The Itch

For those who know me well this is perhaps the most Gabe predicament I’ve ever disclosed…

Sometimes when I’m on a long trip and the conversation has died down, my phone has nothing left for me and there’s no more snacks, I just sit there. I stare out the window. Just thinking. Just seeing what comes up.

Sometimes I get an itch. An actual itch. Maybe on the back of my neck or on my elbow.

So what do I do?

I see how long I can go without scratching it.

Sure I could just scratch the itch and everything would be fine, and there’s certainly no prize for holding out on the scratch. But why not play a little game?

Here’s what I’ve found…There’s an arc to the itchiness. I notice the itch. I decide not to scratch. It intensifies. It calls out to me. I refuse. It burns. I will not show weakness. It reaches its peak. I almost give into this most trivial of obstacles. It goes away. And I’m back to being a guy staring out a window.

The only itches that didn’t go away by themselves are the ones I scratched before they went away.

Moral of the story: Until you stare out the window you’ll never know what will come up when you do.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Lots And Most

Lots of people is a lot different than most people.

No one has ever had most people.

But lots of people have had lots of people.

So you don’t need most but you may need lots.

Really what you need is enough. Which may mean lots but it definitely doesn’t mean most.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Edges Of The Circle

Connect with people on the edges of the circles you want to be in the middle of.

A quick aside…

But isn’t that using relationships in an inherently selfish way?

Only if you’re using relationships in an inherently selfish way.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Situation Identification

A giant step forward as a professional…

Being able to identify situations where what you are best at is the thing that is needed.

And then deliver again and again.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

100meters

For a long time I didn’t like watching the 100 meter race. It’s over so quickly and a lot of the time I could never tell who won until they did they slow motion replay.

But now I like it. Because the strategy is simple and so fundamental…go as fast as you possibly can. At no point should you be trying to do anything else other than going all out. It’s freeing.

The strategy has diminishing returns when you start using it for the 400 meters or the mile race. But sprinting is the perfect strategy when you only have to go 100 meters.

I think there’s something to this for the rest of us non-track runners. A lot of the time our goals are akin to a long race…lots of methodical strategy, diagraming a plan, pacing, breathing techniques.

But I think sometimes the chance for a sprint pops up and we’re so used to our brain-game-strategies that we don’t notice the wonderful opportunity to just GO. To forget about the million layers of strategy and replace them with pure speed.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Time As A Factor

We aren’t very good at considering the factor of time and what time can do for the result we hope for.

May see results in four hours. I’m in.

May see results within seven days. Ok, I’ll go along with it.

May see results in one year. I’m out. You mean after one year I “may” see results, it’s not even a guarantee?

Here’s the thing…in one year you’re going to get results either way. It’s up to you how much you actively want to participate in steering them.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple