If you’re not already a disciplined person, disciplining the mind isn’t such an easy thing to do… says the free spirit.In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius writes:"[To get] the most out of ourselves…you need a healthy mind… not just because we move daily closer to death, but also because our understanding - our grasp of the world - may be gone before we get there.“How do we develop a healthy mind?Don’t accept trash.Or as data analysts love saying, “garbage in, garbage out.“Think of the news…If you leave on the 24/7 news cycle and all of the doom and gloom associated with it, you will start to see the world from that point of view. That point of view may change the way you show up for yourself and others.Think of work…If you engage with people who are always dark and looking at the wrong of what’s going on, you will start to see the world that way. If you’re a leader, that’s dangerous as it will impact your ability to lead your team.Be CriticalInstead of accepting what’s given to us, we must criticize. In Milwaukee, a city near Chicago in the USA where I live, violent crimes have been on the rise. I could watch the news every day and see that headline. I don’t want to do that - I don’t want the news to change the way I see my city, its neighborhoods, or the people around me. Instead, I’m asking a question:“What all I can learn about why people commit homicide? What all can I learn about why seemingly good people commit crime in cities? And, how might I learn more?“Be a SpongeLearn all you can. If I decided to pursue this thinking I would want to learn as many perspectives as possible in order to come to my own conclusion.So how to discipline?When I think of the word discipline I think of it in the negative - doing something daily to build a habit. I think I found a way to see it in a way that speaks to me best…To be ever curious about my word and engage in fierce inquiry about that which people would have me accept so that I can develop my own opinion and serve people best.Don’t accept my word for it though, do your own digging!

Been a busy week… so if you’re seeing this post, it’s because I got a bit busy. I’ll be back in a day. I haven’t forgotten.Which reminds me… sometimes it’s okay if life gets too busy. If you have to pause to. catch up, breathe, and relax - that’s good too. Give yourself that time as well. Nobody pays you enough not to take care of yourself.

“If the world will not go away, then the great discipline seems to be the ability to make an identity that can live in the midst of everything without feeling beset.Being besieged asks us to begin the day not with a to-do list, but a not-to-do list.” - David Whyte, Consolations.You can’t get rid of the noise of the world - the whirlwind. It’s always there, vying - no - fighting for your attention. It’s so hard to give claim your life back. But you can. Through a question.A well placed and well thought question is like a record ripping away from the needle. It stops everything in its track.Then, almost as if we were in a Matrix’esque time-standing-still moment, you get to decide where to go next. Do I stay on this path? Do I go to another? Do I stop? Do I listen? Who am I supposed to be serving? Am I serving them?What are you not doing today?

“Why get angry at the world? As if the world would notice.” - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.When you go into the restaurant and they’re packed. The wait staff invites you to sit in the back room, they forget to bring you menus, they don’t bring you water, and they obviously don’t care about taking your order. You are hungry, you have a need, and they forgot about you - you are nothing.That’s one way to see the situation. The other is:You walk into a packed restaurant. The wait staff invites you to sit in the back room - because that’s where there is space. They are understaffed, and because of that, it is taking them some time to get to your table and not seem rushed - they want you to feel like they care about giving you good service. They bring you water, they know you’ve been doing your best to be patient, you are likely hungry, and they want to get you food as fast as possible… they are hoping you are ready to order.Both scenarios could be true at the same time.How will we respond when server finally arrives to take our order?We, ourselves, are not that special.But, we can help others to feel special if we choose.

Pro tip for working with difficult people:It is their problem with you, not your problem with them.Enjoy the perspective that comes from that!

How far will you go and how much will you sacrifice to win?How far will you go and how much will you sacrifice to be perceived as being right?What are the stakes of not winning? Not making the sale? Not hitting the target?What are the stakes of doing it all at the expense of yourself and your truth?Managers, music directors, band leaders, teachers, parents, spouses, partners, friends, or humans at one time make the mistake of needing to be right - to win. The feeling of winning though is short lived - we eventually discover there’s a cost.Not long ago, I failed to learn from my mistakes as a leader. Because I felt I was right, I believed others should perceive me to be right too. I would do all I could to influence and manipulate someone’s environment so that they would either give in, or lead me into a false sense of believing they agreed with me. The cost would be my credibility to lead - people lost truth.I won, but only a battle, and at a significant cost to me.I am sure you have been in similar battles. Trying to get your kids to do something that you believe to be right and when they don’t, acting out to make your point. Vibing the musicians in your band because you need to stroke your own ego because you’re not confident in yourself. When your employee corrects you for messing up and you explain away your behavior to avoid being in the wrong.Winning needs a new definition. For me, winning is being invited back by those you seek to serve to play the game again tomorrow.If that was your definition of winning, isn’t it possible that you’re already winning every day? And if you are, how might that change your perception of your life?

