Just. Keep. Stacking.

Over the weekend, I spent some time stacking firewood. If you've never done this before, there's actually a powerful lesson to be learned from the experience. 

Here's how stacking wood goes. You have a messy mountain of wood in front of you that you need to organize into stacks so it can dry out to be used a year later. You grab armfuls at a time and pile them up. There is no fast way to do this process, you just have to keep at it. So, you bust your hump for hours, take a step back, and guess what? That messy mountain of wood in front of you is going to appear mostly unchanged.

This is where the lumberjack wisdom comes in...

Focusing on the wood that still needs to get stacked can demoralize you to the point of paralysis. Instead, focus on all the work you have completed. Admire the stacks you've piled up. Although it may not feel like it based on what you know you still need to do, you have accomplished something. And that sense of accomplishment will drive you forward.  

I say this as someone at the helm of a business that I have sky-high expectations for. This past weekend also marked the one-year anniversary of the 2020 MIT Sloan Sports & Analytics Conference. This is where I shared my initial idea for PWRFWD with Brent Barry and Howard Beck -- sorry about the crappy pic fellas. This was quite literally an idea, not a business. But that idea has since consumed every ounce of my being. 

So, while we still have mountains of wood in front of us that we need to stack for PWRFWD, that mundane (and honestly annoying) task of stacking wood in my front yard this past weekend served as a great reminder to take a moment to reflect on all we have built over the past year. I recommend you take a moment to do the same. I think recognizing all you've accomplished will reinforce a confidence in where you are going. 

See you there.