If you start today, January 1 can be DAY 15

MYTHS:

>> New year, new you.

>> Fresh starts, clean slates.

>> Resolutions written in neat little bullet points.

January 1 has become this collective line in the sand—the day we all promise to be stronger, healthier, more intentional versions of ourselves.

But let me ask: why are we all waiting?

Here’s the truth that’s hit me hard: January 1 doesn’t have to be Day 1. It can be Day 15.

Because what if we didn’t wait for the calendar to give us permission to begin?

Christmas is right around the corner, and there’s a 14-foot Santa proudly occupying my front lawn. He’s a bright, undeniable beacon to every passerby that we are serious about this holiday.

And here’s the thing about Santa—kids believe in him without question.

They believe…

• There’s a jolly man in red with unlimited access to presents.

• There’s a magical list that knows if they’ve been naughty or nice.

• There are flying reindeer, one with a shiny red nose that doubles as a headlight.

• There’s no chimney too small for Santa’s generously sized belly.

Why do they believe it?
Because we tell them it’s real.

And the wildest part? They don’t need proof. The story alone, said with enough conviction, makes it true in their minds.

Wicked is on my mind and the last song, Defying Gravity, is playing in my head in a loop. Don't get me wrong, I'm a scientist after all and by no means do I have the chops to sit at my laptop and type about how gravity might not be real.

But here's the thing, I'm an creator and artist at heart. And there are things that defy logic:

• Music - how else do I explain my soul moving from my body to a place where my feet cannot thread?
• Laughter - how else to explain its magic, lifting heavy days and making burdens disappear?
• Imagination - how else do entire worlds that feel-as-real-as-the-things-I-touch exist?!

In the context of the professional world, is there space to defy gravity?
I vote yes.

Lately I've been thinking about asymmetric returns. You might guess at what this can mean, but here's the gist:

1. One date turns into a 20-year long marriage to your best friend.

2. One email to a stranger lands you the dream job.

3. One book's teachings results in you losing 200 pounds.

4. One podcast episode sparks the business idea that makes you millions.

5. One “yes” to a party introduces you to your future best friend.

6. One workout starts a fitness journey that changes your life.

7. One cold DM leads to a mentor who changes your career.

8. One online course gives you the skill to double your income.

9. One free event introduces you to a life-changing community.

Something you probably don't know about me is that I'm a professional singer and compete internationally. I don't do it on my own, it's a group sport with my choir. When I say that the crew of singers I hang with can create magic with their singing voices, it's really no exaggeration! If you're in Toronto area this weekend and free on Saturday, ping me - we're performing!

Like any professional sport that wants to go far, we've got coaches (with impressive resumes!!) and recently a coach said something to me about singing that I thought was SO REAL for leadership development.

12 years ago, on a bus, looking at the grey hairs of a lady seated in front of me, I decided to start a podcast. 

I remember the moment clearly: I was lost in the depth of someone's grey hair - I thought it was the the most beautiful thing in the world to have the gift of grey hair: 

What life lessons were stored in there?

What wisdom is itching to come out?

What depth is so familiar to her that others are wanting?

Who is the person under that head of hair in their fullest expression?

Got me thinking about earrings and in particular, the back rubber part of the earring, you know the one that's the tiny plastic piece that keeps the earring attached to your ear? Not all earrings have this, but most of the ones that I buy from the smaller independent boutiques have those plastic backings in a bag, ready to be dispersed. 

Here's what I realized: that tiny plastic piece is the most non-tech, behind the scenes, un-updated thing in my decades of being alive. AND that without this back piece, that earring's got no chance of seeing the light of day - ask me: I've lost plenty of earrings, thinking that I didn't need a plastic backing. The other big AH-HA (if you can call it that), is that while the earring is useless without the backing, the backing is useless without the earring. Seriously, who needs the tiniest plastic piece known to (wo)man? 

A good friend of mine recently passed away, and she was audacious. This post, is for my friend, Jenny. 

"Audacity" has my attention these days.

I think often about what it means to live audaciously and I try to find environments (friends, situations, work) that live fearlessly in audacity.

But it was only recently this year that I realized that "audacity" came to me in my younger years in the form of a tree. 

In his famous essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox," Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing."