Category: positivity

Remember that even your small steps move you forward.

There are days when you can put massive effort towards your goals.

You have time.

You have energy.

You have inspiration.

You ate your Wheaties for breakfast.

You’re cranking the Rocky theme song on repeat on your Airpods, headphones or boombox.

Those are days that you feel like you are taking one giant leap forward for you-kind.

But…

On other days you don’t have the same resources.

Your schedule is challenging

Your energy is low.

You can’t find your Airpods. And your boombox is out of batteries.

Your motivation has secretly been replaced with slowtivation or notivation.

On those days, lower the bar.

Do something small.

Invest a few minutes instead of hours.

Move forward a few inches instead of miles.

Read a page, not a book.

Spend a few quality minutes not the full day.

Remember, small steps save the day.

And they set you up for bigger, better steps forward tomorrow.

Key Takeaway

Don’t be an all-or-nothing person. All-or-something keeps you moving forward. Do what you can. Support your habits. Maintain your momentum. Tomorrow, you will be glad you did.


*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Here’s a great way to give graduates valuable life lessons.

We’re in the thick of graduation season. High school and college seniors are transitioning into a very different phase of their lives. If they were caterpillars, they would be busting out of their cocoons and butterflying away with a diploma in one hand and their parent’s health insurance card in the other.

This graduation season is the most meaningful to me since my own graduation from Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire. Because my daughter Ava is graduating from high school this year. Well, she should be graduating. But I am a little worried that her high school will realize that when I called her out sick saying she had a combination of Scurvy and Malaria, she was really just skipping school to go to Six Flags.

Today, I am thinking about all the important life lessons I would like to share with Ava. Luckily I have been thinking about this for a few years. (Cue the flashback…)

In March of 2020, at the beginning of the COVID lockdown, I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands. Especially the typing part of my hands. So I began writing my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? It’s a collection of 80 of the best life lessons I have learned. I wanted my children to have access to this wisdom and inspiration when they left home. Or when I was no longer alive to share the lessons with them. Whichever came first.

Today, as I am thinking about graduation, I am thankful that I took the time to write this book and share these lessons. Because I did, Ava and other graduates will be able to benefit from my learnings and experiences. These lessons are some of the most valuable gifts I have to offer. And right now I am thinking about lesson 47 on page 152, which says:

Today’s Success Was Born Yesterday.

The relationships you developed yesterday strengthen your support system today, The progress you made yesterday becomes momentum today. The exercise you performed yesterday creates today’s strength, endurance and health. The time you invested yesterday becomes the time you saved today. The reading you did yesterday creates the knowledge you have today. The traveling you did yesterday becomes today’s memories and experiences. The preparation you did yesterday makes you ready for today.

The Special Offer

When I first published What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? the two most common comments I got from readers were:

  1. I wish had read this when I was younger.
  2. This book makes a great gift for graduates.

I always see a spike in book sales in May at graduation time. And tomorrow, Saturday, May 25th is my birthday. To celebrate, and to help get this book of life lessons into the hands of more people who could really benefit from it, I have reduced the price by 25% on Amazon through midnight on Saturday. Which makes this the best time to buy the book as a graduation gift, or to stock up on copies for other occasions.

Happy My Birthday!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

-AA

What gets you high?

A couple of months ago I was at the airport in Atlanta, along with a few hundred thousand travel buddies, when one young man’s sweatshirt caught my attention. It was a simple black hoodie. On the front of the shirt, it said:

Music Gets Me High.

I loved the shirt. Not because music gets me high. But because the young man wearing it knew that music gets him high. And while I haven’t consulted with the Food and Drug Administration or Nancy Reagan, I expect that music provides a fairly safe way to get high. And somebody should tell that to Willie Nelson.

The shirt, and the young man wearing it, made me think that everyone should know what gets them high.

So the question of the day is:

What activities make you feel heightened and alive? Or euphoric? Or in flow?

This is a far more valuable question to ask yourself if the answer is not related to drugs or alcohol. In fact, the point of this prompt is to find the activities that make you feel great without the chemicals. This is particularly interesting to me because I have never drank or done drugs. But I engage in activities that make me feel great. But because my activities are positive and healthy, unlike Amy Winehouse, they are not trying to make me go to rehab.

