Special Post

2020 has been a year unlike any other, except, there HAVE been years like 2020. Wait, how can that be? In reading John Barry’s, The Great Influenza, I discovered how the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920 was horrific in ways unmatched since. Racial, and even political divisions, have also been greater in our history – years like 1860 and 1968, come to mind. Further, the economic recession this past Spring does not even compare to the Great Depression. While these may be considered “small wins,” in the year of 2020, they are not even that. They just simply are. And, they point to the need for a collective perspective.

Perspective is rare these days because discontentment, anger, and rage have never been more in vogue. The point of this post is not to dwell into the necessity of societal change — my position is that it is, to some degree, needed —but rather, to take a time-out from such dialogue in order to gain perspective. I submit that leaders are worth following when they get above the fray, look onto the horizon, and remind their followers not only what they (still) have, but also what they have received. With the time remaining in this post, I will do just that.

Perspective always leads to thanksgiving. For me, this is true because perspective always begins with the realization that I am not God. Therefore, all that I have is not “mine” necessarily. I did not arrange to be born into my family of origin, have the upbringing I had, nor the amazing hair genes that I have! But, I am truly thankful for all of this.

While the 18 year old version of me —dyed blond hair no less—thought to a certain extent that I was god, something transpired over the following 7 years that changed me from the inside-out. While this transformation may provoke eye-rolls, I found that doing life with Jesus has been entirely transformative for me. I am not embarrassed by that or Him, hence my inclusion here. I am so thankful I am His.

I am thankful that I met a girl named Sarah in 2005 at a church event at Joe’s Bar off North Avenue in Chicago. Marrying her continues to be the best human decision I have ever made. I am thankful she has not grown tired of me yet, especially this year when I have been extra moody on occasion. I am, and always will be, thankful for Sarah.

Will, Ben, and Sadie, are amazing blessings that continually remind me of my fallen nature. They know exactly how to push my buttons, which always reminds me how much I have to grow in terms of patience. That said, we have a lot of fun together and I could not have asked for better kids. I am thankful for them.

I spend an inordinate amount of time at work and I am thankful every Monday morning that I have a job. You might find this hard to believe, but I started 2008 unemployed as a high school substitute teacher – one course short of a Master’s degree. That humbling experience taught me to value every day that I am employed. It also taught me that my “professional why” is largely based on using the skills I have been given to ensure that people have jobs. Therefore, I am thankful for work, even when it is really hard like it has often been in 2020.

I am thankful for the 400 plus people at Hoffer Plastics that I consider my family. While 2020 has been difficult, I am continually amazed at their hard work, dedication, and willingness to show up no matter what. We never closed for COVID-19 and yes, they showed up. I will never forget walking the floor those early days of the pandemic. It was a demonstration of everyone being all-in. It is always “us,” and never “me,” here. So, I am thankful for every one of “us.”

Finally, I am writing this post in the middle part of October — long before the Presidential election has been decided. Don’t worry, I am not going to pivot politically here. But, I am going to point out how thankful I am for different perspectives, free speech, and free religion. I am at my best when my mind is open to the perspectives of people that I do not necessarily agree with, don’t share my political or religious affiliations, or sports rooting interest. In fact, I contend that to be a leader worth following deeper into the 21st century, I am going to need to grow in my ability to be more accepting of those differences. I suspect the same can be said for most leaders.

I close by citing the opening paragraph of Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 “Thanksgiving Proclamation”…….

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.”

Lincoln wrote these words towards the end of the bloodiest conflict in American History.

Perspective was as rare then as it is now.

Let us all lean-in to being thankful this holiday season, especially when it seems so difficult to do.

This is the second post I have tried writing about my experience with COVID-19. I discarded the first because it felt inauthentic. There is a lot to say about COVID-19, my experience with it, and what I learned. What follows is just me being real.

Most people want to know how serious my case was and I always tell them that it was somewhere between mild and moderate. Thankfully, I did not have major respiratory problems. The next thing most people want to know is where I got it? COVID-19 is not something you pick up at the grocery store, although you can accidentally pick it up there. I think I got it coaching kids baseball, but does it really matter? Finally, they want to know if I passed it on to anyone? While this is never asked so bluntly, I kind of wish it were because there are no reasonable answers to the question. You simply cannot know for sure, so let’s not dance around it. What I think I know, however, is that my wife and kids never got it.

At least not yet.

