The future was today.

Whatever you planned two years ago,

we’re at the two year mark today.

Congratulations on your plans!

The future was always today.

Today was the tomorrow
you swaggered on.

Whatever you said two years ago

is either coming true or not.

Goals change because life changes.

Last year is a great example.

But your relationship to your plans

has a lot to do with who you are.

When some people assign value to a stock,

They also factor in potential volatility.

The valuation stays
pretty much the same
even if something crazy happens.

The price may fluctuate
but the value doesn't -
if you picked right.

Not everyone does it.

Some people value things based on their happiest feeling

at their highest moment

knowing full well that when they get discouraged,

they’ll be breaking out their journals non stop

and getting philosophical about destiny and what’s meant to be.

The Rolling Stones released music in the turbulent 60’s

and they released music during good economies.

Warner Brothers releases movies no matter what.

This is not about sticking to something.

This is not about planning, consistency or overcoming obstacles.

This is about how you personally value things in your life

what you consider worth staying with

and when you give yourself permission to
abandon projects and people.

A big deciding factor is your

available reserve of patience.

Not your ability to wait.

Not your ability to keep calm and carry on.

Not your ability to decide what entertains you,

excites you or doesn’t bore you at any one time.

Patience is your ability to

Wait when you don’t want to

Carry on when you can’t be calm

Not make your dreams

sing and dance for you

because you’re afraid.

Marketing and business

are the worst places

to teach patience.

People want quick wins

to entice other people

who also want quick wins

and those people talk about

quick wins to entice other people

who want quick wins.

They use words like "snackable"
which I always find funny
because most people eat snacks
while they binge watch and bored watch
multiple seasons of their favorite
and least favorite shows on Netflix.

But go on, tell me how
short I have to keep things.

Quick wins make you feel good
in that sugar high kind of way.

That's a big part of it.

That brings us to feelings themselves.

Feelings have layers.

Most people get their feelings wrong a LOT.

Not only do they get them wrong,

but then their feelings change

to more wrong feelings.

Ever "feel" like you have a great partnership

only to find out you were wrong?

Ever "feel" like a family member or friend was a villain

when they were the ones watching out for you.

Every "feel" you were on the right path

only to change it multiple times over and over?

So how accurate are your feelings anyway?

Feelings are not a crystal ball.

They have layers.

Have you ever confided with someone

that you weren't being honest with yourself?

In accounting they call that "cooking the books."

Did you ever have a great feeling

and then take it for granted?

So you "called it in" with certain people?

Figured they wouldn't mind waiting on the sidelines?

You both felt the same until the other

got tired of being taken for granted?

That's a change over time.

Your feelings missed it.

Quick recap so far:

All the relationships that went awry

and all the paths with dead ends

involved feelings that in some way

got something wrong.

So how does our inner

public relations team handle it?

We spin it.

A good coping mechanism

is to shorten the time frame

and call it an era, good or bad.

I saw that a lot when I worked at a dating service.

If things went bad:

We fell out of love, it wasn't meant to be. I moved on.

They never understood me and the all time best:

It was a learning experience.

In business, it’s time to spin:

Show the dark times as an epiphany.

Gather up a timeline of successes

and imbue them with an aura of inevitability.

Who wants to relive a painful past?

One of the reasons people

love to wrap their lives in stories

is because it creates order around their fears.

One day this will all make sense

because you're secretly a wizard and Jedi.

I knew people who believed in past lives

and for some reason, they were always a king or a queen
or a famous person in history.

When people tell you their origin story,

the clueless phase is almost always years ago.

The worst mistakes are never from last week.

Everyone wants to sound
like they've figured it all out
or they could care less
about figuring it out
because they're just that cool.

It's the business version of Instagram posturing.

I don't have a problem with it at all
because they must be scared.

The part that makes me sad
is how hard people try

to have a life they really don't want.

Why do they want to have 20 employees when

they can't get along with the two they already have?

My Dad
had a nickname for me as a kid

that was more of a complaint
than a compliment.

He used to call me "Truth Serum."

I would get the truth out of people

and I also had a habit of being
"too direct" with people.

If we were going
somewhere important,
he'd make a special request:
"Please don't be Truth Serum with them.
Can you do that for me please?"

My Dad was the polar opposite of me.

When a family had to be
given bad news at the hospital,

my Dad was the doctor to do it.

He was always optimistic
if the patient was alive

and if he had to deliver bad news,
he was very diplomatic.

Whenever we had
a dying situation
in our family,

he would never say
they were dying.

So I had to translate.

If he said "it doesn't look promising",

go get your funeral clothes ready
because the end is nigh.

I’d rather know what I’m really facing
so I can respond properly.

I accept things won’t always go my way
and I’m ready for it.

The first rule of being patient is your patience will be tested.

The only way to keep that from happening

is to lower the bar and shorten the length of time.

That’s your quick win to soothe your worries.

Are you “in” only if we can keep you from being scared?

Can you imagine having a friend who said

“Yeah you can count on me as long as I don’t

get overwhelmed or burnt out.”

This isn’t about being “tough” or ignoring your wellbeing.

This is just a simple inquiry –

In your creative and working life,
what ARE you willing to give yourself to

no matter what happens,
however long it takes
at whatever cost?

Run that question through your mind a few times.

Feel any lawyerly disclaimers popping up?

“Within reason”

“whatever the cost is a little much”

“I can’t say no matter what happens”

OK –let's try this again. lol
With any applicable disclaimers,
what are you willing to give all of yourself to

in your creative and working life
even if you’re tested,
get incredibly discouraged
and burnt out?

Will you stay with your path or not?
Are you in or out?

Certainty is the ego’s blind spot.

Patience in the right place is stronger

and more reliable than certainty.

Feelings are not supposed to be a calculator or GPS.

Feelings are not a getaway car for things I don’t like.

Feelings are a byproduct of

what I nurture or neglect in others,

pay attention to in myself
or what I hide from and rationalize.

Patience accepts that my feelings
will be all over the place.

Things won’t always go my way.

Knowing I’ll do whatever it takes
to put things back on track

is a lot more calming to me then feeling certain.

It’s easier to know myself
than predict the future.

I made you an audio
that goes deep into this topic.

It’s an hour long.

There is such a freedom
in making an audio
that will truly help

instead of the one
with the most listeners.

Give your best first.
Words come easier
when you feel them.

Don’t eavesdrop
on your own life.

There’s your big lesson
on giving value.

I love you dearly!
Robert