Limitless with Nathan Jovanelly

The older I get the more I try to focus only on things in my control.  Sometimes you can execute everything perfectly, but you still don’t get the results you want or expected.   As a long time Little League coach, I find myself having this conversation with players a lot. Especially pitchers. I always tell the kids judge their performance based on their effort, not the results. With age comes the...

Exactly a year ago I did a podcast on not having a “Plan B”. My son and his friends were about to embark on their freshman year of college and they asked my opinion about having a backup plan. It was, and is, my opinion that you need to remain committed to you goals . . . no Plan B needed. Fast forward to this year. My son is now about to go into his sophomore year and he asked me how I felt about...

I often talk about James Clear. Not only did I enjoy his book, Atomic Habits, but I also throughly enjoy his Thursday 3-2-1 newsletter. I posted on LinkedIn this past week about how his message from July 28th resonated with me. He wrote,  “Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is eliminate the task. Downsize. The rooms you don’t have, don’t need to be cleaned. Donate. The items you don’t...

This past week I was on a fishing excursion in Alaska.  What an incredible trip! We saw a little bit of everything and always seemed to be in the right place in the right time.  I can confidently say that we caught more fish than any other group at the lodge.  In total, our team of six hauled in more than 1200 pounds of fish from Tuesday to Saturday.   That isn’t meant to be a brag, but rather, hi...

I challenge everyone this week to bless someone unexpectedly in a small way. It doesn’t have to be monetary.  It can be as simple as helping your neighbor carry in groceries, volunteering at the food bank, or assisting a friend with a project.  It doesn’t matter what it is, but rather, the intent to impact someone’s day in a positive direction.  This past week I had a very important person in my l...

What steals your joy? Last week I heard the saying, “comparison is the thief of joy”. I have heard this before, but this time it stuck with me. As I reflected on the many blessings in my life, I also thought about what steals my joy. Undoubtedly it is when I compare myself to someone or something else.   Research shows that humans have biased comparisons. For instance, comparing yourself to the fi...

After more than a year of consistency that I did not put out an episode of my Limitless Podcast (aka Monday Motivation) this past week. This was intentional. Although I have done several podcasts while on vacation, including the one two weeks ago, I decided to take last week off to spend focused, dedicated time with my family.   We were having a blast in Magic Kingdom, and I couldn’t bring myself...

The greatest teacher is experience. This past weekend I bought a giant gazebo from Costco and had friends over installing it.  One of the seemingly easiest but longest tasks was removing the protective plastic off the roof and the roof finishes.   The friend that was helping looked at me when she was peeling the last piece of plastic off of the final roof segment and she said, "Isn't it...

I was at a Goldman Sachs Crafting Tomorrow event last week in Austin, TX. First of all, wow. Goldman really knows how to through a first class event full of industry leaders. One of the highlights for me was the conversation with  Drew Brees at dinner. In full disclosure, I am not a Saints fan, but I have always admired Drew Brees.  Not just because of his faith, but also because people told him h...

About five (5) years ago I was playing miniature golf with my son and one of his friends. They called me a “try hard” in a condescending way. Clearly this has stuck with me a long time. I could never grasp why it was a bad thing to try your best. How did this become part of the middle school vernacular?   I decided then and there that it is important to teach my children to worry about what they c...

Today is Memorial Day. A day in which we honor those who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. I, for one, am grateful and fortunate for being born in the greatest country on earth. As we reflect on all the opportunities we are provided by living in America, let us not forget those who have died to provide our freedom.  A. Philip Randolph was a civil rights activist, and among...

This past Saturday my brother-in-law and I set out on a self-supported 153 mile gravel bike ride from Wilkes-Barre to Bensalem, PA, in celebration of my birthday. Like last year, we planned our trip meticulously.   We called the administrator of the trail to plan for unforeseen detours, obstacles, etc.   We marked dozens of points of interest to stop for food and water. We conducted multiple gear...

