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Week 16: Week 17: Playground Discoveries, Leadership Catharsis and Rich Roll Being a Bad Ass
I woke up this morning and realized I never finished this and sent it out last night.
Shame on me.
The sun still rose anyway, and nobody was the wiser!
Here we go!
Philosophical Dad Stuff
One of the perks of doing a lot more running in the community is I’ve discovered a lot of parks and playgrounds.
Sunday was a glorious Fall day in Ohio, dripping with sunshine and leaves floating down from trees like giant, lonely (brown) snowflakes.
We went to two such parks after a morning spent vegetating in front of screens for far too long.
After two hours of laughing, chasing, yelling, and playing, everyone was exhausted.
The younger kid almost fell asleep on what was left of his hot dog after lunch.
Not to mention, the older one ran into a girl from class he has professed to have “a huge crush” on. I smiled and tried to stay out of the way while they played tag.
In the end it was the perfect cap to the weekend.
The only thing missing was mommy, who was on her way to Spain.
Then she called us while waiting in line for the Picasso Museum in Malaga, on the southern Andalusian coast.
I was no longer sympathetic.
We still missed her though…
Leadership
It was a long day spent in the auditorium of what’s left of my company’s campus after post-Covid building space downsizing.
As leaders, we often get caught up in our day-to-day. Rightfully so, most of our focus is on our immediate team, those we naturally interact with most. It can also be isolating to some degree.
Spending a day trading war stories with other leaders wasn’t just educational, it was cathartic.
Because I was reminded that others struggle with the same things I do.
We try to be clear as leaders, but it’s difficult to stay on message and still get the point across sometimes.
We try to be helpful and put out fires, but in doing so we limit the progression of those we lead by insisting that WE always play the hero.
We try to stay organized, but despite our best efforts, things slip through from time-to-time.
And we try to remove emotion from process; but we’re not robots, we’re people.
As usual, being vulnerable ended up giving me more strength than I thought possible from just a few hours of sharing experiences with other leaders.
Now armed with fresh ideas and fresh perspectives, time to get back in the arena.
Couch to Ultramarathon
Earlier this summer, right after the bug hit me, I read “Finding Ultra” by Rich Roll.
If you’re not familiar with the story, Rich was a corporate automaton who found himself middle-aged, out-of-shape, and drinking himself into oblivion.
For me, this story hit a bit too close to home at times.
But that’s also the reason why it was memorable and instructive.
Anyway, he finds himself at a crossroads, chooses the healthy road, and like many people who stray towards extremes, takes things to a whole new level.
First, he quits drinking and everything else holding him back. He goes hardcore vegan. Quits his job to start a boutique firm. Begins signing up for ultramarathon and ultra-ironman races.
In short, he got off the mat and changed everything about his life for the better.
He started burning the midnight oil so he didn’t have to lay awake in the midnight hours wondering “what if?”.
He took on insane challenges and conquered most of them. From his failures, he learned hard lessons and came back stronger and better prepared the next time.
He rose above and beyond himself.
I wanted that too.
The last line of the book was especially poignant, and it’s haunted me ever since. It’s like a voice in my head, getting louder and louder and louder.
“There’s a new path waiting for you too. All you have to do is look for it, then take that step. If you show up and stay present, that step will eventually become a gigantic leap forward. And then you’ll show us who you really are.” - Rich Roll
Live triumphantly. See you next week.