Applying The Puzzle: A Field Guide for Daily Life

We’ve spent the last few months, together I hope, walking through concepts in The Puzzle: this crazy vision that felt rather handed to me and changed the way I view life, meaning, and consciousness. I know that probably nobody else can see it as clearly as I can <le sigh>. Potentially I’ve lost you but you’re hoping I reconnect soon. Maybe, even, this is the first time you’re reading anything about this (if so, and you’re intrigued, start way back here….if you’re not that intrigued…this one is uber-important). Anyways, unless there’s a direct connection between all these random ideas and your actual grind it’s just another philosophical origami.

So, acknowledging that I can’t walk in your shoes and your day is assuredly different than mine, I’d like to offer not so much a guide (titles have to have a hook, right?) but a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ structure to how to apply The Puzzle. I’m big into triggers and habit-stacking. If I can make myself remember that every time this one thing happens that is guaranteed to happen every morning I do something in particular, well, it doesn’t take long for that to feel ingrained. Then, if I can ‘stack’ something on top of that, well, then I’m halfway to a routine.

I actually hate routines. If we fall too much into routines our brain gets lazy, science says, and novel pathways atrophy. BUT, for building my best Puzzle, I can make due. Here are some trigger ideas (insert your own if, um, triggered to do so) for implementing an attention/intention; place a piece/build a piece; presence/self-reflection cycle every day.

Using Daily Triggers for Presence

Morning -

The first hour or two of your day is crucial to finding and practicing presence throughout the day. If I forget about it cause customers are yelling and the kids are yelling and all I can do is solve all the problems at hand….I reflect on that later and hope for more presence the next day.

—I’m never actually this conscious yet but the act of rising out of bed can be a trigger to bring yourself center and find presence (my wife seems to start tasks as she is sitting up first thing)

—drinking water first thing - highly recommended

—Brushing teeth - it’s hard to answer questions while shaking your head

—Shower - the only ‘me time’ for some people

—Walking - this activates many parts of the brain and can be a powerful force of cognitive direction

—Meditation - Oh, are you so lucky? If so, run with it

—The Drive - I hated commutes until I used them to find presence

Micro-Practice for Presence

You don’t need an hour session or a trip to Tibet to truly find presence. It’s literally right there, in front of you, all the time. Like…all the time. It can be hard to imagine a million little moments adding up to a few years as a monk, but I think it’s a legit analogy. Being present for 30 seconds a day, consistently, will 100% lead to minutes of presence, which will eventually lead to monk-like presence and clarity throughout your day. Guaranteed. If you have one of these moments, or any moment where you can focus on your thoughts, try these methods for finding presence.

—Five-Sense Scan - I detailed here how to quickly become more aware of your surroundings, which will force presence like seeing a bear on your hike. Maybe not so dramatic, but you see the connection.

—Breathwork - inhale naturally, hold the same, then exhale longer. Three times. Does something to the brain, nobody has convinced me what, exactly.

—Mini-Inquiry - Ask yourself “what is the most important thing I can be doing next?” or “what do I REALLY want to be doing right now?” which can help you, directionally, find the presence magic.

—Flirting with Pain - this can be dangerous if not controlled, but powerful if controlled. Remember the sensations of a scary or painful moment where time moved slowly. This can bump us into presence as our brain readies itself for full-presence action.

—Mantras - whatever floats your boat. My favorite is ‘chop wood. carry water.’ I have it tattooed on my arm. Some sentence that helps your brain know ‘now, it’s time to be fully here.’

End-of-Day Debrief/Reflection

Look, I know it’s hard. You’re tired, I’m tired, I just wanna stare at a TV or a wall and do anything BUT think. This practice, however, gives our subconscious directional guidance on what to do with the experiences of the day - what pieces to make from them. Do they relate to the most important things in our life? If clarified for the subconscious it will integrate them into our intuition and give us back guidance on where to focus our presence the next day. Triggers:

—Win/Learn/Momentum: One thing that went great, one learning moment, and one thing to push forward tomorrow

—Micro-Journal: 3 things following this this train of thought - Emotion/Event/Insight

—Scorecard: If you’re metrics driven rate your presence for the day, your energy, and your integrity (how well you stuck to yourself). Patterns will start to emerge quickly

Put wherever will be easiest to stick to every day - physically writing is most powerful but less effective if you’ve got several empty journal notebooks like me. Voice memo, evernote, asana, focus on which you will remember to do every day, then get complicated or elegant with it.

So, try each one and see what works.

MORNING | MIDDAY | EVENING

Pick a trigger, or find your own. Do the micro-practice. This is not a dogma, it’s a sandbox. Play and let me know how it goes.

Side Note - Most frameworks/systems I’ve tried over the year start with capital P Purpose, then you whittle and filter down to the daily grind. How can you know what to focus on each day without knowing where you’re going? I really love The Puzzle’s answer to this question - You aren’t starting from zero. You’re not dropping into a world with full agency to do anything. If so, we’d all be President.

You have things in front of you right now that need your attention, even if you wish they didn’t. We don’t start from the top, we start from the bottom. Be present in everything you do - today, tomorrow, every day - and your Puzzle emerges. Your Purpose, if you need one, comes from understanding yourself not from looking out at the world and picking something. You understand yourself first in the moment, then in the day, then in your Puzzle, then your meaning. Meaning is the intersection of who you are (experiences + brain chemistry), what your world looks like (your station - modern definition not classist), and the absolutely magical touch that is what do you want to do and become (self-expression).