"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

- Stephen Covey

Last week I kinda had a meltdown.

No, I didn't cry, or throw my laptop against the wall, or have to check into a hospital.

But I hit a wall. It was real.

At 11:37 AM on a Tuesday, I shut my laptop, cancelled my remaining meetings, and walked to the Panhandle, near Golden Gate Park.

I was overwhelmed, and I had to get out of the house.

Why?

As a solo founder with ADHD, I have more ideas, tasks, and deadlines than I have time, energy, or attention to execute on.

I was mad at myself for not making more progress. I got frustrated. I felt like I was getting left behind.

Every single day there's something new to learn.

Claude. Codex. Cursor. Vercel. Hermes. OpenClaw. Opus 4.8.

It feels like by the time I learn one, 10 more things get released.

I literally can’t keep up.

Signing up for tutorials I'll never finish, having dozens of Google Chrome tabs open, and telling myself that I can keep up is a recipe for disaster.

If you've felt any version of that lately, I want you to know that you're not the only one.

Modern life is hectic and more complex than it’s been during my lifetime.

It will absolutely eat us up if we aren’t proactive about setting boundaries and giving ourselves permission to not feel guilty for not keeping up with everything.

After walking for about 2 miles and being surrounded by beautiful trees, Victorian homes, fresh air, and a sunny 72 degrees, I had an epiphany.

I remembered this quote I picked up during my years at Netflix.

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix often reminded us our biggest competitors weren’t HBO, Disney or Hulu.

It was distraction, ego, and time. We had to keep our eyes on the ball.

When he felt we were getting distracted, he would remind us of that quote from Stephen Covey, the author of the classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

We had to keep the main thing the main thing.

When I first heard that quote, I laughed.

It’s deceptively simple; and almost silly, but… it is as profound and useful as it is simple.

Under pressure it's one of the most useful sentences I know.

It immediately hit me:

“I’m not keeping the main thing the main thing.”

“All these new releases are just distractions.”

I'm not learning AI to learn AI. AI isn’t the main thing. Humans are. Learning the next new tool isn’t the goal. Impacting millions of lives is. The main thing is creating useful products and services to help people build the courage to get the most out of life. Real life humans, like you, reading this newsletter right now.

The technology and tools will keep changing, but the mission won’t.

That simple sentence, helped me ground myself and immediately give myself the permission I needed to stop worrying about staying up to date with the latest in AI. It’s an impossible goal anyways.

My thought patterns changed and I started feeling better. Lighter. More optimistic. Centered. Purposeful.

In the whirlwind of AI, I’d forgotten why I started DailyCourage in the first place.

Then it all came back to me.

There are three guiding sentences that are the foundation of my personal brand strategy, my life’s mission and why I’m building a company.

1: “Find your uniqueness and exploit it in service of others.”

For years I couldn't have told you what made me unique. Most people can't, either. We’re not explicitly taught to do this in school, or on a job, and it requires a large degree of self-awareness; something that only ~15% of people reportedly have. Working in Corporate America allowed me to maybe use 50-60% of my uniqueness, at best.

A few years ago I learned about the Japanese concept of ikigai: the small center where what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you're paid for overlap. It's built from your unique combination of interests, gifts, ambitions and what the market place needs. After years of self-reflection, talking to friends, family, and coaches, I finally realized what makes me unique. In the era of AI, being more human, and knowing what sets you apart, is a competitive advantage. A machine can never take away your lived experience, view on the world, quirks, gifts, and talents.

If you’re not yet aware of your uniqueness, that’s OK, but please to take some time to really figure it out and lean into it. The world needs it. Life gets a lot easier when you’re swimming with the current; not against it. Magic awaits you.

2: “You're most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were.”

Take a minute to think about who you were 15 years yeas ago.

10 years ago.

5 years ago.

What were your fears? Doubts? Struggles? Goals? Priorities?

How much have you grown? In what ways? What have you learned?

Write it down.

Someone needs that. They need YOUR help.

Yes, YOU!

You know that person's fears better than any expert, or AI model, because they were yours. You know the lie they believe and the words that would actually reach them.

That’s who you’re most powerfully positioned to help. Find them and do it.

3: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.” Anais Nin

Most of us define courage too narrowly, imagining big heroic acts from firefighters, soldiers, etc. But the courage that changes a life is quieter. It's the willingness to act in the face of fear, and most days it's small: admitting you're overwhelmed (that was my Tuesday walk), saying I don't know, asking for help, setting a boundary and accepting you'll miss things.

Notice where fear is quietly running the show: the message you won't send, the help you won't ask for, the truth you don’t want to accept. That's the edge to walk up to.

This is what DailyCourage is all about.

Remember: no matter what happens with AI, layoffs, or the Middle East; there has never been a time without war, famine, or something coming apart.

People built meaningful lives despite it. They kept the main thing the main thing, and they kept pressing on.

As Calvin Coolidge said:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

Here's your reflection for the week:

Reflect on how you’ve been using your uniqueness to serve others. In what areas do you have gifts that aren’t fully being leveraged? What is stopping you from using them? What’s ONE small thing you can do to begin leaning into your uniqueness?

Here's your challenge for the week:

Lean into your uniqueness. No matter what that is, I want you to lean into it. Give yourself permission to be weird. Quirky. Kinky. Whatever. Be unapologetically you. God made you, YOU, for a reason. To be anything other than the best version of that is a disgrace to yourself, the world, and our Creator.

With courage,

Jonathan