Good morning!

Summer #43 has fully and officially wrapped up at our house - even though it’s still hottttt as you know what here in Florida. 🥵

You might be wondering, “Why is he calling it Summer #43?”

I saw something recently from Jesse Itzler that was talking about how we only have a limited amount of summers in our life time. Of course I know that, but it doesn’t mean I always remember it. Putting a number on my summer is one way I can help myself not forget that my time is running out. And if the average life is 78 years then I hopefully have 35 more… 😳

This summer was a whole mixed bag. Awesome. Chaotic. Fun. Tiring.

Nonetheless, so much to be grateful for.

And how I feel now is sort of how I feel after finishing a big project at work. There’s actually time to take a breath, which makes me immediately start thinking about what’s next.

But something I learned at Nike is that immediately after a big project is the perfect time to take a look back - what worked, what didn’t, and what opportunities are there for the future.

We did it after each All-Star Weekend activation.

We did it when we launched Nike Adapt - the first ever basketball shoe with power laces.

And we did it when we celebrated Kobe’s legacy with Mamba Week back in 2020.

There’s actually Biblical context and wisdom in looking back as well. It’s only in looking back that we see if we are what we hope to be.

In both those pieces of scripture, and in my lived experience, the importance of looking back has rung true.

What that says to me is that our futures - summers or otherwise - can be improved by taking time to reflect.

​
​WINS, LOSSES, & OPPORTUNITIES

So, making time to reflect has become something I’ve taken to heart and put into both my personal and professional life.

I’ve created a framework to help me reflect within a simple, easily repeatable structure. I call it a WLOPs exercise, which is short for Wins, Losses, and Opportunities.

It’s meant to be a simple way to highlight the wins, bring to light the losses, and identify opportunities for doing things differently in the future.

So, as much as I want to immediately start thinking about what’s to come in the next few months, I spent some time this past week doing my WLOPs exercise for my summer.

All I did was create three columns (Wins, Losses, and Opportunities obviously) and then took a few minutes to start writing under each one.

Here’s a few of the best bits that I want to remember for next summer:

• WIN: Deleting Instagram from my phone at the start of the summer. Cut my screen time by 30% 😳
• LOSS: The weekly meeting Erin and I use to make sure we are on the same page completely fell off, as well as date nights 👎🏼
• OPPORTUNITY: Putting some better structure to our calendars and having some weekly rhythms could be an opportunity to create more memories (i.e. Tuesday nights we go to the beach 🌊)

There were others as well, but these three in particular help set the stage for getting more Worthy Wins next summer for me.

YOUR OPPORTUNITY

If you want to keep pursuing Worthy Wins in your life, I want to encourage you to consider doing the same exercise.

But here’s the important thing: this is meant to be a simple exercise. You don’t need a few hours. You can spend less than 10 minutes and get a good picture of what worked - and what didn’t.

(FWIW, there are plenty of other great questions you could ask and reflect on if you want to take more time. Just reply and ask if yu want some, but I always come back and gravitate towards practical reflection and application that can be done in a short period of time.)

Regardless of what season of life you’re in, spending this little bit of time now can be helpful as you look to create more Worthy Wins next summer.

If you take the time to do this, there is one more step that can be as simple or complex as you like. But I think simple will always win.

Take what you just wrote, create a meeting on your calendar on or around April 20 (exact date doesn’t matter) of next year and copy in your WLOPs. Call the meeting “Summer Planning + Learnings”. So even if you never touch it again until then, this is going to hit your calendar.

Bonus points: Invite someone else to the meeting (spouse, partner, or friend are all great options) to discuss it with you and get ahead of how you’ll pursue Worthy Wins next summer.

Either way, I just want to encourage you to take moment to pause, reflect, and prepare for next summer.

The reminder I started with - that we only have a limited number of summers left makes that all the more important. I know I want summer #44 to be better than #43.

Rooting for you!

JO

_____________

PS: If you would like to help me out on the book front, the biggest thing I need right now are reviews on Amazon. ❤️

If you haven't gotten a copy and are still willing, here's the best ways: ​Hardcover and Paperback, ​​Kindle, & ​Barnes and Noble.

Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends to subscribe at WorthyWins.co.

​Unsubscribe here.

To change your email or preferences manage your profile.

{Saint Augustine, FL 32080}