Ladies and Gentlemen,

Could I please have your attention… I’ve just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. And I need all of you to stop what you’re doing and read… The 17th edition of the Mailbag might be the best of 2016… Cannonball!!!

• I’m not sure if any of you ever got into The Newsroom on HBO a few years ago but it is a modern day West Wing (I’m using that reference like I’ve actually seen the show but I trust Aaron Sorkin). The reason I like The Newsroom is that the characters are very real, intricate, and well developed. Perhaps most so, lead news anchor – Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels). He is an unbelievable character to observe, analyze and learn from. One of the best parts of the show is that while the characters are fictitious, all the news events the show covers are actual events (Gabby Gifford shooting, Mitt Romney Presidential campaign, Occupy Wall Street, to name a few). The opening 10 minutes of the pilot episode is in my books THE BEST OPENING TO ANY TV SHOW. Don’t believe me: check it out for yourself here. As Albertans, we are yearning for a strong leader to emerge and look up to. I think we could use a prominent journalist or news anchor like a Will McAvoy to start engaging political dialogue and hold our political leaders accountable for their words and actions, both provincially and federally. McAvoy is a big picture thinker who tells it like it is, which is a rarity in the “politically correct” society we live in. Side note: Jeff Daniels filmed Dumb and Dumber 2 and The Newsroom at the same time… That has to be one of the most incredible simultaneous acting feats of all time considering the polar difference in characters.

• This is a fantastic TED talk titled, The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers, passed onto me by a colleague of mine (thanks Paige!). Adam Grant is one of the most renowned organizational psychologists in the US and I highly recommend reading his work. All you have to do is Google him and plenty will show up in your news feed. Because Adam is fairly young himself, he is very in tune with the Millennial generation and that’s what allows him to connect so well with his audience.

• Tiga Tiga Woods y’all… Haven’t heard that much as of late, likely because he played his first 18 holes of 2016 last week. This ESPN feature titled, The Secret History of Tiger Woods (slightly lengthy but worth the double espresso), is an introspective look at one of the top 10 most dominant athletes in his prime the world has ever seen and his fall from grace. It’s kind of an eerie read to be honest to learn how eff’d up his life turned in recent years, completely unraveling in a downward spiral. Tiger isn’t hurting for money but his actual life, external of things money can buy, appears to have a lot of putting the pieces back together ahead of him. Read on…

• This is one of the best perspectives on goal setting, or shall I say establishing and adhering to the “process” that you’ll find courtesy of an author I greatly admire – Ryan Holiday. For me personally in 2016, I’ve been developing a structure and process for achieving my goals and surrounding myself with the right team of people. I’m learning it is very much a continuous learning process that requires constant evolution and it will always will be that way, no matter where you are at in your life. I think it’s fair to say a lot of people struggle with goal setting (I certainly have in the past) and it is absolutely a learned skill and something that you must chip away at, respecting the process every step of the way. As my mentor always tells me “Intention doesn’t lead to performance. Structure leads to performance.” You don’t achieve your goals by wishing, you achieve them by taking disciplined action. This kind of action does not come without establishing a process that works for you, taking no shortcuts along the way, and then after a consistently putting in the work for a period of time, the results start to come. It’s not easy but nothing worth fighting for ever is.

• I started watching a Netflix show titled Flaked, a Will Arnett creation, in which he is also the lead character in the show. I’m halfway through the 1st season and I’ve really enjoyed throwing an episode on with dinner. It touches on all things friendship, alcoholism, love, community and finding yourself. Worth checking out if you’re looking for an easy show to get into…

Song of the Week: A lot of Prince tributes have been posted and passed around the past week for good reason but if you’re trying to find his music on YouTube, it is damn near impossible, as he dearly protected his musical content from online streaming services. However, this absolute gem, courtesy of The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, slipped through the cracks with Prince playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” alongside Tom Petty and Steve Winwood. Thanks to my colleague, Mike, for this great find!

Quote of the Week: “Life must be lived forward but can only be understood backwards.” – Will Arnett in Flaked

Last but not least, shoutout to Team Canada heading to Rio and their unveiling of Ice in Our Veins!

One Love,

Mike