Wow, this is a word for today right? Courage, I sure feel like I could use some. For many of us it may feel like we could use some courage just to get out of bed in the morning. So much easier to pull up the covers and forget the world for a day, a week or for months.

When I formed my list of words to explore during this time of COVID – 19 courage wasn’t one I jotted down and I am not sure why. Just an oversight I suppose. Today the word courage puts images in our head of the firefighter running into the burning building or the first responders of 9/11. But this is not what the word originally meant.

Brené Brown talks about courage. The original definition was, ”To tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.” In Latin Courage meant “of the heart.”

Courage means you are going to have to get vulnerable and admitting and telling people you need help. Courage is the ability to admit you are afraid. I’ll tell you straight up, I am afraid and I worry about what is to come.

Tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.

Note – If you have not had the pleasure of experiencing Brené Brown she is worth taking the time to get to know wether it is via YouTube, her books or podcasts. If you can’t find her shoot me a note and I will get you some links.

This is a utility word. To persist means to continue to do something, to continue to try. If you persist you have not given up. As the fatigue of the isolation, the uncertainty and the tension sets in really all we can do is to continue to persist.

Early in my career in the insurance business I was told, “Plan your work and work your plan.” There is always the temptation to just give up. Take it one day at a time and persist. In another post, in fact the first post, I focused on the word “help.” Sometimes what we need to enable us to persist is to ask for help. Help because we need some encouragement to go on.

Start by doing one thing that you can do everyday. Don’t try to do everything because that is overwhelming. Persist in doing one thing. Stay focused and persist. If you need the encouragement to persist in something you know you need to be doing you can call me.

206-605-4695 Talk/Text – Forward Together

Scrolling through social media yesterday I paused to take in a video compilation of Stephen Curry. The video focused on Curry’s movement on the court when he did not have the ball. He’s fun to watch when he’s dropping bombs outside of the 3 Point line, it is a thing of beauty. Even more beautiful is that movement when he does not have the ball. He never stops and after passIng the ball off he’s gliding to an open spot ready to receive the ball back.

Face it, we all want the ball and right now it feels like the ball is not in our hands with no chance of getting it passed to us. Crazy times. We can just decide to stand around and wait or we can create some movement. Movement can take many forms. It can be working on relationships, learning something new, encouraging others or just catching up on tasks long put off.

Movement might also keep us sane. Even if the ball isn’t in our hands right now it is the movement of this moment that will better our chances to emerge from this time ready to face the next challenges.

This is true for our personal and professional and professional lives. It is a great skill to have.

Enjoy the video!

This word might just be harder to understand than completing the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle. I woke up this morning with this sense that I wanted my life to have meaning. I wanted my family and friends to know they have meaning. But what does that mean. Do you see my dilemma?

My mother says she feels hot and I need to figure out what she means. Words have different meanings so we need to figure out in which context those words are used.

I started out thinking about how I wanted to live my life out in a meaningful way. When I looked up the definition of meaning the definitions wandered in and out of nuance. It can be related to intent, purpose or significance, other words to explore.

In this time of trouble many will be unable to provide for their families. Does this diminish their meaning in this world?

The greatest philosophers in this world have wrestled with the concept of meaning. If I had to boil it down to one idea it is this, in order for anyone’s life to have meaning they need at least one other person. That is the start of a life that has meaning.

This post is for family, it is for business owners, it is for financial professionals. Being vulnerable, I believe, is something we all need to be during and after this present time.

Brené Brown says it best and as of today, March 24, 2020 this TED Talk has had more than 12 and a half million views.