Grip for Excellence, Open for Acceptance.

This work was made in collaboration with my great friend and colleague Jose Andres Olivera Amato, (let's be real, he's the main author). It's a dream to collaborate with someone whom I consider a mentor. You can read more of Jose's brilliant writing on business and leadership here on Medium.

Hold your right hand out, palm up. Curl it into a fist for five slow counts. Release and let the fingers open. Let this be a reminder of a deceptively simple concept: hold excellence in your grip, then open your hand to fate.

We have all been here before: the job interview call ends. Imagine you shut your laptop, stand up, let your shoulders drop, and take a slow breath. You walk for coffee, noticing the trees, the light on the buildings, the small insistence of birdsong. You sit with a journal and write three lines: what you did well, what you will tighten next time, and what you will do today. You schedule the next outreach. Then you let the wait be the wait. 

How many times have you walked away from that interview, instead replaying every single word you have said? As if you are in a trial with yourself.

Underneath us sits a steady tension. Agency on one side. Acceptance on the other. Think in two columns. Column one is yours: rituals, outreach, craft, integrity. These are inputs. They can be named, measured, improved. Column two is not: timing, other people’s decisions, the speed at which doors open. These are outcomes. They can be influenced, never controlled.

This unlocks an interesting concept: patience is not passivity, but discipline over time. Keeping cadence and persisting without demanding an instant payoff. We release column two without bitterness. We acted with excellence. Now we let go. That is not defeat. That is wisdom and strength. 

This approach is not soft. It raises the bar where we act and loosens the grip where we do not. Then we accept what is not yours to command. At this point, surrender becomes an act of courage, not resignation. It is the choice to detach from outcome, to acknowledge how little control we have. Call it faith. Call it realism. Either way, it is lighter than the grip that turns every day into futile resistance.

Raising the bar starts with knowing what and where the bar is. A good interview might as well be a terrible interview. Health you postpone sends a bill. Grip tightly on those inputs. Grip tightly on excellence - that is where pride belongs.

Then you accept what is not yours to command. Hiring cycles move on their clock. Markets swing. Priorities shift. People change their minds. The scoreboard is never fully in your hands. Keep playing your game anyway. Over time this posture builds consistency, credibility, and a calmer floor from which to lead, learn, and grow.

This is timeless philosophy, distilled down to the posture of your hand. No story, no drama, just gripped, or opened, gripped, or opened. There is a time and a place for each, and that balance is a habit that demands daily exercise.

So, a reminder to carry in your pocket:

Do the work.

Let go of the results.

Find joy in the ordinary.

Rest without guilt.

Trust the timing.

Grip for excellence, open for acceptance.

For Learning and With Love,

Chris & Jose