Alright, Nation, Sterling James here. Let's cut through some of this noise.
I'm seeing "Iowa" trending today, and it's interesting, because sometimes these trends feel so detached from the day-to-day. You see a name, a place, and the immediate thought is usually politics or some big national headline. But for a lot of you, Iowa isn't just a dot on a map or a caucus state. It's home. It's where you grew up, where your family lives, where you’ve built something. And when a place trends, it can feel like your home is being put under a microscope, or worse, reduced to a single narrative.
My father used to say, "The shift ends, but the work of living doesn't." And that's what I'm thinking about here. We talk a lot on MiTL about being present, about building where you are. So when you see your home trending, whether it's Iowa or Baltimore or anywhere else, ask yourself: what’s the real story being missed in that quick headline? Are we getting caught up in the noise, or are we looking at the actual people, the actual communities, doing the actual work? Because high performance isn't about doing everything; it's about being available and dangerous for a very long time, right where you are.
What's the real story about your hometown that the trends are missing?