Mario Kart and Choosing Where to Invest Your Effort (9-3-25)

Last week was an entry from, Cameron, and his thoughts on be brave enough to ask questions. This week is an entry from Alice and is about being intentional about where you invest your effort. I hope you enjoy the insights.

My dad is a really good Mario Kart player. He always gets 1st place. Anytime we win, he usually lets us. He’s pretty good at most video games, not just at Mario Kart. I sometimes say he’s one of the best players ever. “Nope, I’m nowhere close,” he usually says.

One day, I asked myself if I’d ever be as good a player as him. I realized I wouldn’t. Which didn’t feel good exactly, realizing that I wasn’t going to be the best. But if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t really putting the work in to be as good as a player. Why? Because I didn’t want to. That’s not being lazy, that’s accepting my limits.

In the grand scheme of things, being the best wasn’t one of my goals. I mean, yes, if I could magically become the best player I would. But to work as hard as my dad to do so, I wasn’t really interested. I’d rather spend my time becoming a better writer and artist. I enjoy writing and drawing, and I enjoy putting the effort in to getting better at those things.

Let’s connect this to work. Think about your career. What are some areas that you’re already happy with? What are some areas where you’d like to grow and improve?

The challenge: Where will you invest your efforts to get better?

Bonus story from Andrew- When I first joined this company, I wanted to climb the ladder and be one of the leaders of a business unit or something like that. I don’t want to do that anymore. If I’m being honest like Alice, I don’t have the right skillset for those roles. Also, I’m not interested in gaining the skillsets and experiences to be great in those roles. Instead, I’d rather continue to invest in areas that are in line with my strengths and maximize the value I can provide like innovation, creative thinking, communication, etc. I likely won’t ever be the leader of a business unit or something like that, and that’s more than okay. I will continue to grow and lead in other ways though.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

An Open Letter to 2024 (12-4-24)

As the year comes to a close, I’ve once again taken time to sit near my Christmas tree and reflect. Here is my open letter to 2024, and the lessons it gave me.

Dear 2024,

How’s it going? If I had to sum up my experience with you in one word it would be, “Whoa!” Whoa as in, “Whoa! What the heck just happened?” or “Whoa! That’s enough already. You don’t need to keep pouring it on.” And “Whoa! How in the world did we make it through all that?” You were tough from the get-go, and you never let up.

My theme for this year was to “Intentionally Invest” There were some places in life where I failed miserable in investing in the right things, and instead spent energy and time like crazy just trying to make it. There were other areas where I did invest well, and I’m already benefiting from the compound interest from those efforts.
I’m so thankful for my health and continue to understand why I shouldn’t ever take that for granted.
I hope that everyone finds a partner one day that loves them, supports them, cares for people, and holds things down the way my wife does. If you’ve already found someone like that, make sure you count your blessings.
If my kids were flowers, they would be in full bloom now, and that’s beautiful. If they were flowers, they would also be bright and colorful with creative weird patterns, who grow where they are planted while learning how to try out new soil.
My goal in my job is always to work magic, to find ways to do the seemingly impossible. I’m so proud of myself, because I know I worked magic this year. I worked blood magic, sweat magic, tears magic. I transformed dreams and wild ideas into reality and slayed the status quo like an evil dragon. And when the dementors tried to come and suck out my soul, I yelled, “Expecto patronum” and shined a bright light until they retreated. #Hufflepuff (Side note, I wonder what my patronus would be. Bonus points to anyone who gives me a good answer)
2024, you taught me how important it is to have a few good people you can lean on. I worked magic, because I could lean on them when I needed to. I hope you all have a squad of folks you can lean on when stuff gets hard.
Being seen and being valued are two of the most important gifts you can give someone. Never underestimate how much a kind word or gesture can mean. Special thanks to all the people who gave me those gifts this year.
When the going got tough, I didn’t put the team on my back, I brought them into my heart. There’s a difference. The back merely holds heavy weight. The heart holds weight, embraces the people, and still beats with hopeful energy. The heart is stronger than other muscles could ever hope to be.
This year reminded me how much strength there is in vulnerability, and how similar our experiences are as humans. I had a blog series where I talked about going to therapy, not knowing if people had any similar feelings or issues. I was blown away by the number of people who said, “Whoa! This is the same things I’m going through.” It was a good reminder that we are never truly alone, and that being brave enough to share our stories hopes us all.
I think almost everyone I’ve spoken to is on the verge of burnout or a breakdown. I pray we all recharge and we find ways to avoid this next year.
Speaking of recharge, I’m finally making some progress on taking care of myself physically. Been working out regularly and seeing increases in strength. I have a long way to go, but proud of my progress.
Whoa! That’s a lot for one year. I hope that 2025 is a little bit smoother around all the spiky edges 😉

