A friendly face in the crowd can lift a performer’s confidence. It can improve a speaker’s headspace. It can draw forth the best in a player.

Be the friendly face. Actively choose to offer that silent affirmation. It costs you nothing and you can do it at any moment — even after the event has ended.

In its simplest form: smile more, judge less.

When we generate ideas, many of us stop after just a few. Some will think of a dozen. Not many will try for more.

But there’s great value in thinking beyond what quickly comes to mind. Some of the best ideas aren’t near the surface; they’re found much deeper.

Beyond a dozen. Maybe beyond a hundred.

Even the practice of thinking expansively is helpful — no matter if the best idea was the first one (and it probably wasn’t) or if it was the ninety-ninth. The practice is worthwhile.

Put some diligence into your ideation. Remarkable ideas are still there for us to discover.

Perhaps it’s counterintuitive.

The answers we seek aren’t buried in the noise. No. Instead, they await us in the silence.

We don’t need to search and filter and sort. Often, we’d do better to just turn all of it off and to listen to what’s already within us.

Legendary record producer Rick Rubin tells us, “… the Universe is on the side of creativity.”

Yes. Yes it is. And that should encourage all of us.

Be an active participant in this endless, beautiful project.

A good friend taught me about a powerful tool: the “could-do” list.

It’s simple. Make a list of all the things you could do.

This is a useful exercise if you’re considering a career shift or another big change in your life.

Just list all the things you could do.

The problem is, we’re really good at self-editing. We’re exceptionally rational. We have a good idea of what won’t work and why. We know what’s safe and what's certain.

So we keep the could-do list reasonable.

It’s almost amusing. Given the opportunity to dream, with no investment and no accountability, we still hesitate to dance with the near infinite realm of possibility.

Even with just a list.

One that no one ever has to see, except for you.

* * *

Create space to dream. Allow yourself to do it. Remember: you don’t have to follow up with any of it. You don’t have to try any of it. You won’t be judged for not having pursued anything or accomplished anything on that list. That’s not what it’s for.

The point is to explore possibility. It’s to suspend what’s logical, expected, and scripted. You know those choices already.

The could-do list is all about holding a glimpse of what else could be.

H/T Allegra

We need ideas. Lots of ideas. But every group also needs doers.

Without those who will do the work, even the best idea-generation is all for naught. What structures would ever be built if we only applied ourselves at the drafting table? True, we’d produce magnificent plans and renderings. But our purpose in planning is not to create beautiful plans. The plans are just the beginning.

So the question of “Who will do it?” must always be somewhere in the conversation.

Even internally: amidst our dreaming and ideation, the real magic happens when we toggle the switch and begin to make things actually happen — when we shift between thinking and doing.

I moved aside to let another shopper pass through a narrow aisle. After we exchanged pardons and thanks, the customer turned back to say, “By the way, that’s a great coat you’re wearing!”

It was the kind of unexpected compliment that left me smiling and standing a little taller.

In the right context, friendly words from strangers can bring a surprising amount of cheer.

And, of course, those words are at their best when nothing is expected in return.

I recently saw a movie in the theater. Afterwards — I don’t know why — I looked up some of the critical reviews.

Sure enough, it was a mixed bag. Some viewers enjoyed it while others assailed it as predictable and obvious.

It’s a good reminder: we’re all seeking different things.

One moviegoer might be hoping for a plot that’s nuanced, complicated, and filled with twists. Another might seek what’s charming, familiar, and light. One might seek a well-worn genre while another might seek the unconventional.

Much of it has to do with our own tastes and expectations.

Unsurprisingly (or at least it should be unsurprising) our opinions are not always shared by others … even when we’re certain we’re right.

Sports fans love to see their favorite teams win.

But above all, we want to see a good game.

The best wins aren’t the lopsided blowouts; they’re the nail-biting, last-second, hard-fought victories.

Thrilling. Satisfying. Memorable.

