If I had a time machine and could go back to talk to Cory in 2007-2008 and give him one and only one piece of advice, I would NOT talk about how to double revenue or how he should get to automatic subscription revenue as fast as possible, or nuances of team dynamics or how to hire and fire.
Those would be cool and great.
But here is the ONE absolutely pivotal advice I’d share and beg and plead with him to heed it:
Take good care of yourself … FIRST.
A couple of things to note about this advice:
First, notice I said GOOD care. Not the care you think you can take of yourself, Cory. You’re in your 30s. You might feel healthy now, but it’s misleading.
I’m talking taking REALLY GOOD. Like really really really good care of yourself. And frankly, you’re already getting chair-bound and starting to feel it.
And it’s not just your brain … but your body that affects your brain and everything else.
So, Cory ….
- Get a counselor you like, trust, experience and can have on speed dial. You’ll need that person(s).
- Start an exercise ritual-obsession-addiction. You hate running, you’ll joke about it …. but try the Rualk. It’s run-walk. Whatever you do, obsess over it.
Second, I said FIRST. Put your care FIRST. Not second and certainly not last as you did for the longest time. In fact you forget yourself.
As you start to board planes and do business travel (averaging like 1-2 trips a month over the next decade), you’ll hear over and over and over by the flight attendants:
Put on you mask FIRST before you assist others.
This applies to you on the plane AND in every other relationship you have.
If you don’t put your mask on, or take care of YOURSELF FIRST, I promise you ALL of the relationships in your life will suffer for it.
You’ll suffer. They will suffer. Compounding suffering IF you don’t put YOUR mask on FIRST.
Cory, you will have two children. They are so incredibly special and exponentially better than anything you have or could ever imagine.
If you don’t take care of yourself FIRST, you will not be your best for them.
Oh, in a couple of years you’ll meet this amazing woman. I won’t spoil the amazing gift she is to you and tell you all the details.
Suffice to say …. SHE is your person.
Start taking care of yourself NOW because you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to catch up to her.
And I promise you, you WANT to keep up with her. Because life is THE adventure with her.
So tape these words to your mirror, embed them in your mind and work to make them real in your life every day because you have a SHIT TON riding on all of this:
TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF, FIRST, CORY!
It’s the best thing I could give you for the journey ahead … and the journey I’m on today.