+1 #1080: How You React

Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last couple ones, we flipped through my notes from session number 150something with my Yoda spiritual godfather, Phil Stutts. On page one, we had success. Doesn't matter in this world, commitment does. On the middle of page three, we had real enthusiasm, is passing through the worst and realizing it's the best. Now, looking at the bottom of page three, we see how you react to dramatic things is good. How you react to small things is great. That's Phil says where the power is. Now, as I reread my messy writing, I actually remember asking Phil to hold on a second so I could write that down. I repeat, how you react to dramatic things is good, but how you react to small things is great. That's where the power is. As we've discussed, Phil and all great teachers really is all about the small things. He calls our moment to moment experiences with ourselves and others microtransactions. Although we tend to ignore them and think only the big stuff is really important. He flips that around and says, it's the tiny things that matter the most. Of course, by practicing with the small things, we're well trained to handle the big things when they inevitably arrived. So one more time. How you react to dramatic things is good. How you react to small things is great. That's where the power is. And David Allen comes to mind. As we've discussed in our interview years ago, he said that the sublime comes through the mundane, and that's today's plus one. Let's bring our best to the small things today. Little P.S. fun family fact here. Midway through writing this plus one, I heard a ferocious banging on my office door. Not the tap, tap, tap, but like jumbo, crazy loud. My initial reaction was what the. Not fantastic. Then I ran my if then algorithm and got ready to welcome my little man. And what did I see? I see Emerson in his brand new bright neon green helmet, standing next to his sister in her bike helmet. Daddy, look at my new bike. Yep, his new bike we got the night before was downstairs. He cruised down, hopped on it, and rode it around the house. To think that I almost ruined that tiny moment by getting upset in the middle of writing this +1 made me laugh. Here's to moving from theory. A lot easier than practice to practice with the little things and the little ones today.