As you know if been even remotely following along, Phil Stutz is my coach, honorary spiritual father, and Heroic Yoda.
Phil and I have connected 1-on-1 nearly 451 times over the last 7+ years. No other person has had a deeper impact on me and my thinking than Phil.
Now…
These days Phil and I connect every Tuesday at 1:40 p.m. CT.
During each session, I take 5-10 pages of handwritten notes—quickly capturing the most powerful ideas so I can add them to my collection of 1,500+ pages of notes.
As part of my AM protocol, every morning BETWEEN our coaching sessions, I spend a few minutes reviewing my notes from my prior session.
That’s what I was doing 60 seconds before I grabbed my Mac, opened a Paper document, and started creating this +1.
I was on Page 4 of my notes from my session yesterday when I realized I needed to capture some of the wisdom from our chat in one of these +1s.
For curious souls…
On Page 1, I always write “PHIL STUTZ” and the DATE/TIME/DAY/ in the upper-left-hand corner of my blank piece of paper. In this case, it was 2/27/24 | 1:40 | TUESDAY.
Then on the upper right, I write down the themes I want to explore. In this case, I was excited to reflect on my trip to serve Captain Dave Pollard and the warriors who lead the USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH from the week before along with some exciting opportunities with elite sports teams along with the dynamic creative challenges of leading our Public Benefit Corporation.
So…
We talked about the essence of great leadership (Page 2), the importance of NEVER deviating from my commitment to Areté (Page 3) and then we got to what I want to talk about Today.
Phil was reflecting on the work we’ve done over the years.
He complimented me on the speed with which I’ve integrated the ideas we’ve been exploring and told me that my “recovery time was insanely fast.”
THAT’s what I want to talk about today…
As we discussed WAY back in the day (see +1 #502 on Collecting Turnarounds), Phil likes to call those moments when we get knocked off center by life’s inevitable pain, uncertainty, and hard work, “Glitches.”
Something challenging happens.
We allow a gap to creep in between who we COULD have been in response to that “glitch” and who we actually were.
Oops.
That, of course, happens.
Often.
The question is…
What do you do when it happens?
And…
More importantly…
HOW FAST CAN YOU RECOVER?
Phil says that turning those “glitches” around as we REGAIN our equanimity by RECOMMITTING to living with Areté and then doing what needs to be done to close the gap and express the best version of ourselves is, and I quote: “THE MOST CREATIVE ACT in the universe.”
Know this…
We want to get really, really, really good at that.
As we’ve discussed, Marcus Aurelius talked about the same thing.
He says: “When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it.”
I like to call that The Equanimity Game.
Michael Gelb talks about the great martial arts (and spiritual arts!) master Morihei Ueshiba and how he embodied these ideas.
Ueshiba was the founder of Aikido.
Apparently, once upon a time, one of his students told him: “Your techniques are perfect! You never make any mistakes. You never lose your center!”
To which O-Sensei replied: “I lose my center frequently. I just find it again so quickly that you can’t see it."
THAT’s what we’re talking about.
And…
THAT’s Today’s +1.
When you hit YOUR INEVITABLE (!) glitches today…
Remember Yoda-Stutz, Marcus Aurelius, and Morihei Ueshiba.
Make it a game.
Bust out a stopwatch in your mind.
Close the gap. Live with Areté.
Moment to moment to moment.
All day. Every day.
Especially…
TODAY.
Unlock this Heroic +1 (and over 1,000 more)!
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