Lead Your Life

The era we live in belongs to people who believe in themselves, but are focused on the needs of others. And those people have three things in common:

1) They learn every day
2) They have the courage to live their dreams
3) They build trust in others

By doing this they lead a life that is fulfilling, interesting and fun.
-Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO for General Electric.

 

I love reading. Wish I had the time and discipline to do it more often, especially during the week. If you walk into my condo you'll see a book shelf filled with nutrition, running, and triathlon books, but also a good many self-improvement books.  These are the ones that really give me a high. They allow me perspective on how I can do better. Be better. The fact is we only get one shot at this thing called life so why not go all in? Why not become our best selves?

September 2012 and up until today will go down in the books as the most mentally exhausting month of my life. Many endurance athletes talk about this, "Post-race Blues Syndrome." PBS (we'll abbreviate) is a diagnosis where athletes tend to feel down and out after preparing so long for the "A Race" that when the day is all said and done they don't know what to do with themselves after. It can sometimes throw many athletes close to a state of depression.

Now I was in no means depressed, but I think PBS had an impact on my thoughts, decision making, and actions this month. I am a very impulsive guy, and those who know me understand my excitement level at times and how quickly it gets fostered. What I do know about myself is that I do believe in me. I do believe in what I do every single day. And I know that the 3 things Jeffrey Immelt speaks about are inside me more than ever ...

1. I learned that I need to be more decisive. Trust MY instinct. The gut feeling. In a way, I can't let every voice impact me. I need to make the final decision. I need to see all angles before deciding. I need make sure all decisions are closely inline with the dream. Training analogy? Listen to your body. Every approach should be different than the guy next to you because you're different. The more decisive you get with your training and the more you focus on all angles the better off you'll be.

2. I renewed my courage to tackle many opportunities. The ones that I truly want. Hard work creates opportunities, but it takes courage to follow those opportunities. My dream is to help people. To keep helping people. To show them that becoming the best versions of them is the only choice. Training analogy? Have courage to go after that distance that seems impossible. Don't let anything stand in your way. Be confident that your mindset is the biggest predictor of you crossing that finish line. It takes a lot of courage to even step up to that line.

3. What's interesting about this one is that if you don't follow the first two you can't build trust in others. The only way to build trust in the people around you is to learn from your mistakes. Take notice of the areas you can improve. What you can do differently. You must also follow your dreams because people who don't have that type of courage aren't very trustworthy. They don't do things for the right reasons. They may even lie to achieve certain things in their life. The best way to build trust is to: 1. Show people you are learning 2. Prove with your actions that you have learned and continue to learn 3. That you're following your dreams. The purpose for you being here on this planet. That's how you build trust in others ...

By taking a step back this stretch, I feel like I am back to leading a life that is fulfilling, interesting and fun ... how about you?

LAST RACE:
10/6/2012
Beaufort Shrimp 5K Run
Time: 18:24
Place: 2nd Overall

Report - 2nd run since Ironman Louisville. Yes I said 2nd time running since 8/26/12. I am still about 80% with a little knee tendonitis lingering around my left knee. (Mainly because I am not doing enough SMR). It's exciting to be back though. I have switched my focus back on the run in hopes of PRing the marathon and getting back to Boston in 2014 for redemption. Our Endurance athletes are looking good and are primed for our "A" Race in Savannah now only 20 days away!!!

Athlete Shout Out - Lynn N hit another 5K PR at this race. The funny thing is that the course was 3.18 clocked on my GPS and had a bridge in the middle of it. Obviously her PR is a little bit faster based off how slow the course was.
Congratulations Lynn!

I am so excited for her to cross the Savannah Rock N Roll MARATHON finish line in a few short weeks...