Don't Like It? Get Better.

Week 10: Proving Them Right, Chicago Hotdogs & the Dumbest Cliché of All Time

I didn’t have this queued up tonight before a team dinner for work, so we’re coming out a bit late tonight!

As we round into the last quadrant of the year, it’s natural to start feeling like we should start taking stock of the year that was.

Don’t do it this year.

Don’t “shut it down” for the holidays.

Don’t let go of the rope.

Now isn’t the time to rest. It’s the time to double down; to go all-in.

Because if you don’t do it, somebody else who wants it is going to come take it. Don’t be the one who lets others take your dreams. Be the one who comes to take it.

Be the one who knocks.

Leadership

Unfortunately, my team had another amazing month, demolishing quota and eating up yearly goals left and right.

I said “unfortunately” for a reason.

Because sometimes small successes make me think I’ve earned something; that I became the hero; that I’ve conquered the mountain.

When the reality is I haven’t earned shit; when the truth is maybe I just got lucky.

So how do you prove it otherwise?

Consistency.

Then you graduate from proving them wrong all the time to “proving them right” instead.

Aim for higher level problems.

Philosophical Dad Stuff

Another week, another trip with the kids; this time to Elmhurst, just outside Chicago.

My boys showed their little cousin Theo how to wreck stuff and fight and wrestle. All good skills a growing boy will need.

We ate deep dish pizza and Chicago beef sandwiches.

And we went to fall festival as well.

At the festival, they have a haunted house and to be fair, it’s pretty legit. And it’s not exactly something a 6-year might be ready for. But after he got scared last year, he spent the whole year psyching himself up for another run at the haunted house.

We spent all day avoiding it until the end. He mustered up his courage and said, “Okay Daddy let’s go.”

Only to change his mind as got to the door and plead with me to go back, please, please, PLEASE!!!

Being I was already holding him, I briefly considered charging into the haunted house anyway to show him it wasn’t all that bad.

Then I thought the better of it.

The trust issues can wait.

We’ll get ‘em next year.

Couch to Ultramarathon

There’s an absolutely stupid cliché out there that I hate.

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you fail, you’ll land among the stars.”

Please. Give. Me. A. Freaking. Break.

But maybe I hate it because I secretly love it.

Because I love a good keystone habit. Something that drags us along for the better whether we intended it or not.

The 500-day writing project was like that. Through daily writing, I became disciplined, focused, and clear about what I wanted for the first time in my adult life. The changes that endeavor brought to my life were astonishingly positive in every way.

I became more like the person I always knew I could be.

This insane ultramarathon idea is starting to be like that.

In the three months since this wild notion came into my life, I’ve already started to change.

Besides the obvious stuff like losing weight and getting healthier, other things have started to happen.

I’ve explored my home neighborhood more in three months than in the previous 5 years. I’ve discovered parks, trails, waterfalls, and routes I never knew existed. I’m more connected with the nature around my community.

Getting out more means you see more people in their natural elements. I run through neighborhoods, business parking lots, parks, and city streets. I see people picking through trash in the mornings and sleeping on the street. It makes my heart hurt for them.

I see people working on their yards, playing with their kids, and relaxing in the sun. I see families playing together at parks and families on their phones together at parks.

I ran through a wedding photo shoot and wished them luck. It buoyed my heart to see such happiness and be a tiny part of their day.

By embracing the long road, I’ve become more patient. I’ve lost the “hurry up” attitude in other areas of my life.

On top of all that, my resting pulse rate is way down, my blood pressure is great and even my diet is getting better. Apparently, it’s hard to run 8 miles when you had McDonald’s for lunch. Believe me, I’ve tried.

And this is all in only three months. Imagine what the next few years are going to bring.

Seek out challenges that make you become a better version of yourself to achieve.

The path along the way will change all your tomorrows.

I leave you with an old favorite quote tonight.

One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the CRITICAL, DECISIVE hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday.” Henry David Thoreau (capitalization mine)

Live triumphantly. See you next week.