Just Be Good. And Maybe Chill Out.

I’ve been thinking lately - We really overcook this whole “life” thing.

You read one self-help book, and suddenly you're trying to cold plunge at 4am, journal in six colours, track your macros, write your legacy statement, and build your billion-dollar brand by the weekend.

For what?

Most of the wise people I’ve ever admired had a remarkably simple outlook. Marcus Aurelius. Seneca. Even my own Nan. None of them needed a 47-point checklist to be a good human.

Their advice boiled down to two things:

1. Be good.​
   Not just to others, but to yourself.
   Do the right thing. Be honest. Be kind. Be generous with your time when it counts.
2. Don’t take life too seriously.​
   Seriously. Don’t.
   You’re a talking meatball on a floating rock. Laugh a bit.
   Wear the dumb shirt. Make a fool of yourself at karaoke. Let the kids cover you in stickers and call it a spa treatment. (Yes, that happened.)

If you’ve got these two down - If you’re good to others, and you don’t treat life like some grim, high-stakes exam - You’ll be alright.

Of course, I forget this sometimes.
I still stress over dumb things.
Like whether my pitch deck has the right shade of navy blue. Or if someone’s judging me for wearing Crocs with socks (I'm sure it's stylish, right?).

But every time life feels heavy, I come back to this:
Be good.
Lighten up.
That’s it.

It doesn’t mean we coast through life. It means we remember that most of the stuff we think is urgent, isn’t. Most of the rules we try to follow, don’t matter. And most of what makes life beautiful is really, really simple.

​
Thanks for reading.

If this made you smile or breathe a little easier today, forward it to someone else who might need the reminder.

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I send one of these every week. No fluff. Just stories, thoughts, and reminders about how to live better.

Catch you next week,
Broden