I know what I am about to describe is not exclusive to fathers. Mothers feel it too. Anyone responsible for a child probably does. It is a rainy morning. Just me and my son. And I feel this quiet weight to keep him entertained. To be a good dad. To make the time count. A few minutes in, I stepped away. He found something on his own. He started playing. Calmly. Happily. That is when it clicked. I am not his personal cruise director. I do not need to manufacture moments. I do not need to perform. I just need to be present when I am with him. Everything else starts there.

I hosted a gig this weekend that I genuinely enjoyed. Good crowd. Good time on stage. Good money. But it was also a six-hour journey each way and somewhere on that drive home, something clicked. As performers (and fathers), it’s easy to evaluate opportunities only through the lens of money. And sometimes that’s right; especially around the holidays. Extra cash can absolutely be a value add. But I realised that Invest Wisely isn’t just about finances. It’s about deliberately choosing the things that add value to our lives as a whole. What this weekend reminded me of is this: If I don’t get clear on what actually adds value. Time, energy, presence, novelty, growth. I risk saying yes from a place of quiet desperation instead of intention. So moving forward, I’m focusing on gigs that are: - Local - Or genuinely novel - Or meaningfully aligned with where I want to be as a father and performer Sometimes you only learn this by doing the thing. Mistakes are part of the process. But reflection is where the value gets extracted. That’s the root of Invest Wisely: Not perfection. Discernment. Curious how others here think about this: Where have you realized a “good opportunity” wasn’t actually a good investment?

Has there been a project/ business/ idea that you’ve wanted to work on but held off on for “good reason”?