Author: Rachel Hanson

Alright that's a little bit of hyperbole. The target you're aiming for does matter, but the the truth is the achieving of the goal is never what changes you. The process is what develops the person. Who you are is more about the sum of the work you do in striving for your aims than … Continue reading Your goals don’t matter

S+R=G or Stress + Rest = Growth. Shared this equation (that I learned from Brad Stulberg) with a team in a practice recently. Too little stress without adequate rest leads to chronic fatigue, burnout, sickness, injury, etc. Too little rest without enough stress leads to chronic boredom, stagnation, lack of growth. You want the sweet … Continue reading S+R=G

"No wild animal has ever participated in a should." - Lion Tracker's Guide to Life Humans get lost in shoulds all the time. Lost in the moment and lost in life. I should attend that social function that I really don't have any interest in. I should buy a car like Mike's. I should be … Continue reading The wild way

Flow is often described as a peak human state. There's certainly some truth to that. And it's not the full story. The term "shitty flow" has been used to describe flow states that are not aligned with excellence and our values. You can get in a flow state answering endless emails and doom scrolling on … Continue reading Flow

Character, from the Greek charassein, meaning to engrave, scratch, or etch. Led to the Greek noun charakter meaning a stamping tool or the distinct mark left by said tool. Your character is what is stamped on you, the distinct mark of you. Aristotle referred to excellence as "what you repeatedly do (...) not an act, … Continue reading Character

Excellence combines mastery and mattering (Thanks Brad Stulberg). Excellence is not only available to a few. I believe it's available to everyone - it's part of our birthright as humans. Many will not attain it, everyone has the opportunity. Mastery is growth in a particular skillset. Can be done with the right amount of sweat … Continue reading Excellence

Great building, great leading, great YOUing is always more about subtraction than addition. Cut away the bullshit. Cut away the fluff. Cut away the distractions. Most talk around the important things. They add committees, they add topics for discussion, they add a new routine, they add more, more, more. Cut out the noise. What's THE … Continue reading Flip the norm

Excellence and optimization can be at odds. Optimization can be fragile - dialing in the system so tightly that there are no inefficiencies, no slack in the system, everything is "just so." Excellence, however, requires curiosity and exploration. Excellence requires sometimes backtracking, often pausing to learn and grow. Where optimization is fragile, excellence is resilient. … Continue reading Excellence and optimization