Raising our floors
The power of mininum acceptable standards
👋Hello, my friend. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re having our hardwoods redone this week, but I’ve got floors on the mind. Today, I’m talking about how to limit our downside (or raise our floors) when things get crazy. Hope it resonates with you.
✉️Newsletter recommendation: The Lake Street Journal
Before we get started… The Lake Street Journal is one of my favorite weekly reads. It's a leadership newsletter, but not in the traditional format. Every week, my friend Joe Wells shares a story from one of history's greatest leaders—people like Teddy Roosevelt, Ernest Shackleton, and Bill Belichick—always conveying a practical lesson you can apply in your company, community, or family. His writing is solid, but he also curates two pieces of content every week from some of the best writers and thinkers on the internet. And he'll leave you with a workout of the week to test your muscles and your mind. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
And… I know Joe recommended Intentional Wisdom to his readers this week, so if you’re new here, welcome! I love getting emails back, so shoot me one to tell me a little bit about yourself. And thanks for subscribing, I’m psyched to have you here.
Masters Week! ⛳
It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year, and I’m hoping to sneak in some couch time (or at least phone/iPad time at my son’s baseball tournament) to catch some of the action. I was lucky enough to walk the hallowed grounds of Augusta National back in 2010 with my dad. He unfortunately passed away in 2015 (10 years ago this past week, which is crazy) but I’m so happy we got to do that together first. I wanted to recirculate a very short artice I wrote about that experience with a reminder to not put off doing the important things in life — especially with the people you love. 👇
Why now is the the time
Just a very short note for you today on something that’s been front and center in my mind recently.
Raising our floors ⬆️
There are weeks when you’re in the zone—clear-headed, focused, maybe even setting new personal bests.
And then there are weeks that require something else.
Not “bad” weeks. Just the kind where the demands of work, family, and life stack up quickly, and the usual routines get knocked off course. Where optimization gives way to adaptation.
In those weeks, I’ve been leaning on a mindset that’s served me well:
Raise the floor.
There’s a quote from James Clear that sticks with me:
“You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
That’s especially true when time is short, your calendar’s packed, and stress is trending upward. You may not be able to hit your targets or execute perfectly—but if your systems are solid, you don’t crash. You hold the line. And sometimes, that’s exactly what progress looks like.
This past week was a good test of that. Our family schedule hit a new gear, with multiple practices, games and events every night. Work brought its own version of chaos, with market volatility disrupting normal rhythms. And in the middle of it all, we decided to have our hardwood floors redone—which meant sleeping in the basement and navigating around a half-usable house.
Still, things didn’t completely fall apart. Not because I had some master plan, but because I leaned on a few habits that have become part of my baseline.
Here’s what that looked like:
Daily walks outside. Even if it was only 20–30 minutes. Just stepping outside in the middle of a packed day gave me a mental reset. It cleared space in my mind and created a natural boundary between everything else on the to-do list. I’m increasingly convinced that getting outside is more powerful than we even recognize (which I wrote about here).
Laughter as a reset button. This may sound weird, but I specifically made a concerted effort to laugh this week. I listened to a couple episodes of the Smartless podcast this week (links below) and found myself laughing out loud more than a few times. It’s such a simple thing, but it’s a genuine cortisol-lowering, perspective-shifting experience. I think as adults we sometimes forget how important it is to just laugh—especially when everything feels serious or high-stakes. This is a great way to decompress.
Checking in with myself. I use the Whoop app, which includes a daily journal feature where you can track things like stress levels, anxiety, sleep quality, and more. It takes about 30 seconds a day, but it’s been a helpful way to spot trends early. If I’m marking “high stress” three or four days in a row, that’s a cue to recalibrate—whether that’s blocking off time for recovery, dialing back commitments, or getting outside for an extra-long walk. I like having a system in place for this.
None of this is groundbreaking. And that’s kind of the point.
The floor isn’t made of peak performance—it’s made of sustainable habits. Simple, repeatable actions that hold you up when life’s running fast and smooth execution isn’t on the menu.
Because not every week is going to be a breakthrough week. And that’s okay.
The question is: What’s your minimum standard?
When things get busy, do you still move your body—even just a little?
Do you still make space to laugh or reset your energy?
Do you still check in with yourself before things spiral?
That’s what raising the floor is about.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about consistency.
It’s about building systems that hold strong—even when the schedule doesn’t.
Here’s to those systems—and to knowing that sometimes, a “maintenance” week is a quiet kind of success.
Thanks for reading, as always.
Greg
Content Diet🎙️
Smartless Podcast — If you’re not familiar with this show, you should check it out. Jason Batemen, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes — all well-known actors and hilarious in their own right — are also great buddies with fantastic chemistry. They have great guests on (usually Hollywood actors) and have super-interesting conversations, but what I like is how quick-witted they all are and how they constantly obliterate one another — hence the laughs mentioned earlier. When I need a break from learning new things or trying to optimize (or maybe over-optimize?) every part of my life, this is a go-to. I listened to the Adam Scott and Jelly Roll episodes this week; both were great.
How to Get Better at Golf — I interviewed author and “golf influencer” Jon Sherman last year and it’s still one of my most popular podcasts ever. Re-sharing the YouTube video here in case The Masters has you feeling the itch!
Intentional Wisdom x Peloton💪
Remember to jump in on the Intentional Wisdom Peloton community if you’re into that sort of thing. I got a little side-tracked this week but still hit the two strength workout challenge. This week, let’s get a little more aggressive. How about we have a little competition for who can log the most time working out for the next 7 days? Challenge starts today. Jump in on it. You can track the leaderboard live. Link to join here.
That’s it for today. See you next week!
Greg