I have a friend that is a Hollywood producer and is willing to visit me in Boulder.

Hollywood, LA, TV… it’s a long way from the life that Monica and I have chosen for our family. I knew that there was something I could learn.

What’s good about living in LA?

The two best things are the wealth of opportunity and the diversity of humanity with whom you can work.

In a sentence, my pal summed up the benefits of working internationally.

Being social creatures, we all share a bias towards our “in-group” – whatever group that might be – gay, straight, white, hispanic, Chinese, Malay, athletic, Jewish, firm, family, team, tribe… you name it.

My pal placed his family right in the middle of one of the most diverse places in the world.

What’s your secret?

Young people that experience significant success are often asked their secrets…

Never underestimate the value of luck

It’s takes uncommon self-awareness NOT to attribute success to individual skill. As a young man, I lacked the humility to see the massive tailwind that led to success.

Gratitude

Over the last few days, we spent 20 hours riding in the mountains.

However, at the start, only one of us could truly see the view! He’s raving about the beauty of the scenery, posting up on Instagram and smiling from ear-to-ear.

At first the little voice in my head is going, “of course it’s beautiful… you frickin’ live in LA!”

However after a dozen hours, I realize that I’ve been infected by his relentless positivity.

A deep happiness combined with a genuine desire to understand my point of view. Highly addictive!

Think big, you have nothing to lose

You’ll never find out if you don’t try. Being an inspirational figure, my buddy implores… “you MUST try.”

Keep trying until you fail – that’s the only way to learn that failure isn’t fatal.

The picture above shows that he practices what he preaches. One year into riding his mountain bike, he can crush me on all technical terrain.

I was schooled, and impressed.

Turning the tables, he asked me a question, What’s made a difference?

When I listen to people talk about their lives, I’m impressed by the quality of their (largely unconscious) thoughts.

We share moments of deep insight. However, and most certainly in my own case, insight is brief and fleeting!

The dark periods of my life spur a desire for change. In my early 30s, I realized that I had nothing to lose, wrote down my insights and started to make small change a habit.

It takes a while but, like compound interest, 14 years of (mostly) good decisions add up.

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Thanks for the visit, buddy. I hope we meet again but, even if we don’t, I’m grateful for our time together.