So what gets you high?

Discover your most highly rewarding activities.

Find ways to do them more often.

And you will live a highly enjoyable life.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Here’s the most underrated influence on your growth and improvement.

Comfort vs Discomfort

It is one of the most interesting battles in the human experience.

We have an innate drive to seek comfort. To find safety. To avoid suffering, pain and awkwardness. Which is why we keep those pictures taken during puberty tucked safely away, only to resurface in wedding reception videos.

But if we give in to our desires for comfort our world shrinks. Our growth stops. And we squander our time on a couch, in bed, or on a lounger at the beach attempting to explain away our shrinkage.

But there is another epic force within all humans. The desire for growth. The yearning for self-improvement. The hunger for badassery. (Which science has proven to be even greater than the hunger for whatever you gave up for Lent. #peanutM&Ms)

The Power of Discomfort

Human growth is stimulated by discomfort.

That discomfort comes in many forms.

Putting yourself in new and novel situations.

Pushing your body physically to the bounds of your strength or stamina.

Trying new unnatural behaviors and responses.

Attempting techniques that feel foreign.

Applying the non-intuitive.

To become the best version of yourself, abandon the safe and face the threatening.

Because each time you do, you grow. You learn. You expand. You strengthen. You improve. And you increase in valuable ways.

Helen Keller, one of the greatest growth artists in human history (but a terrible driver) put it this way:

‘Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.’ -Helen Keller

Question for you:

How much time, energy and thought do you put into making yourself comfortable? Compare that to how much you focus on creating personal discomfort. As you change that ratio you will change your life.

Key Takeaway

To become the best version of yourself it is important to get comfortable with discomfort. Seek it out. Create it. Embrace it. Because discomfort is the condition that precedes all growth and improvement.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

How do you score points every day?

Rapper Ice Cube is known for his hardcore gangster rap. As a member of NWA, he was the lyricist behind such classic hits as Fuck The Police, Gangsta Gangsta and Straight Outta Compton. As a soloist, Ice Cube penned more angry songs like, Natural Born Killaz, AmerciKKKa’s Most Wanted and We Had To Tear This MothaFucka Up. It seems Ice Cube could use a hug.

But Ice Cube’s biggest hit was the smooth groove It Was A Good Day. In the song, Cube recounts the events of a good day. In fact, the whole song is simply a long list of good things that happened to him in a single, ordinary day. In this positive recounting of a good day in South Central L.A., with no barkin from the dog and no smog, we can all learn a valuable lesson about good days.

Creating Good Days

To enjoy good days you need to know what a good day looks like to you. Because once you know what success looks like you can set up a routine to rack up good day points from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep at night. That’s what I try to do every day, like everyday people.

My Good Day

My day starts like Yung Gravy with a strong morning routine. (Floss 3 times baby I’m so clean.) When I wake up, the first thing I do is put a big smile on my face. When I do, I not only feel good right away, but I also give myself a point for day.

Then, if I get out of bed within one or two minutes of my alarm I give myself another point. I make my half of the bed and get more points. I walk to my bathroom and I do a little bit of light stretching. I weigh myself. And I take a long drink from the water bottle I set next to my sink the night before. For each of these activities, I give myself points. If my weight is good I get bonus points. Bing Bing Bing.

The rest of my day works the same way. If I am sitting at my computer by 6:10 am writing I am racking up points. When I publish a blog post, I earn more points. Then I make breakfast and pack my lunch at the same time. I give myself points for both eating well and saving myself money for not going out to eat. Cha-Ching-Ching

I give myself points for leaving for the office by a certain time each morning. When I sit down at my desk at my office I earn more points for creating my Daily Success List. Then I rack up more points for crossing things off that list, like Listerine.

In the evening I earn parenting points for things like coaching my daughter Ava’s track and field team, or my son Magnus’ football team. I rack up points helping with homework and driving my son Johann to piano or saxophone lessons. And for having a good conversation in the car along the way home.

