Love Yourself

I am reading or actually listening to this book called "Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends Upon It" by Kamal Ravikant. Kamal has a practice that talks about in his book where when he is ready or needs to make a significant or monumental change in his life he will sit down at this place where he lives that is very important to him. He will then write a letter to himself about what he needs to do. The letter description of what he needs to do is very precise, impactful, deeply honest and most importantly it is written from a place of love. After the letter was written he would walk down to the coast. He would wrap the letter around a small rock and throw it into the waves to never be returned. When he did this, it was like turning on a switch and he had no choice but to make it happen.So I thought I would give it a try among other things that Kamal writes about in the book. You will have to read the book to find out the rest of them. 

Yesterday's email to you all was actually a letter to myself. It was about what I need to do because of a significant commitment I made to myself and two others. The letter was about the mindset I am going to have to use to make this goal happen, But I also know that if I am able to accomplish this goal my mindset towards adversity and resiliency will be forever changed and that badass.  

Well since I wrote that email to you all yesterday I feel like this huge switch was just turned on. I can't wait to see what happens

Thanks for reading. Be safe with the snow and if you need to start writing your letter.

Growth = Effort + Pain

If you want to propel yourself forward in life, you must be willing to take on great challenges. The size of the goal helps determine your movement forward in life both physically and mentally. When we go after a goal that some might feel is impossible we have to remind ourselves and them that it is not impossible, It's just harder to do. 

When we choose to take on huge goals in life, it requires you to re-think how you have been doing things up until this point. This is where and when monumental life changing growth can happen. When we take on what can be viewed as the impossible and we end up succeeding. The amount of growth is equal to the amount of effort, pain and suffering that goes into your preparation and work that you have done. In order to make all this happen you have to be inspired by the effort, pain, suffering and sacrifice that you are willing to put yourself through. 

When you decide to commit to this kind of effort, you know that you have chosen a harder path to follow. You know that there are going to be days that it does not seem worth it. You also know that on those days that your training and preparation are the most important ones on this journey. It is on those days that you sharpen your knives edge. You become stronger both mentally and physically. On those days you keep your end goal in mind. That end goal is not the succeeding of the goal at hand, but instead it is the feelings, emotions and mental growth you receive at the very end. It is about how far forward you have just pushed yourself. That feeling and that reality is yours now and no one can take that away from you!

What Is Your Dream?

If money was not an issue, how would you spend your time? Quite often you here how someone would spend more time traveling or by their dream house and car. Sometimes you hear how someone would spend more of their time volunteering. Some will say they would spend more time helping out family and friends. I myself would spend my time building.

Yes my time would definitely include more time traveling with my family, but the majority of my time would be spent building something special. The Big Tree Fitness compound. If money was not an issue I would be searching high and low for a piece of property to build my dream gym. My dream gym includes about 300 acres of mostly non developable land. meaning land that is too rugged and hilly for someone to want to invest in. 

This wouldn't be your typical gym. There would be the main gym with all the minimalist workout equipment we have now, but we would utilize the outdoors as well. There would be a complete trail system for both running (obstacles) and mountain biking trails. There would be an outside workout area right outside the gym which would have various body weight obstacles workout areas. This gym would make Joe De Sena of spartan Races jealous. The main thing about this gym though would be zero exclusiveness. The Big Tree Fitness compound would be open to anyone who takes their workout lifestyle seriously.  No one would be turned away based on that one criteria. There would be no socioeconomic barriers to deal with. This would be a space that people of all shapes, sizes, age, color, nationalities or whatever would have the opportunity to come and pursue their fitness goal dreams. The size of the dream is irrelevant, the only thing that would be relevant is the effort you would be willing to give to make your dream come to fruition.

I know this sounds very utopian, but the question was if money was not an issue or barrier. The idea here is not about a utopian gym.  It is about creating the space that most people have no access to. It is about taking the eliteness and exclusiveness out of the way and creating more opportunities for everyone, not just the few. We only can make things better when we allow greater opportunities for everyone. This is my dream if money was not an issue. what is yours?

