What looked like a lack of focus was actually curiosity. I wasn’t quitting; I was exploring. Eventually, those disparate interests converged into a multifaceted way of thinking.

True expertise isn’t forced; it is a byproduct of relentless curiosity. When you are genuinely fascinated by something, you naturally dig deeper than others care to. You keep pulling the thread simply because the next layer interests you.

I hope my kids stay fiercely curious about everything. The small, the weird, and the obscure. I hope no one talks them out of an interest just because it lacks immediate utility. Every obsession is productive; it just requires a longer arc to see the return.

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But lying comes with a heavy price. When we’re caught, we lose trust, which is ultimately all we have, and the deceit eats away at us from the inside. I’ve lied many times in my life, both to others and to myself. Only when you learn to face your fears and accept the consequences do you muster the courage to be truly honest. When you live in honesty, you live in alignment, and you remain free. My greatest wish for my children is that they find the bravery to always speak the truth, so they can live a life of genuine freedom.

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They come from everywhere. People who get value from something you built, then disappear. Teams that question and question while you push something forward. Then someone’s last-minute priority changes the plan anyway.

I worked this hard because there was no other path. Every project that became something was the back end of a long stretch of showing up while problems happened.

From the outside it looks like luck. From the inside it looks like an average day. You keep going, because stopping is the only way to lose.

Just keep showing up. That’s the trick.

Lettie, Emmett: when it feels like the problems will never stop coming, that’s not a sign you’re failing. That’s the sign you’re still in it. Keep showing up.

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Go after what you want. Believe you can do great things and then try. Don’t worry if the balancing act is messy.

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For a long time I figured the move was to figure out how to fit. The older I got, the more I just followed my own instincts. I didn’t have another option, and my uniqueness became my identity. What I want my kids to know is that the part of you that feels different is usually the part worth keeping.

So Lettie, and to the (soon to be born) baby, don’t waste your time trying to be the kid everyone else is being. There are plenty of those already. The thing the world doesn’t have, and won’t have unless you decide to give it, is you.

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