“Where you arrive does not matter so much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there.” Seneca, Letters to Lucilius XVIIII’ve arrived in many places… and I can say, I haven’t always arrived as the best person. I have also left for many places thinking that a change of scenery would make all the difference, but I’m the same troubled person at my destination as my origin.Deal with what’s in front of you where you are now. Only then can you enjoy your vacation.

Sometimes their hands are tied;Sometimes they wish they could do more;Sometimes it’s a matter of politics; and perhaps,Sometimes it’s a matter of bravery.Whatever it is, sometimes it’s easier to assume the best intentions of others than to assume the worst.

“Whatever can happen at any time can happen today.” - Seneca, Letters to Lucilius LXIIIAnother lesson from the bandstand… anything can happen at any time. The guitar players string could break, the singer suddenly misses an entrance, or it rains. One way to deal with the problem is to frustrate yourself - Why is this happening? Why didn’t the guitar player change their string? Why is it raining now, of all days? Why me? Another way to deal with it is to prepare yourself. How will I respond if the singer misses their entrance? Do I know my part well enough to cover someone that has to cut out? Oooh, the weather looks bad, how will I react if the rain comes? How many stressful moments throughout the day could be made more relaxed if we prepare for them In advance?Annoying roommate? Each morning, imagine all the worst things they could do and visualize yourself coming out on top. Traffic on the freeway? Consider leaving earlier and taking backroads; you might be driving longer but you won’t feel “stuck”. Work email? Commit yourself to not checking your email on your phone, and, have email be the second thing you do once you get to work - have the first thing be the most important work you can do.Try it out and see if it helps.People Managers: an effective exercise to do with your team is, before launching a big project, gather around and (you - the leader) say, “okay, imagine we have this crystal ball in front of us, and this crystal ball is showing us how this project will fail, what might the crystal ball be showing us?” Let your team brainstorm up what the crystal ball says and write the ideas down. Finally, start planning for how you’ll avoid that BEFORE kicking off the project.

In a band, besides the drummer… the most important musician is the keyboardist.(Just giving a pause for the musicians that read this blog to groan…)One of the most important musicians in the band is the bassist, they lay the harmonic foundation upon which everything happens. They are critical. As a keyboardist, you can play (almost) anything you want so long as you compliment what the bass player. The metaphorical bass player in your life is, your mission - that voice that guides you, directs you to the work that matters, and motivates you to be a service to others. You can make whatever decisions you want but they must compliment your mission if you want to find fulfillment. Today, I did what every keyboardist does and played over the bass player… and that bit me in the butt. Don’t fight your mission.Do the work that matters.Hug a bass player. People Managers: The “bass player” at work is your company’s mission, values, and initiatives. If you want your team to be successful, keep them aligned and don’t overplay. Martin - I’m sending you a big hug.

To persist. The point of any life form is to persist. The point of any system is to persist.The point of any business is to persist.Everything exists to persist.Our goal in serving others should be to help them persist better and more effectively in the manner they want.There’s another side to that coin though… Would it be good to help someone who spreads hate to persist in spreading hate? I’m going to say, “no, and…” then I’ll follow up with a question, “why do they hate?”

There are events in life that you likely prefer were the most boring experiences ever. Airplane flights;Train travel;Driving on the Palmetto Expressway (or any highway);Dentist appointments;Doctor visits;Hearing about your bloodwork;Visits with your mother (I love you, mom!);Visits with your mother in-law (just kidding);Law enforcement stopping you on the expressway for speeding;Your performance review (you already know you’re awesome!);An encounter with a human-eating large mammal…I’m sure there’s lots more… Interestingly… I had to get bored to think about this list. Okay, that’s enough, back to work. Enjoy your day.People Managers: encourage your teams to get bored during the day especially if they are doing creative work. In our boredom, our brains start to create connections ad genius is born.

Oversimplified, metabolism does three things (according to Wikipedia):Converts energy in food to energy we can use;Converts food into building blocks we need for repair and growth; andEliminates waste from other metabolic activity.Oversimplified, emotions are three things:A response to a stimulus;A method for communicating to other humans - perhaps an invitation to cooperate? AndA resource-consuming experience - can you recall how you exhausted you feel when you last got mad?How to combine metabolism with emotions?The next time we feel a strong emotion, consider asking yourself three questions.How might the energy this emotion I’m feeling be used for some kind of good? What is this emotion telling me about myself? How has my story changed? How might this emotion help me make positive change in my life? How does it help me remove an obstacle? How does it help me build a better life/work style for myself? I’m going to try it out. This idea was inspired by an enlightening tea I had with my friend, Brianna. Thanks, Brianna!

You can bare almost anything - believe me. I went to the dentist the other day and had my teeth checked. Well… it’s been a while since I’d seen any dentist, and you can imagine that my teeth got their fair share of prodding, drilling, scraping, and the like from the doctor. Here’s the thing, as annoying as that experience is, it ends.Anything that can be bared, can be bared until the end. And everything, in some way, ends. Thank you, Dr. Dave, for teaching me resiliency.

Don’t believe that you will always adopt the safest course. On the contrary, believe that every course invites risk.“Prudence consists in knowing how to recognize qualities in inconveniences and in picking less bad as good.” - Machiavelli, “The Prince”, XXIYour better decision making comes from knowing how to recognize and leverage that which gets in your way - to turn lemons into lemonade.“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way, becomes the way.” - Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations”There are no guarantees, only opportunities.

“We have to do the best we know how to do at the moment. If it doesn’t work out, we can modify as we go.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)Spoken at the start of the Great Depression, much of FDR’s work was trial-and-error. Nobody had ever been through a “Great Depression” and the stake were high. The best they could do was what the situation allowed. How often are you in that situation? How often are you in a moment where the stakes feel high and the situation appears unclear? When you might not feel like the right person for the job - imposter syndrome? When it feels like too much of a gamble? When you’re in that moment, channel your inner FDR and tell yourself, “I have to do the best I know how how to do at this moment. If it doesn’t work, I can modify as I go.”Life doesn’t ask us to be perfect. Life invites us to roll up our sleeves, get dirty, make mistakes, and adapt.