As I watch our President white knuckle his release of power. Power he lawfully gained, and power he convincingly and lawfully lost, I’m reminded of John Dickson, Humilitas, and humility.
“humility is not low self-esteem, groveling, or losing our distinct gifts. Instead, humility both recognizes our inherent worth and seeks to use whatever power we have at our disposal on behalf of others.”
Regardless of what’s returned. Service with an expectation of returned response puts a limit on that service’s potential. It will likely be individual.
Service, with an expectation that it will only be paid forward, well that’s a momentum creating event. It can be perpetual.
A small step like this at age four has profoundly positive ramifications and impacts on his perspective at age fourteen and forty.
It’s not about how we see or how we choose to refer to other people. It’s getting to a place of seeing them as they want to be seen, and calling them how they would like to be called.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful that even with that roster they may not win a championship because they’re still missing a few pieces to round out their starting five.
I’ve got a longer tribute to our 7 years old daughter coming. I’ve no words for her.
I can’t believe that last night was the last time I’d hug her as a 6 year old. Ever.
Maybe it’s melodramatic but every year that thought shakes me awake a bit more.
A couple of weeks ago, Anaiya said she “missed the diner”. When I asked why, she said “I really miss the animals and the trees and the rain”.
Not a diner. You miss The Rainforest Cafe.
So we brought it home to her.
This was an absolute blast.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for the inspiration (Anaiya and Jaanu) and the freedom to pursue that inspiration no matter how ridiculous (thank you Priya KC Bhatt).
The kids adored it. They tossed coins into the croc fountain. Yukked it up with the parrot. Approached and pet the snake with caution.
And they want to leave it up as long as we can.
Why not? We are here to make you feel loved and to help your smile reach it’s fullest potential.
We try every day. We fail a lot.
Sometimes, like today. The stars in our humble rainforest align, and the four of us know we got it just right.
I love you, magic. You inspire me to pursue greater things. You’re simultaneously my catalyst, my fuel, my compass, and my destination.
Over the past few months, I’ve shared my approach to goal setting at work. A variation on a tactic I’ve used for almost 10 years to help people approach their holiday break productively; one that positions them to reflect a bit while also thinking deeply about what they want to pursue in the coming year.
It’s why, without fail, my teams, the people I work with, tend to have higher than normal turnover in January and February. People are encouraged to think deeply about what they want but hopefully, they also feel supported in pursuing it.
I’ll share more on Happy, Proud, but Not Yet Satisfied here soon; but in the short term, the biggest ask I continue to get is a list of the questions and/or slides people can use for reference.
Happy: Spend 5-6 minutes on the following questions. Write down thoughts, bullet points, ideas. The key is “up to three”.
What are (up to) three things you remember from 2020 that still make you smile?
What are (up to) three things you would do if you had infinite time and money wasn’t an issue?
What are (up to) three things you can do seemingly forever without losing energy or passion?
Proud: Spend 5-6 minutes on the following questions. Write down thoughts, bullet points, ideas. The key is “up to three”.
What are (up to) three new things you did in 2020 that you can add to your resume and LinkedIn Profile?
What are (up to) three moments you recall from 2020 where you felt your confidence in your abilities grow?
What are (up to) three things that happened in 2020 that would not have happened without your presence and participation?
Not Yet Satisfied: Spend 5-6 minutes on the following questions. Write down thoughts, bullet points, ideas. The key is “up to three”.
What are (up to) three things you know you can do better in 2021?
What are (up to) three new things you want to experiment with in 2021?
What are (up to) the three most important things you want to arrive at this point, next year, having completed? These things will likely become your “Happy” and “Proud” items for next year.
There’s something powerful about knowing that, in advance of an achievement or an accomplishment, or in advance of something you release to the world, there’s a receptive audience.
For your ideas.
For your visions.
For your dreams.
When you think of the greatest achievements the world has known, you often think of two universes circling the achiever. The ideator.
You think of those who came so close to genius, and instead of creating space for it, cast it aside. Walked past it, or even more powerfully, stopped, stared, and let it walk on by instead.
“I’m not even going to do the work of dismissing you; you can do that yourself.”
That’s one universe.
The other universe though, is the fan.
People rise and fall to the expectations we set for them. That message is meant for the people setting expectations.
It’s most important though, for the people upon whom those expectations are set.
Which is why in those stories of genius it’s amazing to think of the power of being a fan.
One fan can offset hundreds, even thousands of detractors. One fan can negate all of the doubt, and set a bar so extraordinarily high, the doubters fade from the rear view mirror and are soon so far gone, it’s ridiculous to think they even existed.
Today, on your birthday, my magic, you did it again. You reminded me why I’m your biggest fan. You reminded me why from the moment you were born, everyone had a name for you, but I had a feeling.
“Magic.”
I watched you set up art stations in our garage for all your friends. I watched you circle the room to make sure everyone was taken care of. I watched you pick individual paint-by-numbers for each person based on what they like and what they’d like to paint.
I watched you.
I also watched you heave after all was said and done. As your friends clustered off together. I watched you circle our house alone. And then, when I tapped you on the shoulder I watched you shake your head free of some of that self doubt and questioning, and come back to earth, and make sure nobody else played alone, and make sure everyone had their goodie bag.
You make friends everywhere you go. You design, build, construct, friendships. When you make friends, you truly make them.
I watched you love and care at age 7 like many at my age can’t even fathom.
It’s when I realized that I need to be an even more vocal and bigger fan of you and the love you’re capable of bringing into this world. And so I shall.