The challenge: If you haven’t taken the time, take a few moments to reflect on 2024 and the lessons and emotions it gave you this year. How will these shape you moving forward?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Therapy and Investing Effort (9-25-24)

This will be my last in the series about lessons I’ve learned from therapy. We started with asking for help, analyzed root causes, and explored thought traps and radical acceptance. We will end by reflecting on therapy and investing effort.

As I mentioned in the first blog, I leveraged our Lyra services for therapy. Going through this experience consisted of a few different things like live sessions, assessments, articles to read, and online videos to watch. We were a few weeks in, and I was telling my therapist that I appreciated the different resources. She shared that she was concerned she was assigning me too much, because she recognized that I was busy in life. I thanked her for her consideration and told her that she was not overburdening me. I explained that I wanted the materials, because I knew how important it was to invest in my mental health. I came to her, because life was kicking my butt, so my number one goal was to work through that. As a result, I was committed to investing in my mental health, and I made the necessary trade-offs to do this.

How does this connect to anything? So much of life is about putting in effort to grow. The challenge is that there are so many domains in life we could invest int. We can put in effort for our physical health, mental health, relationships, parenting, careers, etc. This can be overwhelming, especially if we allow ourselves to fall in the trap of thinking that we need to master and max out all of those domains. Instead, we need embrace that everything can’t get equal focus all the time, AND THAT’S OKAY. For me, in that period of my life, I over indexed on my mental health, because I needed that. I did the extra work in that space and deprioritized other things. As my life moves from season to season, I know I’ll continue to evolve where I put the work in and how I invest my effort.

The challenge: Where will you invest your effort?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

One Word or Phrase for 2024 (1-3-24)

Happy Wednesday and Happy New Year!

I hope you had fabulous holidays filled with joy, love, and peace. We will kick off 2024 with a focus on identifying a word/phrase that will be your north star for the year.

At the beginning of every year, I take time to reflect and choose a word or phrase that will be my north star for the year. I’ve found it helps ground me versus getting lost among setting too many goals. To identify my one word/phrase I ask myself things like: What went well last year that I want to continue? Where could things have been better? What do I want to achieve? How do I want to feel about things? What do I want to give more focus and energy toward this year? What do I want others to notice and say about me?

In 2024 my phrase is intentionally invest. This is all about making sure I’m being intentional about how I spend my energy. In any given facet of my life, there is A LOT that I could do. There are dozens, if not hundreds of different challenges I could tackle and areas of my life where I could try to grow. Since there are so many, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and feel like I must solve all of them. In the past, this has led to me spiraling and spending energy in too many disparate places to make the impact I want to make. Have you ever felt like that? With this in mind I chose the phrase intentionally invest to remind me that I need to pause and think about where I truly need to invest my time and effort to achieve the outcomes I want. If I take a moment to pause and think, out of all of the different challenges I could tackle, there are only a handful that I should or need to work on in each phase of life. Whether it’s health, work, social, or financial aspects of life, if I’m clear on my goals then there are usually only like 2-3 things I need to get right in order to be successful. Intentionally investing is my nudge to remember that I need to be clear on the outcomes I want, select the investments that will get me there, and continue to make consistent daily deposits so I can reap the rewards of compound interest over time.

The challenge: What is your one word or short phrase for the year? What is your north star?