What's Your Road Map?

Yesterday I heard an amazing piece of advice while out running. When there is something you want to accomplish and you don't know how because you don't have a road map to guide you. There is only one thing you can do and that is be great in every moment that you are doing to work towards this goal. The road map will appear over time. Maybe not for you, but maybe for the next person to follow. 

You have to remember that there may not be a road map and you may be the first to have to figure out how to reach the goal you are going after. This means you must do what you need to do to be great in every moment along the way. You must also be willing to accept that you will make mistakes along the way. These mistakes and what you learn from them help create the road map for others to follow and for you to teach.

Don't be afraid to be the first. Be afraid of not trying. Your road map will appear because you chose to figure it out and not give up.

Giving of yourself

Have you ever wondered why when things are going really well, why it is actually happening? Well it could be as simple as people expressing their gratitude for you without you ever being aware. But in order for that to happen you have to be genuinely giving people a reason to send gratitude your way. 

Karma has a strange way of helping make positive changes to your life and it starts by you showing your own gratitude towards the life you are trying to live. You have to give of yourself without expecting anything in return except for the positive feelings you get from the act of helping someone. This is not to say you should not have expectations of people and the things that people do, but when those opportunities arise which are more often than not. Reach out and help. You have no clue how the world around you can change.

The voices inside of you

"How often do you listen to what your body is saying"? Me, not enough. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where our body is telling us it's time to slow it down a notch, But more times than not we choose to not listen to our bodies and we push on through. The issue with this is we can sometimes succeed at this approach, but eventually life catches up and gives you the big smack down. For those of us who don't like to listen to our bodies, this approach will always come back to haunt us. Such as today. 

It seems that most of us if not all of us have been putting up with all the different viruses is one form or the other and I am no exception either. Today the fatigue of always going and the pushing through mentality caught up with me. Ahhhh but I did decide to listen to my body today. So instead of a long run like I usually do on Tuesday, it became the long nap instead. The long run will have to wait until tomorrow (lol).   

The point is that sometimes we really need to listen to our bodies and give it a break. Especially this time of year.

Losing Track Of Time? Awesome!

"What makes you lose track of time"? Thinking makes me lose track of time. I used to think that I was wasting time when I would go off into deep thought. I looked at it as if I was being very unproductive, but over time I realized that having thinking time was a very good thing. Like everything else though you have to learn how to use what makes you lose track of time in a way that is good for you and can be used as a positive force in your life.

I learned along the way that I could use this "thinking time" in a much more productive way and plus I didn't want to stop these bouts of deep thought. So I decided to use my time running in the woods as my thinking time. It turned out to be a really good decision. I love being in the woods running or hiking. It is a place where I can find an inner peace that allows me to open up with ideas and thoughts that aren't cluttered by the business of the day to day life. This time has allowed me to expand on ideas and solve all sorts of problems. It has allowed me to think about and come up with clear answers on how to confront situations that may seem unpleasant on the surface, but once I dug deep down I found that could confront unpleasant situations from a much more healthy point of view that would help both sides. This time allowed me to take off the rose colored glasses and use a more pragmatic approach to my thinking and conclusions.

Losing track of time isn't always a negative thing to have in your life. Sometimes we need to lose track of time in order to recharge and reset ourselves. I believe that we should allow ourselves to lose track of time a little bit each day. Let our thoughts and emotions rest and relax for a little bit. It actually feels really good to lose track of time for a little bit each day.   

Finding Heroes At Every Turn

"Who are your heroes"? Like a lot of male kids growing up, my first hero's where athletes. The first hero that I can remember was Andre Thorton. Andre was the first baseman and designated hitter for the Cleveland Indians back in the mid to late 70's. The Indians really sucked bad back then, but Andre thorton was the star of the team and could hit monster style home runs. I wrote to him when I was about 11 or 12 and told him how much I loved watching him play and especially hit. He instantly became my hero when he wrote me back and sent me an autographed picture of him. I was so blown away and over the moon with happiness, which is a great feeling for a 12 year old.

