30 Days

One month doesn't seem like a long time.

But I suppose it is relative. They say that 3 seconds isn't a long time, unless you are holding your hand on a hot stove. Then it seems like an eternity!

A month ago, I started working on my Next Thing. Like so many other serial entrepreneurs, it turns out my next thing is actually a whole bunch of things. Probably too many!

I've been having great success with reaching out to people in my network. There has been a ton of time for self-reflection, and being with my family. After a long time of chasing success, right now I am chasing service. When I talk with people, it's not about what I can do for them or what they can do for me, I'm really trying to learn more about them and see what I can do to be of service.

I suppose it's a mindset thing.

I used to have a cat, and this cat was very cat-like in all of the ways you can be a cat. Except for one thing. My cat played Fetch. I would throw a toy, the cat would chase it down, he would then bring it back and drop it on my feet so that I could throw it again.

Cool, right?

But it only worked if I didn't think at any moment that I was playing Fetch. In his mindset, I was playing a very different game called Throw. In this game, he gave me a toy, I would obligingly throw it, he would pounce on it, and then make me throw it again. As long as we thought of it as Throw he would continue to play. The minute I thought of it as Fetch, he was done and would stalk off.

You can insert the obligatory joke about ‘making Fetch happen’ here.

I feel like it's the same way when thinking of success and service. They are two sides of the same coin, the minute you stop thinking of service, you are chasing success again.