Be Someone’s Roger Bannister
It’s funny how our mind works.
When many of us face obstacles, we tend to believe we’re the only ones facing that obstacle. So we don’t talk about it. We internalize everything. And because of that, we feel alone in a battle with a Goliath we can never beat.
In all reality, there’s hundreds – if not thousands – of people out there going through the same situation, if not much harder ones – yet they’re overcoming it. Because we don’t know about them, we assume we’re alone. And we believe our battle to be an impossible one. (more…)
Just Start.
Don’t let where you have to start stop you from where you are called to go.
This was taken at the Big D Marathon during my very first year building Compete Every Day. I had a backdrop and shirts folded on a table. If I’m being honest, I was embarrassed at how bare my setup was. I WANTED to be “big-time” – do you know that feeling? You don’t have the resources to do everything you want so you have to make do with what you can. (more…)
Excuses or Goals?
Too cold.
Too early.
Too hard.
Too old.
Too blah blah blah blah.
Excuses are like buttholes – we all have them. But goals? Not all of us reach those because excuses and comfort zones are what we really want instead of those goals.
Find something you want – you truly want – and pursue it relentlessly. Put the excuses to bed for 2017 and be about taking action and making results.
We only have enough energy & time to give excuses or get results. Choose more wisely this year than in years past.
Football Isn’t Fair
Neither is life. And that’s why I love them both.
I felt it fitting that today, Super Bowl Sunday, should be the today I break the news. The game of football isn’t fair.
Yes, the field is the same width and length for all players. The football is the same for both teams, and the time on the clock doesn’t sway one way or another. But the game is still not fair.
Certain players (ahem, first rounders) are given extra opportunities that seventh rounders (or free agents) aren’t. You know that guy who committed those off-the-field atrocities? Yea, he’s been signed again because his talent is too much to pass up, while that guy over there (the upstanding citizen) is cut to make room. Even on the field, the odds aren’t even. Some players are just flat-out better than others. They’re born with a rare talent – and even more so, they work hard to make the most of that talent. They have physical advantages that other players on the field will never know. And the best players? Use every ounce of those talents.
Football has been my favorite sport since I could walk. I still remember playing with my dad in our living room as a small child, and those Friday nights in east Texas? They’ll go down as some of the most fun times in my life. I live and die each season with my Horned Frogs & Panthers. The game of football was my first love.
We tune in every single week to watch the game and cheer for our teams. As a society, we love the game of football. Friday nights. Saturdays. Sundays. It’s our favorite time of year, and the TV ratings, ticket & merchandise sales, and water cooler talk all verify this. And I’ve never seen a sport better embody the game of life.
So why, do we complain and moan that life isn’t fair? (more…)
You’ll Never Be 100% Ready
But if you keep waiting on that “perfect” time, you’ll never move off of the starting line.
I’ve been working on a new keynote for my upcoming speaking engagements. I’ve written it (and rewritten it) numerous times trying to refine the messaging for the best impact. I’ve read through it aloud, recorded myself reading it aloud, and can recite sections flawlessly.
But I still don’t feel close to ready with it. I could work on the speech for the next five years and it’ll still not be “ready” if I think about it. It’s still a work in progress in my eyes – it will always be a work in progress in my eyes.
Guess what happens if I’m constantly working on that speech instead of giving that speech? That’s right, I’m not actually a speaker. I have a great written keynote, but if it’s never performed, can it ever positively impact someone else? (more…)
Bumps & Bruises
It’s been a whirlwind start to the year and if you’re anything like me, it feels like I’m already a behind just a few weeks in. Right?
I spent this past week in Philadelphia with a handful of other public speakers working on our new keynote speeches and training to be better storytellers. One evening, a group of us went out to dinner and started talking about the experience. The conversation hit me right between the eyes as something I think you can relate to.
Each one of us sharing how we thought we knew how to speak effectively from the stage, but the last few days had busted our egos pretty good. We were being hard on ourselves while trying to better ourselves – and ironically, that doesn’t work.
One of the guys in our group made the analogy that he’d just come to terms with. A lifelong skier, he shared that if he were going to take up snowboarding, he’d expect to spend a few days falling, getting beat up & bruised rolling down the mountain while training to pick up this new skill. He knew how to ski a mountain great, but trade his skis for a snowboard and he’d be in trouble.
He’d expected the bumps & bruises snowboarding, but was being down on himself for going through the same experience learning how to better perform from the stage as a storyteller.
The snow was the same, but the equipment was different. His speech was slightly the same, but the delivery was different. Why wouldn’t he have bumps and bruises? Like him, I get incredibly frustrated by slow progress, even though in a different arena, I’d expect the progress to be slow and painful.
Can you relate to that feeling? (more…)
My Three Words for 2017
What will define your 2017?
Each year, I anxiously anticipate Chris Brogan’s “My 3 Words..” blog post. It’s become tradition to read the post, meditate, and set the theme for my own key words of 2017. It also become my annual challenge to live outside of my comfort zone because these three words are to hold me accountable for the next 365 days.
Here’s how it works (taken from ChrisBrogan.com): (more…)
Courage Over Comfort
Courage or comfort? What will you choose? Do you want your life to be remembered as one represented by courage, or as one represented by comfort? The best stories – and lives – are those dictated by courage.
Here’s how you can live more boldly with yours.
How to Create a Positive Attitude
How do you maintain a positive attitude when everything around you is negative or going to shit? How do you get past the bad situations in life that occur and focus on the good? I share some tips on how I work to shift my mindset from disappointment to future success. (more…)
Endurance Training
How much pain are you willing to endure in order to go for glory?
If you know what’s coming, if you know what you are striving toward, aren’t you a little bit more focused and more capable of enduring what you are currently going through?
Take for example your workouts. How many of our workouts just absolutely suck? Our lungs burn, our arms hurt, and our legs are on fire. Yet we know there is an end in sight, so we continue pushing toward either that final rep or until that clock sounds because we know we are gaining strength from it. We understand the benefits of our workout.
How about a mother who carries a child in her womb for 9 months and then gives birth? Labor is not a comfortable process and it cannot be fun. But at the end of it you have this new creation, a new child and piece of your family. Then how many mothers are willing to go through all of that pain, all of that suffering, all over again for a second, third or fourth child? Plenty.
This is endurance training at it’s finest. Endurance training is about pushing yourself through that temporary pain, through the hurt because you see what’s ahead and that final point that you are striving toward.
What giants are you facing right now? Are you looking ahead? Are you looking at what awaits once you get through it? Or are you so focused on the turmoil and pain of what you are going through that you’ve lost sight of what’s ahead? I want to encourage you today with three ways that you can improve your endurance training for life: (more…)