It sort of feels inevitable given the world we are living in right now.

If I were to sum the lessons I learned from having COVID-19 into one line it would be this: Have more grace for what other people are going through, and have more grace for their opinions about a global pandemic.

We simply do not need to be this divided over a virus.

My experience with the disease was manageable. My experience of others with me having the disease was often depressing.

Some called to offer support.

Others called to voice opinions, pile on, and even critique past decisions.

Sarah and I are book nerds, so I told her it felt like I had a “scarlet letter” around my neck.

All this again pointed me back to grace. I continually told myself that those voicing opinions, piling on, and critiquing me were all stressed and scared. Upon self-reflection, I realized that I led poorly when stressed or fearful. So not only could I relate, but I also forgave the hurts these opinions caused. This was only accomplished through daily prayer as prayer guided me from resentment to grace.

“I don’t need your prayers,” some say. Others shame anyone who even offers to pray. Well, I need all the prayers I can get and I think our world would be better with more of them. In retrospect, my prayer life carried me through the uncertainty of the entire experience of having COVID-19.

I also realized that I need rest. Can you relate? Maybe we all need to sleep for a few days straight while turning our phones and T.V. Off? A 24/7 blackout for a few days might be what we all need to function again…

During my isolation I spent a morning drinking coffee, listening to an audio book, and watching the field outside our house getting plowed. It was peaceful until I realized I had accomplished nothing. Then I realized how much my identity can be based on productivity and achievement. This is a “watch out” for me, and one both my Executive Coach and an accountability partner help me with. This realization also reminded me that I need give myself grace as well. Perhaps you need to give yourself some too.

My wife, on the other hand, always shows up for these kinds of moments. And she did again! She also had a few moments where she freaked out. She probably won’t like me including that here, but that is 2020 in a nutshell: You keep showing up for the big events, eventually you freak out, and then you go on with living.

Speaking of living, one of the best moments came the first Friday after I tested positive for COVID-19. My friend told me he was coming over to hang. Before you turn us in, we sat more than six feet apart and were also outside. We cracked open a beer and talked about God, life, and everything happening in 2020.

It was a new normal.

Like 2020.

I am healthy.

I am thankful.

I am more graceful.

Hugging my 3-year-old daughter after isolation might be the best moment of 2020…

WHOOP exists “to unlock human performance. We believe that every individual has an inner potential that they can tap into if they can better understand their body and their behaviors. … We summarize your sleep, your recovery and your strain, and we look at everything through that lens.” (Author’s note, I changed the personal pronouns in the above and copied it from the WHOOP website).

Thanks to my teammate and friend, Justin Markel, I have been wearing a WHOOP strap for about two weeks now. I have a LOT to say about the positive impact it is already making on my life, but will save that for a later post.

I am writing today because of this podcast: Podcast No. 80: Pro Golfer Nick Watney on How WHOOP Warned Him of COVID-19

To be someone worth following, you have to be healthy. WHOOP gives one the ability to monitor real-time health data and make activity decisions on the data rather than relying on feelings and emotions. In Nick Watney’s case, this meant getting tested for COVID-19 rather than playing one more round of tournament golf. His heroic action safeguarded many from COVID-19 exposure.

If any of the above intrigues you, try WHOOP out for free with the link below.

Get a free WHOOP strap and your first month free when you join with my link: https://join.whoop.com/#/635A14

BONUS: If you decide to try WHOOP out, feel free to join our group: “Hoffer Plastics and Friends” where we can spur each other on to better performance.

Growing up in suburban Chicago I had the mistaken notion that racism was a thing of the past. When a long-term friendship with someone from a different race morphed into a dating relationship, I learned how mistaken this notion was. The first time we walked into a restaurant as a couple, people glared at us. It was almost as if they wanted to ask what the two of us were doing together? In sharing this experience with a peer back at Purdue University a few days after it happened, they commented, “Hoffer, I would never date a black girl.”

I could not believe what I was hearing.

My peer had grown up in a different part of the country and did not represent the countless people I encountered at Purdue University with views of racial equality. So, their ignorant, especially hurtful, comment notwithstanding, I pray that given the vantage point of twenty more years of life experience they would take a “do over” on what they said that day.

Why share this experience today? Well, like most of the country I have been saddened by the events that have transpired the last seven days. Like my experience walking into the restaurant, I thought we were past this in our country, but I have come to realize all over again that we are definitely not.

