The Great Experiment

I’m writing this issue from my patio.

A seat in the shade. 83 degrees, with a little less breeze than I’d like, but we’re ok. Van Halen II playing through the speaker, 9 pounds of pork shoulder on the Big Green Egg right over there, and a Michigan IPA for a Michigan summer day.

Pork over charcoal with cherry wood is a top 5 smell for me, right up there with fresh cut grass and brisk October mornings when the leaves have turned but just haven’t fallen yet.

Life’s good today.

250 is a big number. This experiment is worth celebrating. Of course, we could all complain about something, but that’s kinda the point. Nobody’s got this thing “figured out.” Nobody.

I think it’s important to remember that. For all the leaders with their ideas and politicians with their plans, we’re just a group of people trying to keep ourselves and each other in check (while probably paying a little too much attention to other people than we should).

We mean well. We’re gonna screw up, but it’s usually with some level of good intentions (or at least that’s what I choose to believe, so I don’t pull the rest of my hair out).

What I’ve been reminded of lately is what we still continue to get right.

Take the World Cup. People are making new friends and bonding over something so frivolous as a game. Taking the diversion as an opportunity to remember that we have a lot more in common than we don’t, but also that if we can set big feelings aside for a soccer match, then maybe those feelings don’t have to be so big to begin with.

Social media at large still has plenty of bright spots. Dozens of handles share good news, and countless others just show how clever and funny humans are. We’re still the butts of our own best jokes.

The narratives are out there, but the rumors of our country’s demise have been greatly overstated.

Here's what I keep coming back to on a day like today. The people who built this thing were, at their core, problem solvers. They looked at a situation they couldn't accept, decided they could figure out something better, and bet on themselves to do it. That impulse didn't disappear. It’s deeply embedded in how we show up every day.

I see it in the people I work with. Sales leaders who carry the weight of teams, families, and generational business legacies on their shoulders, who keep showing up and finding a way. Who refuse to accept that this is just how things are. Who believe, despite the uncertainty and the noise, that clarity and hard work still move the needle.

That's not a coincidence.

“We cannot tolerate this.”

This is exactly the sentiment that got us started two-and-a-half centuries ago. We decided we would no longer accept the status quo; we banded together and took it upon ourselves to figure out a better way.

This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We’re free to take the steps we need to. Some of us are brave enough to take them.

Coming Up This Week

Webinar #2 in my summer series is this week. I’m going to walk you through the framework I use for customer conversations that build trust, earn loyalty, and tee you up for referrals.

The Shoutout

Donald C. Kelly and I hit it off back in 2018, and ever since I've been watching this man work.

The podcasts. The training company. The book. The podcast company. All while growing a beautiful young family and sharing the journey with us. I don't know where he got his motor, but it's a different make and model than mine. I've got work ethic, but I get absolutely dusted when I'm next to him.

And have you seen him on a stage? He steps into a different persona with so much power and authority. It's a thing of beauty.

A few weeks ago, a Friday afternoon haircut made me think of him and his son. I picked up the phone and texted him. He responded immediately: "Send me your calendar link. It's been too long."

Grateful that guys like Donald take my calls.

Cheers,
JB