The hero's that have meant the most to me though are David Bowie and Joe Strummer. Both of these men's music, style and attitudes help shape and influenced my way of thinking about the world and how I could fit into it. They were both very genuine in how they wrote and how they expressed themselves through their music and their shared life experiences. I absolutely fell in love with how David Bowie felt a freedom to express himself through his music and various persona's or alter ego's that he would allow himself to create. These alter ego's would show up through his music and his style. He showed me that it was ok to want to be different and look different from the rest of the crowd.

My life changed forever when I was a sophomore in high school and I heard the song "Police on My Back" by the Clash. I was blown away by the sound I was hearing for the first time. This was PUNK ROCK music. I was hooked and found all the clash albums and never looked back. This new music and the way Joe Strummer wrote and communicated his message about oppression and the lack of empathy in the world fueled my very rebellious attitude and it has been fueling it ever since. I was lucky to meet and hang out with Joe Strummer on his last North American tour before he died of a heart attack walking his dog of all things. He was very gracious and a sharing person. We drank and smoked together and share a couple stories in his dressing room. It's one thing to have hero's. It is something totally different when you get to meet your heroes and share a moment of friendship with them. 

I am forever grateful for my heroes I have had that have touched my life. Their journey through life has been inspiring to me. Be it the good, the bad or the ugly. They have shown me that we all can do great things, fall flat on our face and rise to great things again. After all they are human, just like you and I.

Filling the voids in the world

"What does this world need more of"? This question came up last week and to be honest with you, I was having a lot of trouble writing about it. It was due to letting anger control my emotions on this subject. I do believe there are a lot of things this world needs more of right now, but the one thing I think it could use most of all is Empathy. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. I do not understand what has happened, but empathy for our fellow human beings seems to be happening less and less as each day passes.

My mom taught the lessons of empathy to my brothers, sister and myself as we were growing up and I truly believe it was one of the most important lessons I have ever learned. I try to honor my mom by working at teaching my kids the same lessons everyday and also by trying my best to live with empathy in my mind, heart and soul. Not always successful, but I don't think any of us are. 

I think back from my interview podcast with Stefano. I think about listening to him tell the stories of growing up with civil war and under a dictatorship and I say to myself, man we are so lucky. His story tells me to think differently and realize I have no idea what the person I see standing in front of me has gone through in life. I need to practice reserving judgement until I have understood and share the feelings of another.   

I'm glad I came back to this question and happier that I was able to pivot my attitude and feelings away from anger. Understanding and compassion feel so much better.

Expressing Gratitude

"What or who are you grateful for"? I am grateful for life, period. I hear so often from people "If I had the opportunity to do this over" or "If I only had this growing up". I used to have thoughts like these as well. Then over time, I started to realize how short sighted these thoughts and ideas were. If all the different events some great, some good, some bad and some really bad had not happened, I would not be typing this to you today. I would not be living this amazing part of my life that I am living right now at this very moment. 

So when asked what or who I am grateful for? It is everything and everybody. We only get one shot at this life that we are lucky enough to be able to live. Viewing life from the past or view life towards the future leads to nothing but wishful thinking. The past is meant for one thing and that is to learn from it. The future is meant for one thing and that is to try to plan for it. Life happens now at this very moment and everything that has happened has lead to this moment in time. You only get to live this moment. You don't get to relive the past and you are definitely not guaranteed the future. So be grateful for the now and everything and everybody that has helped shape and make it happen for you. 