I earn spouse points by spending meaningful quality time with my wife Dawn. That could be as simple as having a good conversation, watching a movie or a TV show together, taking a walk, or planning an upcoming adventure. You have to earn the spouse points every day. It’s fundamental. Like hitting your free throws, sinking your 2-foot putts or wearing deodorant.

I rack up points by eating well, exercising and reading. I earn points when I reach out to a friend or family member. And when I spend quality time with my 2-year-old Border Collie, Lola. I earn points when I laugh or make other people laugh. I earn extra points if milk sprays out of someone’s nose.

Finally, I earn points by wrapping up my day with brushing and flossing. And by filling my water bottle for the next morning so I can do it all over again. And if I get to bed by my predetermined time I get bonus points. Not only because I met my own expectations for the day, but because I put myself in a position to have a great day again tomorrow.

Key Takeaway

A good day is not about extraordinary events. It is simply a day spent doing the things you value. It is a day when you execute your habits and routines. A day when you live the way the ideal you lives. Give yourself points all day long for living up to your own expectations. You will find great rewards in keeping your commitments to yourself and others. You will enjoy the process of improving yourself and your relationships with your family and friends. You will score career points through your productivity and steady accumulation of results. And by keeping a mental tally of all the positive actions you take throughout the day when you lay down to sleep at night you can take great comfort in knowing that today was a good day. And you made it happen.

If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The right way to do everything.

Life is full of verbing. Because as living creatures there is so much to do. There’s all this eating, cleaning, and clothes-wearing. Then there’s the work. And the communicating. And the passions and hobbies. Throw in the phazillion things you have to do in between all the things you have to do and it’s a wonder you ever get anything done.

But what’s the best way to do your thang?

There are best practices that tell you how something should be done.

There is the old-school approach.

And the new school approach.

And the too cool for school approach.

There is the classicly trained way.

The disrupting way.

The fast way.

The slow way.

And the curds and whey.

But here’s the secret everyone should know.

You don’t have to choose any of them ways.

There is more than one way to do everything. Just ask a skinned cat.

Don’t worry about following others. Or the establishment.

Take your own approach.

Your resources and constraints will always be unique to you.

And just like Harry Styles, your tastes and styles are your own too.

Your uniqueness and individuality are your strengths.

Take a non-traditional approach.

Discover what works for you.

There’s a great chance that you will discover a better way.

Or at least a better way for you.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Happy Leap Day! Seize the bonus day by starting something new.

Happy Leap Day! February 29th is your lucky day. In fact, it’s luckier than a 5-leaf clover. And it’s rarer than a mooing steak. In fact, it is so rare that it only happens every 4 years. Like the Olympics, a Presidential election, or a J-Lo wedding.

Opportunity Day!

However, it is not the rarity of Leap Day that matters. It’s the opportunity. Today is a bonus day! Which means that today is the perfect day to do something extra. Like Michael Jackson said, today, ‘You got to be startin’ somethin. Or finishing somethin’. Or working hard on somethin’.

Take a few minutes to think about those things you can never seem to find the time to start, plan or complete. Take a leap and get rolling today.

Possible Leap Day Activities:

  • Exercise
  • Take a hike
  • Play a Game
  • Start a blog, vlog, slog, or drink Glogg
  • Start a business
  • Pick up a new hobby, or re-engage in an old hobby (like Holly)
  • Create a podcast
  • Play an instrument
  • Create a product
  • Start a book (reading or writing)
  • Paint
  • Marie Kondo your house
  • Volunteer, or sign up to volunteer
  • Go to church (or find a place of worship to go to this week)
  • Start a meetup
  • Join a club or worthy organization
  • Ask someone to be your mentor.
  • Call someone you haven’t talked to for too long
  • Find a Dentist
  • Find a Doctor
  • Find a nurse
  • Find a lady with an alligator purse
  • Start your taxes
  • Plan a vacation
  • Organize a girls’ night, or a guys’ night, or a Michael Knight
  • Make a career or life plan
  • Do something more you, because no one knows you better than you

Bonus Time Is Start Time

Me in my office. That leaf is what the original Adam was wearing when he got in trouble with God.

