Recently, I had a very long conversation with a great friend, and we were talking about the idea of overwhelm. We talked about things like language learning and how complicated and frustrating that can be. I made a suggestion which I think ended up helping us both. The idea actually comes from "Mr. Wonderful" Kevin O'Leary, who I believe borrowed it from still someone else. He has a daily ritual of writing down three things on a sticky note before going to bed, and those three things are his "must-do" items -- his most important items to complete for the next morning BEFORE he can do anything else. No phone, no TV, no emails, etc., until these three things are accomplished. This sets the tone for the day on a high note of success before the day is really started. After I learned about this idea, I took it and applied it to more things – I wanted to use it on tasks, projects, plans, and more. At the time, I had countless other projects and commitments, and needless to say, I was feeling completely overwhelmed. To test out the theory, I picked, at random, a project involving a fair amount of planning for an event. I decided that, rather than three things per day related to this project, I would do just one thing. So, for this project, I created a duplicate of the planning spreadsheet I had used the year before for the same project, and I updated it with this year’s information, such as location, time, date, etc. AND, that was it! I was finished (or as we like to say in Baltimore, I was done!) I did nothing else on this project for the rest of the day, and instead, I moved on to the next project, and I applied this idea again. By the time I was finished with all of these mini accomplishments on over a dozen items that required my attention, I felt great. I had no fatigue, no mental drain, no need for a nap, and I actually felt really great. I felt as though I had conquered the world for the day. And, maybe most importantly, I felt relaxed and with no signs of stress anywhere.

As we discuss things and thoughts occur to you, you may want to have a place to write down those private thoughts. Please feel free to share anything you like, and for everything else, I hope you can make use of these free notes pages. You can get them in the Classroom here: https://www.skool.com/the-space-between-moments/classroom/e0a0a2ab?md=152ea58cbe324b908b1ad9bf189168d5 Best wishes, and remember to always have a great day being you!

The Space Between Moments -- An invitation to slow down, take a beat, catch your breath, and remember you are a human being, not a human doing. Friction is the "invisible weight" of choice overload and task switching that drains our energy. By applying frictionless business design to our personal lives, we can move from being "human doings" to "human beings". _____________ There is a kind of friction most of us live with so constantly that we stop noticing it. It is not the dramatic, obvious kind. It is the quiet friction: the mental tabs left open, the constant switching, the tiny decisions stacked on top of each other until the day feels heavier than it should. It is the feeling of being pulled forward by the next notification, the next task, the next “should.” And then, somewhere in the middle of a normal day, we sense it: We are moving fast, but we are not fully here. This is where The Space Between Moments begins. Not with a grand reinvention of your life, but with a pause small enough to fit inside the life you already have. _____________ What “friction” really looks like in daily life... Friction is anything that makes a simple action feel harder than it needs to. It shows up as: - Too many choices, too many options, too many tabs. - Constant task switching and interruptions. - Extra steps that drain energy before you even begin. - The pressure to optimize everything, even rest. - A nervous system that never fully gets the signal: “You’re safe. You can slow down.” Over time, this friction does not just cost productivity. It costs presence. It steals the tiny moments where life is actually happening. _____________ The business idea that applies to being human... In the business world, the best products and offers reduce friction. They make the path clear. They lower cognitive load. They remove unnecessary steps. Customers stay when things feel simple. Your nervous system works the same way. When your life has fewer obstacles, fewer micro-decisions, and fewer “open loops,” you do not just get more done. You feel more like yourself. You reclaim energy that can go toward what matters most: relationships, creativity, meaning, rest, prayer, laughter, the ability to notice.

Here is a gift to express my gratitude and my wish for you to find the things for which you can express gratitude. Use this free tool to remind yourself of the great blessings in your life, even the small ones, such as having clean water to drink. Just co to the Classroom to get it, or click here. When we live our lives at a rushed pace, we often overlook the little things (and sometimes the big ones too) for which we should be grateful. I hope that you will enter this weekend finding things in your life for which you are grateful. Start by downloading the journal, then take a few minutes to look through it to get the flavor of what it's all about. Then, grab a cup of comfort (coffee, tea, etc.) if you like, find a quiet space, take a few deep breaths, and see if there is at least one thing for which you can express gratitude today. This is about you and your calmness and happiness. So, please take a beat, catch your breath, and find the space between moments to remember who you are, to explore who you are becoming, and to find things in everyday life for which to be grateful. To help a bit further, please share below one thing (or multiple things) that give you that feeling of gratitude. Sometimes when we share it really enhances the experience. No pressure, of course, but feel free to join in if you wish. Either way, I hope you can put this journal to use. I also hope that you enjoy your weekend and that you remember to always enjoy being you!

How many notifications do you get per day? On Skool I get literally 100-200 per day. Elsewhere even more. Hundreds of emails per day, Facebook notifications, text messages, etc. While the technologies that we use are helpful and have their place, we should remember that they are tools to serve us and that we do not need to be beholden to them. When I go to lunch with a friend, often that person is checking their phone every time there is a buzz or a ding. They have more or less completely tuned out of our get together and are hyper-aware of the slightest indication that there might be an alert, even when it's coming from someone else's device. Studies exist that show the extreme use of devices and the extraordinary number of notifications, all of which compete for our attention, so I'm not asking how often the "noise" captures anyone's attention. Rather, I wonder if we might all benefit from redirecting our attention a bit, turning it back to ourselves or our own sanity and peace of mind. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs will explain that they have times throughout the day that they focus entirely on themselves -- maybe personal wants/needs, maybe goal setting, maybe meditation. Whatever it is, they turn off the noise and the notifications so they can focus, which, in turn, allows them to be attentive to their business rather than to the distractions. Do you find the sheer volume of notifications (whether on Skool or elsewhere) a bit overwhelming? Can you find a way to distinguish between the things that truly interest you and the noise? Would slowing down a bit and finding some focus help to clear your mind and lessen the stresses of everyday life? I invite you to take a beat, catch your breath, and find the space between moments to remember who you are so you can focus on just being you; so you can put your attention on the most important thing in the world -- you! When you are able to focus on being a strong you -- the best version of you -- then you can be that version of you for everyone who is important in your life.