I Need to be Reminded

Samuel Johnson once observed that people need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed. I've borrowed his line for myself: I need to be reminded more than I need to be instructed. There are some things I know so well I never forget them, like my phone number or my kids' names. But there are many more things I know and simply forget until someone reminds me. I know that asking questions is the key to great conversations, and yet there are days I only remember to ask one after I've already said too much. That's the spirit of these occasional notes. They aren't meant to teach you something brand new. They're meant to be a friendly nudge toward the things you and I already know matter most.

So here's this newsletter's reminder. As we head into the final stretch of the year, it's tempting to start planning big, dramatic changes for January, in our businesses, our teams, and ourselves.

Living here in the Puget Sound region, I'm reminded that our landscape was shaped two ways: by earthquakes that change everything in a moment, usually with real damage, and by glaciers that slowly carved it over long seasons. Lasting growth almost always looks more like the glacier. What is one small thing you could get just 1% better at between now and the end of the year?