My friend Heather recommended a book on leadership to me one day.  “You really only have to read the first chapter, though.” she says. “The rest of the book is just filler on what you get from the first 20 pages.”  So I instantly thought “Then why the hell did he bother to write the rest of the book?!?!  What a waste of time, money, paper (read:trees), and resources!”  Ugh.  Just write the first freakin’ chapter!  Heather didn’t have an answer for me, and I never read beyond page 20.  And guess what?  Those first 20 pages were sheer brilliance and I am not missing a thing.

When you hit gold, stop.  No need to explain yourself, no need to apologize for 8 more chapters, blog posts, or TPS reports.  

YOU ARE BRILLIANT.  SOLID GOLD.

When we get in our proverbial shit, we human beings bow to this crazy agreement that we need to fill up the whole world with fluff, with words, with ….. what?  Have you ever truly enjoyed someone talking for the sake of talking?  Think about the time saved: 2 minute meetings, 1 chapter books, smaller phone bills (cha-ching!).  What could you be doing with all of that time?  Like really?  Hit me with what you would do with an extra 3 hours, 3 days, 3 years of freedom in your life.  And let’s start writing that first (brilliant) chapter.