Stress is required for existence - it’s critical for survival - literally nothing grows without it. Stress invites us to journey through unknown and harsh circumstances with equanimity so that we may arrive at a kind of peace and acceptance where we can thrive. We are asked to still our thoughts, hold back action, and, like the third-person omniscient observer, watch life pass - and accept that life passed. On the contrary, too much of a good thing kills. Enjoy only enough to help you grow.

If you’re not used to doing deep squats, ease into them slowly. If you don’t, you’ll discover muscles you didn’t know you had, and you’ll also discover that your body has a way of letting you know to slow your roll. In the same, slow down as you move through life or start a new job or approach a problem - especially if you’re exercising some new mental muscles.

Your ability to master yourself.To not be a slave to yourself or others.To be able to, even in the darkest and worst of circumstances, find contentment and love. To be able, even in the darkest and worst of circumstances, show compassion and love - even to those that believe they are holding you down.To have the ability to intentionally do life - to control what you can and accept what you can’t.To control your mind - as Dr. Mike told me, “You are not your mind.” And if your mind might be ill, accept what you can’t control and work with what you can.To control your mouth - garbage in/garbage out - don’t eat/speak garbage. To control your thoughts - garbage in/garbage out - consume and use wisdom that will help you master yourself and show more love to others. As I think more and more about how to help people feel and be seen/perceived for all they can do, the more and more I see that what is needed is not someone to help them up. What I see is that people need a reason to believe in themselves, and a reason to demand responsibility (HT to Seth Godin).P.S. You can find tons of useful meditations on self-mastery through a few books that I have fallen in love with:Letters of a StoicMeditations (the book I recommend more than any other to people I coach)Mastery (musicians: this is like “Effortless Mastery” but far more in-depth and science-driven)

I love books. I find that having more books than I can read - to a healthy degree - motivates me to read. What motivates me is not the idea of reading or some type of vanity metric. No. I have intentionally chosen authors and thinkers to learn from, and when I look at their books staring me in the face I almost imagine those people looking at me and saying, “you made the investment, why won’t you make the most of it?”You could feel the same way about a record collection, craft supplies, spices, cast iron pots, seeds, or anything that brings you joy. Fill your life with things that bring you joy and push your development but not to excess, just enough that you have to reach a bit further.

I wasn’t feeling motivated to do anything earlier today - that’s no bueno. I was trying to find things to motivate me, and it was hard. I decided to take a walk and load up my car (I’ve got a gig tonight). Would you believe it? I suddenly became extremely motivated to act and get my work done.This must be how Richard Simmons stays so happy.If you’re feeling de-motivated, get up and move. (Filed under: advice David has heard 100000 of times and never listened to… until today)

I work in a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (and Belonging) consultancy. I help organizations find, attract, and retain talent inclusively - meaning they’re looking past the systems and networks they know to find people they might not otherwise have seen. It’s rewarding work and no stranger to difficult conversations.In the U.S., the Supreme Court majority made a decision that impacts a woman’s ability to get an abortion. This post is not political - nor is it about abortion. It’s about how we show up.How do we show up? If we’re in a group setting and people feel particularly strong (one way or the other) about important topics (such as abortion), do we share our thoughts? What if our thoughts run counter to the majority?What if what we think is inflammatory?What if people might look upon us differently?What if what we believe is deemed worthless? I have an idea, but it starts with knowing three criteria.Society is not perfect;Most of our cultures prefer to defer or avoid conflict in favor of group peace and cohesion;People, on the whole, are trying to do the right thing.So what’s the idea? Two actually.Mindfully give the option for space - give people the option to chat with like-minded people or in debate and ask if that would be valuable.Check in on people one-on-one. The ideas give teams and people the opportunity (space) to connect with others like them and process their thoughts while preventing others from suppressing their thoughts. Nobody likes to feel like what they believe is wrong, and it’s also nobody’s role to set others “right.” We have so much work to do on ourselves, we need to focus on standing in our own power and beliefs and being a better person for others - and that means showing love.

I tried it out - and I love it. It’s painful, annoying, irritating, stressful, and remarkably calming. It taught me that in order to deal with pain, annoyance, irritation, stress, and all the things that poke and prickle my every day life, I must still my mind and go slow - one step at a time.If you’re used to moving too fast, grinding too hard, scattering too many thoughts, or have kids - consider a barefoot hike… even if it’s short.

Rohan Rajiv writes a blog that I love, and perhaps you might too, “A Learning a Day”.His latest post was about the “Inner Warrior” which was inspired by Scott Galloway’s post, “Advice to Grads: Be Warriors, Not Wokesters”.I recommend reading Rohan’s post and then ponder these questions:What’s within my control? What’s not? How might I waken my Inner Warrior to change the things I can? And,How might I quiet my Inner Warrior to accept the things I can’t?After reflecting, I realized that there is very little about the world I can change besides what I do at this moment - right now. Where does my money go? What do I support through my income?Where does my time go? What do I support through my physical and mental presence?Where does my energy go? What do my labors, skills, and experience help build? Where does my heart go? Who am I helping, listening to, speaking to, and how might I be a better person to and for them?

I was thinking about how musicians experience, deal with, and resolve issues of power on the bandstand to see if there was a way we could better understand power in our lives. What I learned is that we experience power differently. Leader. There is a leader who has the function of organizing and maintaining order of the group. That lead is designated as the leader by the group. That leader may delegate their power to another person for a moment, but the accountability remains with the designated leader.Front Person (setting dependent). There is a person who is responsible for leading the experience of the audience - the front person. That person commands, curates, and cultivates the crowd’s interactions with the band and within the crowd. That person could have a leadership task, but might not be the “Leader”. Side musicians. Side musicians are accountable for consistently and effectively executing their parts and to serve their basic functions in the group. Though they, like the front person, may have a leadership task, they take their cues from the Leader. Things go wrong when any one of the above decide they are more important than the whole. A musician plays too much - imagine someone at a meeting that doesn’t leave room for others;A player attempts to outshine the Front Person - “one upmanship” at its finest. It’s annoying.The Leader power trips - it’s the same in music - tyrannical and abusive (listen to the Buddy Rich tapes).What can we glean from the experience of musicians? How might what we learn impact us now? Every thing in nature has a function - to do something - understand the function of things. Activists, politicians, judges, leaders, team members, executives - they all have functions. Leaders are designated. Someone is designated with the accountability of leadership. Know what your leaders are responsible and accountable for - and hold them to account. (Same goes for you). Talk less and listen more. The most effective bands listen the best.Lift others up. The musicians I call role models know (and knew) how to lift up those around them. Our power is our ability to come alive, bring “our thing” to the culture, be self-accountable for what we decide to do and how, to not speak, and show that love to others.