A friend of mine, Tony Painter, dropped something on me this week that I need to share.
He said that a samurai only wears armor on the front of their body. Because they're always moving forward. And when you're always moving forward, you can't be attacked from behind.
I didn't know that. But the second he said it, I felt it.
There's a soccer term I love. Play on your front foot. It means be proactive. Be aggressive. Attack. Don't sit back and wait for things to happen to you.
I coached my daughter Emerson's team over the winter for indoor. That was one of my standards. Play on your front foot. Be aggressive. Attack the ball. Don't wait for it to come to you.
And I keep thinking about how that applies to everything.
Building a business. Leading a team. Raising a family. Growing as a person.
You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to have the whole plan figured out. You just have to keep moving forward.
I'm learning this every day. I thought I'd be doing keynote speeches all the time when I started this business. Quickly realized I didn't want to travel as much as I used to. So I pivoted. Deeper partnerships. Coaching. Working with teams. More relational. Less transactional.
And the business keeps pivoting as I learn. No workshop is perfect. No coaching engagement is perfect. But you show up. You do your best. You learn from it. And you take the next step.
That's the samurai mindset. Keep the armor on the front. Keep moving.
James Clear told me something a couple years ago that I think about all the time. He said we always want to think A to Z. But really, we should just think A to B. And then C opens up.
That's been my experience. Every single time.
The people I admire most aren't the ones with the perfect plan. They're the ones who keep taking the next best step. They're resourceful. They're optimistic. They learn from mistakes and wins equally. They keep evolving.
They play on their front foot.
So here's my challenge for you this week.
Stop trying to figure out the whole path. You don't need to see Z. You just need to see B.
Be proactive. Be optimistic. Take one step forward today. Then another one tomorrow.
Keep the armor on the front. Keep moving.
That's the way.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. There are still a couple seats left in our next cohort, which kicks of Thursday, 5/21. It's shaping up to be an amazing group. If you have any interest in being a part of this, please let me know and if it's not you, that's okay, maybe someone else comes to mind so feel free to pass on the word or recommend anyone. More on the Cohort here. Thanks!
Jon Giganti
Founder, Giganti Group
Author, With Intention