Hi there Reader,
Welcome to this edition of Meaningful eMail with the most recent takeaway and updates linked here at the top, and then a full article for your consideration.
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Recent Takeaways
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Top Takeaways: The Inner Game of Tennis
This book is soooo much more than tennis.
Read or watch whether you’re ready to be better on the court, in the conference room or the car-ride line.
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Let's Explore
What one small shift can do for you
“But Dad, they’re doing it wrong. It’s taking forever! If they’d just do it this way, we’ll get it out there faster and better.”
I was just two months into my new job as Creative Services Manager at a big local credit union, complaining to my father on the phone.
I loved the job overall, yet found myself so frustrated. Getting approvals meant running an obstacle course: flaming hoops, hidden snap-traps, and endless red tape.
Then, as only a wise father can do, he dropped a line that shifted everything:
“Well, they don’t call it a financial institution for nothing.”
Oh. Right. I now worked for an institution.
This wasn’t a nimble startup or scrappy ad agency anymore. This was a bureaucracy through and through. I wasn’t going to change that — not with one clever idea or a deck full of data.
And maybe you know the feeling.
The giant, immovable “boulders” show up everywhere:
- A workplace that’s borderline toxic
- The toughest job market in decades
- A career break that now feels like a scarlet letter
- Leaders with no real vision
- A culture that doesn’t match the handbook
Those boulders eat up our attention. They drain our energy. And no matter how hard we push against them, they don’t budge.
So what do we do? Keep throwing ourselves against the rock, hoping this time it will crack? Curl up at its base and try to hide?
We’ve all been there.
But maybe the real work isn’t with the boulder at all. Maybe it starts closer in.
With one small, daily choice.
Tomorrow morning, as your feet hit the floor, ask yourself:
Who do I want to be today?
What’s one small thing I can do to feel more like myself again?
It doesn’t have to be big or dramatic. Maybe it’s speaking up once in a meeting. Or carving out ten minutes to write, walk, or breathe before the day sweeps you away.
Those small choices add up. They remind you that you’re not powerless. You’re not defined by the boulder.
You still have agency. You still have impact. And it starts with your Daily Choice.
Your Daily Choice
Tomorrow morning as your feet hit the floor, pause long enough to ask:
Who do I want to be today?
Write down one word that captures it and let that word guide your choices.
For the curious
If you want to dig deeper into finding agency when life feels full of immovable boulders, I can’t recommend Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning enough. It’s a timeless reminder that while circumstances may be fixed, our response never has to be.
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