On the first day, there’s excitement. Things are fresh, bright, and new.

Then, there’s every other day. And those days tend to be less shiny. During those days, the work can start to feel more like work.

But we can — with a shift in mindset — hold on to a little bit of that first-day magic. We can approach each day as new (after all, it is).

The seed of beginning is always with us, but we still have to embrace it.

As Marcus Aurelius advises, “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly.”

Today is another first day. Go live it.

Writer and civic evangelist Eric Liu says, “We’re all better off when we’re all better off.”

It’s a simple, powerful truth.

A good reminder, too, that this life is not a zero-sum game. Our culture often seeks to identify winners and losers. But when we can work to make things better for everyone, we all win.

We don’t have to be all things to all people. We can’t be, and we need not try.

But we can be some things to some people.

We might not learn how to play all the songs. But we could learn one song really well.

Perhaps we don’t consider ourselves a poet. But maybe we could write a few beautiful stanzas.

Even if we don’t make a living as a chef, we could still learn to cook a few great dishes.

Small areas of excellence. We can all strive for that. And that might be enough.

Sometimes the problem isn’t that we want a thing. It’s that we want a thing and we want it to be easy.

And often, easy just isn’t in the cards.

So the question is: do you still want it, even if it’s not going to be easy?

Fred Rogers — the beloved television host, Mister Rogers — doubted himself. Even after two decades of success. After some extended time away from the work, he typed this note to himself. As ever, his generosity offers deep and powerful lessons for all.

“Am I kidding myself that I’m able to write a script again? Am I really just whistling Dixie? I wonder. If I don’t get down to it I’ll never really know. Why can’t I trust myself. Really that’s what it’s all about … that and not wanting to go through the agony of creation. AFTER ALL THESE YEARS IT’S JUST AS BAD AS EVER. I wonder if every creative artist goes through the tortures of the damned trying to create? Oh, well, the hour commeth and now IS when I’ve got to do it. GET TO IT, FRED. GET TO IT. … But don’t let anybody ever tell anybody else that it was easy. It wasn’t.”

And a hand-written postscript, added weeks later: “It wasn’t easy but it was good. The five new scripts about school are nearly complete and I can see how helpful they can be. This I must remember!”

* * *

We all struggle with doubt. Creativity is hard. But it’s worthwhile. Recall why we do it. Remind yourself of its value. Coach yourself away from the paralysis that self-doubt sows and get to it — get to the important work that only you can do.

Seek contribution over credit.

You can control how you contribute, but not whether you receive credit for it.

At times, you will not be mentioned, thanked, or acknowledged.

But then again, there will be countless occasions where even you do not know the extent of your good influence.

Don’t hold your breath for the recognition. Let the contribution alone be your reward.

It’s easy to get so caught up in tracking and measuring that we lose sight of why we’re collecting the data in the first place.

The focus moves to the record-keeping and away from the thing itself. We become fixated on the map, forgetting about the territory it represents.

Track as much as it’s helpful. But if it’s not helping — if it becomes a kind of busy work of its own — then it doesn’t deserve so much of our attention.

A blind taste test attempts to eliminate prejudice and bias. For the most part, however, we’re not tasting blindly.

A certain variety of coffee might be voted best in the world — out pacing all its competition.

But how does that winning brew compare to a decent cup of coffee enjoyed with dear friends? How does it compare to a better-than-average pour while sitting in an idyllic setting? Or to the kind whose aroma recalls a sweet memory from the past?

Our judgement of a thing is often a function of its context.

At a retail store, as I waited for customer service, I noticed seven — SEVEN — separate 8.5 x 11 signs posted in different locations.

One was about where certain issues should be addressed. One said that appointments were mandatory. Another was about financing. Another had different details about appointments. One was a hiring ad. Another advertised quick repairs. And one — with just the name of the store as its title — had two paragraphs, each with its own numerical list below.

And this doesn’t even include the various signs telling customers where to stand for social distancing.

This is life. Signs are everywhere, and many of them look the same.

The challenge of our time is not about whether we see the signs. The challenge is knowing which signs matter. Which to read. Which to ignore.

Our burden is one of filtering.

But by finding the right filters, the right guides, and the right mentors — and by being clear about our values and goals — charting the path becomes much easier.

In a building under construction, an entry door is often in place before the steps that lead to it.

So it is in life: we sometimes catch sight of opportunities before we can take advantage of them.

Look for doors. Be vigilant. And when you can, be step builders.

When we discover something that works well, we don’t like to change. Consumer products offer good examples: pens, golf balls, cleaning supplies. If there’s one we like, it becomes our go-to. We choose the same kind again and again.