Bonus: On top of choosing a theme, I also build a vision board to print and keep in a visible spot at home. The picture from this week is that vision board.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Being New: Balancing Quick Wins and Long-term Investments (9-20-23)

Last week was about being new and engaging with self-doubt. This week is about balancing quick wins with long-term investments.

Whenever I start a new role, I’m flooded with things that I could do. There are fires to fight, projects to jump in on, training to take, relationships to build, priorities to establish, etc. At this point I often become consumed with an urge to get a quick win. It’s like a clock starts the moment I begin the role counting how long it takes me to demonstrate my value and that I’m an asset to the team. I also have a desire to earn a quick win to build some positive momentum. As a result, I often find myself in a situation where I am trying to balance gaining quick wins vs making more long-term investments with my time and energy. Do you ever find yourself in this predicament?

What does this have to do with anything? Everyone wants to have a quick win. I know early on in this role, one of my favorite moments was when I came home and was able to tell my wife, “I actually provided value today!” There’s nothing wrong with wanting to dive in and begin attacking the problem as soon as possible. At the same time, it’s easy to get so focused on chasing activities that would be a quick win that you don’t appropriately invest in the things that set you up for long-term success. For example, you don’t take the time to understand the culture and how decisions are made. You don’t take the time to build strong relationships with your co-workers. You don’t take the time to understand the challenges and their root causes. You don’t the time to ensure you’re clear on what your overarching priorities are. You don’t take the time to create create the necessary organization and structure to help you execute those priorities. All those things are important. NONE of them are quick wins. They are all activities that take a significant investment of time and effort. Throughout my career I’ve come to learn and appreciate that while the quick wins give me some momentum, it is the long-term investments in the right things in the beginning of a new role that will provide the sustainable fuel to succeed. As I get older, I’m learning to better appreciate the need for and getting better at balancing both quick wins and long-term investments.

The challenge: Whether you’re in a new role or have been in your role for a period of time, how are you balancing quick wins with long-term investments?

Bonus thoughts: In the spirit of vulnerability, there are times where I feel like I’m moving sooooo slow in this role. Part of it is because I reached a point in my old role where I knew things and could act with speed. Part of it because this role is trying to navigate a lot of uncharted territory, which requires time. While I might be moving slow now, I keep telling myself that I’m creating the necessary infrastructure that will lead to more substantial success. Selfishly, if I am able to do this right, I think the value I’m able to generate after making these investments in building the right infrastructure will far outweigh and erase any amount of slowness I had the first few months in the role. Only time will tell.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Investments and Returns (6-3-20)

Last week was about diversifying how you spend your time to help you be a better human, and Friday’s bonus entry was about investing time and effort in becoming more anti-racist. This is our final entry in the series about investments and it is about investments and returns.

Let’s pretend for a moment I’m a financial advisor. I explain that you can choose to invest in fund A or B. How would you decide to invest your money? I bet that before you did anything, you would want to better understand funds A and B and their rate of returns. After you understood that, then you could evaluate the tradeoffs and decide how to invest.

What does this have to do with anything? In the above example, you would want to understand the potential return, so you could assess the trade-offs and make the right decision. I see two applications of this idea. The first application comes to the work we do. We all have more work than we can handle, so we must make decisions on where to INVEST our time. How often do you pause to think about the RETURN you could get for your effort and then invest your time accordingly? I don’t always do this. Sometimes I just start doing the things on my to-do list without thinking about what is important. Other times, I get lost trying to make something perfect, and all the extra hours I put in didn’t give me much return.

The other connection is about investing in each other. The other day my wife walked into our makeshift office, and she saw me writing an email with a meme telling the person they were awesome. My wife asked me how much time I spend recognizing others and helping them feel valued. I laughed, because I don’t look at that as spending time. I look at this act as INVESTING time. Furthermore, it’s the best and smartest investment I can make out of all the things I do. I’d argue the same would be true for you. Here’s why. I want to have a positive impact on the people we serve. I’m not smart enough or talented enough to do that on my own. Also, the work I do is so complicated that I can’t do it on my own, so I need help to reach my goal. As a result, I invest in people. I give them my energy, effort, compassion, and words of appreciation. In return, I gain teammates and friends. These teammates and friends share their brainpower and skills. Together, we do incredible things, ultimately delivering the impact I want to deliver in the world, which makes me feel fulfilled. The only way I can reach my goals is by investing in others.

