John Stanko has a great example of someone who was surviving, but discovered how to thrive. A consultant who is killing time playing a hotel lobby piano is approached by a man…
The man asked, “Do you work at the hotel?” I said, “Oh, no, no, no. I’m a consultant. I’m busy trying to change the world.” To my disappointment, he didn’t seem at all impressed by that. Then he asked, “How many other people do this kind of consulting work that you do?” I said, “Well, probably 20 or 30, I would guess, in the Toronto area.” And then he looked at me, and at that moment what I most recall about the meeting was how clear and sober his eyes appeared, from how he seemed a few minutes before. He said, “Who’s going to play that music if you don’t play it yourself?”