Tag: Resilience

Why it’s important not just to plan but to create a backup plan.

I love to read. And I write a lot about reading. In January I wrote about both the 41 books I read in 2023 and the 24 books I have already picked out to read in 2024. I also like to read about writing. And I like woodchucks who could chuck wood.

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.

*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.

The 5 little words of encouragement I tell myself when things get rough.

Life isn’t easy. It never has been. In fact, things go wrong all the time. And when you are trying to do hard things personally or professionally you will experience bumps, twists, stops, and restarts. It can be maddening. But so is quitting.

When things get hard and the ride gets rough, I always tell myself these 5 simple words:

Just stay on the horse.

Like you, most of the challenges I face don’t involve riding an actual horse.

But many of the difficult things we encounter feel like a bucking horse trying to throw us to the ground.

Things like work issues, relationship challenges, parenting, adversaries, unexpected expenses, illness, and weather. (Did I mention parenting?)

Remember, problems and challenges will keep coming. But they will also go away. You just have to make sure you stay on the horse long enough to enjoy watching the challenges go away.

So don’t quit, Buckaroo. And don’t give up. Tame the challenge. And enjoy the smooth ride on the other side.

Key Takeaway

Just stay on the horse. The bumps are part of the adventure. They make the ride more difficult. But they make the success sweeter. They make the story better. And ultimately, they make you better too.

*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 best thing to do when you don’t feel ready to face a daunting task.

Earlier this week my daughter Ava and I were at the gym lifting weights. She is hyper-focused on smashing her high school’s 44-year-old discus record next spring. (She was only 2 feet off the record as a junior.) I was in the gym because I don’t want Hans and Frans to pick on me.

Ava had a leg day workout, and she had reached the most challenging part of her training week. She had already done 3 sets of power cleans and had finished 2 sets of squats. Which meant that her last and heaviest set of squats was next. If you are the type to throw up while working out, this is a good time to have a garbage can within spewing distance.

At this point in your leg day workout, you are as tired as you ever feel in the gym. Yet you still have one more set to go. It’s the toughest part of the day. The toughest part of the week. It’s when you search your music playlist for your most Eye-Of-The-Tigerish song to help you Rocky up.

I asked Ava, ‘Are you ready for your last set?’

She shot back, ‘No, but I’m going to do it anyway.’

As Ava’s Dad-Coach, I swelled with pride. Because that comment, those 8 simple words, demonstrate that Ava has the mindset required for great success.

Go Anyway

Life does not often present ideal conditions. And when you’re trying to do hard things, you often put yourself in positions where you feel not yet ready for the next task. But to be successful you have to go anyway.

I know that mindset. I had to rely on it in athletics when I entered major competitions after a rough week of practice. When I was fatigued, sore or mentally drained.

I have tapped into that mindset at work after promotions that stretched my skills and abilities. And when I was about to undertake a daunting Blair Witch-type project.

I embraced that mindset when I wrote my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? Because I didn’t know anything about writing books, or how to get a tiny printer inside a fortune cookie.

And I certainly adopted the not-ready-but-I’m-going-to-do-it-anyway mindset when I launched The Weaponry, the adverting and ideas agency I started in 2016. Because the key to entrepreneurship is taking action even when you don’t feel ready to entre or preneur.

The secret to success is not to be fully prepared. It is to be fully prepared to go anyway. To go when you don’t feel good, informed or ready.

Simply stepping into the arena, conference room, or squat rack will force you to focus and summon your best effort.

Remember, it isn’t always Ready, Set, Go. Sometimes it is Set, Go, Ready.

Oh, and not only did Ava crush her last set of squats, she added extra reps too. Because big goals and strong desires are great fuel. Especially when you are running on fumes.

Key Takeaway

You won’t always feel totally ready for the challenge in front of you. Go anyway. The challenge of the moment will often ready you 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.

When things go bad you are just getting to the good part.

I like it when things go wrong.

I love it when reality departs from the script and improvisation is the only way forward. (I just made that up.) In fact, most of my best stories are born when life doesn’t go according to plan.

