I wanted to share a song that has been standing out to me over the past few days. It’s called "Naïve", by Andy Grammer, who’s an artist that stands for positivity, love and compassion. While the word, "Naïve" has a negative connotation, from a certain perspective it’s required.

"So call me naive
But I believe you're gonna be okay
And call me naive
But tomorrow, we'll be better than today

And if it's stupid to see the good in everything
Lord, help me please, help me to be naive
Na-na-na, na-na
Na-na-na, na-na
Na-na-na, na-na, mmm

See, I believe
This life is something beautiful and sweet
I believe
That love pulls me to you like gravity

And if it's stupid to see the good in everything
I guess I'll plead, I'll plead guilty to being naive
Na-na-na, na-na
Na-na-na, na-na
Na-na-na, na-na, mmm

And you could say I'm gullible
And I'm blind to all the lies and tragedies
I just think we focus all our time
On poison and not the remedy

So call me naive
Say I'm living in a world of make-believe
And call me naive
But I don't know another way to be

And if it's stupid to see the good in everything
Yeah, if it's stupid to see the good in everything
I'll say proudly I'd rather be naive
Na-na-na, na-na
Na-na-na, na-na
Na-na-na, na-na, mmm"

It’s such a beautiful song. But, let’s think of the context because it is extremely important today. Being naïve is different than being responsible. Of course, we always need to take the necessary precautions, we shouldn't be naïve to that truth. But, as people talk about worst case scenarios we don’t need to agree. Yes, these times are providing many people with significant hardship, but it’s our choice to determine if that’s entirely a bad thing. Many people will come out of this stronger, and the world will come out of this stronger. We can choose to see that positive possibility, instead of focusing on our seemingly negative reality.

With the doomsday talk and the “everyone fend for yourself mentality” I wanted to share something important. Everything will be okay. It will, everything will be okay.

While our concerns have shifted recently because of current events, I also want to speak to the you 3 months ago before all of this started, and the future you 3 years from now. Life will continue to present challenges and unexpected circumstances, and you will be okay. You always will be okay.

What I try to do during uncertain times is surrender to the process. I try to have faith that everything is happening for a reason. I also try to find confidence in myself that I will be able to make the most of every situation I am presented. The only thing you can control 100% is your effort, and putting your energy in things you can’t control will only perpetuate the problem. 

This is all coming from a guy whose biggest fear is responding to severe adversity. That’s what preparation and perspective are for, and that’s what I’d encourage you to reflect on right now. You have been developing skills for a long time. What you have to offer is an asset to others. And you are stronger than you know. You have overcome everything you’ve experienced so far, which should give you hope that you can also overcome everything that you’ll experience in the future.

Everything will be okay. Be responsible, trust yourself, and whenever there’s a storm, ride it out.

During the COVID-19 era quarantine, many of us throughout the country and world were instructed to shelter in place, limit interpersonal contact, and avoid public spaces. While this was totally necessary to protect ourselves and the health care system, it came at the expense of our own productivity.

What was interesting is how we were home more often, had more free time, and came up with all of these ideas of things we wanted to do. Yet we didn’t find ourselves doing those things. Why is that?

It’s because we were thrown out of our normal routine. What we didn't realize was that our routine had been optimized for our previous setting, relying on the triggers and timing that existed in our normal environment. Well all of that was different, and then we were wondering what we could do about it.

We basically needed to establish new habits, and there’s one thing that always helps me: Make the decision in advance!

Be clear about how you want to spend your time and affirm it. I think writing something down is really powerful because you can see the activity in front of you, making it a more tangible idea than an abstract concept. 

The next step after that, and knowing that your days are a little different, is to allocate time specifically to do that thing in your schedule. It sounds super simple, but most people don’t actually do it. It’s for those transition moments, when previously you had established context that would encourage you to take proper action, where a schedule will inform your decision-making and help you to stay on track until eventually this new routine becomes second nature.

We are all leaders. Now I understand that’s a big term, but it’s true. Leadership doesn’t take any one form, everyone displays their leadership in their own way, but what is universally consistent is that our actions influence the actions of others. Within that influence, we need to take responsibility for our actions so that we perpetuate behavior that contributes to the well-being of this world, not tearing it apart.

What are some other universal consistencies? I want to share two.

The first is empathy. As a leader you must understand where someone is coming from to guide them to the right course of action. In the book, Belong, by Radha Agrawal, she acknowledges that there are 3 different pieces to each person in a conversation. How am I in life? How am I right now? And How am I with you? This is an empathy practice that will help you communicate more effectively with other people.

The second element to leadership is humility. David Meltzer describes humility in two ways. This first is as an ability to give without expectation. This means doing the things that are required of you given the task, and leading by example when necessary. The second is to ask for help. Leaders aren’t perfect, and they don’t have the answer to everything. By stepping into that truth you prepare yourself better for the things that are required of you. This will also prep you to establish a culture of teamwork and strength in numbers.

I wanted to remind you to give yourself credit, and introduce you to something magical that we all have. We each have an intuition that has been built up over years and years of experiences. It’s something that has been processing subconsciously our entire lives. While we can’t point at it and access it directly, it actively stores past information that helps us in our decision making and perception. I think we generally have a tough time believing in things that we can’t see or objectively measure, which makes sense, but I want to take a step back and explore the big picture.

After coming upon this realization last week, I wanted to put it to the test. In the hallway at my office, I picked a random point about 30 meters away and told myself I would close my eyes and walk forward until I thought I had reached that point. After walking and upon opening my eyes, I was stunned to find that I was within a foot of the point I had selected.