Trying new things

Today's question that was asked is, "What is something new you recently tried and loved". There are quite a few things that I have tried out over the past year. Weather it has been my Trekz Air headphones (absolutely awesome) or my Saucony Switchback trail running shoes (Got them for my kids for cross country as well) or the various books and podcasts that I have discovered over the past years. One of the best things that I tried last year was joining the OYNB (One Year No Beer) 90 challenge. This challenge is what helped me decide to write the morning emails to you all. 

The various challenges they have (30 day, 90 day and one year) are designed to help you create a better personal relationship with alcohol. Along the way you also start to see and feel the benefits from taking a break from any kind of alcohol drinking. The physical health benefits go without saying. Weight loss, skin color, better blood flow, better cognitive thoughts and reactions. The physical benefits are numerous. The emotional and mental pieces though is where the real magic happens. This 90 day challenge really forced you to open up with in yourself and really examine your life and how you feel about it. It forced you in a good way to really ask yourself some very thought provoking questions about yourself and why you chose this challenge and where you wanted to be by the end of your challenge. The daily emails I would receive everyday really made me answer these questions. Since my 90 day challenge I feel much more aware when things start to feel like they are going sideways on me. I am able to recognize these forces that want to make this happen. I am now better equipped now to react and handle these forces. The 90 day challenge helped me gain a more focused thought process on how to beat resistance. 

The most important piece though was finding my voice and the courage to write these emails to you everyday. Some people say that it is good that I have allowed myself to become more vulnerable through writing these emails. I'm not sure I like the idea of feeling vulnerable, just like most other people would probably feel the same way. I like to think this 90 day challenge allowed me to express myself in a very genuine way. It allowed me to come out from behind my own walls that I had built up for years. We all have these walls we have built up. It is a natural process in life. But just as it is a natural process to build them, it can also be a natural process to tear them down. 

A year of growth

What can you do now that you could not do a year ago? Writing this email every week day. In the beginning of 2019 there is no way I would have been able to write this email everyday. It took a lot of growing through training and growing through deep self evaluation. I had to prove to myself through my training for last year's race schedule that I was capable of doing things I didn't think possible from the previous year (2018). I think the final piece for me was when I decided to do the 90 day no alcohol challenge. I was receiving daily emails from OYNB (One year no beer) when I joined the challenge. I was encouraged by a gym member to share these email messages. So I decided to write how I interpreted these emails and how they could or would have an affect on my life. I found that sharing these emails and then starting to write my own emails was helping me grow and open up as a person, a man, a husband, a father, a friend, a coach and hopefully a mentor. 

Writing these emails to you all isn't easy to do on a daily basis, but they are enjoyable and rewarding to write. It has gone from a want to write to a need to write and that my friends is magical when that happens. Being a person who likes to be a bit more of the alpha type, these daily emails help remind me that it's ok to be an alpha type person, but it should be done with a healthy dose of humbleness and fear. Humbleness to keep you grounded and fear to help keep you genuine. I thank all of you for allowing and encouraging me to share these thoughts and ideas and I hope to continue them for a long time to come.

Moments that define us

"What is a defining moment in your life and how did it impact you"? There are a few defining moments in all of our lives, but there are always a couple that have the most impact on our lives. such as getting married, getting divorced, having a child, going off to college or moving out on your own for the first time. Everyone's list will be different depending where you are at in life. There are also some defining moments that make you have to take a stand for what you believe in. When this happens all hell breaks loose. You have to decide, are you willing to draw your line in the sand and stand up for you values and morals. Are you willing to accept the outcome of your actions. 

One of my defining moments in my life led me to starting Big Tree Fitness. I had grown tired of the landscape industry and was struggling at my job. I was still doing my job quite well, but my enthusiasm and desire for what I was doing was becoming more and more difficult. I was getting to a point where I knew that I needed to make a decision on whether to recommit myself to my career that I had worked so hard at for two decades or was I going to look at moving on. Then it happened, a day I will never forget. Myself and our HR person where told something that not only disgusted me, but would make me have to decide what I stood for. Was I going to abandon my principles and values or was I going to take a stand. 

