Time flies, as they say.

Hard to believe it's been almost a year.

I'm going to share a perspective that will make your day brighter in this message.

But first, for those of you who are new here... last October, my lovely wife Shelli died after a tough battle with cancer.

I knew it was coming.

But that didn't soften the blow.

And that's exactly what I want you to understand.

Every week, I have clients who are worrying way too much.

I'd be willing to bet a good chunk of change that applies to you, too, dear reader.

It's a human problem.

And I can't recall a single occasion when the right thing to say was "yeah, you should probably worry a lot more."

You see, my wife suffered from throat cancer.

And yes, it was brutal.

When she died, she'd been cancer-free for nearly a year.

But her throat shrunk following all the radiation treatments.

And ultimately it closed up completely, requiring a life-saving tracheotomy.

So for months she was unable to swallow or eat.

The little she got via feeding tube wasn't enough to sustain her.

So she got skinnier and skinnier.

Eventually, she lost so much weight that I was very worried.

The doctors didn't tell us anything, but an AI chatbot gave me the lowdown.

It told me in July that she might only have months to live.

And it ended up being right.

So I was as prepared as one could be when her time came.

And that didn't soften the blow even one little bit.

Why am I telling you this?

Because the purpose of worry is to anticipate and avoid danger.

In most cases, it's not about avoiding physical danger.

You worry about what others might think of you.

What if you blow the big presentation?

What if you don't meet your sales quota?

What if the economy slows down?

What if your boyfriend leaves you?

And the point of it all is to brace yourself for impact.

"Well, if I'm optimistic and things go badly, I'll be really disappointed."

I've heard that a thousand times.

But guess what, whether you were worrying constantly or not, life can still punch you in the gut.

During those last months of Shelli's life, I had every reason to worry 24/7.

Still, I didn't worry endlessly.

But I did know the end was coming.

And to be honest, I thought I was prepared.

But someone told me losing a spouse is like becoming a parent...

You can't possibly understand what it's like until you experience it.

And that proved to be exactly right.

But there are also some things people have said that haven't turned out to be true... at least not in my case.

They said "grief isn't linear."

But when I look back at the past year, it actually was.

Meaning that I gradually felt better and better from month to month.

And now that it's been a year, I feel like myself again.

Don't get me wrong, I actually shed a few tears the other night while watching a video I made of our honeymoon in Italy.

But at the same time, I felt tremendous gratitude for all the moments we had during that trip, and that I made it into a video I could watch over the years.

And I felt grateful for having been lucky enough to fall in love with someone I was nuts about, travel around the world and create amazing memories.

Some people never fall in love.

Some never have those kinds of moments.

We did. And I don't take that for granted.

So here's what I want you to understand.

It's okay to dial back on the worrying.

I've literally gone through the worst thing you can possibly imagine - the loss of someone you love.

And while it was awful, I survived.

At first, by remembering every single day - through overwhelming grief - that I was sad precisely because I'd been fortunate enough to love my wife so much.

Now life is good again.

So if the things you worry about too much actually come to pass, chances are that you'll survive, too.

The other thing I want you to know is that your attitude and perspective have a big impact on how quickly you can heal and move forward.

Developing that mindset will do more to prepare you than worrying 24 hours a day ever will.

Have a wonderful week :)

Sean