I started planning my own business, The Weaponry, during a little bonus time like you have today. Now we have been in business for nearly 8 years. We have 2 offices and clients from Quebec to California.

I started this blog during a little bit of free time. This is post number 966.

The pink and red countries are where my blog has been read. Crazy, right?

During the last leap year in 2020, I used the bonus free time provided by the COVID-19 lockdown to write my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?

Today, will use some of my bonus time to work on my next book currently titled, Adam Albrecht’s Next Book. Catchy, I know.

The 3 Big Bs

My business, blog, and book represent the 3 biggest elective projects of my life. And they were all birthed during bonus time. It was time that I used wisely.

Now it’s your turn to do something meaningful. Don’t miss the opportunity today is offering You.

Key Takeaway

Time is your more precious resource. Use it wisely. Alchemize it into magic. And when you get a bonus day or a bonus hour, take advantage of it. Otherwise, when you come to the end of your time, you will wish you had.

Which begs the question: What will you do with your Leap Day?

Note: Happy Leap Day Birthday to my friend Jeff Hilimire, who turns 12 today.

IMG_20191105_143236
Jeff ‘The Leap Day’ Hilimire, shows us how big he was when he was born.

The resistance you are facing is a valuable gift.

Life isn’t easy. How could it be? You live on a planet with 8 billion people who are always getting in your way. Throw in gravity, the laws of physics and the constraints of time and space, and life on Earth becomes a gigantic obstacle course. It’s like Wipeout. Only everyone has to carry a coffee and a mobile phone.

But the obstacles are what make your adventure interesting. A video game is an intriguing challenge specifically because of the elements added to prevent you from reaching your goals. Your real life works the same way. Only here in the real world, when you die, you really die. Which means that we are all starring in our own horizontal version of Free Solo.

But don’t curse your challenges. They are a gift. The resistance makes the story. That injury you face is there for you to overcome and make your triumph even sweeter. The bad boss, the job you lost, the pitch you didn’t win, and the thing that broke are all setbacks that set you up for a great comeback.

It’s hard to look forward to adversity. We prefer smooth sailing. But when you reflect on your human experience, it’s easy to see that adversity creates advantages. The resistance builds strength. And friction summons resolve. Those are gifts that stay with you forever. Like luggage.

Key Takeaway

Resistance is a gift. It makes you stronger. More resourceful. More capable. And more confident. Right now, you are becoming a stronger machine. And your story keeps getting better.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

This week I was reminded of a valuable life lesson thanks to a Starbucks mishap.

On Thursday morning I met my great friend Roland ‘Rocky’ Larochelle for breakfast. We hadn’t seen each other for more than a year. When I arrived at the Starbucks he met me by the front door and we heartily greeted each other. It was a great start to the morning. Like Tony The Tiger Great.

Roland had already ordered, so I walked to the counter and ordered a breakfast sandwich and grabbed a chocolate milk from the cooler. Because chocolate milk is my jam. Then I made my way to the small round table where Roland was sitting with his vente coffee. As I sat down, excited to catch up on the past year with an old friend, Roland moved his coffee to the side of the table to make room for me. This is typically an uneventful act. But that morning, the act was most definitely eventful.

In the process of moving his tall and freshly full coffee, the cup tripped and tipped. In an instant, the entire drink splashed onto the table and then poured onto the floor.

The aftermath. It looks like the coffee spilled in the shape of Pangea.

That’s Just Life

These types of mishaps happen all the time. Things are constantly going wrong in both our professional and personal lives. How you respond to such events determines the tone of your life.

You can allow such incidents to make you angry, bitter, deflated or depressed. Or, you can recognize that these setbacks are an expected and unavoidable element of life. You take the hit and roll with it. Like Tina Turner. (That was supposed to be a reference to Proud Mary, not Ike.)

The filter you use to interpret your setbacks determines whether you are floored by them or strengthened.

The Response

For a brief moment after the spill, there was no response. It was like that moment after you see a flash of lightning before you hear the inevitable thunder. You know it’s coming. But you don’t know how soon it will hit. And you don’t know if it will rumble or crack.

