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.
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I love to read. Like most people, I was born highly uneducated. Reading has become an instrumental part of my master plan to overcome my early shortcomings. I love to learn and to become inspired. And if you are reading this I expect you do too.
I like reading classic literature because it makes me feel worldly. I liked reading the first three Harry Potter books because they made me feel magical. But then I realized my time is too scarce to read four more books about a fanciful wizard boy.
Today I read a lot of books on self-improvement, business, and biographies. I also read healthy portions of magazines like Fast Companyand Inc. because I find them both creatively stimulating and educational. Plus I like the pictures.
Several years ago I read an interesting quote from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones that said, “You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet.” And this reading about reading encouraged Adam “Ordinary” Albrecht to read even more.
But there is also a potential danger in reading. And not just the threat of papercuts and eye strain. I have found that too much reading can lead to too little doing. If I fill all of my time with learning and inspiration I leave no time for action. Like the career student who seems to know everything but does nothing.
If you find that you are reading and learning, but not actually putting your learnings into action, follow this simple rule of thumb that influences my reading today:
Read just enough to learn something new and become inspired. Then act on it.
This simple rule has helped me accomplish more. I’ve wasted less time. And I’m more excited about my work.
I think of reading now like a pregame speech. One that I listen to just long enough to become properly motivated. And as soon as I am lathered up I jump to work, acting on the inspiration.
That’s when I start writing, planning, structuring, detailing, calling, creating, wizarding or potioning. When I have one hour available, instead of one hour of reading, I can do 10 or 15 minutes of reading. Then I can spend the rest of the hour implementing. Which means that the return on that one hour is significantly higher than it would be from reading alone.
I use my reading to prompt action. This approach has been vital to my experience as an entrepreneur and Founder of The Weaponry. It has empowered me to author What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? and my current writing projects. And it is the driving force that has inspired more than 960 blog posts. Because reading is not the goal. It is just the beginning.
Key Takeaway
Reading is a great way to learn and grow. But putting your new knowledge into action is far more valuable. For the next week, I encourage you to read enough each day to want to do something new and exciting. Then do it. Then repeat the process. And let me know how it works for you.
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I have been thinking a lot about my Pivotal Days lately. Last week I shared a post about the importance of knowing your Pivotal Days. These are the days that have the biggest impact on your career and your life. They are the days that alter your path and your trajectory. And perhaps your tax bracket, zip code and Wikipedia page.
The reason it is so important to know your Pivotal Days is that they help you develop wisdom. Wisdom does not come from experience. It comes from reflecting on your experience. When you analyze your past you learn and grow. By reflecting on your most positively impactful days you learn how to create more of them. Because success leaves clues. Just like bad criminals. #BlackLeatherGlove
Reflecting on my Pivotal Days has taught me the following:
Take action. My advertising career started when I literally got off the couch and made a phone call. I stopped overthinking and procrastinating. I dialed 10 numbers. And my life changed. Boom.
Ask For What You Want. It’s a very simple premise. But it opens more doors than you can imagine. (Unless you have a really good imagination, in which case it opens all those doors that you can accurately imagine.)
Prepare for your opportunities. Not all of the magic happens on the Pivotal Days. Preparation fuels dreams. In many cases, you have to do the hard work ahead of time. So when the opportunity arises on those big days, you are ready to shine bright like a diamond.
Take Risks. Sometimes the gold is on the other side of the gap, and you have to risk the leap to get it. This happens when you take a new job, become an entrepreneur, make an investment, write a book or ask that special someone for a date. Especially when that special someone is a co-worker and it would be super awkward if it didn’t work out. (But it did work out.)
Bet On Yourself. You have to believe that you are the pivot point. You are the secret ingredient. That you have the superpower. That you have the invisible key to unlock success. When you believe that you are the difference maker you should go all in on your abilities. There is no safer bet in the world than to bet on yourself. Because you can stack the deck in your favor through your hard work, determination and resiliency.
