I woke up in the middle of the night in April, about a month into this whole COVID mess, and had a bit of a panic attack. My film business was whacked upside the head, finances were not going to be where I expected them to be, and it appeared that all forward momentum had been lost. Add to that the continual background noise of misinformation, breathless headlines, no real leadership, and people dying by the thousands, and it appeared that an even bigger doom was on the horizon. What started as days turned into weeks in the blink of an eye.
I knew I needed help. Laying in bed counting shadows, I remembered back to a pivotal point in my life. It was about two weeks before my mother passed away in 2018, she was sleeping in bed in the hospital after bravely battling MRSA for 4 months. It had been a heroic battle, full of just about every drama you can imagine, but now she was tired and spent most of her days sleeping.
I had a business call with a big client scheduled, and instead of leaving the room like I usually would, I just turned down the TV and took the call. It wasn’t pleasant. The client wasn’t happy with some creative we had come up with, the budget we proposed was too big, and they needed it sooner than originally expected. And though everything remained cordial, I hung up the phone exasperated.
That’s when I noticed my Mom was awake. She sat up on one elbow in bed, looking at me like only mothers can do.
“You know, Chris,” she said - those eyes of hers a fire bright. “You need to have more fun.” Then she laid back down and went back to sleep. That’s it. That’s all she said. And that’s when I knew I had to take control of where I went next. That’s when I knew I had to become a Radical Optimist.
I changed course. I started a new company with more purpose. I settled on knowing that adversity doesn’t build character as much as reveals it. How we react to the world, to the universe, is the one thing we can control. It’s the age old stoic belief that even in a global pandemic, we can shape our own purpose and meaning. We can create our future.
That’s what I’ve been working at doing. And you can too. It hasn’t been perfect. I still have questions, doubts, insecurities. But slowly my approach around Radical Optimism is taking hold. I’ve embraced the time with my family, I’ve reset my priorities. With optimism, we have hope - and with Radical Optimism we can be the change. There is no better work than that.
In this time of need, Radical Optimists (like you) can be the difference. Being radical right now is our best option.
So sign up to take part in the Radical Optimists revolution. We’ll share ideas on how to make things happen. We’ll help each other reach more of our potential. We’ll live the story we’ll want to retell years from now.
What does signing up mean? It means, for now, you’ll get a weekly newsletter. This will grow into more as this all takes shape. We’ll make stuff together, share ideas, hold each other accountable to do our best work. We’ll beat the drum loudly. Sign up and take the first step.
