Wow did I need that this morning!
I was feeling tired and a little down before our call. I slept until the last possible minute before starting a Techstars Managing Director Alumni Network. While that cheered me up somewhat and gave me some energy, I followed it with another call with a CEO/investor/long-time friend where we spent some of the time wrestling with things going on in the US right now. My energy coming out of this was low and my mood was “meh.”
But then Seth Godin and I recorded an episode of the Give First Podcast, which will be released soon. We’ve known each other for 30 years and have a friendship where both of us are in “instant yes” mode (which we discussed). I smiled more in the last 30 minutes than I did all day yesterday.
I just asked my friendly neighborhood AI for a summary of one-liners from our discussion.
- “Two cannibals are eating a clown, and one says, does this taste funny to you?”
- “Leadership is not the act of you doing all the jobs and belittling everybody else.”
- “Some people end up in an instant yes category.”
- “If Jerry asks me for anything, even a kidney, it’s always yes.”
- “Are you building something that the future you will thank you for?”
- “Founder mode is seductive—good for your ego, but it will burn you out.”
- “No can also be a gift.”
- “The system outlasts us.”
- “The shortest version is, is your mom gonna be proud of what you’re doing?”
- “I don’t get why you signed up to do all this work if all you’re gonna do is be a cog in that system.”
There’s plenty more in front of me today – some easy, some hard, but with one conversation, I’ve been able to reframe my mood and energy.
Seth – thank you.