If Oscar Wilde was correct:

I should be feeling very flattered right now. And pretty great too.

Three weeks ago, I wrote a post about the mental health perils of the coronavirus lockdown, and encouraged you (and by “you” I mean the four readers of this blog… Hi Steve! Hi Jeanne! Hi Jacqui! Hi Tim!) to reach out to four acquaintances just to say ‘hi.’

The mental health crisis is the silent pandemic. What can we do when we’re still in lockdown? We can’t hang out with a bunch of strangers in a bar (unless you’re in Sturgis for the Harley Rally – anything goes!) But we can at least reach out to a few of our casual acquaintances. Whip out that smart phone, scroll through your contacts to find four folks with whom you haven’t connected in a while, and shoot each of them a quick text. Just to say howdy.

A really smart guy, three weeks ago

OK, now let’s fast-forward to yesterday (seems oxymoronic, but just stay with me here). Ryan Estis is one of the many “achieve your dreams” gurus making fat bank off corporate speaking and consulting gigs. (His website sayeth: Ryan Estis is a sales and leadership expert preparing companies and individual contributors to embrace change and achieve breakthrough performance.) And guess what he talked about in his weekly “Prepare for Impact” email newsletter yesterday? Pretty much the same damn things I covered three weeks ago:

1. How the pandemic was creating a loneliness epidemic.
2. Encouraging his readers to reach out to three people via text.

Son of a biscuit-eater… Ryan Estis stole my idea!

I’m not upset. I’m flattered… and now I realize I’m just a sport coat, a checkered shirt and a wireless mic away from being a “leadership expert.”

(I actually do like Ryan Estis’ stuff. Obvi – I subscribe to his newsletter. His most famous presentation is at the bottom of this post. )

Hey Ryan, hit me up in the comments, and I’ll let you know my home address so you can start sending royalties my way.