It is the plot twist, that creates interesting stories. #ChubbyChecker.

When a wrench gets thrown into your plans it is a gift, not a grenade. Because on closer inspection you’ll see that that wrench is actually a memory maker.

The pop group AJR has a fun song called 100 Bad Days that talks about bad things that have happened to them. But it’s not a sad song. Far from it. It’s delightfully upbeat and positive. And I can dance to it.

Here’s the song’s hook:

A hundred bad days made a hundred good stories. A hundred good stories make me interesting at parties.

-AJR

I love that line. It’s a reminder to adopt a crazy straw mindset. Because when life starts to suck the twists and turns also make it fun and interesting.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Key Takeaway

The best stories often start with something going wrong. Accept the challenge. Embrace the adventure. And overcome the obstacle that was placed in your path specifically for you to overcome. Then share your story. It will make you more interesting at parties.

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

+For more of the best lessons the universe has taught me check out my new book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Every day you can find an excuse not to do the work.

Entrepreneurship is no joke. I started my own advertising and idea agency called The Weaponry in 2016. The business requires a great deal of effort to maintain and grow. It’s not for the weak of heart, weak of mind or weak of alarm clock.

At the same time I started my business I also started writing this blog. I wanted to share my experience and learnings with others. Now I publish a new post 3 days per week. Every day except Saturday I get up at 6 am to write. On Saturdays I sleep in until 6:30 am. I’m like the ‘Time-To-Make-The-Donuts’ man. Except consuming a lot of what I’m making won’t give you diabetes.

However, almost every day I can find an excuse not to do the things I need to do to grow my business or write my blog. I can always, always find excuses not to get up and put in the work to improve our product, processes and people. I can find excuses not to write, polish, and publish the next post. But Like Forrest Gump kept on run-ning, I keep wor-king, and wri-ting.

Excuses are everywhere. And they can get you out of anything hard. In fact, excuses can make your life easier. Much easier.

Excuses are like A-holes, Taylor. Everybody’s got one.

-Sgt. O’Neill from Platoon

But every time you grab one of those excuses you are robbing yourself. You are robbing from all that you are capable of doing and becoming. You are robbing from your life’s work. You are robbing from your own personal legend. You are robbing money from your own pocket. You are robbing from your belief in yourself that you are accountable, reliable and resilient. That you are determined, focused and driven.

An excuse is like Superman’s Kryptonite. The excuse itself weakens you. It zaps you of your superpower. It makes you a very ordinary human. Which means you are Clark-Kenty. Not the super version of you that you really want to be.

Don’t touch the excuses. They only appear to be permission slips that let you sleep in, knock off early, put in half-effort, or not work at all. But they kill your momentum. They kill progress. And they sabotage your success. (Listen all y’all it’s a sabotage!)

At the end of your days, when your obituary is written and your eulogy is read, they won’t mention all the excuses you had for not doing more. They will only talk about what you did, who you were, what you accomplished and the impact you had on other people. Remember that the next time you consider grabbing an excuse.

Key Takeaway

Don’t accept the excuses life offers. Do what you are supposed to do to live into your vision for yourself. Let others take the excuses. And separate yourself from them. That alone is the difference maker. Both successful people and unsuccessful people know what they should do. The successful people actually do what they are supposed to do to make their dreams come true. Everyone else makes excuses.

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

You have the ability to create your own comeback stories.

I am a Milwaukee Bucks fan. This week the Bucks won the NBA championship for the first time since 1971. I wasn’t even alive the last time the Bucks won the NBA title. In fact, during the Bucks’ championship drought bellbottoms went in and out of style 3 times.

The 2021 title did not come easy. There were several times when a championship this season seemed out of the question. Like in the second round of the playoffs when the Bucks were down 2 games to 0 versus the Brooklyn Nets. (Not to be confused with the Moscow Nyets.) In the second game of that series, Milwaukee lost 125-86. In case you don’t know sports, that’s really bad.