A few years after the incident above, I found myself student-teaching at Sullivan High School in downtown Chicago. Those few months exposed me to everything from illegal immigrants (such a callous phrase when said person works harder than all the other kids you teach and was brought to the country as an infant). There were also new students from Africa, and countless African American kids from the inner-city. As every High School teacher can attest, I learned more from these kids than they did from me. And as I have mentioned on this blog before, the sight of Mercy, one of the new students from Africa, tasting chocolate for the first time is one that I will take to the grave.

This experience taught me that life is more complex than CNN or Fox News (or whatever you prefer) makes of it. Topics like racism and illegal immigration are more complex than a short blog can dwell into, the point is that their complexity helped me come to a life-altering realization: It is better to say “I do not know what so and so is experiencing” rather than trying to argue, condemn, or offer tweet-sized rationales of what is happening.

The fact is that I do not know.

This blog is about leadership. To be someone worth following, you need to be open to the other side. Openness involves thinking, listening, and understanding. How much better would things be if some of are leaders did that? What if they read voraciously about civil rights and talked directly with generations of people who have experienced racism? Would their thoughts and words change?

This week has reminded me of my own need to do all the above. And I commit to doing so.

I am obviously not an African American. So, I do not know how I would feel if I were an African American right now.

As a white American, however, I can say that I am mourning with those who mourn.

I am incredibly sad.

As a follower of Jesus, I can say that this is not what God intended. Disunity is always from the dark side and never from God.

I suppose that what I have written so far might turn off some of my readers. My intent with this blog is to share leadership insights that encourage you to be someone worth following. You don’t have to buy-in to my faith in Jesus –all faiths are welcome – but I would ask for you to be open and respectful towards others. We can learn from everyone!

Similarly, you do not have to have the same passion or zeal for racial equality that I do. But I would ask you to be open and interested in race relations because this world needs more people bringing people together.

We need justice.

We need to bring order out of chaos.

We need to mourn with those who mourn, and rejoice with those who rejoice.

These are the things that real leaders do…

As the West’s experience of COVID-19 continues into another month, I have begun noticing patience growing thin. I have noticed myself becoming more critical of decisions being made by governmental officials, and more annoyed at the inconveniences of sheltering in place. The economic decline, and potential repercussions, add to the already immense stresses of the health situation. It all feels overwhelming.

That said the extent of my personal suffering can be characterized by a slowdown of business, inconveniences at home, and various other inconveniences abroad. While I do know a few whose experiences are far worse, I would guess that approximately 95% of the people that I am close to have had experiences similar to me.

This post is for the 95%, not the other 5%.

In WORLD magazine’s May 23rd issue, there is a story about how refugees and displaced people in other parts of the world are dealing with COVID-19 (the story is entitled, “Stalling Tactics” and written by Mindy Belz and Onize Ohikere). Reading this story taught me the following:

• 26 million refugees live outside their home country
• 40 million are displaced in their own country (There are 6.2MM displaced in Syria alone).
• Refugee camps are almost everywhere: Africa, Europe, and Asia.
• Refugee camps are dense. Population density for one camp on the Greek Island of Lesbos has a density of 204 people per 1,000 square meters. Compare this to the now infamous Diamond Princess Cruise ship that had a density of 24 people per 1,000 square meters, and you see the potential for tragedy (For comparison: 712 people tested positive on the cruise ship and 9 died).
• Most of these camps lack the medical infrastructure to handle a global pandemic. One camp in Africa, for example, has one intensive care unit with 10 hospital beds and no ventilators.

And I thought I was overwhelmed?

The point of this post is perspective, education, and a challenge to do something.

My point on perspective is NOT the following, “see, things are not so bad here.” Rather, my point is that there is a larger, potentially more impactful, COVID-19 problem that many of us are not even aware of. I was not until I read the aforementioned article. This reality gives me perspective that I am dealing with “inconveniences,” not “life or death” situations.

I am also sharing because this is a leadership blog. To be someone worth following we not only have to be aware of what is going on in the world, but we also have to care enough to act.

This means the last two things: education and action.

We need to expose ourselves, and our team, to the plight of others in this world. Doing so increases our capacity for the “other,” which is the cornerstone of leadership. Caring for the “other” inevitably carries us to helping solve their problems. In the COVID-19 sense, our “first world problems” should lead to “first world innovation.” Our excess in capital, and medical supplies, could save lives.