Enthusiasm Matters. There have been several pivotal moments in my life and my career when my enthusiasm got others excited. They bought into a vision because I was so bought in. They believed that I had both the right vision and the energy to make the vision come true. Be that person. Energy is contagious. Like yawns. And giggles in church.
Key Takeaway
Know your pivotal days. Reflect on them. Understand what contributed to them. Because when you understand the causes of your pivotal days you can create more of them.
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I am currently reading a great book titled The Psychology of Money. Which I highly recommend to everyone. But you don’t have to take my word for it. The book has a 4.7 star rating on Amazon with 47,000 people weighing in. Which is more readers than there are people in the biggest city in Vermont, where I grew up. (Oh, but we had cows…)
The Psychology of Money is packed with rich insights and reminders related to wealth and happiness. Here is one of my favorite gems from the book.
Planning is important, but the most important part of every plan is to plan on the plan not going according to plan.
-Morgan Housel
This line really resonates with me. Because one of my core beliefs is that the secret to success is a good plan B.
Planning helps you get the most out of nearly every aspect of life. You should plan your career, investments, family, vacations, workouts, dates, and Me-time. (Note: You should read me-time as you-time, meaning the time you plan for you, not the time that you spend with me, Adam Albrecht.)
However, things go wrong in my life all the time. It’s almost as if Chaos Theory is using me as a test pilot. So I am always thinking about backup plans, contingencies and safety nets. And because I am already thinking of backup plans, I am not floored or ruined when my Plan A falls apart. I am just thankful that I have a Plan B, C and D. And you should too.
Key Takeaway
Develop great plans for all important aspects of your life. Plan on greatness, happiness, wealth and success. But also expect the unexpected. And plan for multiple ways forward. Variables will change. Adaptability and resilience must be your constants.
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We often think of work as visible. Showy. Demonstrable. That used to be the case. For most of history, until the latter half of the 1900s, most work was easy to see. It was blue-collar and physical. And it drove a lot of sales of Bengay.
But today, machines do much of the physical work. This means that much of the important work you do is not seen. Because it happens in your head.
Today nearly 40% of jobs are classified as managers, officials or professionals. Roughly the same percentage are service jobs. While I am no mathemetician, I think that means that 80% of jobs require you to think. Like Aretha Franklin said. Because today, most work is mental.
It is easy to tell when a manual laborer is not laboring. The person on the construction crew leaning on the shovel is both conspicuous and maddening. But when your work is not easily visible, you must bring your own mental discipline to stay on task. Focus is the key to mental productivity. Thinking work requires you to defend your focused time to get the thinking things done.
Focus is critical to strategizing and organizing in your head. Focus is needed to then translate those ideas to your coworkers, customers and partners for alignment and execution. Real focus. Not just focus pocus.
The work performed by your mental machinery is the most valuable type of work there is today. The better you are at this work the more valuable you are to your team, and the more value you create for others.
Key Takeaway
Get good at your own inner workings. Master the work that no one else can see. Create structure and space to think and strategize. Organize the world in your head so you can organize the organization in the real world. This means both finding the quiet to do the work, and the discipline to be diligent about the work you must do to make a difference.
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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.
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I was in Orlando last month for a keynote speaking engagement. My talk was at 8 am at the hotel I was staying at near Disney Springs. My flight back to Milwaukee didn’t leave until mid-afternoon. So after my hour-long talk was finished, I had a few hours to pick up some souvenir Vitamin D before I left for the airport.
Once my talk was over, I giddily made my way to the beautiful palm tree-ringed hotel pool. A hotel pool in Orlando should be a nice quiet place to enjoy some outdoor work in December. And it was. Until it wasn’t.
Shortly after I arrived at the pool, I settled into a chair at a poolside table. I opened my laptop. And immediately an alarm began blaring directly behind me. I owled my neck to see where the obnoxious noise was coming from. I spotted an anxious-looking 40-something couple standing next to the hot tub. They clearly looked panicked by the noise. But they took no action.