We can seek to live our lives — or at least parts of our lives — in the same way. Not choosing the paths without friction, but instead seeking an appropriate level of challenge and adversity.

Set yourself up for some good wins. More specifically, embrace the kind of adventures that have the possibility of delivering either a win or a loss. Victories under those circumstances are especially sweet.

Some of us are quicker to look at a notification on a mobile device than we are to notice a person entering the room.

The world is full of notifications and distractions. It’s up to us to prioritize the signals that matter.

Because not everything that dings and blings is worthy of our attention.

Anyone can rock the boat. On the other hand, it takes skill to stand at the helm and navigate.

Making waves is not the challenge. It’s more about the kind of waves you’re going to make.

So make ripples and waves. But don’t settle for being an aimless agitator. Be a skipper.

Don’t draw because the world needs another drawing (it doesn’t). Don’t draw because it’s the most efficient (it’s not).

Draw because it connects your hand and your eye. Draw because it’s a way of engaging with the visual world. Draw because it fosters an intimacy with what you see — with your eyes and in your mind. Draw because it’s an extraordinary form of communication.

It’s not about line and tone and skill and beauty … as much as it is about you seeing more deeply and more clearly.

Choosing the work is more effective than choosing the reward.

When we seek an à la carte way of living, it’s important to understand which parts of the menu we can order and influence, and which parts are outside of our control.

If you prompt someone to generate an idea of their own, offering an example is tempting.

But don’t.

Examples offer a way forward. They supply a viable solution. But they can also create an anchor. That is, the example becomes a kind of home base: “What can I think of that rhymes with the example?”

During the quiet moment when you ask someone to think of something, and they don’t respond … just sit with that moment. Hold that tension. Allow ideas to form. Encourage them to form.

But hesitate to give the example in your mind. Voicing the example shrinks the world of possibilities to a mere window of possibilities.

Instead, let the idea generation happen, even if it takes time. Even if the thinking portion is painfully awkward.

Let the process unfold. You might be surprised by the potential discovery.

The ampersand (&) evolved from a combination of the letters et — the Latin word for “and”.

The symbol dates back to the first century. In some versions, you can still identify the different parts of each letter.

Some things have been together so long that we forget how they came to be, or that they were ever anything else. Knowing their history, however, can add to our appreciation when they’re put to use.

Every so often, it’s good to step back from your hopes, desires, goals, and dreams.

Ask yourself, “Are these my own?”

If the answer is a resounding yes, then you’re good to go.

But if you find that you’re chasing a dream that’s not yours — perhaps it belongs to your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors, or popular culture — then you might have some thinking to do.

Follow your dreams; just make sure they’re yours.

A friend tells this story about a company where he used to work:

“I went into the room where we were supposed to have the Board of Directors meeting, and someone had removed all the chairs. Purposely. We were finished in thirty minutes. It was the most efficient board meeting we ever had.”

* * *

When we’re uncomfortable — or just not too comfortable — we have a way of stripping away the fluff and getting down to business.

Mick and Keef could get plenty of satisfaction.

They just couldn’t keep it.

That’s the challenge for any of us.

Not getting it, but keeping it.

* * *

H/T Arthur C. Brooks

Pause. Look around you.

This is your life. This … is your life.

It’s not what was in the past.

It’s not what you’ve planned for the future.

It is what is now. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Lean in. Appreciate. Live. Love.

And if you seek change, change what’s now.

The past is fixed and the future is as unknown as it is unpredictable.

Focus on the now; now is your life.

There are more opportunities to become farmers than there are to become monarchs.

* * *

Sometimes we look at the fruits of someone’s labor and we think, “I want that too!”

But owning the harvest without working the fields … that model, with good reason, is rare.

“I want what they have” or “I want their luck” is an in-actionable perspective.

If instead, we pair wanting with working, we can move toward our goals.

We begin not with scepters, but with shovels and rakes.