As luck would have it I ran into an executive I hadn’t talked with in a while today.  He’s a mature business leaders with a great deal of experience.  I look up to him for many reasons, his stoic nature, his logical thinking, his ability to make the difficult decisions, and his calm under pressure.  There’s an old school leadership style to him, in many ways he makes me think of how my dad would have been as a CEO.

We started off a quick conversation as we both had separate directions to head off to within 7 minutes time.  He asked me a question about business and I shared some of the challenges I’ve been taking on.  His face softened, and he proceeded to totally open up in a way I never saw coming.  Within a matter of a couple of minutes he helped me see that I’m not alone.  It sounds hokey and I really don’t want to dive into any more detail than that, but that was really the core of it.  Here was someone with 20+ more years of life and business experience and he helped me quickly see that I am not alone and that I’m on the right track.  I really don’t know a better way to describe it other than I sometimes question myself, my ability, and my strategy.  In a few short sentences he helped me strengthen my resolve in ways that would’ve taken me so long to do.

Today I am so thankful for his extreme openness and willingness to share.  He totally made himself vulnerable and humbled himself and helped me see that I am not alone.  Even as I write this I can tell I’m not doing justice to the feeling of calm and sense of confidence I have from this one quick conversation.  Not only did it help me today, it is a lesson I will carry with me forever and will do my best to show him thanks for it the best way I can, by emulating his behavior when someone else could use a little nudge.

This evening Becky took me on a yoga date, but not our normal yoga date.  Tonight we headed to West Salem and did yoga atop stand up paddle boards.  It was incredible!!!  The feeling of being out in nature on the water was awesome in of itself, throwing yoga on top of it was icing on the cake.

Throughout the practice I was 100% focused on balance (and even that didn’t prevent me from falling in once!), breathing, and the sensation os nature around me.  By the time it was over I could feel just how much my shoulders had relaxed.  All the stress I’d been carrying had melted away and it felt like I’d gotten a stress cleanse.  Ahhh…  Exactly what the doctor ordered!  Thanks for taking me to SUP Yoga Becky!

Thanks!!!

Thinking back over the past 1,381 days I sometimes forget if I’ve blogged about something in the past.  Often when I have that feeling I go back and search my old blogs to see if it was already in there.  Tonight I’m going to listen to the advice of what I am thankful for and I’m just going to go with it.

There have been several guideposts over the past six months or so that have really led up to today’s gratitude.  Some of the memorable ones include a sermon talking about how we feel drawn to do something good that we really don’t want to do, a change in work, and getting my butt into gear and starting to run regularly again.  Between these moments and so many others I’ve found myself being drawn to something outside of my comfort zone.

Over the past 24 hours I’ve had several experiences that have really helped to pound this thought into my head, the concept of saying “yes” and leaning into the discomfort.  The one that seems to really roll it up in a nutshell involves our dogs.

Between my work schedule, Becky’s joint stuff, and a pulled dog leg the girls really haven’t had a ton of exercise lately.  As of today it’s been over a week since they’ve been able to do any type of walk or run like they so love.

Cue my pity party… I had a very long and stress filled day at work.  I have another one coming up tomorrow, and all I wanted to do when I got home was complain.  The rain really fit my attitude as I was flat out pissy and I wanted to world to be pissy with me.  I wanted to have a drink, sit on the couch, go brain dead, and go to bed early.  My thought was that I’d feel bad for myself tonight and then start fresh in the morning.  It really sounds stupid and petty as I write, but that’s pretty much where my brain was.

The entire time the dogs keep looking at me with their sad eyes, hoping for something wonderful to happen.  Unfortunately for them my new early start time tomorrow meant no walk for them in the morning.  More than once Becky talked about how each time LuLu comes in the house she looks at her leash and then sighs as she walks past in disappointment.  As if I still wasn’t taking the hint the rain stopped and the sun came out.