What we were told that changed my life and started me down a new and more empowering path was, " We were hiring to many people with the wrong colored skin". I couldn't believe my ears. I was floored and totally appalled. In one moment I lost all respect for the person I was working for for so many years. Everything we had accomplished over my 20 year career meant zero with just this one statement. That day I decided that change was inevitable, but what change was going to take place. Well Big Tree Fitness is what took place. That day I started to figure out a responsible exit strategy for me and my family and my life changed forever.

Defining moments in life and how you react is what will always define you. They make or break your moral compass. They remind you of what your true north is and whether your true north is important enough to you or not..... Make the defining moments in your life and how you confront them the positive definition of your true north.

Finding and sustaining success

"What does success look like to you"? Success probably looks different for many of us. It comes in all different kinds of forms. Whether it be in the kind of job you have. The lifestyle you want to lead. The accomplishments you have set for yourself along the way and have achieved. Success can be seen as a negative as well as positive based on how you choose to use your success. Do you use your success to further others as well as yourself or do you let success fuel your ego and make it larger than life. I believe truly successful people choose to use their success to help fuel other while along the way they use their success to keep themselves humbled and their ego in check. They actually use their success to help shrink their ego because they realize that their true success is not just earned, but it is also a gift that is meant to be shared.

Even though successes comes in different forms for everyone based on their values and desires in life, there is one common thread that runs between them. That is the feeling you get when you have found success through the hard work you put in to it. Success has to be earned. You are not given success. It must be worked towards every day. Not some days, but everyday. Because of this work that is needed to create success, the emotions and feelings that come from it can fuel some of the greatest experiences that we will ever have in life. These successes and experiences typically build upon each other to help create new ideas and new successes. Almost as if they become a self fulfilling prophecy. Positive growth, if worked at builds more positive growth.  

I consider myself extremely lucky that I get to see and experience successes every day. Owning a gym gives me the perfect view of the emotions and feelings that are created when hard work turns into amazing positive success growth. The success that happens in the gym transcends into all parts of life. When you achieve something physical whether it is a PR in weightlifting or completing a training regiment that leads to the accomplishment of a race or any other physical endeavor. That feeling of success and fulfillment changes your perspective on life. It teaches you that you have capabilities that you have only dreamed of. You have the ability to inspire yourself to greater successes and also the ability to inspire those around you. You realize that your successes and the feelings, emotions and lessons learned are meant to be shared and taught to others.

Peace among the trees

"Where have you found peace" I think you can look at this one from a couple points of view. You can view this from the perspective of somethings in life that you have come to peace with. You can also look at it from the point of view of what do you do to find peace. I like to look at it from the second point of view. The reason being is we are all trying to find more peace in our lives everyday. We have our daily struggles that we have to deal with and sometimes fight tooth and nail through. It then becomes important to have ways to calm these feelings through some activity that helps provide that peace of mind we are all trying to find.

It is no secret that I find that peace of mind when I go trail running in the woods. The feelings I get when I am surrounded by trees. When my feet are impacting the soil underneath me. When I feel the air going through my lungs and feeding the oxygen to my blood and muscles. When I feel the sweat release the negative energy and allowing the new positive energy to take over. All these sensations create a place for peace in my mind, body and soul. This feeling of peace is an essential part of my life. It wasn't always that way. I had to search and find this way to find peace of mind. I had to reach out of my comfort zone to find it. 

Now I know trail running is not everyone's cup of tea, but having an activity that allows you to help find and create that peace we all so desperately need is essential to our lives. Some people find it through yoga, meditation, workouts, simply walking outside, biking or countless other ways. But so often I see or meet people who choose to ignore this vital piece of their life. When we allow ourselves to have an activity that opens up the mind to thinking time we can release the pieces that are holding us back. We can allow ourselves to heal and come to peace with so many different things. But you must let yourself have this time and quite honestly you must be willing to do the work needed to create this time. I hope you all have or will find that thing that helps you create the peace of mind we all need.

