Well, I wasn’t going to tell this story…but it’s just too good. And after last week, I think we could all use a little lightness.
So, it turns out that my husband—my wonderful, endearing, and apparently very confident husband—signed up for my newsletter ages ago to support me (thanks, honey!). You know the drill: you signed up too. You put in your first name and email address and, et voila, like magic, here I am in your inbox every Tuesday, ahem “Truesday.”
But, instead of putting his first name in, he decided to enter his name as…wait for it… “Hot Stuff.”
Yep, that’s right. Every week, he gets my newsletter, and every week, it kicks off with “Hey Hot Stuff!”
Here’s the kicker: he completely forgot he did this.
A few months ago, we were sitting around the dinner table: the boys, me, and Mr. Hot Stuff himself. I was talking about some life lesson I’d learned that week, some big a-ha paradigm shifting moment, musing about it (as I do), when he jokes (as he does), “I can’t wait to read about this in an upcoming newsletter, like, ‘Hey Hot Stuff, you’re never going to guess what I learned this week…’”
Cue the kids bursting out in laughter.
“Hot Stuff?!? Dad, what are you talking about?!?”
And that’s when it hit him. He suddenly remembered that it was HIM who signed up as Hot Stuff. He’s not part of some exclusive newsletter greeting club; I don’t actually call all of you “Hot Stuff.” (Though, let’s be real—maybe I should!) It was just him. But he had genuinely thought, FOR YEARS, that I was calling each and every one of you Hot Stuff.
I love that man.
Now, aside from the fact that this story still makes me guffaw every time I think about it, there’s a bigger message here—one that’s all about owning your own greatness.
So, a few weekends ago, when Mr. LGO Hot Stuff and I were away for a romantic weekend, and I started randomly laughing about this again, he turned to me and said, “Maybe the lesson is that only you get to decide whether or not you are ‘hot stuff’.”
We spend so much time waiting for others to validate us. We look for the promotion, the praise, the gold stars, the external acknowledgment that says, “Yes, you’re enough. Yes, you’re worthy.” But what if we didn’t wait? What if we woke up every day and decided for ourselves that we’re hot stuff—no external approval required? What if we embraced our own greatness, with or without the fancy titles or accolades, simply because we are?
The world is uncertain. It’s cruel. It’s unforgiving. I know this to be true. But, this week, I also bring you a special “thing I know to be true” this week from Mr. LGO Hot Stuff himself: Only YOU get to decide your value. Only YOU get to decide that you are hot stuff.
Own it. All of it. Own your brilliance, your uniqueness, your undeniable hotness—in whatever form that takes. And if you need a little reminder? Just picture me starting every newsletter with “Hey Hot Stuff!” Because honestly, why not?
In the meantime, would you please pretty please, hottest of stuff, take my assessment, below…?
Until next time, Hot Stuff, I remain…
Limitlessly yours,
LGO
