“None of the decisions I made led me to fame or wealth, but they...

“None of the decisions I made led me to fame or wealth, but they have led to really rich relationships. I just kept leaning into the people I cared about. I chose a job that allowed me to work remotely for thirty years. It allowed me to be home a lot with my wife and three daughters. Never missed a game. Never missed a school play. I picked them up from school every day at 3:30, unless I was traveling. I wasn’t a road warrior or anything. I only travelled a handful of days every month. And whenever I had to catch an early morning train to meet a client out of town, I’d be doing this calculus: I have to do this now, so that we can be together later. They were always my first priority. And they still are. We don’t get to see each other as much. But I get this warmth every day when they ping me and tell me they’re doing something. And it goes both ways. I gave a speech for work the other day. It went really well. And they were all excited to hear about it; high fives and cheers all around. This morning I had a little time between meetings. I was sitting at a little bistro, and I had a little virtual lunch with my daughter who lives in Paris. She was making dinner there. And we had a little chat. No other description necessary, right? It was wonderful. I just feel incredibly lucky that I get to do those things, and that they still want to do it. They still want to spend time with me. Maybe because they trust me. I try to be supportive and non-judgmental. But I think it’s mainly because I was so involved with their daily lives: all those plays, all those practices, all those trips home from school. That’s a lot of conversations. It really accumulates over the years. I really got to know them. They’re my friends.”