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I heard one of the best inspirational quotes this week in a long time and I think it may have changed my approach to life in business and beyond.

After a letter dedicated to me wishing myself a happy birthday last week, we are back this week dissecting deep metaphors and how we can bring that DAWG out of you.

Yes, I hand counted every subscriber that didn’t reply to the email with a birthday wish. There’s still time, I won’t be mad.

Before diving in, happy Turkey Day tomorrow. If you’re still young enough where you go out to the bars with your squad tonight and get banged up leading to a very hungover Thanksgiving, I envy you. Have a hell of a night.

Football being on the TV all day might be my favorite part of the holiday.

Here are my auto locks for the day: CHI +10.5 (this is way too many points even though the Lions are unreal), DAL -2.5 and MIA +3.5.

Now for the juice of today’s email…

“At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”

This came from the great writer and civil rights activists Maya Angelou.

Honestly, I had no clue who this wonderful woman was. I cannot take the credit for being a well-read historian.

Our Shadow Lion CEO Gilad Haas actually brought this up in a meeting. He said Tom Brady, his partnering co-founder, mentions the quote often in reference to how he approaches everyday life with teammates, business partners, friends and family.

I’m not the biggest “inspirational quote” guy, but this one really stuck with me.

And if it’s good enough for the GOAT, it’s good enough for me.

Gilad mentioned in this meeting that this is how we approach creating content at Shadow Lion.

Over everything, we want to make people feel something.

We want you to leave viewing our content with some type of deeper, positive emotion.

Listening to this made me think about the people I look up to most in my life, and even those I don’t think very highly of.

Every person I can think of leaves me with a unique emotion. Good or bad.

Whether it’s love, happiness, discomfort or sadness. I can establish a specific emotion to people based on how they make me feel.

How do you want people to remember you? What emotion do you want people to associate with you?

Oh, The Memories

This concept also works for things you create, such as media, the space I work in.

Here’s some examples of people and media and the impressions they’ve left on me…

I don’t remember every scene or line from The Pirates of the Carribean, but I remember it being f****** awesome and cool.

I don’t remember every line from every Kenny Chesney song (lies I do), but I know his music makes me feel happy and calm.

Ok, I will relax with the GIFs. I don’t want to be remembered for that.

I don’t remember what comes out Theo Von’s mouth, and I know he doesn’t either, but I know he’s absolutely hilarious to listen to no matter what.

I don’t remember half the things that come out of my girlfriend’s mouth, but I know I feel loved from her!

I don’t remember who my boy took for bets last weekend, but I remember he always loses so I should definitely fade him, and he sucks.

I don’t remember every single conversation with my co-workers, but I associate them all with creativity and intelligence. I feel proud when I think of them.

I don’t remember every play from Mac Jones in a Patriots uniform, but I remember him making me feel very, very sad every weekend I watched the Patriots when he was our QB.

Thankful for Drake Maye this Thanksgiving.

The Takeaways

So, think about today when you interact with people, how do you want them leaving the room and thinking about you?

What can you do in a conversation, meeting, email, project, etc. that leaves a lasting positive impression?

They are not going to remember exactly what you said or did, but they will remember the emotion associated with you.

I strive for people to feel trust with me. I want people to feel relaxed and open around me. I want them to think of fun times.

That’s really it. No one will ever remember each word written in this Diary, or every topic that was spoken about.

But I do hope you associate these letters with smiles and a fun way to learn if nothing else.

And on that note, I’ll see you next week folks!

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