Back in the olden days, when you used up all of your lives in an arcade game, that was it. Literally, GAME OVER.

You had to drop another quarter in the slot to play again. And you would always start at the beginning. It might take you hours to get back to where you were in order to practice the higher levels of gameplay.

Early home gaming consoles had the same design. But as computer and video games evolved (and merged along the way), they allowed players to save their progress.

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I’m in the midst of growing my coaching and consulting business again after a several month hiatus.

It’s been fun to step up my activity and bring in some new clients now that I can fully focus on it.

It has suddenly become important to set a target number of clients. This is not a goal. I’m not striving intensely to get to that number.

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Back in the quiet, peaceful days before there was Internet on planes, I used to use flying time for high-level planning.

I loved the opportunity to work on my metaphorical 20,000-foot view while literally at 20,000 feet.

I always faced the same problem with this planning: The closer I got to figuring out something that I wanted to do, the more new ideas I would generate.

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In the episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend in which Conan interviews Lin-Manuel Miranda, Conan asks Lin about comparing his own accomplishments to what other successful people accomplished at a similar age.

Lin acknowledges this habit. “I think that’s an affliction many of us share.”

He goes on to point out ruefully that the Beatles had done everything they did by the time they were thirty. Meanwhile, Andrew Lloyd Webber, he says, had written three musicals by the time he was twenty-one.

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I was talking with a friend who has been working with a mindset coach.

She had been sensing a problem with her business and thought that maybe she could be achieving more. Now, she’s trying to figure out what’s next. Some things have become clear, and some are still uncertain.

That will likely always be the case. We never achieve the perfect mindset — we can always keep growing and getting better.

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