Then, in game 7 of that series, it looked like the Bucks had been eliminated when the Nets’ Kevin Durant hit a last-second 3-pointer to seal the win. But it turned out the toe of his size 18 shoe was on the 3-point line, making the shot a 2-pointer, and sending the game to overtime, and a Bucks win.

In game 5 Against the Atlanta Hawks, the Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with a nasty knee injury that looked as if it was sure to end his season, his ability to walk right, and the team’s championship hopes.

Then the Bucks opened the NBA Finals in Phoenix against the Suns. Despite the fact the Giannis miraculously was back and played great, the Bucks got rolled in back-to-back games. Things didn’t look good when the team was down 2 games to none.

But the Bucks never gave up. They never waved the white flag. They stole Phoenix’s schtick and kept rising to the occasion.

They won game 7 in overtime against the Nets.

They rallied after it looked like they lost their best player against the Hawks and won the final 2 games without him.

Then, when they came back to Milwaukee down 2-0 against the Suns in the finals, the crowd cheered the now famous ‘Bucks In Six! Bucks In Six! Bucks In Six!’ Which meant the team would win the next 4 games in a row. And that is exactly what happened.

Key Takeaway

  • Just because you are losing doesn’t mean you have lost.
  • It isn’t over until it is over.
  • Bad breaks don’t mean a bad outcome.
  • What has happened doesn’t indicate what will happen.
  • Humans can cause their own momentum shifts.

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

What to do when you find yourself in a blizzard.

I woke up this morning to one of the heaviest snowfalls I have seen in several years thanks to winter storm Orlena. The lake effect snow machine is in full effect here on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan. On top of that, the winds are whipping like the Dazz Band. And I say let it whip.

I love this kind of weather. Unlike hurricanes, tornados, floods and wildfires that leave massive destruction in their wake, a blizzard leaves the world better and more beautiful. After Orlena transforms the midwest and northeast into a fresh powder playground, images of the snowfall will be trending on social media like Gamestop. Or Grumpy Bernie.

My Daughter Ava sent me this pic from her room this morning.

Life Is Full of Blizzards

It’s useful to think of the challenges in your life like blizzards. They can be frustrating and disorienting. But once they pass, they often leave you better than they found you.

The Startup Blizzard

When I was first launching my advertising and idea agency, The Weaponry, the swirling uncertainty of startup-ness surrounded us. And that can really mess with you. Here is something I wrote about the experience we were going through 4 years ago.

From June 10th, 2016

Today I had a long talk with a co-worker who was having a hard time at work. Which is understandable. Because startups are kinda hard. Launching a startup is like walking in a blizzard. Wind and snow are all up in your grill. It’s cold. Visibility goes into the toilet. It’s difficult to navigate in these conditions.

In the middle of a blizzard, your survival instincts tell you to seek shelter. It’s natural to want to escape the relentless wind, disorienting snow and mounting drifts. Sitting by a crackling fire, drinking hot chocolate is far more appealing to most people.

But I like walking in blizzards. I like being out when no one else is. I like doing things that build my character, my will and my personal legend. In the same way a callus rises as the result of repeated friction, strength grows from pushing against resistance.

If a blizzard confronts you on your journey you have to keep walking. You must have faith that you know where you are heading. You have to take steps forward, even when it is hard.

Blizzards of the wintry, professional and personal kind are temporary. Eventually, the snow will stop falling. The wind will chill the eff out. And the sun will come out again.

When that happens, where will you be? It’s a matter of what you did during the blizzard. If you keep pushing, you will find yourself far ahead of where you started, far ahead of those who sought shelter, and closer to your ultimate goal. You’ll find the ultimate rewards far outweigh the hot chocolate you sacrificed along the way.

Key Takeaway

Blizzards are a part of life. They will make life hard for a while. But keep going anyway. Everything is more beautiful on the other side.

Follow Up Note

The Weaponry will turn 5 years old in April. Today we have 23 clients. Because we didn’t stop walking when things were hard.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them. If you would like a regular delivery of positive sunshine to your email, consider hitting the follow button on the left column.