The question is whether or not it will.

This leads to the action…

My invitation to you is to think through what YOU can do. Can your company invent something that can be used in a refugee camp? Can it help in any sort of way, even in a small way? Or, can you personally contribute to an organization already on the front line? While there are many worthy organizations that are doing this kind of work, Samaritan’s Purse is one that I recommend and support.

The point is to do something.

“They will survive on their own resources, or they will die in droves,” Steve Gumaer of Partners Relief stated.

Let’s do our best to help save lives.

Let’s put actions behind our words because that is what true leaders do.

I write these words after enjoying a 2 mile walk on a 50-degree sunny February day in Chicagoland. Not only is the sun out, there is not a cloud in the sky giving way to various shades of blue not seen in months around here.

My walk reminded me of precious memories as a child. I can remember countless days with friends —happy times no doubt — playing until the last crisp of daylight remained. Or, as was the case in the fall months, into the beginning darkness of night. Given modernity, and the constant presence of technology, I smile inwardly remembering there was not long ago a time where my mom could yell (not text) out the front door and somehow I would hear her call to get my butt home on the double. I confess missing the simplicity in that.

I also remember having a distinct feeling, maybe even longing, in those moments that those days would not end. Surely you can relate? These often happened at my friend Pete’s house. We’d play outside all day —football, basketball, games we would make up — and as the daylight waned, I’d long for it not to. I also remember a night when his dad, my dentist and second father-figure of sorts, was driving us to baseball practice and overheard all of us in the back of the car talking about growing up. Nick wanted to be an adult already. I, on the other hand, somehow had the wisdom to say out loud that I was in no hurry. Pete’s dad chimed in at this point and told us that I was right and that we should not be in such a hurry to grow up.

For reasons I cannot explain, I have been thinking a lot about that occurrence the last month or so. Probably because one of my focuses this year has been on “ruthlessly eliminating hurry” in my life, which has become an increasingly difficult challenge while traversing the reality of middle-age. Probably also because I went to the dentist in January and I always think of my old dentist this time of year because pancreatic cancer stole him from us too soon. Regardless of the reason, however, the reality is that life is often filled with waning daylight, and moments you would give more than you have to revisit.

The darkness of winter has this effect, doesn’t it?

But the beauty of 50-degree days in February is that there are actually 50-degree days in February! This goes for all days worth hanging on to. The longing for them to stay point to their worth, for many days are not worth longing for! In fact, many in February are not…

At this point you might be equally wondering whether I have gone off the reservation with this post and whether I am depressed. So here is the wrap up, the business takeaway, and the hope.

Every season will come and go. As this day comes to a close, I will get one sleep closer to the reality of two team members retiring this week. Waning daylight, indeed.

Like 50-degree days, both of these teammates are worth celebrating. One in particular made a lasting impact in my life through her guidance, and often patience, with me when I was a young sales guy. The other positively impacted our culture by showing up every day with a smile, and doing whatever was asked. Like a precious 50-degree day in February, I cannot adequately count the blessings both of these teammates leave us with. The business takeaway here is to celebrate each moment with the team you have because whether you realize it or not, waning daylight is all around you.

And I would be lying if I said I was not trying to grasp it just a little longer.

But like 50-degree February days, you cannot grasp waning daylight. So, here is the hope. The reason this post should not be read in a depressing manner is because of the hope that outlives hours, days, seasons, careers, and even light. As the prophet Isaiah wrote long ago, “Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.” Isaiah 60:20

Here are some 6 quick ideas to think about regarding your health, and organizational health. I jotted these down while reading, podcasting, and reviewing previous leadership content in January.

(Note: I have also linked content that I recommend).

Before Edison invented electricity, the average person slept 11 hours per night (Credit: John Mark Comer).

There are people on your team that have solutions to problems that you don’t even know exist (Credit Craig Groeschel)

Clementine Churchill wrote to remind Winston Churchill to sleep at least 8 hours per night during the Great War (World War 1, when WC was First Lord of the Admiralty). He later slept 8 hours during WWII as Prime Minister.

If you want to be in charge of everything, be in charge of nothing. (Credit: Jocko Willink)

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4:8).

“Our job as leaders is to grow people, not get our ideas heard.” Cameron Herold

Obviously, the topics above are sleep and leadership. Consider today how they go hand in hand. How, when you have slept well, you are someone worth following. And how, when you haven’t, you can be trite, short, and even grumpy.