Challenge 1: Will you be more aware of how you invest your time and what returns you will get (for both projects and people)?

Challenge 2: Spend a few minutes investing in someone else today with a few words of recognition or something else.

Sending peace and love,

Andrew Embry

The Importance of Diversifying your Investments (5-27-20)

Last week was about 401(k)s, the company match, and understanding what “match” you offer to others. This week is about the importance of diversifying. Any financial article I’ve read or expert I’ve spoken with has mentioned the importance of diversification within a portfolio and across investment vehicles. The primary reason you diversify is to minimize risk and enable better outcomes.

What does this have to do with anything? What if we thought about diversifying the way we invest our time the same way we thought about diversifying our financial investments? Are we diligent enough to diversify how we spend our time across the different aspects of life? Whether diversifying financial investments or time investments, you primarily to it to reduce risk and enable better outcomes. In the finance world, if you dump everything into one investment and it goes wrong you lose your money. In the non-finance realm, if you dump all of your time into one thing, you lose out on so many aspects of life that make it worth being human.

Have you ever allowed yourself to be totally consumed by something? For me, it can be work. Last week I hit a wall, because I realized I was putting all my time into work and neglecting the other aspects of life. This realization inspired this week’s blog. Throughout my life I’ve seen individuals who put all of their eggs into the work basket, and then never find the fulfillment and joy they were looking for because they didn’t diversify their time investments. The most content happiest people I know are the ones who diversify their time across aspects of life. They invest some in work, some in their partner and/or family, some in friends, some in a cause larger than themselves, and some in themselves and their hobbies (even if the hobbies have no “payoff”).

Challenge 1 : How are you investing your time? Are you diversifying enough to be the best human you can be?

Challenge 2: Especially if you are an official leader with authority, are you taking the time to let others know you are diversifying your time? Are you taking the time to let them know it’s okay to step away from work to spend time on themselves, their spouse, their kids, their friends, etc.? In case you don’t know, the act of you sharing could go a long way coming from you.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

401(k)s and Matching (5-20-20)

Last week was about investing in relationships with people in tough times. This week is about 401(k)s and the company match.

The 401(k) is one of the most popular retirement vehicles out there. There are different nuances to the 401(k), but there are some similar components. There is the amount that you invest and often there is an amount or percentage that a company is willing to match. The company match is a mechanism used to encourage people to invest in their retirement. If your company is going to offer a 6% match, you’re likely to put a minimum of 6% of your salary into the 401(k). If your company match is higher or lower than that, you are likely to follow suit and at a minimum invest that amount of money in the plan to take advantage of the free money.

What does this have to do with anything? The company match is just a way of encouraging you to take action to invest. What if we applied this same thinking to leaders, culture, and teams? Throughout my experience in work and life, I feel that most people will match the energy/vibes of their leader. If the leader sets “the match” with behaviors that drive inclusion, teamwork, high standards, and performance, then others will rise to match that. If the leader sets “the match” with behaviors that drive competition between teammates, distrust, and lack of clarity, then others will match that.

Take a second and look at yourself and your leadership. What “match” are you offering to people? How are you offering that “match”? How are they responding to that “match”? Gut check yourself. If you don’t instantly have clear answers to those questions, then you probably aren’t guiding people as well as you think you are.

The challenge: As a leader, what “match” are you offering?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Are you investing in relationships when times are tough? (5-13-20)

This week we are going to start a series inspired by investments. This week is about investing in relationships, even when times are tough.

COVID has unleashed ripple effects across our entire economy which has created volatility in the market. As a result, there have been many individuals who have withdrawn their investments and/or stopped investing. Instead, they focus on conserving whatever resources they currently have. The individuals who are doing this are focused primarily on the short-term. Other individuals might look at things more long-term and choose to continue to invest during these times, believing that the long-term benefits will be more than what they are currently putting into the market.

