Identity Theft

Our identity is going to change well before people take notice. 

And that’s why we get strange looks and odd questions. 

One day we are one thing to someone and then randomly, almost like it’s out of the blue, we become something different. 

To them it happened overnight but we know better. There was a lot of work that went into the transformation. 

We battle the “old guard” daily and work to strip down our prior version to only the parts that serve us any longer. 

The fact that anyone noticed, good or bad, should be a compliment. 

We shed the old skin and have become our new version. 

If anyone should admire it, it should be ourselves.

Identity Theft2023-09-30T14:54:37-04:00

Showing Up Is Half The Battle

You won’t become great by learning a skill.

You become great by building an ecosystem that supports that skill.

It can apply to all facets of life.

When I started CrossFit I would’ve had average results if I solely focused on lifting weights.

Instead:
I had to create a Morning Routine.
I had to create a Bedtime Routine.
I had to have a beginner learner mindset.
I had to prepare for the day ahead better.
I had to change what I ate during the day.
I had to change when I ate during the day.
I had to show up on the days I didn’t feel like it.

These new foundations in my life, that never existed before, were created.

I wouldn’t be close to what I have achieved if they hadn’t been.

This applies to the skill or activity you are learning.

Have you built the ecosystem to support your endeavor?

If not, what habits can you add or eliminate today to support it?

Now is never a bad time to start.

Showing Up Is Half The Battle2023-06-23T09:39:03-04:00

Behind The Scenes

The magic happens behind the scenes.

When we see a cool video, listen to a podcast, watch a movie, or read an interesting novel, 99.9% of it was created without an audience.

To get where we want to go we have to put in the work we never have.

It’s in the prep work, the imagination, the restless nights, the crumbled-up piles of paper, and the emotional roller coaster.

Like in school, we need to show our work to get credit.

It’s no different with bringing our creations to life.

Only this time nobody else is watching.

Behind The Scenes2023-05-20T20:29:22-04:00

I Woke Up Like This

If we wake up every day trying to do our best the hard work pays off eventually.

We never know when it’s going to click but we keep at it.

Day by day.

Minute by minute.

Second by second.

Progress is made.

We’ve moved another step forward.

We’re closer to where we want to be.

If that doesn’t bring us happiness I’m not sure what will.

I Woke Up Like This2023-05-11T20:01:49-04:00

Just Do It

Nothing that is going to be worth it, in the long run, will be easy to start today.

So if you’re wondering if should you do it or not, the answer is an emphatic YES!

Because here’s the thing, what’s the worse that could happen?

Most likely it will end up less painful than the regret you’ll feel from not making the attempt.

Just Do It2023-04-07T14:01:53-04:00

Ultra-Marathon

Play the entire game and add it all up at the end.

This is a mantra we’d all stand to benefit from.

Too often when we think we are “behind” it knocks us off our balance and bruises our ego. We throw our hands up and say, “What’s the point? I’ll never win.”

What is “winning” anyway?

Is it the physical prize at the end or is it the incalculable growth we made by pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone and into a new dimension of learning?

Far too often we are disappointed with the perceived “L” but fail to recognize it’s priming us for something bigger and better up ahead.

All of these reps are going to pay off for us, eventually.

We may not win this leg of the race but rest assured we’ll be prepared for the next.

Don’t give up before the race is over.

Ultra-Marathon2023-01-07T17:39:03-04:00

Wait But Why?

I used to be the “I’ll get started on Monday” type.

I became the “just get started now” type.

That single mindset shift changed my life.

I promise it’ll change yours, too.

Wait But Why?2023-01-07T17:22:26-04:00

Version Control

What was the 2013 version of ourselves doing back then?

What do you think the 2033 version will be doing?

We’ve come so far.

Imagine what some focused effort and decision-making can do for us over these next 10 years.

20 years into the future, our 2013 version will come to be unrecognizable.

Version Control2022-12-26T14:39:53-04:00

The Waiting Game

There is no timeline.

Stop beating yourself up if you haven’t:

  • Gotten traction yet
  • Gotten that promotion/raise
  • Met that significant other
  • Found your purpose
  • Figured it all out

The journey is the fun part. If it was easy would you really want to sign up for it? It’d get boring rather quickly.

Enjoy the process of discovering yourself and creating new opportunities by doing.

When it happens it’ll happen.

Stop hurrying.

You can’t force it.

The Waiting Game2022-12-26T14:27:56-04:00

Tighten The Screws

Often times it’s not a big change that has to be made.

It’s a tweak.

A slight pivot.

A minor movement forward.

One more turn of the wrench.

Progress happens through tiny intentional iterations.

Make a small change and see how that helps.

Then maybe another after that.

Before long we’re on a new path forward.

Progress, not perfection.

That minor tweak in thinking is substantial.