At some point that sermon popped back into my head.  I was feeling the pull towards taking the dogs for a walk.  It would have been very easy to ignore and move past, but that sermon reminded me that often the things that we should do are the ones we feel compelled to do, but don’t want to do.  In those moments our best course of action is quite often to lean into the discomfort and go where we feel pulled.  I took a deep breath and decided to just say yes.

Once the dogs realized what was about to happen their joy was so obvious that I couldn’t help but smile with them.  As we walked I fired up my audiobook (Love Does) and, by some cosmic coincidence, started with a chapter about when the author learned the power of just saying yes!  I couldn’t believe it, it was awesome!

As we walked I could feel my attitude improving so much so quickly.  All I’d needed to do was lean into a little discomfort and say yes to it.  Once I did that everything fell right into place.  It was almost as if the universe knew exactly what I needed and did what it could to provide me an opportunity to have it.

And that’s what I’m thankful for today.  Over the past months some of the happiest and best moments and experiences have come as a result of leaning into the discomfort.  By saying yes instead of fighting and pushing back I’ve been able to accomplish more and have the opportunity to be in the right situation more often than not.

I certainly have not been perfect on this and have much to work on, but days like today are a great reminder for me in the future when I just want to fight that path that I know is correct.

Thanks!!!

At one of our Express Employment Professionals trainings over the past few years we had a wonderful speaker by the name of Bob Goff.  He was an excellent speaker with an incredible message.  As with many of the other great speakers we’ve had parts of his story stuck with me and have helped to put a smile on my face. 

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when one of my teammates in Winona suggested I read Love Does by Bob Goff.  I sat there for a moment as the name resonated in my head.  It took a moment but when Mike started to explain him I was quickly reminded his presentation.  I hopped online and downloaded it right away and jumped it ahead in my “To Read” list.  This morning was a perfect transition to it as I left the house way too early to talk on the phone with anyone.  

I’m only a little ways in but it’s already hitting me right between the eyes in couple of different ways.  If the best way to judge a book is to see if action was immediately taken this book is a winner!  Based on a couple of stories I’ve already jumped into action on something that’s been brewing in my head for quite some time.  The story gave me the boot in the butt I needed to get moving on it.

There’s still a whole lot of book to read, but I’m already enjoying it thoroughly.  Mike D – thanks again for the excellent recommendation!

Thanks!!!

This may sound a little crazy to many of you who know me well…  I absolutely despise clutter.  It drives me nuts.  Extra “stuff” just gets in the way and can either easily distract me or get in the way of a project that I need to work on.  With that in mind there’s usually a fair amount of clutter (physical and mental) left in my wake.  While I am still working on ways to reduce the creation of additional clutter I’m still not super good and stopping it before it happens.  Once it’s around I’ll often try to work on it, but as I said before, I can get easily distracted by it and next thing I know I’ve just created more stuff.

This morning something just snapped in my brain.  Somehow I flipped my switch to full on “Purge and Produce” mode.  I was consumed by the desire to get rid of all the stuff that was in my way or could get in my way over the next few weeks.  Between work and home I’ve got a lot going on over these next few weeks and the way that I’ll enjoy them most and do my best work through them is to stay focused and on point.  My subconscious obviously got the memo and was going full speed ahead.

It started with taking out the recycling and moved on to cleaning out a specific cabinet that hasn’t been touched in a long while.  From there I took on the overflowing pile of stuff that was once my dresser surface.  Throw in a few other random areas and I was going constantly.  Anything not critical or used recently was tossed, everything else was completely put away.

It wasn’t just the purging and cleaning that was going, it was all a part of my plan to focus on being productive and getting everything done.  This included some tasks that have been put on the back burner for a while, grocery shopping and prepping lunches for the week and so on.  I kept looking ahead through my task list for the week and decided to make as much headway as I could and it’s felt great!

This picture of the boys is from a couple of years ago and it just seemed to fit the mood today.  I’m feeling great and that I’ve accomplished what I needed to and then some.  At one point I even caught myself almost falling into the trap of being distracted and making more clutter, but thankfully my purging and productive mindset won out and stayed the course.  I’m really thinking I need to tap into this mindset more often.  Today is a day I’ll be peeling apart to see how I got myself into this type of mood, it would be very beneficial in the future.

