Welcome to Erebus Growing, a weekly email where I share little snippets of life to help you change and grow into your highest life.

I have this week off from the 9-5. I’ll be working at the part-time for a few evenings, but most of my days will be spent relaxing a little bit.

Between reading The Art of Focus, applying for positions to replace my 9-5, and just resting given how much the 9-5 and the part-time take, it’s going to be a more leisurely week than usual.

Plus, I’m going to be working on starting my new commitment and getting back onto X and Threads.

It’s time to recenter and refocus on what I really want: a life where my time is my own entirely.

👨🏻‍💻 Meditation

Tomorrow will mark seven years at my current 9-5.

And in those seven years, I’ve grown and changed in ways I didn’t expect.

• I recovered from a serious case of burnout from my previous 9-5.

• I started the journey of being financially independent and retiring early.

• I lived through a worldwide pandemic while being exposed consistently and learning to value my health.

• I experienced the death of my grandmother who raised me as her last biological child.

• I began my journey of personal development and self-growth.

• I had a brief health scare around my heart and resolved to take care of and honor my body.

• I started the journey of being more plant-forward in my diet.

• I built a rowing habit and spent a year rowing over 3.5 million meters.

• I started this newsletter.

• I shifted away from the idea of retiring early and towards wanting to build a personal brand.

• I picked up a part-time at a garden center where I’ve gotten to dive into gardening and land care.

• And I’ve made the decision to leave my 9-5 for my next adventure.

These past seven years have been reflected in the tenets you saw in the past nine weeks.

At the center of it all, however, is what I believe is the pillar.

You have to build the life you want. It doesn’t just happen.

There is some balance between intentionality and luck and fate in your life. There’s no question about that. But the vast majority of your life is based on your decisions and your design.

Your body and health ten years down the road are based on your choices now.

Your financial status and need to work in ten years are based on your choices now.

You have to build the life you want.

If you want a more plant-based life, you have to consciously change your diet. Go out and explore new flavors and recipes and expand your palate. (On a side note, I made the tastiest roasted broccoli and Brussels sprouts with cranberry agrodolce for a work potluck this past week and I will be making it again for sure.)

If you want more financial stability in your life, you have to find a way to make money that is not tied to your time. Millions of people know the hardship of working multiple jobs to earn enough money. I’ve been learning about it. But I’ve only got so much time to give.

If you want a killer body and good health, you have to treat your body right consistently over the years and not just a couple of months. It’s a hard pattern to build and keep. Rowing sticks with me because I’ve built the habit daily for almost two years.

The key in each of those moments is that you are making a choice.

You are consciously choosing what you want in your life. (Sometimes, you unconsciously choose what you want in your life as well.)

What happens when you don’t know what you want in life?

My guess is that while you may not know what you want in life, you likely know what some of the things you don’t want in life are.

That’s the other way to look at the process of building your life.

What you want is similar to what you don’t want.

For example, I know that I don’t want to work a 9-5 job until I retire. I don’t want to have a number of health issues that inhibit me from living. I don’t want to be financially tied to a job ever again. I don’t want to complain about my partner and say things like “I could never work from home and be around them all day.”

Sometimes it is harder to specify what you want and much easier to specify what you don’t want.

Use both sides of the coin to build your life.

And a final note today about all of this.

It’s okay that you’re not who you thought you would be. You haven’t met your highest self yet, and that’s okay. You will.

📚 Inspiration and Resources
Every week we all consume content and I share my favorites here.

Learning.
I’ve been a huge fan of learning to cook new things as I venture more into a plant-forward lifestyle. A couple of my favorite recipes lately have been a Mexican black bean recipe and the roasted broccoli and Brussels sprouts with cranberry agrodolce recipe I talked about above. As Sam the Cooking Guy from YouTube says, “Don’t eat the same thing all the time.” Give the black beans recipe a try here and give the broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and agrodolce recipe a try here.

📓 Journaling Prompt
Journaling is one of the most important things to do when exploring our own lives. A new prompt for you to use this week is below.

Have you tried building your ideal life?

Until next time, I wish you enough and send you off with love and a sense of urgency in your life.