But when something doesn’t work, we’re eager to try new options. We’ll test and experiment until we find a good solution.

This is a good way to operate, but it can be problematic when we think something works, and it doesn’t.

Whether it’s our personal habits, our business practices, or our way of navigating the world — sometimes we repeat behaviors that didn’t work well the first time, and probably won’t work well the next time. We repeat our approach whether it’s in our best interest or not.

We’re all creatures of habit. From time to time, it’s wise to examine those habits to see if they’re really working for us.

And if they’re not, it’s time for a change.

In a recent workout at a hotel gym, I put my wedding band in an interior pocket of my clothes to save it from getting scratched.

Two minutes into my exercises, I checked to make sure the ring was still there.

It was not.

Surely it had fallen beside the bench? Or under a nearby machine? Or rolled farther away?

When those searches were unsuccessful, I began to panic. I began to look in places where it seemed unreasonable for the ring to have fallen. I looked in illogical places too.

And of course, I checked the small pocket at least three more times.

After five minutes, beneath my breath, I asked, “Why is this happening to me?”

Another few minutes later, I found it. The ring had fallen into the liner of my clothing. I was exceptionally relieved.

But then I reflected upon my previous thought: Why is this happening to me?

It wasn’t happening to me. It was happening, yes. But there were no forces behind it. The world was not conspiring against me. There was no meaning behind the temporary loss, the frantic search, or the joyous discovery.

It was all just happening.

Sometimes, we try to form a narrative around events when there is none.

But even though the world isn’t “teaching us a lesson” in these moments … we can still learn from any situation.

Learning requires the student, but not always the teacher.

It might just be a sixty-second introduction. Or a ninety-second anthem. Maybe a two-minute reading.

The brevity of your time in the spotlight should not diminish the intensity of your rehearsal.

Practice. Evaluate. Adjust. Improve.

Not in spite of its brevity, but perhaps because of it.

Rise to the occasion. Make it just right. Do it justice.

A glimmer of magic — yours to create.

By themselves, outcomes cannot be perfect.
By themselves, circumstances cannot be perfect.
By themselves, situations cannot be perfect.

But when met with your attitude, a kind of perfection can be found.
But when met with your posture, a kind of perfection can be found.
But when met with your creativity, your resilience, your intention, your perspective, your patience, your wisdom …

… a beauty that rhymes with perfection can be found.

You can have many. So many that you cannot keep them all in mind. So many that you forget about some. So many that some fall into disrepair.

Or you can have just a few, carefully tended. Minded. Loved.

Quantity risks coming at the expense of care.

We can be ambitious collectors or we can be loving caretakers.

The choice is ours.

At times, the thing to do is to sit quietly. Not to wrestle with the questions, but to patiently allow the answers to emerge.

But other times, the silence is a dead end. Our minds find a circular track where the wheels are unable to break free from their well-worn grooves.

In those moments, it’s wise to seek counsel.

Trusted advisors and friends are not burdened in the same way we are. They’re not anchored to the thought patterns that have kept us from moving forward. They can often think more nimbly because for them, the questions are new. Even without offering solutions, they can ask clarifying questions that unlock new ways of looking problems.

It’s simple, but some answers are found by asking.

In a brief exchange, my children and I witnessed a stranger losing his temper over a trivial matter.

Moments like these offer opportunities to offer advice about communication, self-control, courtesy, and conflict resolution. Empathy too.

It can be done either way, but it’s usually more comfortable when you can be the teacher, rather than the subject of the lesson.

I went for a run in an unfamiliar town. Since the streets were new to me, I kept to a simple route that I ran twice. (This way, I wouldn’t get lost.)

The first time around, an unusual house captured my attention. I was fascinated by all the interesting objects on the property.

The second time around, however, I was well beyond that same house before I realized I had passed it.

It was a memorable lesson. When our attention is elsewhere, we can overlook the most marvelous things — even things we’ve noticed before.

Our proximity to a thing changes our understanding of it.

From far away, something may look simple. But when we experience it up close, first-hand, it may be quite complex.

Far in the future, a situation may seem impossible to navigate. But when the moment arrives, we may handle it with relative ease.

When watching someone perform a task, the activity may seem boring. But when we adopt the work ourselves, we may find it to be fascinating.

Depending on our proximity, our judgement can have a significant margin of error.

H/T Jason

The thing about waves … is that they come in waves.

Sometimes they’re gentle. Sometimes aggressive.

If you’re standing on the shoreline, what you see in front of you will be different than what’s to your left or right.

And if you move to the left or right, those waves can easily be different by the time you get there.

In many aspects, waves are a metaphor for the things we experience in life.