In the weekly installments of this newsletter, I often talk about the importance of action.

My emphasis on action is intended to serve as a reminder of the power you always hold, no matter how powerless you may feel.

How do you respond when you feel powerless to change a situation? What can you do to face these moments? How do you reclaim your power?

I recently came across a beautiful true story, written by a woman named Pam Kearney, on the impact of even the most tiny, inconsequential actions...

I visited Matthew, the owner of Lucy’s Flour Shop a little while back. As I nibbled on an enormous chocolate chip cookie I began to tell him a story.

A few years back on a bitterly cold December evening, there was a visitation at the funeral home across the street from his bakery.

The people, bundled up in coats, scarves, and blankets were lined up around the building waiting to hug the family of the deceased.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a man showed up and began giving away hot coffee to the people outside. People who entered the funeral home with coffee in their hands whispered of a mysterious man handing out free coffee, and how much they appreciated it.

I looked at Matthew and said, “I have a suspicion that you were that man. Is that right?”

Matthew very humbly replied, “Yes, I felt so bad for them and wanted to do something, but all I could do was make coffee, so I made coffee.”

I responded that he blessed so many people that night by helping them warm up and by showing there’s good in the world. He added a positive note to a devastating situation.

I paused, then added, “That visitation was for my sixteen-year-old son. Thank you for being so kind.”

That conversation has stuck in my head since then:

“All I could do was make coffee, so I made coffee.”

Matthew was faced with a situation where he felt helpless—even paralyzed—but instead of giving in to the weight of the moment, he took action.

All he could do was make coffee, so he made coffee.

"Make the Coffee"

Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Every single day, you will face a variety of moments, many of which will conspire to make you feel completely helpless—unable to move or create the necessary momentum to change or improve the situation.

In these moments, you have a decision to make:

• You can freeze, paralyzed by the imperfection of your options...or
• You can act. You can do what you can, with what you have, where you are. You can make the coffee.

It is the most important decision of your life.

Think back on all of the moments where you or someone you know "made the coffee" and changed everything.

When my childhood home burned down in 2014, my parents' friends couldn't rebuild the house, help with the insurance, save the lost items, or do anything to turn back time.

But they showed up: They cooked my parents home-cooked meals, bought them fresh underwear, and sat with them for hours.

They made the coffee.

When an old college friend was in a dark place in his life, battling alcohol abuse, our friend group was spread across the country. We couldn't give him any meaningful advice or stage an intervention.

But we showed up: We organized group FaceTime calls to be with him, to let him know he was loved.

We made the coffee.

When I found myself in a terrible rut in 2021, living far away from my parents, lost and uncertain about the future, I couldn't snap my fingers and change everything. I couldn't change my life in a day.

But I showed up: I opened up to my wife and began the conversation about a move.

I made the coffee.

The moments themselves can be big or small, but the point here is clear:

Action doesn't have to be perfect for it to be right.

So, today and every single day in the future, when you face a decision and start to feel helpless, ask yourself:

How can I make the coffee?