Tighten The Screws2023-01-25T21:54:14-04:00

New Year New Me

This New Year let’s not say “New Year, New Me” because change doesn’t happen like that.

Change happens by moving intentionally and incrementally forward.

It’s building one good habit after another.

It’s becoming self-aware and accepting of ourselves.

It’s giving ourselves space and expanding our worldview.

What might be better to say is, “I’m going to work continually to be disciplined this year in the areas that I’ve uncovered aren’t serving me anymore and lean into better decisions, perspectives and relationships. I won’t always get it right but I’m going to learn and keep improving.”

It’s important to start and let the changes come progressively over time.

This way, when the next year rolls around you can confidently say “New Year, New Me”

New Year New Me2022-12-28T17:32:58-04:00

Flower Power

Take a seed out of any food we are eating and place it on the table.

Don’t do anything to it and let it sit there for a few weeks.

Do you know what happens?

Almost nothing.

Do you know why? Because there needs to be some action to create change. There needs to be some focused effort for growth to take place.

That seed is a metaphor for every idea we have in our heads that we want to pursue but we don’t.

It just sits there. It toys with us. It slowly dies each day.

But what happens when put the tiniest amount of effort toward that seed?

If it’s laid inside a wet paper towel it’ll start to sprout.

If it’s buried in some soil it could plant some roots.

If it’s placed outside in the sun it might start flowering soon enough…Just like our ideas.

They just need a little love. A little attention. A little light to be shined upon them.

And then, in time, they can become something we never could quite fathom.

They blossom into the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen.

It’s real. It’s spectacular. It’s ours.

We’ve created it and it should give us the courage to create again.

One small step at a time is all it takes.

But we have to take the first step otherwise we might be wondering if this thing will ever turn into anything special.

It will.

We just have to give it a chance to grow.

Flower Power2022-10-17T11:16:20-04:00

Win The Day

Consistency is the worst kept secret of accomplishing anything important to us.

We must start. Not once but each and every day.

More than motivation it’s an action.

It’s the constant motion forward of small, tiny, almost insignificant steps in the direction we seek that count the most.

Others won’t see it right away.

We may barely feel it.

But knowing what we want to do and being intentional about doing it is all that matters.

We may not be prepared for the entire adventure ahead but we don’t need to be.

We just need to be prepared for today.

Get through today and we can rest up for tomorrow.

Because we’ll have to battle ourselves again to get up and keep moving.

We know it won’t be easy but that’s what makes it worth it.

Win The Day2022-08-18T19:18:22-04:00

Snooze Alarm

I’m starting to question if the fear of starting is partly that we don’t want the responsibility of what could happen if we actually succeed.

Comfort is the warm blanket over us as we hit the snooze alarm. Getting up and doing something actually creates a whole new set of unknowns.

Best to stay tucked in for a bit longer, I guess, so we don’t have to deal with the discomfort of waking up.

Snooze Alarm2022-05-06T20:48:34-04:00

A Full Revolution Begins with One Motion

I enjoyed writing for many years and would normally write in journals or random blog articles from time to time. The content structure and topics changed over time but similar messaging was at its core.

Positive Mindset. Consistency. Action. Progress.

A little over a year ago, leading into April 2021, I made a decision. I was a few years into my Just Get Started Podcast and loved doing the show and wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. But those are longer-form interviews. I wanted another medium to share my thoughts, my voice, and my perspective. Blogging, and really “micro-blogs”, were something I enjoyed. Something about dispelling a message into as few words as possible and making it relatable and enjoyable (and a little vulnerable) was intriguing to me.

So I made a commitment.

Launch a blog article every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week. I knew it was going to add some more time to my plate but it was important for me with where I wanted to go and the message I wanted to share with the world.

The message above all else is to Just Get Started.

I’m proud to say that after 12 months and over 140 blog articles later we are back in the month of April, a full year after beginning this project. I am more excited than ever to keep writing and sharing these stories and observations and I hope they have been valuable to you.

We don’t know what will happen or how it might impact us but if we believe in something or find a purpose in pursuing a meaningful project then we have to take the steps to get started and keep moving forward. Consistent action over and over again works.

Too many times I’ve sat on the sidelines and wondered and wished and never just did.

It may not work out as we want it to or we might pivot to something else but we don’t know that at first. All we know is that we want to do it.

So go do it. The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

I’ve been in the position where I sat on the sidelines because I was scared to get in the game. I didn’t believe I could do it. We all feel that from time to time. It’s when we realize that it doesn’t actually matter if we believe we can do it or not and what matters is that we try and we build on it from there. We take a leap of faith. We become brave.

Confidence breeds confidence. You only get that from being in the game and being a part of the action.

So, go do it. Whatever it is that you want to do. Start small if you want. But just start.

Whether you succeed or fail never matters, it’s that you can look back at some distant point from the future and be proud of yourself that when your number was called you suited up and checked into the game.