Whew, it’s almost time for bed…  after I get one or two more things done…

Thanks!!!

We’ve had a great day today, loads of fun all around!  With our nephews in town we wanted to make sure they got the full La Crosse experience so we spent time on the river.  The weather cooperated perfectly and we had a hot and sunny summer day on the water.  Lots of jumping in the river, digging, and playing in the sand.  It wrapped up enjoying the fireworks from the bridge over the Mississippi.

Now that everyone else is in bed I’m taking some time to just chill and unwind.  It’s so peaceful to kick back with my feet up, listen to some Strumbellas in the background, and just take time to relax.  No work thoughts, no focus on tomorrow’s task list, no thinking ahead…  just relaxing in the moment and it feels great!

Thanks!!!

When I got home from work this evening there was a little more noise in the house than normal. As I walked in my nephew Nash hollered, “Hey Uncle Mike, do you notice anything different in your house???” I chuckled and asked if he meant him and his brothers and his response was more laughing.

There are currently five boys between the ages 8 and 13 in our house and they’re having a blast. While I type this they’re hanging out down in the basement. Earlier we did some mini golf, played with fire (sparklers), and grabbed some ice cream.

It was on the way home from the last that I couldn’t help but grin as I remembered moments from my childhood when we used to sit in the back of my aunt and uncle’s station wagon (who needed car seats?). I can only imagine how loud it was with all of us cousins talking at the same time as we goofed off in the back seat. At one point on our ride back from ice cream tonight there were exactly five of the seven occupants of the car all talking at once. It was hysterical! For a split second it felt like every nerve of my being was about to pop, but that brief impulse moved right into a full in smile and joy. How awesome to hear them all having that much fun talking with (at) each other?

I still look back fondly on all of those memories with my cousins way back in the day. I’m hoping that some day as they’re hauling their nephews around they hear the talking and laughing for what it is… not noise, but the sound of happiness.

Thanks!!!

Ahh… now it finally really feels like summer! Between busy schedules and uncooperative weather this only the second time we’ve made it out on the water, and the first when it was warm enough to jump in.

The water may be up a little and there’s a lot of boat traffic but we still found a nice little oasis to claim for ourselves. The boys have been swimming like fish, digging in the sand, playing catch, doing cannonballs, and beating up on each other. Becky’s been reading book and relaxing. I’ve been kicking back and enjoying the somewhat quiet around us. We already seen a beaver, a fish jumping 2+’ out of the water, and the boys have helped relocate some turtle eggs that were about to wash into the river.

It’s so peaceful s relaxing to be out on the water like this. Our house may only be four miles away, but it feels like we’ve escaped on a mini vacation and left the real world behind. Ahh…

Thanks!!!

At yoga tonight I lined up next to Becky, but as luck would have it our instructor suggested spreading out a little so I slid over a spot.  In the yoga space there are stickers on the ground to help us all line up and stay spaced out.  They all have little sayings that are yoga focused and I’m usually in one of the same three or four spots each time.  It wasn’t until a few minutes into yoga that I noticed what the one in front of my face said…  “Start Here”

That sure hit home today for a few different reasons.  As I let the meaning of it sink I almost chuckled out loud as it was pretty much the answer to everything that’s been in my head and stressing me out recently.

First off, it was only two months ago that I ran the half marathon, but I’ve since added about 10 pounds, lost a ton of fitness, and haven’t done a great job taking care of myself physically.  Over the past couple of days I’ve been refocusing and have been pushing myself to just start.  Start by counting my calories again.  Start by going for runs again in the morning.  Start by getting little workouts in when I can.  Start by getting great nights of sleep.  The past couple of days have felt great and I’ve got plans for the next couple as well.  It always feels like starting is the tough part as it requires my commitment to a goal.  “Start Here” was a beautiful reminder from the universe that I’m heading in the right direction.

