Just Do The Best You Can Do.

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Three years ago, I wrote a post about Todd Snider, a singer/songwriter I really love. Whenever I’ve gone through strange times, I’ve always had Todd to remind me that things can — and almost certainly will — get even weirder along the way.

This line especially stands out for me, re-reading that post now:

I know haven’t gotten that far in the entrepreneurial process. No, I don’t know what lies ahead.

But I suspect that when I get there, I’ll find there’s a Todd Snider song that explains it perfectly.

And, of course, three years later, there is.

It’s from a song called “Money, Compliments, Publicity,” and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I don’t always know what the right next decision is for me, and sometimes, I’ve wondered if there’s a magic piece of advice that could just unlock everything.

Todd’s obviously wondered that, too. And so he sings:

I went to see this therapist
She said, “Just do the best you can do
Do the best you can do”
I was hoping for something more specific

I love that. Most of the time, there isn’t a phrase or a single piece of advice that’s going to solve everything. You just have to listen closely, think wisely, and make the best choices you can.

And then move on.

Thanks for the reminder, Todd.

That photo of Todd comes via Flickr’s kubacheck.

A Brief Explanation Of Why I Went To Fargo This Weekend.

Don’t get me wrong: I love working in journalism in New York. But the New York media world is pretty small. Go to events or conferences, and you see a lot of the same people. (And I’ve discovered that the world of New York people who do email stuff — my expertise at BuzzFeed — is even smaller.)

So once a year, I try to go to something that’s totally outside my little worlds.

In 2012, it meant a TEDx event in D.C. Last year, I went to Portland for a conference called the World Domination Summit.

And this year, I went to Fargo for MisfitCon — an impressive little conference for people who make stuff (both online and IRL).

I met all sorts of people this weekend in Fargo: actors, accountants, painters, writers… you get the idea. They’re people I don’t get to talk to that much. Which meant that I got to hear about stuff I don’t ever get to hear about — and now I’m coming back to New York with some good new ideas and energy.

I’m not saying you have to travel all the way to North Dakota to escape. But every few months, it’s worth getting outside your normal circles. You’d be surprised at what you might learn.

I took that photo at MisfitCon.