Question to let go of the weight you carry:

What is the burden that you're still carrying?

There is an old Buddhist parable that I love:

An old and young monk are walking along on a journey when they encounter a rushing river.

As they ready themselves for the crossing, they see a woman who is struggling to get to the other side. She asks for their help. The two hesitate, as they've both taken vows to avoid contact with women.

The older monk then walks over to the woman, places her on his shoulders, carries her across the river, and drops her on the other side, before continuing on his journey.

The younger monk is stunned, but says nothing for many miles as they continue their walk.

Finally, after several hours, he confronts the older monk: "We are not allowed to touch a woman, how could you carry her that way?"

The older monk pauses, then replies: "I set her down miles back on the side of the river, why are you still carrying her?"

The lesson of the story is simple:

We are all carrying the burdens of our past far beyond the riverbank where we should have set them down.

We can choose to hold on to them and continue to feel their strain, or we can choose to set them down and move forward with a new lightness.

What burdens are you still carrying?

Perhaps it's time you place them down on the riverbank.

The simple path to a life well lived:

"It’s so simple: You spend less than you earn. Invest shrewdly, and avoid toxic people and toxic activities, and try and keep learning all your life...And do a lot of deferred gratification because you prefer life that way. And if you do all those things you are almost certain to succeed. And if you don’t, you’re gonna need a lot of luck." – Charlie Munger

The simple path to a life well lived.

Simple, not easy.

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Framework to reframe your potential:

The Capability Gap

Alabama football coach Nick Saban is known as one of the toughest coaches in the world. He demands a lot from his players and holds them to an extremely high standard.

While it has occasionally gotten him in trouble with the media, it has also led to one of the most legendary coaching runs in the sport.

One Saban idea that I can't stop thinking about: The Capability Gap.

In an interview with Holly Rowe, Saban defines it as follows:

"We oftentimes talk about what someone's potential is, but I think to put it in better terms...the Capability Gap is what you're capable of relative to what you're doing...if you understand the truth about that, you can actually take information that can help you close that gap."

The Capability Gap is a simple idea with powerful implications across all areas of your life.

It requires an understanding of:

1. Your full capability
2. Your current delivery

In my experience, most people underestimate their full capability and overestimate their current delivery.

In other words, they think their Capability Gap is very small, when in reality it's much larger than they realize.

Having mentors, coaches, friends, and family members who help you see the truth about your full capability and keep you honest on your current level of delivery is everything.

This isn't about sports, this is about your life:

• Do you have people in your life who help you think bigger about what you're capable of?
• Do you have people in your life who tell you that your current delivery isn't good enough?

We all need those people in our lives.

We need people who push us to get uncomfortable, to think bigger, and to be better.

We need people who push us to be better partners, parents, friends, siblings, colleagues, community members, and leaders.

Find the people who tell you the two truths:

1. What you're truly capable of
2. What you're currently delivering on

Identify your Capability Gap and then work relentlessly to close it!

Understanding the gut-brain connection:

Interesting thread on the gut-brain connection (i.e. why your "gut feeling" is actually a real thing). It seems like scientific (and mainstream) understanding of the importance of the gut microbiome on overall mental and physical health is really progressing. Exciting to see what comes out of the space in the coming years.

A hard reset on the important things:

​A Portland father reflects on the sudden loss of his son​

Warning: Do not read this article if you aren't prepared to cry.

The article is written by a father three weeks after the sudden passing of his young son as he wrestles with the trauma, regrets, and meaning.

Most importantly, he offers wisdom for all of us:

"Hug your kids. Don’t work too late. A lot of the things you are likely spending your time on you’ll regret once you no longer have the time. I’m guessing you have 1:1 meetings on the books with a lot of people you work with. Do you have them regularly scheduled with your kids? If there’s any lesson to take away from this, it’s to remind others (and myself) not to miss out on the things that matter."

A hard—but important—read.