Life Lesson

Eventually we have to face the reality of a to-do list.

The longer it is, the more we’re hiding.

A long to-do list keeps us busy, spreads our time and energy thin, stretches us so we can’t fully commit to the work that matters.

Equally as distracting as a long to-do list is the mindset of, “If I can crank through a bunch of these tasks, then I can focus on the big ones once the list is smaller.”

More challenging (and valuable) is to remove items from the list altogether.

 

Stay Positive & Pick A Door (The Important One)

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Contrary to what we might assume, most people don’t want a literal map. They don’t want a step-by-step process. They don’t want their hand held.

On second thought, it’s not that they don’t want any of that.

It’s that they want something else more.

The feeling of achievement, perhaps.

Or the feeling of belonging. Or the feeling of prestige or transcendence.

When in doubt, people don’t need you to manage their work or be by their side the entire time telling them what and what not to do–that doesn’t lead them to a sense of meaningful impact.

Instead, they need you to lead. To point the direction. To outline. To pose questions, not orders.

To say something like, “Let’s go this way. It might not work, but let’s see what you can do.”

 

Stay Positive & If Someone’s Frazzled, They Don’t Need Help, They Need Direction

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Masters of ideas understand when they need more and when they don’t.

Certain situations require more brainstorming. Fresh content. New ideas.

More often than not, once something is started, you don’t need more new ideas, you need to own the one big one that got you going in the first place.

Even that layer, you don’t need more new ideas. You simply need to do what you know works. To care. To string that idea into every corner of your brand.

Dogfish Head doesn’t need a new idea. They simply need to do more of what they know to do to appeal to off-centered people.

Bose will likely shoot themselves in the foot within the next six months because they think they need a new big idea to replace their current one.

As they say, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.

 

Stay Positive & Then Keep Flaunting It

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There’s a lot of knowledge out there for the way it is.

Plenty of AMAs that describe what it’s like running a restaurant.

Plenty of books and podcasts that cover how to have a healthy relationship (my recco).

Despite all the resources, many still see various situations as problems. They work to change them. They fight them. They lie saying “that won’t be me” even when all the data shows it will be.

The smartest action you can take is to prepare for the problems rather than try to prevent them because a problem that’s prepared for isn’t a problem at all; it’s just the way it is.

When we can quit hyperventilating about problems we know will happen (because we’re prepared), we focus on the real change we seek to make.

 

Stay Positive & A Problem Can Be A Springboard If You Want It To Be

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When you think about it, it’s insane how much your able to create right now.

All the knowledge and experience you have, you could write books.

Books on relationships, books on art, books on bitcoin and connection and food.

You could paint a portrait every week. You can blog about your passion every day. You can write your autobiography and share the funniest moments of your life.

The internet is an open invitation with an endless audience searching every day for something that moves them.

Alas, it’s this endless creative opportunity that shocks us into inaction.

Do you start a podcast? A blog? YouTube channel? Do you sell your art? Do you use a pseudonym? Do you live stream your art? Do you tell no one? Do you tell everyone?

A lot of questions arise around the simple execution of something creative, so I offer this piece of advice: Create something, share it and then reflect on the questions.

You’ll quickly discover that those questions originally holding you back aren’t as important as you made them out to be.

 

Stay Positive & Now’s A Great Time To Start A Blog

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The A-Team doesn’t feel like the A-Team when a plan doesn’t come together.

Same goes for us.

We feel unfulfilled at the end of a day where things didn’t go the way we wanted.

Fortunately and unfortunately, it’s not that unexpected things happened to ruin it, it’s that we let ourselves off the hook of having the kind of day we wanted by not planning it to begin with.

A simple chronological checklist goes a long way to feeling satisfied at the end of the day.

And that satisfaction, that fulfillment? It’s addictive.

 

Stay Positive & What Do You Want To Have Accomplished Today?

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Not a get together goes by that I don’t get my mind blown with a story someone shares.

A personal story. Something it had taken an hour or so (and maybe a beer or two) for them to be comfortable enough to share.

And time and time again, that story resonated either with me, with others in the group or even someone eavesdropping.

Once you put your story out there, it’s incredible how you can go from thinking you’re isolated, that you’re the only one who thought something or did something a particular way, to connecting with another (or an entire group) who has felt or acted the same.

There are more people out there like you than you think. So, what does this mean for you? Fight the comfort of keeping the truth to yourself.

You’re not only hurting yourself, but you’re doing equal damage to those who fear sharing their feelings in case those around them don’t feel the same. (You remember how good it felt when someone said “Really? Me too!”)

Alas, this has nothing to do with being an extrovert, but everything to do with realizing how easy it is for people to connect once a story is shared.

 

Stay Positive & I Dare You To Prove Me Wrong (Go Ahead, There’s A Comment Section Below)

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