By John R. Nocero & Jennifer L. Kennedy
JenniferKennedy@barberinstitute.org
March 18, 2017
Dear Jenn,
What’s up yo? Long-time no hear from. Heard a quote this week that sparked curiosity.
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
So it’s Saturday here in Cleveland. I’m in the office. I don’t need to be. I want to be. Working when no one else is working still supports not only my life goals, but ties me back into living my purpose, which is still masculine energy, accomplishment, focus, getting things done, and looking jacked, but that’s a given. Running the day is now my it and I think it ties in perfectly with the why, which is why we do what we do. All of my previous pursuits that do not align with the it are gone, replaced by pursuits that do. That’s hard. It sucks. But I don’t have a choice. It’s working for me. Drastic change is awesome so let’s do more of it.
Is this resonating with you in any way? As a compliance professional, if you were to audit your own life – you know I chose that word specifically – are you ever just totally spent at the end of the day, and realized you didn’t take a single step toward your goal, even though you were busy as hell? Do you think you have an hour, maybe two or even just five minutes that you could use to refocus and move toward your goals? Knowing you as I do, I bet you already have thought of this and are putting this into practice because you know your job inside and out and you are damn good at it.
I bet you others feel the same way we do. We just have not put it out there yet. Well, we just did.
Remember, what got you here, won’t get you there.
#hitmebackjusttochat
#trulyyoursyourbiggestfanthisisstan
#yourethegreatestpartnerever
-JRN
March 21, 2017
Dear John,
It has been awhile. But that’s ok. We have that discussion – about people who don’t interact on the regular but are still connected. We both know that’s how we operate and it works for us.
I told you recently (via text of course) that life has been a tire fire lately. And it has. But not work. The work is always in focus. That’s what makes us great at what we do – that ability to shut out everything else and focus on the work. You know I’m always playing the long game; always peeking around corners to see what’s next. These are things that make us great compliance professionals – shutting out the external, the noise around you, and focusing on what matters. It means that you can see the landscape through the trees and not only focus on the here and now, but also be actively working on and preparing for what you see coming (and, quite honestly, I’m rarely wrong about what’s coming at us).
I’m in the middle of reading “Discover Your True North” by Bill George and his idea of staying aligned with your internal compass really resonates with me at this moment in time. (Have you read it? If not, I highly recommend). His premise that in order to discover your True North you have to maintain your individuality and authenticity is something we both believe in. So, while I continue to dig into the work, I’m also putting a larger focus on my True North, and what alignment with that looks like going forward. It’s recognizing and digging out from life’s current “tire fire” to be better and stronger than before.
Last thing, re: your quote above. Having the day run me is exhausting and utterly unsatisfying (kind of like when you don’t know what you want for lunch so you chose something random and while it was filling it wasn’t satisfying. At. All). I’m making a conscious effort to run the day my way, every day. To accomplish things and leave the day feeling fulfilled.
As always, stay true to yourself,
Jenn
P.S. – I took a page out of the Nocero handbook and went to the office on Sunday. Not because there was work to be done (that’s a given) but because it’s where I wanted to be.
#brotherfromanothermother
#weshoulddothismoreoften
#DreandCube
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