How is this possible? I think it speaks to the power of the mind. I have had so many past experiences that even though my eyes were closed, my body was still informed about how far to walk, using other cues and references that I seldom rely on. The same goes for alarm clocks. Have you ever woken up a minute before it’s set to go off?

So I’d elaborate and argue, if this phenomenon is working on a psychological level, why can’t it work on other levels? I am a firm believer that our skill-set builds on itself over time, that our ability to learn accelerates with time and experience. You know more than you think you do in your trade, managing a difficult conversation, and making big life decisions, because your intuition can shine through and guide you in the right direction.

This quote by the 13th century Persian Poet Rumi. “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop”.

That’s deep. Not just deep in the ocean, but deep in thought.

Often, when I think about the world and the infinity of the sky, the unknown of the ocean, and the abyss of space, I question existentially what my purpose is and what meaning my life serves. My default reaction is to see myself as just one speck in the big picture, but this quote totally flips that thought on its head. We’re not one speck that makes up the larger picture, we are the entire picture in one speck.

“You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop”.

This means that the entire possibility of the world resides inside of you, and you are capable of creating from that space. Not only is the world abundant, but each one of us individually is abundant. It’s a powerful realization because in it we know that we are capable of what we desire and destined for self-actualization.

Now when it comes to this infinite potential, we need to be focused and recognize what is authentically us. What is our truth, what are our natural strengths, and how can we go about expressing those in a meaningful way. This is actually the first step in the Greatness Accelerator Program. Gaining clarity on our values and vision so that we have a solid framework to create from!

A lot of what I talk about here on the podcast is getting started and taking action. It comes more from the lens of turning zero to one. It’s the phase of bringing awareness to an issue or desire, and beginning to design and test ways to make it better. Getting started is huge and a really important part of the equation, nothing can happen without a beginning, and if that’s where you’re at in your process then keep at it! 

But, I want to go a step further and talk about taking 1 to 100. If we commit and are intentional about doing the work, what can it ultimately turn into? That’s a question we all need to ask ourselves, are we playing in the minor leagues or are we daring to be an all-star?

The most reliable way to evaluate this is to reflect on how challenged you feel. If you’re in a good and steady flow, and things are comfortable, that’s amazing! But, know what that also means. It means that you’re not being stretched, you’re not trying new things to optimize, and as a result, it means you’re not growing.

And that’s my ask of you: When things get easy, go get better.

There is always one level higher. There’s always something a little more ambitious. And if you’re pursuing true progress, then you need to make a change and challenge yourself when things get comfortable.

Keep in mind, this only applies in areas you’re actively looking to improve in. When you gain awareness about your wants and needs, you’ll realize that not everything in life is a race to the top. In fact, I’d say most things aren’t. But, in those areas you’ve identified as pillars to your growth and the person you want to become, the legacy you want to leave behind, you cannot be complacent and you must always push for more.

You’ve gotta be honest with yourself, and maybe it’s a tough internal dialogue to have, but it’s worth it. When things get easy, go get better.

Recently, I was whipping up lunch, adding a few extra ingredients to my salad and feeling good about it, kind of over-confident in the way I was preparing it.. If that’s even a thing. Then I opened a drawer, grabbed a fork, and when I nonchalantly went to push the drawer back in I for some reason I still had my hand down on the counter-top and I jammed my finger as the drawer closed. It hurt, so I started shaking it. I felt a surge of adrenaline, but fortunately it wasn’t so forceful that I was worried about doing any serious damage.

I tried to overcompensate in practicing what I preach and I said to myself “I am grateful I even have a finger to get slammed in the first place”.

In that moment, I knew how ridiculous it was to have that thought. Yes, gratitude is important, but in this context it seemed like a little bit of a stretch. I started laughing at myself, and guess what happened? I started feeling better! The pain went away, my heart rate settled down, and I recovered quicker than I otherwise would have.

As forced as it seems in certain situations, gratitude has a way of delivering perspective and real physiological benefits. The truth to this case is, there are many people who don’t have a finger, whether it’s congenital or amputated. Having fully functioning hands is something I’ve taken for granted.

It takes time to default to gratitude, and I am far from there but I’m definitely on my way. Important things have more meaning, and I can’t be bothered by less important things. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to incorporate a gratitude practice in your day. It takes 2 minutes, write down 3 things you’re thankful for.

I want to share a snippet from the book I’m currently reading to prepare for an interview I have booked with an amazing, world changing guest! Her name is Radha Agrawal and her book is titled, Belong. There’s a part in the book I love about that compares the different voices you have in your head. But, she distinguishes the two as the “Mean Girls” and the “Soul Sisters”.

The Mean Girls are exactly what you’d expect from the movie. They’re comparing themselves to others to see how they stack up. They look for the imperfections and nitpicking away at the blemishes and things that are wrong. And they’re judgmental. When things are different they make assumptions that are rooted in negativity, scarcity, and poor intentions.

Then there are the Soul Sisters. They look at others and they’re inspired and interested. They have a lens of positivity and gratitude, and see things for what’s right not for what’s wrong. And they’re curious, in search of ways to better understand and integrate their models than finding the differences.

If you didn’t hear it already, the Mean Girls and the Soul Sisters directly contrast each other. When looking at others, you can come from a place of comparison, or inspiration. When looking at the quality of something, you can notice the imperfections, or be grateful for the things that are right. And when things are different, you can either judge or be curious.

Each of these three points are all a matter of perspective. It’s the way we choose to see things in the world, and living like a Soul Sister is way better than living like a Mean Girl.