Welcome To The Community

Together, we’ll dive deep and find the strength to never give up because Great Things Take Time.

Have you figured out yet that Great Things Take Time (GTTT) isn’t just all serious mumbo jumbo? Like should I address rumors I’ve had a nose job?

Being serious isn’t the only way to get things done! Why not have a little fun? That’s how you know I’m taking the February Challenge seriously, Hibachi Adrian made a comeback in the kickoff reel. Did you catch it?

If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe and join the Great Things Take Time Community to get content from me every Monday.

Here's what's in today's email

• February Challenge

• Here To Be Your Accountabili-Bro

• Moments with Maurice

• Collective Member Highlight

• What's Got Me Smilin'

 🌸 February Challenge🌸 

We’re three days into the challenge, how have you been doing?

Don’t worry, not everything will feel like sunshine and rainbows. For those who have been, thank you for sharing your stories! It’s so special to hear each person’s takeaways and experiences.

Read the full details of each day of the challenge here and head to the @greatthingswith_adrian  Instagram account for daily reminders.

Here To Be Your Accountabili-Bro

A beautiful thing emerged this week in the first hours of the February Challenge: people started holding each other accountable to complete the first day of the challenge. 

Accountabili-Buddies are nothing new. They’re found in various challenges, programs, apps, and elsewhere. They’re helpful, so you don’t forget, but they also encourage you not to go at it alone. Sometimes, it’s much easier to show up if someone else is counting on you.  

No matter how dedicated you are to something, I bet that last sentence hit you in some type of way.

Want another one that makes you feel a certain way? Do we sometimes hold each other accountable because it makes us feel slightly superior to call someone out?

Of course, I’m not saying this is everyone, or you feel this way whenever you hold someone accountable; I’m just pointing out the raw human emotions we experience. For us to walk around feeling altruistic in everything we do will get us nowhere. It’s important to admit these things. We have our things, even me. 

When You Can’t Measure Success

Does holding one another accountable to love more feel like an odd concept to you? How can you be encouraged to do something when it can mean so many different things to each person? 

Love is an emotion; it’s not an action that can easily be measured. You don’t hit the gym to bench some sick reps of love, bro. You can’t walk away from February with before and after photos that show a transformation. It’s hard to measure what was and wasn’t at the start and where you are at the end. 

So why do we do anything? What is the importance of holding each other accountable for things that can’t be measured?

The act of reflecting on one’s actions with someone else allows you more power to examine what you’ve achieved. Hearing what you’ve done or what you haven’t through the eyes of someone else makes it real. It’s no longer an intangible thing, it’s been spoken into the world and exists. This isn’t your mind playing tricks on you or creating stories. It’s real. 

On top of that, there is power when there is collective support for something. Things that start as an idea can grow into a movement.

With the February Challenge being all about love, when you hold each other accountable to include more love in your life, you are helping make love a real and tangible thing in this world. Unless you don’t think we need more love in the world…?

So, whether you’re seeking accountability for the February Challenge or other goals, don’t be afraid to include others. The motivation and magnification is unparalleled!

And no matter what, I’m here to be your Acountabili-Bro, here to cheer you on and call you out on your B.S.

Moments with Maurice

If you only pause to reflect on your life for one moment today, do it now.

We discussed painting on Wednesday. Yes, I sure did talk about green paint a lot. If you’re not part of The Collective, I shared a bit of the story on Instagram.

While I shared my take on things, people’s own interpretations brought color into how we see things differently:

• @austinjcurtis: “Measure twice, cut once.”

• @marysolyoo: yes! 🙌 reminds me of a quote I love by John Wooden, “if you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” TAPE IT RIGHT the first time. 💥"

• @storytellwellness: i love this! i think we are running around with ‘so many rooms to paint’ that we skip the details, even when we don’t want or mean to! we seemingly are being pushed to do more and more, and the quality (even in living) is truly being compromised. we all gotta slooooow down a smidge! 💚

• plantpoweredm0m: How you do anything, is how you do everything. Forever reminding myself of this

What does it mean to you?

You didn’t just come here to listen to me talk… er.. write? The world is made of connections and community and you never know who is going to inspire something in you.

Name: Will 

Location: Westchester County, New York 

Hobbies/Interests:

Movies, enjoying great food like steak, sushi, Italian, & too much dessert (with the fam), and learning about new technology — right now, it’s Blockchain.

A Great Thing you are most proud of achieving:

Overcoming panic disorder and agoraphobia from 2015 to 2018 was one of the hardest challenges of my life. As an extroverted introvert, a toxic work experience, combined with a history of generalized anxiety, pushed me into a very dark place. Through a lot of therapy, I managed to climb out of that hole. I did experience a relapse right before the pandemic, but while I initially found relief during lockdown, true healing came through movement.

Working out with Peloton — starting during the early days of the pandemic and continuing now — has provided me with a positive outlet for my anxiety. As entitled as it may sound, whenever I go to the studio, I’m proud of myself for going, especially because I have to be very intentional about overcoming my tendency toward avoidance.

A Great Thing you are working on:

I’m learning to not take things so personally and to be less reactive.  

What do you tell yourself when things get hard, you need to find motivation, or you’re feeling down:

Look how far you’ve come. You have an acting degree and turned it into a great career (from finance to tech and now blockchain). You almost lost everything to anxiety, but made it out the other side. 

Your “hot take”:

The left lane on a highway is a passing lane. 😎 

Because no matter what, there is always something to smile about.

Conversations That Smell

Some conversations were with people, some were with AI, and some were with people ABOUT AI. The robot above responded with “Growth and Resilience” and created a specific scent based on the conversation we had. It smells like cedar and being in the woods.

You can check out more here.

Coincidentally, I was worried about creating a scent having conversations with some of the inspiring Google crew while I was there.

Steak Two Ways

It’s important for me to enjoy meals both simplified and dressed up. Tasty doesn’t always have to be complicated. What makes you feel good can be both in easy, home-cooked meals or out with friends. They both feed you in different ways.

She Lives To See Another Day

One minute we’re worried about becoming scrap, the next we’re getting upgrades, all while our photo is out there to ensure our legacy lives forever. How’s that for a car metaphor?

Remember:

-Adrian