When I am rushed, hurried, and tired, I often give those I love the most my worst. Ugh!

Leadership is about growing human beings, awakening the possibility in them, listening to them, and of course valuing them.

My contention today is that you cannot do that well without being adequately rested yourself.

So, go to bed a little earlier today so that you can be a little more gracious to those you lead.

Sometime during the spring of 1993 my dad took our French exchange student, the French exchange student’s girlfriend, and myself to a Bulls vs. Pistons game at the old Chicago Stadium. After a memorable three-hour dive downtown —thirty of which the two love birds “made out” in my dad’s back seat (priceless memory), we witnessed MJ take over the fourth quarter of a game against his nemesis, lead the Bulls back into the game, and eventually win it in Overtime. The day ended with my dad handing our exchange student a signed picture of MJ with a personal note written to him in French from Michael (Thanks to Randy Lemcke and Johnny “Red” Kerr).

That was a DAY!

Fast forward to April 2008 at the Staples Center. The Lakers had traded for Pau Gasol and were relevant for the first time since the Shaq/Kobe breakup. I was sitting in the nose-bleed section with Sarah after convincing her that I needed to see Kobe play at the Staples Center. We were in LA on our “Spring Break” (I was actually trying to be a teacher at that point, and she already was!). The Lakers played the first three quarters like the Bulls had back in ‘93, and then it happened. Kobe channeled his inner MJ, took the game over, and willed the Lakers to victory. It was tenacious, or as the kids say these days, “savage,” and in a sports sense it was even “cold blooded.” Walking back to the Biltmore Hotel I told Sarah that we had just seen the closest resemblance to Michael Jordan as we will ever see (My wife is a saint for dealing with my sports fandom, she could care less about the NBA!).

I was fortunate to see Kobe Bryant play basketball several times in person — that being the only time in Los Angeles however — each time being an absolute treat. So, when I heard the news Sunday afternoon I was shocked, sad, and mournful. To be clear, I wasn’t the biggest Kobe Bryant fan in the world. I don’t own any merchandise, shoes, or even have any pictures of him hanging up. I just respected the absolute competitor he was. His example was, and still is, inspiring. And I do not use that word lightly as I can count on ONE hand the number of athletes that have inspired me when seeing them in person (MJ, Tiger, Kobe. In that order).

That’s the background of this post. Now some brief commentary…

Ever since Sunday afternoon there has been a pit in my stomach. While countless unknown people die each day from both preventable, and not preventable, things, there is something unique that happens when a well-known person dies suddenly. In a way, the shared grieving experience brings people together, which is always a weird occurrence in these divided times that we live in.

Kobe Bryant was a husband, father, and forty-one years old. While his life was vastly different than mine, he was, to a certain extent, part of my “sports life” for nearly a quarter-century. He had staying power, and most-likely would have been part of the sports’ narrative for decades to come.

What makes his death hard to accept is that he did not die alone. The unrealized potential of ALL the lives in the helicopter is probably what is both most staggering, and sad. In fact, when I have thought this week about the youngest passengers, including Kobe’s daughter, my lip has quivered and I have had to think about something else.

It is just really sad.

Life is this way.

As I have already mentioned, there are people that lose their lives every single day from preventable, even human, mistakes. There are also terrible injustices that still persist in the broken world we live in.

All this is true, yet when someone like Kobe Bryant dies suddenly, we are all reminded that death does not discriminate, and cares little for what your plans are.

I think that is one of the main reasons this stings for many, me included.

There are, however, other reasons I mourn…

Husbands are not supposed to be torn-away from their wives. Yes, there is a lot to the story of that marriage, the one between Kobe and his wife, but why in the name of human decency dissect it now? Kobe’s life was full of ups, downs, and even horrific mistakes.

You know what?

So, is mine.

Dads should also not be torn away from kids. Kids should not lose their life before it begins. Helicopters with seemingly no mechanic problems should fly without crashing…

Yet, sometimes the world does not work the way it was intended to.

Scratch that, most times the world does not work the way it was intended to.

Jesus said that there would be immense trouble in this world. And you know what?

There is.

The public nature of his tragedy does make it unique because most of the wrongs of the world go unnoticed in our busy lives. This is both sad, and practical. Sad because the world is, at least for now, really messed up. And practical because we have to live life.

