5 minutes before writing this post, I asked for a 10% discount at Starbucks. I waited in line, went up to the register, and ordered a medium roast coffee. My heart started beating faster. “Anything else?” asked the barista. “Actually, yeah...can I get 10% off on that?” At this point I could literally feel the blood rushing through my body as I spoke. She looked at me for a few seconds, confused. “Sorry, I don’t think I heard you...could you say that one more time?”

"What happens if I fail?” is the wrong question. How about: "What happens if I succeed?” From an early age, we are taught to avoid failure. In school, we learn that ten Bs are always better than nine Fs and one A. We learn to minimize risk. Most people carry this strategy over to the real world. They live a life of Bs.

I’ve always been a planner. When I was a kid, I would make these little checklists with arbitrary things on them like “Play outside”, “Ask mom for cookies” and even "Go to the bathroom”. As I got older, the things got bigger. I started having real responsibilities. I started setting goals. Now my life is more complicated. I just don’t have as much time to focus on the little things. Sometimes it feels like I am drowning in little things. We all want to be more productive, but most of us are too overwhelmed and distracted to ever build enough momentum.

"Did you publish that blog post yet?" "No, but I did clean my desk, sort my email inbox, and re-organize my entire bookshelf by last name." Funny how when we have something important to do, we suddenly find a million other problems to solve.