There are moments that call for action. When we notice an inequity, an opportunity right a wrong, or to stand with our peers and say - we need to fix this for each other, and for our team.These are the moments to not hold back. These are the muster the courage to confess our truth.You encounter these moments every day. Whether to be real with your students and let them know where they stand, to show your team a truth about what they could have been had they approached a problem differently, or to show a loved one how they might more effectively share their love with so that you well receive it.Why hold back?In the pursuit of truth, I see no reason to!Advance!Take the step!

Two people text with each other. One person asking the other to help them solve an issue. The person in the position unfortunately can’t provide the service the requester is asking. The requester gives the person rendering service guff. “Well, I’m from Boston, that’s why I am this way… deal with it.“Careful not to misuse truths.Truths are meant to set us free. They are a map to help us make better decisions, communicate more effectively so that we move through life with equanimity.Truths are not weapons. They are not meant to justify poor communication.Careful how you use truth.Assert it. Celebrate it.Honor it.

So there you are, trying to solve an interesting problem - perhaps by yourself, perhaps with others. But the pressure to find an answer gives you a creative block, the need to be effective and prove yourself keeps you from taking risks, and the stakes of getting the answer wrong “could” cost you your job. This problem is keeping you from shipping meaningful work - creative, personal, parental, professional, whatever. There’s no time to do divert your attention, there’s no time to relax, there’s no time for play.What if you did what doesn’t make sense? What if you stopped what you were doing and pulled out a zany book - like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? What if you called a friend and met up for a beverage? What if you shut down the computer and played with your kids - and really played with them?I believe we don’t play enough.Think about it, when was the last time you really gave yourself time to play? And if you’re a musician “playing music” isn’t “play,” it would be “noodling” or “jamming”.On my team, we’re giving ourselves time to spin outside of the box yarns about our lives and we build on the yarns of others. We invest time for play and to be human.In my life, I am giving myself time to get bored, to read something fun, to step away from work and exist as myself - the human.Stop wasting time taking life, yourself, and others too seriously. Give yourself time to have fun, be outlandish, and play.No, you won’t be wasting time. In fact, you’ll be giving yourself that break you need to re-approach your problem and make the impact you seek to make.My team stood up a program that involved completing 33 cross-functional projects across multiple types of teams (marketing, product developers, sales, support, consultants, leaders, you name it) in 2 months. We didn’t do it taking ourselves seriously… we laughed and had fun the whole way.What keeps you from starting down that path now?

A person asked me what it takes to be an effective leader. What is one thing they could learn or adopt or apply to become a good people manager. This person is looking to grow their career, and driven. I suggested that to get what they want, they would need to learn about anti-fragility.Most leaders struggle to build strong teams because they concave to stress, don’t know how to operate when they don’t know where they are, and can’t cultivate a sense of equanimity when the going gets tough. In those moments, it doesn’t matter if you can make people “feel good”, it doesn’t help if you “start with why”, or if you “inspire your team to go from good to great.” The problem is that you don’t know how to destroy muscle so that it can be built back stronger - you don’t know how to be anti-fragile.Anti-fragility is the convex of being a scientist and an artist. It’s being willing to fail, it’s also being willing to be curious, try something new, be robust, and persevere. And, you can do that while being human!So how to do that with a team? How to do that as a leader? As a person?I believe the first step is acceptance.Taking what’s being thrown at you, and leveraging it to advance your way forward. All the things that make art art - improvisation, creation, being in the moment, and doing the work.If you can do that for yourself, you can help others do that for them.Anti-fragility sounds like a leadership buzzword… and perhaps it is. But if it helps, why not?!