… drove 45 minutes
(each way) to have lunch with my friend Nick Miller (chapter 17 of my book for more on Nick). Terrific guy and very smart. Every time I meet with him I come away with at least one great idea.
And every time lunch with him pops up on my calendar that day, I never want to go. “45 minutes? Ugh. That’s half the day by the time I go and come back. I have more important things to do.”
But of course, I go, because it’s too late to cancel. And I never, ever regret it.
All that to say that we need to separate long-term value (e.g., idea-inducing lunch with a smart guy) from short-term urgency (e.g. I got stuff to do around here today). The best, business -changing ideas always come from the long-term moments.
P.S. I think I just came up with my newsletter topic for tomorrow!