I’ll forget sometimes. But I’ll come back to this post. I’ll look at these pictures. And I’ll remember.
That for you and your ability to love so creatively — so artistically — I’m downright fanatical.
As you turn 7, today my love for you is like what the greatest connoisseurs of art feel for their favorite artists. And then some.
I love you my magic. Keep loving the world as exceptionally as you do. I’ll remember my place and I assure you, like all great things, the world will take not and celebrate it more and more.
We’re all trying to get better right now. It’s the new year. Whether you set resolutions formally or simply tried to reset and refresh coming out of the holidays or into a new year; we’re all trying to be at our best right now.
Being at our best usually means balancing:
1) What we consume
2) What we hold onto
3) What we release back into the world
At its simplest, that’s also what good breathing exercises embody. The air we take in, how long we hold it, and how long we expel it.
You don’t need to pray. Or meditate. Change your pose or your position. You can do this anywhere without needing or making a scene.
I did this at dinner last night when the kids were all over the place as they made their way to dinner.
I’ve done it on Zoom calls at work.
You can do this anywhere, anytime.
And breathing, how we breathe, dictates how we process and respond to our environment. Breathing is like the baseline, the background music in our life. When it’s calm, the scene reflects and feels and creates space for calm. When it’s frenzied or hurried, well, you’ve set a backdrop and creates space for that vibe instead.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful that once again, biology has equipped us with so much of what we need already to find a healthy way forward.
What’s a show that was always on in your house as you were growing up?
What show inspired the most quoted, and longest running non weekly recurring segment on SNL (from 1996-2015)?What television quiz show served as the basis for one of Weird Al Yankovic’s earliest hits based on a song from The Greg Kihn Band?
Jeopardy. My final answer.
I’m old enough to remember when the first episode of the “new” Jeopardy aired in 1984. I was 9. And my fourth grade teacher, Ms Roosin was over the moon as she was a fan of the earlier versions of the show, and a fan of the pop song, Jeopardy, sung by The Greg Kihn Band a few years earlier. She was exceptionally quirky and in retrospect I’m confident had a special relationship with alternative consumables.
Effectively from the first show, Jeopardy was on in our house every night. In two places. Downstairs and upstairs in my Ba’s room. You’d hear it in stereo.
And in that sense, I feel like Peter Jennings and Alex Trebek were Uncles. It works because I have some amazing uncles.
Friday was Alex Trebek’s last episode, aired posthumously. The tribute they shared was heartwarming, succinct, and a bit of a test of my tear ducts
I always loved his story. How many shows he hosted before Jeopardy.21 years and almost 20 shows (all pilots or shows with 1-2 year stints) before landing his legendary role.
Sometimes failure is yours. Sometimes, you just haven’t found the right fit.
They’re going to round robin his chair until they find a replacement. It took him 20 years to land there. It’s only right we acknowledge it may take just as much time to find his replacement.
Who is a television personality that many believe replaced Walter Cronkite as the most trusted man in America (not named Tom Hanks)?Who had a reputation and respect that made him one of the last people in America (though Canadian himself) to be equally respected on both sides of the aisle?
Who had a great sense of humor about the way his character was presented on SNL by Will Ferrell?
Which media personality made almost 50 appearances, as himself, across TV and Film from 1984-2020?And of course …Who is one person who has never been in my kitchen?
Alex Trebek. My final answer.cc Meena Mehta and Samir Jethwa. Cant think of Trebek or Jeopardy without thinking of you two.
I found my way back to September 11, 2001 three times over the past four days. So overwhelmingly so that I needed to capture it because the pattern and draw of the sequence was much too powerful to ignore.
It started on Wednesday. Simply speaking, someone made reference to the last attempted attack on our Capitol (Capitol or White House I believe is still unconfirmed) being on September 11th, with Flight 93. Hoe that attempt was foiled by Americans and how this attempt was both incited and conducted by Americans. I couldn’t shake that memory. Though I tried. It felt a singular recall moment powerful though it was.
On Thursday, at a leadership meeting at Boldr, I was asked to talk about a time when a leader of mine made space for me.
Without hesitation I talked about my boss at the time, who went out of her way to make me feel safe while I worked with all of our close friends to cope with and understand the loss of our best friend in the towers, Neil G. Shastri Foundation.
I haven’t spoken to her in a few years, but I for some reason felt compelled to call Kristine Tanno by name. And to express in great detail how she converted for me as a new boss with my team to a young man, South Asian man, in NYC after the attacks.
What was incredible is that seemingly, out of nowhere, she commented on a post of mine on LinkedIn within 24 hours. Talk about forces in action. And then … today. The family went for a walk to downtown Metuchen and for the first time, on a walk to or from downtown, I had a chance to stop at the memorial in front of the train station. I always thought it was a 9/11 memorial to people from Metuchen; I never realized it was for all NJ residents who we lost that day.
And there his name was. Neil Shastri.#iamgrateful and #iamthankful that he and his name are right there; for me to pass by and acknowledge anytime I come and go from this point forward.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful that my kids know his name and that when Jaanu asked to hear what happened that day it wasn’t me, but Anaiya who explained the powerful story to him.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for the lesson Kristine Tanno taught me about leadership, friendship and space at that time.
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for the response I’ve seen to what happened at the Capitol from some of my most conservative friends (there are more still I wish to hear from, but it appears after four years we’ve found a line people will not only not cross, but also, start waking back from).
Finally, for some levity, I want to be clear when you look at this picture of my children: the similarity to the “shirtless Bison suit guy” is purely coincidental.
Suneet Bhatt 