August 18, 2025
Some days the Thought of the Day and Question of the Day pair together like two puzzle pieces you didn’t realize were connected until they clicked. Today’s thought reminds us that real success is often hidden from public view, while today’s question pulls us back to the wisdom (and sometimes stubbornness) of our grandparents. Together, they’re a reminder that what matters most often happens behind the scenes and lasts across generations.
Thought of the Day: Success is built in rooms no one would photograph
Think about it: success rarely looks Instagram-worthy while it’s happening. Nobody wants a snapshot of the late-night desk littered with coffee mugs, the half-broken chair you never got around to replacing, or the endless drafts and crossed-out notes. Those aren’t the kinds of images that rack up likes, but that’s where the real progress gets made.
I’ve learned that success isn’t built in highlight reels; it’s hammered out in solitude, in silence, in repetition. The rooms no one would photograph are the rooms that matter most. They’re unfiltered and unedited. They’re where the sweat stains outnumber the applause.
It reminds me of something I wrote in Why Solitude is the secret link to freedom—the work you do when no one’s watching is usually the work that defines you. Or maybe it’s like When the Person You Could Have Been Meets the Person You Are Becoming, where the outcome depends on whether you kept showing up in those unphotographed rooms.
So if your journey right now looks ugly, lonely, or invisible to everyone else, take heart. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.
Question of the Day: What is something your grandparents swore by?
This one makes me smile. Grandparents have a way of insisting on rules, rituals, or remedies that don’t make much sense until years later. Sometimes not even then.
Maybe your grandmother swore by Vicks VapoRub curing everything from a cold to heartbreak. Or your grandfather claimed that eating an apple with a pocketknife made it taste better (and somehow, he wasn’t wrong).
In my own family, there were things “sworn by” that blended superstition, habit, and stubborn wisdom. Some of it was quirky. Some of it was oddly profound. Looking back, I realize that what they swore by wasn’t really about the thing itself. It was about certainty in a chaotic world. They needed anchors, and those anchors became our stories.
It’s the same spirit that I explored in power of making your bed. We cling to rituals, even if they don’t always make sense, because they remind us we belong to something bigger than ourselves.
So what did your grandparents swear by—and are you keeping it alive, or are you rolling your eyes just like you did when you were twelve?
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