Author: alearningaday

Someone I spoke to recently shared a fascinating story. A decade ago, both his dad’s kidneys failed and he had just a few months to live. So, his dad shared a message in an online forum sharing that he had a few months to live and that he was hoping for a donor who’d give him more time with his young son.

They got a call from a taxi driver in Germany a few days later. This gentleman said he wanted to help, flew down for a surgery the next month (his kidney was a great match), and has disappeared since.

His father recovered completely.

We found ourselves marveling at the wonderful insanity of the story. A random stranger who saved a life thanks to a message on the internet – only to disappear since.

Most of us may not experience stories as crazy as this. But, we’ve also been blessed by random acts of kindness in unexpected circumstances.

We have more to be thankful for than we often realize.

The less time I spend in comparison mode, the happier I am.

Sometimes, the levers to move our happiness levels aren’t complicated.

A good friend introduced us to a Hindi song – Kasoor – yesterday. We’ve listened to it at least 30 times today. I predict we’ll listen to it another 100 times as it is well on its way to becoming an all-time favorite.

There’s absolutely nothing fancy about this song. It is a guy with a guitar with simple lyrics you don’t even need to understand. You could imagine a friend humming this by a campfire.

Music at its simplest. Music at its finest.

Much like so many things in this life.

“When the tide is in, you don’t have to paddle” | A good friend talking about the importance of macro tailwinds.

It is easy to find an abundance of genius investors in a bull market.

In decision making/strategic discussion meetings, the difference between good facilitation and great facilitation comes down to one idea – urgency. A sense of urgency embodied by the facilitator makes meetings feel vibrant and useful.

While some of this is an art, there are 4 things we can do to increase urgency when we facilitate:

(1) Replace decks with docs + pre-read time: 2 reasons – higher information density and a removal of the dependence on the pace of the presenter.

(2) Replace “round-the-room” discussions for groups >7-8: If you want to hear from everyone, give folks time to type out their notes on a shared spreadsheet and then read each other’s notes. It is at least 3x more efficient and a lot more effective.

(3) Structure brainstorms: Break each brainstorm down to: (a) solo idea generation + input into spreadsheet, (b) Read each others ideas and vote (or discuss in small groups), (c) discussion of salient points in the larger group. The more the structure, the more the value + energy.

(4) Actively stop discussions that involve <50% of the group: Everyone will appreciate it. If it helps, consider keep a rough mental note of the cost of the meeting – it’ll definitely remove any reluctance to stop these discussions. :-)

Urgency is as much about these tactics as it is about a mindset – a mindset that adds a ton of leverage across any team/organization. And, if we’re somehow able to combine urgency with light heartedness/humor, we end up having a multiplier effect on the productivity of those around us.

A few years ago, I reached out asking if I could interview someone whose work I admired. He responded with – “Alas, I can’t do this justice right now.”

When we exchanged a few more notes, he offered to do something else that was much lower effort for him instead. But, I was thrilled with the outcome nevertheless.

I learned a few things from that exchange.

First, he had no business responding to me. It would have been justified if he didn’t. But, he did. That meant a lot.

Second, that “no” felt completely reasonable.

And, finally, that offer to do something that worked for him was also lovely.

It is a learning I’ve applied many times over the years. Every time I receive a request for a call, I respond requesting we do email instead. It isn’t perfect/ideal. But, it is often what I can make work with everything going on.

It is one thing to know you need to say no to stuff and quite another thing to learn how to do it. That exchange taught me how. I remain very grateful for it.

A leader I know shared this store. When they started in a new big role, they faced what felt like a crisis every day.

Just as it was beginning to feel exhausting, this person met with a former friend who knew first-hand what the job was like. After hearing the story, this friend said – “But, that’s the job. It is going to be crisis every day.”

Hearing that turned out to be a relief for this leader. Knowing that was the expectation changed everything.

It’s a story with powerful lessons for all of us. Often, it isn’t the problems that get to us. It is the expectation that we’d be able to get by without those problems that messes with our mind.

It doesn’t matter whether we’re seeking joy, trouble, learning, frustration, perspective, disappointment, humor, calm, or something else altogether.

Regardless of the circumstances we encounter, we will find it if we decide to find it.

Our call.

The more time we spend on social media -> the more easy it is to get caught up playing someone else’s game -> the more reminders we need about the games we’re playing.

A good friend introduced us to John Mayer’s “Heart of Life” recently.

It is a beautiful song that brings together a talented artist, a lovely tune, a few gorgeous riffs, and simple, yet beautiful, lyrics.

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I hate to see you cry
Lying there in that position
There’s things you need to hear
So turn off your tears and listen

Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won’t all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good

You know it’s nothin’ new
Bad news never had good timing
Then the circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining

Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won’t all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good

Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good
I know it’s good

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But, more than anything else, it is the spirit of the song that felt special. “But I know the heart of life is good” is part of my belief system too.

It resonated.