What does this have to do with anything? What if I told you the above situation wasn’t about money or stocks? What if I told you the above situation was about investing in your relationships with others? How would that change how you thought about things?

I don’t know about you, but in times of stress I’ve found that it is easy for me to become consumed by work or the situation at hand. As a result, I stop putting time and effort into the relationships with the people around me, and I withdraw inside myself. This might help me short-term, because it conserves energy. However, long-term those relationships have weakened and have lost the opportunity to grow into what they could have been. I’d argue that when times are tough it’s even MORE important to invest in the relationships with the people around you, and the pay-off on that investment will be 10 fold whatever you put in. As I reflect on the people I’m most loyal to, the people I would give the most effort, love, time, and resources, they are all the people who invested in me when things were tough.

The challenge: Times are tough. Are you investing in the relationships with the people around you?

In case you’re looking for some inspiration or a nudge, here are some thoughts about how you can invest in relationships right now

Don’t underestimate the power of a quick text. Whether it’s a meme, a gif, a bitmoji, an emoji, a joke, or a quick word it can be incredibly powerful. Not all investments have to be huge lump sums. Often the best investments are ones where we keep adding to the account over time.
Write an email/letter of gratitude and appreciation for someone. It will be the best 5 minutes to spend all day.
Share how you’re feeling with someone else. Sometimes the best investment is vulnerability, and admitting that things are quite perfect. It’s amazing how that can help bring you and someone else closer together.
My team is currently in an awesome groove with virtual happy hours. I think the secret is having a little structure. My teammate leads them and they each have a theme and a question of the day for us to answer. I never thought this would be my jam, but they are the highlight of my week and something I hope we continue even after we go back to the workplace.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Investing Time in People (11-15-17)

Last week we kicked off a series on time and focused on spending time vs. spending money. This week I’d like to challenge us to think about how we are choosing to invest our time in people.

Let’s pretend for a minute that you walked into the office and you saw a nickel on the ground. You picked it up and put it in your pocket. Later on when you see me, for grins and giggles you say, “I found this nickel. It’s yours!” Then you flip it in my direction. I catch the nickel and say thanks. Then, I say, “This is yours,” and I flip a dime over to you. I walk away before you can ask me why I flipped you a dime. A few days later you find a dime on the ground, you go through the same thing, and after you toss me the dime I toss you back a quarter. You decide to keep experimenting and very quickly, you realize that if you give me money I’ll give you MORE money back than you give me. It’s doesn’t matter if you give me a penny or $100 bill. If you give me money, I’ll give you more back. Besides trying to figure out why this is happening, what are you bound to do next? I’m sure you would become very intentional about handing me money on a regular basis, so you could reap the reward from that “investment”.

What does this have to do with work? The above situation is a winning situation for you, because you get MORE than what you give. What if you could have the same situation at work? I think you can. Instead of giving someone coins you found on the floor, what if you spent a few minutes intentionally investing in them? Your investments could be different things. Maybe the investment is recognition, and your investment is a few seconds to send a nice email/text/note to someone to let them know you appreciate them. Maybe the investment is giving some feedback to help them get better. Maybe you take time out of your day to coach/mentor someone. Whatever this looks like, you are taking your time and investing it in another person, and that investment is bound to turn into something.

How have you felt when someone invested time in you? How did that change your relationship with that person? How did that impact the work you did? From my experience, the best leaders and people I’ve worked with have been the ones who have invested time in me in one way, shape, or form. Sometimes the time they invested in me was a short few seconds and sometimes it was longer. When people invested in me I did my best to give them back more and more. As our relationship continued the time they invested in me became like a savings account that kept accruing interest. If I feel like you are investing and invested in me I’ll give you hours of my life. I’ll give you my energy. I’ll give you my magic. I’d hope that those things are worth more than the original investment of time that people placed in me.

The challenge: Are you investing your time in people? If I asked the people around you if you consistently invested in them, what would they say?

Take action: Invest time in someone today.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry