Many moons ago, as a young leader in the Air Force, a boss shared with me a question to consider when confronted with bad news?
That question is a mantra, a mental model I would later come to know it as, and is this: Will this matter in 5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 days?
The application of this model as a leader of Airmen would help me quite a bit over the years. It also led to a reputation of being unflappable and steady in the face of bad news.
Further, it helped me internally regulate a work ethic of keeping on, keeping on, so to speak. I can tie learning about these questions to a habit of routine and discipline that helped me throughout my career, to building a successful real estate business, to building a large, engaged social media community.