happens and comes to fruition, I feel the emotions, stress, and anxiety again. In full. For a second time. Worrying is pointless, but what can we do about it? Stop suffering imagined troubles, with notes from Mark Twain and Marcus Aurelius in this episode. As always, continue the conversation on Twitter or Instagram and stay in touch!

I think about death a lot. I know I'm going to die. So are you. We all are one day. I use that as motivation to make sure that I make the most of my day today. I'm not going to take today for granted because I'm playing with house money. So are you. What are you going to do with it? The idea of this isn't meant to be depressing, it's meant to be encouraging. Today is a blessing, and you get to breathe and feel the fresh air. As always, you can connect with me on Twitter or Instagram to keep the conversation going! Let me know what you're thinking about this idea.

You're doing great. You are so much more than your worst mistake. You can become anything. Listen to more here: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3EK02OjRh3Gewms7GZTk9A⁠

This week in your life, take something that you normally do in a rush... and stop. Do it slowly instead. Do it smoothly. See what happens. Doing the dishes, completing a task at work, filling your car with gas. Do it slowly, smoothly, intentionally. See what happens. Listen to more here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3EK02OjRh3Gewms7GZTk9A

Welcome back. To a new episode of Bite-Sized Philosophy. Missed you.