What does Michael Jordan and YouTuber MrBeast have in common? I really don’t watch that much TV, but I finally got around to finishing “The Last Dance” on Netflix, which is a docuseries highlighting the remarkable career of Michal Jordan.  If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend it. Also, this week I was introduced to MrBeast by my kids.  In fact, all of them from age 18 to 9 knew MrBeas...

I am going to tell a quick story about the hardest working woman I know. She is a success but doesn’t wear designer clothes, or drive a fancy car. In fact, she doesn’t even have a car currently. Unfortunately, in society today most people tend to measure success by material possessions. This is foolish because “things” won’t bring you happiness.   The great theologian, Albert Schweitzer said, “Suc...

It only takes a moment (or three months) to change your life.  What inspired me last week was my friend and colleague, Paul. Last week Paul and I spent some time in Salt Lake City together, and he was telling me about how last year he took a two month trip with his family around the country.  To his surprise, his favorite part ended up being their visit to the Grand Canyon.   Paul noted that it on...

As many of you are probably aware, this past Friday, April 22, was Earth Day.  This is a good reminder that we only have one planet and it is our responsibility to protect it. While I am generally optimistic that humans can use technology to tackle the toughest problems we face, I also think that we all need to make sacrifices so that future generations do not get stuck with our problem.   I belie...

This week I want to talk about my lovely wife, Angela. Ang is a lot of things, but a good test taker is not one of them.  However, she had a desire to get her realtors license as part of a greater plan and ambition.  Over the past few months I watched her put more energy into this goal than pretty much anything else other than our children. First, to be able to take the actual license exam she nee...

What is the most important aspect of a high-functioning team? Alignment . A lot of conflict in our lives is because we are not living in alignment. This could be the result of not being true to ourselves [our values] or it could be because we are not in alignment with our spouse, team, department, company, etc. In business, I believe that agreement is a nice-to-have, but alignment is a must have....

A friend pulled me aside last week and asked me last week how to avoid procrastination. First let’s break down what procrastination is . . . the word means “moving or acting slowly so as to fall behind.” It is a blameworthy delay of not doing something against our better judgement. Like most psychological things, procrastination is negative cycle of thoughts and emotions. There could be something...

I read Trillion Dollar Coach while I was on vacation earlier this month.  The book is about Bill Campbell, who was on of the most influential people in Silicon Valley.  One of Bill Campbell’s mantras really stuck with me.  It was some advice he received while he was CEO of Claris from Donna Dubinsky who said, “Your title makes you a manager; your people make you a leader.”  We all know people that...

To state the obvious, there is a lot going on in the world today. Pandemics, war, and other human conflict.  Unlike most other videos you will watch this week, month, and year, I will not be making a statement on any of these events. Instead, I will simply leave you with this quote from Joseph Campbell, “We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” Not to sound cliche, b...

My family and I were on vacation this past week and while my wife was getting ready my eleven-year-old said, "Be quick, don't rush".  I started grinning ear to ear, and we had a conversation about how she tells her friends this at school all the time. I was grinning because here is my LinkedIn post from exactly two years ago in honor of the NCAA tournament: "John Wooden was a l...

A few years ago we developed a large solar project for a mega church in Maryland. The project was equivalent to powering more than 225 homes, which was a massive undertaking for a nonprofit.   On a foggy, overcast day the pastor of this church, who was also a pilot, flew into our corporate offices in Ohio to meet with the development team.   Upon greeting the Pastor, I asked what it was like to fl...

This past week I was at a solar conference in Boston.  I was talking to a friend at the show that is absolutely crushing it.  Someone I admire for many reasons.  He is an excellent father, he is on top of his industry, he knows everyone, and more importantly, everyone knows him. However, he doesn’t feel successful in the traditional sense of having a lot of money.  The unfortunate truth is that mo...

Let’s face it, we all know people who always seem to have an excuse for everything.   The truth is that many of us are settling in life, whether it’s your job, your relationships, your abilities . . . There are too many people settling for less than they deserve or are capable of doing. They aren’t happy about it, but they make excuses for themselves so it seems all right. One thing I do not toler...