Here’s the thing: I work from home. Which means that even though I am wearing baggy sweatpants and my ratty old long-sleeve t-shirt in this photo, I am working. I am talking with a client. About important things.
The secret to my success? My sidekick, of course. Some people keep pens and calculators in their briefcase. Others have laptops, smartphones, or secret documents.
I have August.
Sometimes he gets tired of sitting in there, but not often. He knows he is doing important work, and so he tolerates the long hours of relative inactivity.
He lives for those rare moments when, called upon to answer some important question or complete some impossible task, I turn to him and ask for guidance.
Always, his response is the same. A simple smile, toothy and sincere, and whatever it was I couldn’t remember comes back in a flash. My troubles ease. My worries melt away. Such is the power of a very small person to solve very big problems.
And that’s why I always keep him nearby.