Then it hit.

Roland and I both erupted in laughter. It was the best possible response. We recognized that our 20-year friendship had just added another funny story. A new layer. An event to talk about.

Roland is clearly a great guy to spill coffee with.

There is no use crying over spilled coffee. Even $7 coffee. So we moved our things to the next table and began the clean-up. We grabbed napkins and notified the barista-janitor behind the counter of the caffeinetastrophe that had just occurred at table #9.

Within 2 minutes there were no signs of the spill on the table or the floor. Just as the final drops were being mopped another Barista in her superhero apron appeared at our table and presented Roland with a replacement coffee that she had made without us even asking. Thanks, SuperBarsista! You saved the day!

Key Takeaway

Setbacks happen. Everywhere, all the time. It’s not your bad luck. It is life. And physics. Those things are constantly spilling your drinks, breaking your things, blocking your progress, and stealing your time. Just roll with it. These are the basic challenges in the game of life. Keep playing. It makes the whole adventure of life more interesting. It makes you stronger and more capable for the next challenge. And all those setbacks transform into stories. And sooner or later you realize that a good life is just a collection of good stories.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

My important life lesson from a panicky train experience in Europe.

Last summer my family and I spent two weeks in Europe. We flew into London, then visited Paris, Bern, Switzerland and Munich via train. Exploring Europe by train is a fun experience. And not just if you see London and you see France.

However, making short connections in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language can raise your stress level like that recurring dream about missing your college final exams, while naked, and public speaking.

I’m not Zurich about this.

The most challenging part of our train travel was the leg from Bern to Munich. The issue was that we had to switch trains in Zurich and we only had 10 minutes to do it. We had never been to the station. And we had no idea where our connecting train platform was. I felt like Harry Potter the first time he had to find Platform 9 and 3/4.

To make matters worse, the train we were on was delayed. Which meant that our short 10-minute layover was cut in half. Gulp. We would only have 5 minutes to sprint to our next train in Zurich. But with 5 people hauling 10 overstuffed roller bags and duffles, sprinting does not look like sprinting. It’s more like waddling.

To further elevate our challenge, we were on the upper level of the inbound train and had to haul our massive bags down the train’s tight staircase just to begin the hunt for our next train. Plus, the train was completely packed. And while we were feeling urgent like Lou Gramm of Foreigner, we had to contend with other passengers who exhibited none of our need for speed.

Finally, as our train rolled to a stop at the Zurich train station we each grabbed our 2 bags, plus our backpacks, and clumsily navigated the stairs, trying not to fall or drop our bags on the other passengers. Then we wiggled our way off the train and onto the bustling platform. We hustled towards a monitor where we discovered that our train for Munich was on the other side of the platform we were standing on! It was the best possible scenario!

But now, we had only 3 minutes, and there was a large crowd of people trying to cram onto the train. Because everyone loves Munich. Kinda like Raymond. And bacon.

We got in line and waited for our time to board as the time ticked away. Slowly, we inched our way to the steps, and one by one, all 5 of us and our 10 bags boarded the crowded train car.

However, our progress promptly stopped. We found ourselves just inside the train door with nowhere to move. We had no idea if we were on the right car. We had no idea if we had assigned seats. And we had no idea where to store our 10 big bags because there didn’t appear to be any available space on this overstuffed train.

Then something wonderful happened. The train started to move. We were pulling out of the station. And a big smile spread across my face.

Yes, we were still lost, and confused. We were in a foreign country where we didn’t speak the language or understand the systems and processes. We didn’t know where to sit, where to put our bags, or how to get out of the way of the other passengers.

But we were on the train. And despite the confusion and chaos we were experiencing, we were headed to Munich.

My crew, happy to be rolling with the punches.

Key Takeaway

In life getting on the train is the main thing. You can figure out the rest from there. Just get yourself to the starting point. Get to the gym. Start the business. Open the blank document. Pick up the power tool. Land the job. Sit down with the instrument. Show up to the support group meeting. That is the first step. You’ll figure the rest out as you go.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.