You weren’t going to miss this opportunity.

A Full Revolution Begins with One Motion2022-07-29T17:26:12-04:00

Misdirection

We actually don’t need to make monumental big changes. That’s a common misconception.

It’s the small changes that matter. The ones that are incremental and barely even scratch the surface. The ones that almost no one would notice if they looked at us or our work.

The ironic thing is that’s how big moments happen. From very small, microscopic adjustments over a long period of time.

That’s the only way true change can happen. It has to become part of us. We have to rewrite our DNA, in a way.

That takes time. It’s okay that it takes time. We just have to be prepared for the long haul. We may not be able to see the impact early on but we have to trust it’ll have a monumental effect on our life.

We have to believe it to be true and keep progressing one small step at a time.

Misdirection2022-02-13T16:37:30-04:00

Keep Chopping Wood

We live in a world where we are told that quicker is better. Faster, faster, faster.

  • Fast food
  • The “hot” take
  • Crash dieting
  • Hypergrowth

Someone is going to catch us if we slow down. Keep pressing down the accelerator.

But are they? Or is that a story we are making up in our heads?

It doesn’t mean that we have to believe that.

It’s easy to look at examples of businesses or people moving quickly but we have to ask ourselves, “Have they always been moving at “this speed” or are we just watching what happens after momentum takes over after a long winding patient process of action?”

Be intentional about what you are doing. The accelerator doesn’t always have to be pushed to the floor.

The journey will take many unexpected turns. Relish those. Learn. Adapt. But don’t rush.

Things happen when they happen.

But sometimes it’s not as fast as we may want. And we may not be able to control it.

So why get flustered?

Keep chopping wood. Keep progressing forward. Keep living your purpose.

Your time will come.

Keep Chopping Wood2022-01-23T21:06:34-04:00

Full Steam Ahead

We must be thoughtful about where we want to go as that will help plot the next few steps down the path. The direction is much more important than the speed at which we arrive.

If we don’t know where we are going, it’ll be hard to pack our bags and be prepared properly for the journey ahead. Although drifting slightly of course can be corrected, the further we go down the wrong path the harder it’ll be to turn back.

Stay focused on our desired outcome and where we truly want our life to go.

Then, start moving in that direction.

Full Steam Ahead2021-12-30T13:21:23-04:00

It Can Happen To You

If we’re not getting the results we want we could consider a few things:

  • It’s too early, we haven’t given ourselves enough time
  • We’re wrong – what we thought would work wasn’t correct and it’s time to pivot
  • We’re asking the wrong people – Audit your group that is sharing advice
  • We’re not talking to the right audience – We might have something magical but it’s not the right group of people who would benefit from it.

We overthink why things aren’t happening to us at the rate we feel they should be happening and start to think the world is out to get us. In the back of our minds, we know this isn’t really true.

If we focus from within and leverage deep self-awareness we might uncover that we are the stubborn ones who are getting in the way.

Growth happens when we are willing to admit we were wrong in the first place, put the ego aside, and move forward in a positive direction.

That positive mindset can allow us to progress with an optimistic view of the world; something that is vital to visualizing success and then staying hyper-focused to get there, no matter how long it might take.

It Can Happen To You2021-12-28T11:13:19-04:00

The Butterfly Effect

Why does a Monarch butterfly do the things it does?

Here is a caterpillar, crawling around the earth and living just fine. Then, for reasons we can’t possibly fully know, it decides to create a cocoon and after a short isolation period, boom, it now has wings.

It now can fly somehow. Not only does it fly but it flies over 3000 miles to migrate in Central Mexico each year.

How does it know to do that?

What magic just happened in that cocoon?

I can’t be for certain but it’s a great metaphor for life.

We are always changing. We are always evolving our thinking. We are always moving forward.

Each day. Each minute. Each second.

Our thoughts and actions determine the person we will be tomorrow, and the next week, and the next year.

Unlike the caterpillar, we can choose our path forward.

We can create the life that we want even if today, reading this, we might not feel we can.

Those can be hard things; change, but we are capable.

We have to have the courage to take the risk of changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

We have to know we are capable of the hard work to create action and progress.

And then, we have to believe we can fly.

The Butterfly Effect2021-12-27T15:17:38-04:00

Consistent Motion

Progress happens over time and is rarely seen in a moment or even a series of days. It’s a continual flow of work that creates the life that we want.

Sure, an intense workout or an unbelievable date, or an incredibly productive day is needed from time to time. Those have to be a part of the equation.

But consistency far outweighs intensity when we are trying to become happier and achieve results that are sticky and have traction.

Get started. Get started today. And get started doing something that is creating change for whatever it is you want to achieve in life.

You don’t have to run a marathon today. You just need to get out the front door and take action. Then, do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that.

Intensity is great but it can be short-lived. Find consistency in your efforts and you’ll sustain more long-term growth.

