Happy Saturday Amigos,

Special weekend delivery! I’m posted up in one of my favorite YYC coffee shops and vibin’ so we’re going to keep this train a’ rolling. If there’s one thing I’m learning about being young and in the Sales world, it is a lot of fun but with that fun comes high stakes conversations, a level of responsibility to your company to drive revenue, and “being on” at all times.

If I had to say what “season” my life is in, I’m definitely in full on career season. Sometimes it’s fitness, sometimes it’s finding emotional grounding, sometimes it’s a great relationship in your life. I’m embracing the season I find myself in as I’m growing leaps and bounds every day having to live the majority of my day outside of my comfort zone. There’s not a lot of black and white in terms of clarity and decisions I find myself having to make every day. I’m a firm believer that living in the grey is what pushes you to new levels in whatever profession you find yourself in. Dealing with complexity and performing with poise under pressure is what separates the great from the good. Whatever season you find yourself in, try to embrace it! If it doesn’t feel right, maybe it’s time to hit the reset button and find a new season to thrive in!

• Picking up where we left off last week on the topic of “pursuing passion” in your professional life, I’d like to introduce you to Cal Newport. Cal is contrarian thinker when compared to the many thought leaders preaching for everyone to follow their passion when it comes to work or an entrepreneurial endeavor. He uses Steve Jobs as an example and makes a very interesting point. I’m going to let his thoughts marinate with you and check back in in a few weeks time as I have an editorial piece on this topic in the works…

• Peter Tertzakian, largely the most respected energy mind in Canada, made a great speech at the 2016 Liberal Convention on the very polarizing topic of “energy”. This is a must watch and a video that I’d encourage all to share with family members, friends and colleagues.

• Have you ever heard of failure resume? Probably not and you’re not alone… It was a new exercise to me until a few weeks ago when a close friend broached the subject. Often times, when looking at our personal growth and development, we tend to focus on the high times and glaze over the not-so-nice times. The times when life was just flat out hard. The bounces weren’t going our way and seemed like there were more tears than cheers. However, if you try this exercise and take an honest look back on your failures, you might start to see patterns appear. Were you the one driving change or was change just happening to you? Was your work ethic up to snuff or were you the victim of a decision completely out of your control? Ideally, you’ll realize that your failures weren’t so much failures as much as “successful disappointments” where you were reaching for the stars and came up just a bit short. The beauty of it all is that all those detours probably led to huge personal growth, a strengthened state of mind, new friendships, increased work ethic, and all in all, led you to where you are now.
• It doesn’t matter if you like fishing or not, remember to keep your reel shiny, line tight and hooks sharp 🙂

• Brooke Henderson. Canada’s new shining star on the LPGA. The girl can play. In the words of Darren Dutchyschen “throwing darts and breaking hearts”. Check out these absolute lasers she was firing few weeks ago. Way to go Brooke!

This Mailbag is in memory of my best friend and cousin, Matty, who tragically passed away two years ago. We held our first annual memorial golf tournament in honor of Matty last weekend in Edmonton at the Sturgeon Valley Golf Club. Many people in attendance don’t subscribe to my Mailbag but I still want to thank the many individuals, families, and local businesses who came together to help organize and support the event. We raised almost $40,000 in Matty’s name for the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Many thanks and much love to all who came together for such a fantastic day.

Quote of the Week:  “It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy.“ – George Horace Lorimer

Song of the Week: “Up and Up” – Coldplay. This one’s for you Matty.

Best,

Mike