I looked at the couple as if to say, WOW, THAT’S A REALLY LOUD ALARM. My all-caps look had no effect. They just stood there and did nothing as the entire pool deck was suddenly bathed in more alarm blare than Florida sunshine. While I had packed my sunscreen, I had forgotten my earplugs. And now deafness felt like more of a threat to my well-being than skin damage.
A little detective work told me that the couple tried to turn on the jets of the hot tub time machine. But not being intimately familiar with all the words in the English language, (the dude’s Speedo exposed their Europeanness) they hit the hot tub emergency shut-off alarm instead.
So I got up from my poolside chair, turned, and marched to the hot tub. Right next to the panicky, but non-acting couple, I spotted the white wooden post that held the timer switch and the emergency shut-off alarm plunger button. I reached down and disengaged the recently plunged alarm switch. The noise immediately stopped. As if someone had mentioned E.F. Hutton.
I turned the dial that activated the hot tub jets. I smiled at Mr. Speedo and his wife and had a brief my-work-here-is-done moment. I returned to my chair, my laptop, and the enjoyable sounds of Florida. I sat and worked by the sunny and quiet pool for the next 2 hours until it was time to Uber to the airport for my flight home to MKE.
Key takeaway
When you are experiencing a problem, do something about it. Take action. Make a call. Move something. Ask for help. You have to take charge of the problem, or the problem will not go away. The worst thing you can do is do nothing. Even a wrong move or a seemingly ineffective action is valuable because, through the process of elimination, it gets you closer to an effective solution.
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I started by Marie Kondoing my dresser drawers. I removed things I don’t wear. Everything else got folded and fabric-filed in order of the colors of the rainbow. Which made me wonder, why are there so many songs about rainbows?
Then I went to my home office and emptied and organized my desk drawers. Everything that shouldn’t be in them is now gone like the wind.
On Tuesday, my first day of work in 2024, I cleaned off my desk at The Weaponry. Only the essentials remained. Which created a good operating space. (For doing advertising work, not actual operating-operating.)
I emptied my work bag. I replaced only the essentials. My computer, notebooks, pens and a set of earplugs, in case my work takes me to a NASCAR race, or I face a challenge so big that my brain suddenly starts leaking out of my ears.
I also cleaned out my gym bag.
The Result
The year feels new.
I am not carrying any unnecessary baggage from last year.
My drawers are neat and organized, not stuffed with disorganized things that become obstacles to overcome while searching for things I need. My drawers are now tools for me to use. They are ready to receive. There is room in the inn.
It creates a refreshing start to 2024. I walk to work lighter. I walk into the gym lighter. I am ready for new things. And I have space in my life for them. I wish the same for you.
Key Takeaway
Clean out the unnecessary, and start the year fresh. Don’t carry baggage from last year. The purging and organizing will make the new year feel new. It makes it easier to create new and better habits and processes. And a great year is simply a product of attitude, gratitude, habits and processes.
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Happy New Year! That is what we say to people in January. But Januarys aren’t supposed to be happy. Not even if you are a Gilmore. Or Pharell Williams.
In November you should feel thankful. In December you should feel Joy. (Comfort & Joy…) But in January, if you are doing things right, you should feel uncomfortable.
January is meant to be a time for change. It is a time for new goals, resolutions, and habit alteration. (Even if you are not a fashionable nun.)
If you are introducing new habits, new thinking and new actions don’t expect to feel happy right now. Expect to feel uncomfortable. And the more comfortable you are with feeling uncomfortable now, the happier you will be later.
Feeling uncomfortable now is a sign that you are trying something new. You are changing your routine. You are creating a new habit. You are experimenting.
You feel uncomfortable when you take new risks. It is a sign of growth. And learning. This is how you push your own envelope. This is how you discover better approaches.
This is January stuff. This is New Year stuff. This is how you get to the new You.
Key Takeaway
A great year of growth and improvement begins with changes in January. Feeling uncomfortable right now is a great sign. Getting uncomfortable now is how you break through to a new level of comfort later. Keep going. It gets better. And so will you.
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Adam Albrecht Blog 