Winning the next one

Things were not looking good. He had coached in 364 games and this was now game 365. He had won 221 games, but yet to have won the most important one. Down by 10 points in the 4th quarter, was Andy Reid going to miss his Super Bowl opportunity once again. Coach Reid is considered one of the NFL's greatest coaches ever. He is a sure fire Hall of Fame coach when he retires, but not winning a Super Bowl would be a mark on his success ledger that would stick out like a sore thumb. 

Coach Reid and his Kansas City Chiefs football team refused to quit or give up. They pulled together as a team and found a way to win last night's Super Bowl. They decided that this moment was more important than themselves. They realized that everything they had worked for all year was to damn important to let go of. They decided to play out the last 10 minutes with this attitude in mind. "The amount of pain, suffering and sacrifice you make must be in direct proportion to the size of the goal you seek to achieve". The teams goal of winning last nights Super Bowl for coach Andy Reid was so much greater than themselves, that they had it within themselves to leave every once of pain, suffering and sacrifice out on the field of play. 

Both teams where and are extremely talented. They both had great players and where considered evenly matched and it showed through most of the game. But when It came down to the end of the game and the teams had to decide who was going to want it more, fight for it more and find the willingness to go through the pain to win. It was Kansas City who laid the most on the line for each other and their coach. 

This is what it takes to win. It takes leaving selfishness at the door. It takes the willingness to look beyond yourself and at a greater purpose. Whenever you have won at anything in life, I guarantee you can look back and find the sacrifice and suffering you made. You found something inside you that felt like a greater purpose. This is how you grow. How you become a better you. This is how you become a champion in your own life.

Karma is a b*$#h?!

"What is one of the kindest things someone has done for you"? I have had a lot of people do some very kind things for me over the years. Each time the most memorable or life changing acts of kindness that was bestowed upon me was when I really needed some act of kindness the most in my life. I guess that is when you can say thank you to karma. 

One of the most important though was when my wife showed her faith in me when she gave me her blessing to leave a really good job in order for me to pursue my passion of health and fitness. At the time I was at a really low point in my professional career and I was miserable and had been miserable for quite some time. My true north and what I believed in was not lining up with whom I was working for anymore. I needed to make a change, but the change was going to require a lot of work and dedication from both myself and my family. The only way this change in my life was going to happen was going to be through the kindness, courage and belief my wife wanted me to feel. Because of my wife's kindness and belief in what I needed to do has changed my life on so many different levels. The happiness that I feel in my life today is a direct reflection of the kindness that my wife has within her.

I mentioned above about saying thank you to karma. I truly believe that we all have a karma tank. This karma tank has to be maintained and replenished from time to time. We maintain it by returning selfless acts of kindness to others. When we do this our own personal karma tank stays full and allows each of us to receive acts of kindness in return. So if you feel like the world is crapping all over you at times, check your karma tank. If it is running low, it's time to refill. The only way to refill is to forgive the world and do things that are from a selfless and positive mindset. 

Riding without training wheels

"What would you do if you were not afraid"? I would be willing to bet that there would be an incredible list of things all of us would do if we were not afraid. This would be a great topic of conversation to have with each other. There are still a number of things I would do if I were not afraid. Being afraid or having fear is an important feeling that all of us should want to feel. Fear keeps us safe and grounded. Fear and being afraid can help us be more rational about big decisions, but fear and being afraid are also meant to be conquered.

Think back, you have done it many times in your life already. Conquering fear over things we have deemed to be afraid of has been a staple in our lives. When I try to think of my earliest recollections of doing something that I was afraid of, I end up back in my side yard being determined to get over the fear of riding a two wheel bike with no training wheels. Oh my god it sucked, knowing that most of my attempts in the beginning where going to end up in some sort of mangle wreck with cuts and bruises. But I wanted that freedom to ride my bike where and when I wanted to. The freedom to travel outside of the boundaries that had been set for me by my parents was to intoxicating to let fear of wrecking get in the way. I wanted the freedom more than letting the fear stop me. 

