One day a hundred years ago in high school, a teacher, Ms. LaPorte, pulled me aside and asked if I was spreading myself too thin. I was playing basketball all week, debating on Saturdays, and writing for the school newspaper between classes. To her, I looked tired.
I was tired.
Then she told me something I’ve never forgotten.
She said, “In life, you have one jar of peanut butter. This represents your time and your talents. Although you have a lot of talent, you can't spread it everywhere."
She continued, “You also have unlimited slices of bread...these are your opportunities. You have to choose - will you make lots of sandwiches with just a little dab of peanut butter on each one, sandwiches no one really wants to eat? Or will you spread your peanut butter on just a few slices and make delicious sandwiches?”
For the last several years, I've been spreading myself too thin, making "sandwiches" that sometimes I can't be proud of. In many ways, the Great Recession has been a Great Blessing. It's made me slow down and think about the kind of peanut butter sandwiches we're making.
So today, we're pivoting our business, in an effort to make better peanut butter sandwiches.
Postscript: A version of this blog originally appeared on another of my blogs, which I'm discontinuing. One life; one blog.
