November 18, 2022

Re Who did you help today?

Longtime friend of the list Joe Jacobi wrote in with a reply to a recent message with a personal anecdote that takes my original point to the next level (shared with permission, bold mine):

Bon Dia, Jonathan,

What a great step back! And one that hits close to home.

About 10 years ago, I started to journal again using a format from my many years of keeping a training log during my days as a canoeing athlete. One of the evening questions I ask is, “Who did you serve today?”

When a sports school asked me to speak to students about keeping a training log, I tweaked this question to, “How did you serve your sport today?”

• Did you pick up a piece of trash along the river?
• Did you share an experience from your training camp with classmates?
• Did you write a message of thanks to a past top performer?

It’s not that the “Who did I serve” question asked once is so magical. But if you ask it every day, you’ll cringe on the days you leave it blank.

All the best to you, Jonathan!

With gratitude, -Joe

Thanks to Joe for writing in! :-)

Yours,

—J

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