There are tons more of these times in our lives where we let go of the fear and decided to stop being afraid. The first time you climbed to the top of the tallest tree. The first time you had to read out loud in class, The first time you kissed someone. The first time you moved out on your own. The first time you quit your job to follow a passion. The list can go on and on. So often though we let being afraid stop us from doing something big or monumental in our lives. We fail to look back on all the fears that we have already gotten past. We think there is no way I can do this. When in reality you probably can. Think of it this way. If there is something that keeps popping up in your mind and heart and won't go away and it scares the hell out of you. There is a good chance that you should probably do it. There has to be a strong reason why it keeps popping up and won't go away. 

Don't live with regret because you let a fear of the unknown stop you. If it doesn't workout you chalk it up to experiences in life and learn from it and move on or make a better attempt. This is so much better than living with the regret of not trying at all. 

Let It Go, Let It Go

"What do you want to let go of". This is a tough one to think about and also to confront. Letting go of things can be very difficult and can be very painful process to go through. It also requires a lot of work and honesty with oneself. It takes time and sometimes a lot of time.

One of the main reasons why letting go of something negative can be so difficult is that we have gotten comfortable with the negative pieces in our lives. We have grown to accept them as part of our lives and part of our routines. We will often question why we keep holding on to these negative pieces, but deep down inside we know the answer. We are afraid to let go because we don't know what to expect in return. We are afraid of the unknown. We think to ourselves, "What's going to happen"? "What am I going to use to replace this thing I am so used to dealing with"? "What's going to happen when it's not there anymore"? "I am so used to this, how is letting go going to shape my identity". These are all valid questions and scary ones at that. 

We can't always let go of things on our own. We need to be able to talk to someone that will help us get through this difficult period. Help us plan and identify the positive future. I have seen many times, friends and family and myself included saying "I got this".  They think they have let go of something, but in reality all they dealt with is the surface issues. They never get deep down into causes and the roots of the issues. Which in a lot of cases makes it worse, because now all that is left is the emotional scars that have never healed properly.

Don't be afraid to let go of the negative things in your life. They do not identify you, unless you let them. They are not badges of honor. They serve no real good purpose, all they do is hold you back. Don't be afraid or let your ego get in the way of seeking out help. Letting go of negative things in your life does not and should not be a lonely time in your life. It should be a time when you should be seeking out the help of the people you trust and that love you the most. Remember true strength grows from the inside out.

Tackling Challenges, Ignoring Excuses

" What challenges do you want to overcome"? Wow, let me get started right away on this list.

1- Better coach

2- Better business owner

3- Learn to listen better

4- Learn to do take the time for recovery

5- Learn that going 100 mph is not always a good thing... LOL

And I didn't even touch on personal or family challenges. The point is we all could and should have a laundry list of challenges we would like to over come or work on. Overcoming challenges is what makes us grow as humans. If we don't work on overcoming our challenges, then what are we doing. Working on oneself is vital to understanding ourselves. When we work to overcome challenges in life It not only helps ourselves out, it usually helps out the people and institutions that we surround ourselves with.

Everyday we should always take on the process of overcoming challenges. This is part of what makes life worth living. We allow our mind, body and soul to listen, learn, communicate, love, evaluate, recognize, acknowledge, accept and find courage. When we put all these things together, plus countless more, we find that personal growth that we all want and should be striving for. 

So today after I finish my trail run. I plan on doing some recovery work for the second day in a row. Those of you who know me best, know this is a challenge for me. Because when I tell myself it is time for some recovery work, I allow to many distractions and excuses to get in the way. I always think that there is something more pressing that I should or could be doing, when in reality recovery work is exactly what I should be doing. See I'm learning, even if it's a slow process. That's ok, because it still means I am moving forward.