Occasionally, however, something like this slows us down for a moment.

Here are some questions to consider this week:

Maybe we should allow the event to speak to us?

Maybe we should take stock of our own lives?

What needs attention?

Or, who needs attention?

Last Saturday Kobe Bryant flew to and from his daughter’s basketball game. While I don’t know for certain, I would imagine some of the same passengers were in the helicopter Saturday that would tragically be in it on Sunday.

Everything worked flawlessly Saturday.

Then Sunday happened.

We just don’t know when our Sunday will come.

Neither did they.

I know. This is hard stuff.

And it stinks.

But I have to remind myself that Sunday will someday happen for me too.

I cringe when Christians offer cheap “niceties” in these kinds of situations, so I am not intending to do so and apologize if anything I have written so far does come across that way.

Instead, I am just going to be blunt on my position and encourage you to seek your own.

Jesus plainly said life would be hard. He died because of it, so why do we expect safety? In fact, there are thousands of His followers being persecuted as I write these words.

There is a price to be paid, that is for sure.

My life, on the other hand, is mostly easy street.

At least presently.

Yet, the day will still come.

Cancer, helicopter crash, old-age, it does not matter.

The day will come.

My hope is in the one that conquered death. So, as I process this senseless tragedy, I look to Him, and follow his advice to mourn with those who mourn.

I know this might sound weird because I never met Kobe, or any of the other passengers on that helicopter, but I do mourn for them.

God speed to them all.

Good-bye “Mamba.”

The next time someone tries to convince me that something cannot be done, I will think of you and work harder.

I may fail, but like you did…

I am going to take the shot while I still can.

In the cue of upcoming posts, I write about a few changes that I am making in 2020. One of the changes is adopting a “Rule of Life,” which I explain in more detail then. For now, think of it is a list of self-guidelines for your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly activities that you want to prioritize. It isn’t intended to be “legalistic,” but rather “instructive” as to how you spend your time.

In my “monthly” bucket, I have challenged myself to take one extended time (4 hours is the target) away from the office for the purpose of solitude. There are many reasons for solitude, but that is a different post. For now, here are some learnings from yesterday’s time in quiet thinking about life, business, family, and so much more.

(I captured all of this in my Full Focus Planner notebook. I am sharing everything but a business idea that I thought of).

Random tidbits:

What does winning at 100 look like?

This thought came to me about an hour in.

1. Health
2. A Happy Marriage
3. Evidence I have lived for Jesus and not myself
4. Evidence our kids follow Jesus

Then I put my pen down.

A thought struck that I wrote down next:

I am chasing a lot of the wrong stuff.

Earlier in my time I did an “insecurity check for 1/22/20.”

What do I feel insecure about?

1. My blog and writing
2. Leadership
3. Contribution at work
4. In general, what people think of me.
5. My golf game (compared to my dad)
6. Drawing (this I captured later when I tried drawing what was out my window. Gee, I sound like a weirdo – again, insecure! – I was motivated by the Planner’s space for “sketching”).

I stopped listing at this point because it was getting painful! =)

I am focusing on a Proverb for 2020 (“Trust in the Lord”) and will share more about that in the upcoming post “3 Small Pivots for 2020” that I am either posting 1/27 or 2/3). Given that context, this thought struck me about 90 minutes in….

Rest is a complete TRUST in God’s faithfulness.

It was at this point in solitude where I realized how unimportant I was to the work we do. Things keep running without me checking my email for a few hours, or doing anything productive – as the world defines “productive” (sorry Dad, thank God you don’t read these – LOL).

And this is FREEING on two levels. One, we have a great team! Two, it is not all up to me…

Later, another thought struck me as I sat quietly:

The longer in solitude I spend, the more intense joy returns like a long-lost friend.

Weirdo again.

Insecure again.

But, getting past the rush and noise is so…

Refreshing.

I highly recommend it, which is why I am sharing this post to subscribers today. I am not posting anywhere else.

Don’t buy the lie that you don’t have the time.

You have the time.

Prioritize it. Even, if it is for just 30 minutes.

I will be at it again sometime in February.

(Postscript: By 11 a.m. I was at work, didn’t miss anything, and stayed there till 5:15 PM. With a “full” tank I was HIGHLY productive yesterday. I’m sure my Executive Coach would be shocked by that admission…(Sarcasm!))