Go Farther Episode #18: Put Yourself First

By Scott Sambucci | July 8, 2024

Customers. Prospects. Teammates. Salespeople. Investors. Partners. Kids. Parents.

Everyone wants a little bit of your time.  A little bit of you every day. They chip away. Little by little. ⚒

And you give it to them because you care. You’re generous. You’re loving. You want to be helpful. You’re reliable.

🤔 But what about you?  What about your Self?

Every day is busy, from the early AM alarm ⏰ to hitting the pillow at night an hour and a half later than you hoped.

Merriam Webster defines “selfish” as: “1. : 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 : 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙-𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠. 2. : 𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑐𝑡.”

I disagree.

Selfish means I’m making time to care for my being.

Selfish means blocking time to exercise.

Selfish means signing up for the next and training everyday for it. 🏃‍♂️

🥑 Selfish means spending a little more for the healthy option on the menu.

🎂 Selfish means telling that prospect that I can’t travel this week because it’s my son’s birthday.

🎃 Selfish means cutting out of the conference a day early to be home for Halloween.

✈ Selfish means turning off my notifications at night.

Selfish means saying no so that I have time to write, to nap, to eat…

… to take a freaking bathroom break between the four Zoom calls stacked up today….

Selfish means I’m ready to be concerned excessively and exclusively with everyone else around me when they need it.

Put your Self first.