That’s where happiness lives.

Consistent Motion2021-12-16T19:51:57-04:00

The New Road Ahead

Whether it’s a Birthday, the New Year, or some mile marker we can look back on annually, the question always surfaces. What did we learn this year?

One year older or one year wiser? Maybe both.

Age, they say, is how we feel. So how do we feel today? Turning the page to another year. How did the last year go?

Our answer is not as important as what we do with it. Reflection is one of the most overlooked catalysts to change.

What can we learn about where we came from to set us up better for the road ahead?

What patterns did we learn about ourselves?

What commitments did we keep?

What situations strengthened us?

What tested us all together?

If we’re lucky, we’ll get the chance to play the game of life again this next year.

How will this one be different?

What will we do differently?

When will we do it by?

Let’s not hang on to the past for too long.

Reflect on it.

Accept it.

Respect it.

Turn and look ahead.

Tomorrow is a bright one.

Let’s make the best of it.

The New Road Ahead2022-06-17T09:21:51-04:00

It’s The Climb

When we are running up a hill into headwinds the initial thought might be to zig-zag back and forth to avoid hitting the wind head-on and to help level out the steepness of the hill as much as possible.

But the focus on the climb straight upward, even through the toughest conditions, will create the energy you need to get through it. “Avoiding it” may seem like a more ideal strategy but we can expel just as much energy and not nearly get as far. The headwinds can still push us back off course. Life is going to be hard either way.

The best path is always forward. Through the suck. The discomfort will last much shorter and we’ll stay on course toward our intended path. We’ll come out stronger when we reach the pinnacle.

In the metaphor for life, if we’re going to accomplish something, full steam ahead into the storm is always the way to go.

Brace ourselves and press on.

Life is going to be hard either way.

It’s The Climb2022-06-17T09:18:10-04:00

Ghostie On 1st

Growing up, when we’d have limited numbers of players for baseball, we’d put a “ghostie” on base to act as a runner.

That same mentality can be used when we are trying to push ourselves harder and farther than we ever have before. We are competing against ourselves. Against a person who we know really well. We know their weaknesses, their shortcomings, their fears.

We can visualize that “ghostie” just ahead of us. Pacing us in the race. Giving us the added motivation to kick it into another gear.

Sometimes the only motivation we need is the competition we conjure up in our heads.

When we are focusing on our projects needing to be completed and procrastination and distractions ensue, there might not be a better competitor on the planet to kick us into another gear than ourselves.

That motivation might be the difference between lagging behind our insecurities, fears, and self-doubts or pushing ourselves forward further than we ever thought possible.

Ghostie On 1st2021-11-29T15:49:26-04:00

Progress Isn’t Perfect

We can often get discouraged if we compare ourselves to what others are doing. It’s easy with the access we have to social networks. We get a glimpse of how everyone else appears to be prospering while we are paddling like hell in a circle.

We read their books, see their bodies, and admire their art. We convince ourselves that in some way they are better than us and it causes us to question ourselves and our mission.

What we fail to recognize is they once started from a blank canvas, they had a shitty first draft, and they couldn’t do a pull-up. At some point, they were a beginner. They struggled. They had to tear down their castle many times in disappointment and rebuild it better and stronger than before. They have the calluses to prove it.

Progress isn’t perfect and there is no stopwatch on when you might be done.

Progress can be slow but slower movement in the direction we want to head is better than being stationary with no plans to get started at all.

It doesn’t have to be big or bold, it just has to be something you care about that can strike that first flame to start the fire.

So maybe down the line when someone is admiring our work we can pause and reflect and raise a small grin and remember the time we stared at a “blank canvas” and weren’t sure where to begin.

But we did.

We have the calluses to prove it.

progress

November 28, 2023

We can often get discouraged if we compare ourselves to what others are doing. It’s easy with the access we have to social networks. We get a glimpse of how everyone else appears to be prospering while we are paddling like hell in a circle.

We read their books, see their bodies, admire their art. We convince ourselves that in some way they are better than us and it causes us to question ourselves and our mission.

What we fail to recognize is they once started from a blank canvas, they had a shitty first draft, they couldn’t do a pull-up. At some point, they were a beginner. They struggled. They had to tear down their castle many times in disappointment and rebuild it better and stronger than before. They have the calluses to prove it.

Progress isn’t perfect and there is no stopwatch on when you might be done.

Progress can be slow but slower movement in the direction we want to head is better than being stationary with no plans to get started at all.

It doesn’t have to be big or bold, it just has to be something you care about that can strike that first flame to start the fire.

So maybe down the line when someone is admiring our work we can pause and reflect and raise a small grin and remember the time we stared at a “blank canvas” and weren’t sure where to begin.

But we did.

We have the calluses to prove it.

Progress Isn’t Perfect2022-04-22T20:09:46-04:00
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