I’m a terrible fisherman the one or two times a year I go.  Quite often I end up with a tangled mess of line.  If you’ve ever seen a rat’s nest of line it is quite the disaster.  Trying to untangle it appears to be an insanely daunting task.  When facing one I often just stare at it and consider just cutting the line.

I’ve got a situation like that in my life that I’m trying to work out.  If I look at it as a whole I struggle to not get frustrated.  Fixing the situation seems like brutal task to take on.  There are moments in which I’ve even considered how to just cut the line and move on, but I know that is definitely not the right solution.  I sit back and view the mess and just get frustrated.

If I pause and use that one little phrase, “Start Here” I can quiet my mind and go to work untangling.  That’s really the whole secret, isn’t it?  Find a place to start and get moving.  Even if it’s not quite the right place I just need to start.  Take my time, work it through, and start here.

When I saw the sticker today I just smiled and it helped me start to put together my strategy.  I smiled at how I’ve recently been using the same thought process for one portion of life, how simple to shift it to another segment of life as well?  Funny how two little words can help put difficult challenges into focus.

Thanks!!!

My Facebook feed today reminded me of an awesome memory from a year ago.  My friend Sammi went out of her way to help me out of a “sour” mood by buying me a box of Lemonheads.  How cool is it that she recognized my attitude and went out of her way to do something to help me out of it?  Here we are a year later and I totally chuckled to myself when that memory popped back into my brain.  In shooting her a quick thank you text this evening she asked what I was frustrated about that day.  For the life of me I can’t remember, but I totally remember how great it felt when she went out of her way to cheer me up.  Thank you Sammi for making me smile and reminding me of how important and impactful random acts of kindness can be.  Thanks dude!!!

Throughout the past couple of days I’ve had several memories of past wildlife experiences that have filled my life with joy.  Last Friday it was the memory of Scout camp.  On our drive to camping with the family we spent time planning a future Scouting trip to Isle Royale and had so many wonderful memories of the hikes playing in my head.  Saturday also included conversations about a nephew’s recent trip to the Boundary Waters that reminded me of my trip when I was a kid.  Also on Saturday I had my time just relaxing in the hammock and thought back to times in Belize with Becky and laying on my back and watching the stars with my mom.  Later that evening I had flashbacks to camping with the boys and my brother last summer as we loaded into our tent for the night.  Sunday and Monday were wonderful reminders of our trip to Olympic and Rainier National Parks as I read my blog posts from a couple of years ago.  One of those days, though I can’t remember which, included much time thinking about the nurse logs that I blogged about and that made me thing of my dad.  Today was a conversation with a teammate that covered The Boundary Waters, Voyageurs, Isle Royale, Glacier, Banff, Yoho, and Alaska.  So many wonderful memories of times escaping into the outdoors to experience nature.

While thinking back to those experiences I am so thankful for them for so many reasons. There’s a sense of being in touch with the universe, a sense perspective, a feeling of complete serenity.  It is in those moments when my heart feels most full and at peace.  What adds to each of those moments is the sharing of them with loved ones and family, especially Becky and the boys.  I’m so thankful for how Becky values and appreciates those outdoors experiences.  Experiences in nature and the outdoors are so much more joyful when they are shared with others.

Ahh…  the outdoors…  Proof there is a God and that The Big Dude Upstairs loves us and wants our hearts to be full of joy.

Thanks!!!

I love texting, emailing and messaging.  They’re so easy, simple and convenient.  The typing is done on my schedule as opposed to someone else’s.  Responses are so quick and simple.  A handful of quick key strokes and the message is sent forth.  So simple and efficient!

Calling or meeting in person isn’t nearly as expedient.  You start off with pleasantries.  Typically the conversations go longer and sometimes go in unexpected directions.  They take so much more time than a simple message or text.  When you close the conversation there are more pleasantries exchanged.  So much more time is taken up than in a short text.

All that said and out of the way, today I’ve had several reminders on why actual conversation is so much better than its electronic equivalent.  In an effort to speed things up and get more done I’ve caught myself relying on less personal forms of communication to get things done.  When I stop and think about itI’m floored by how much longer some things have actually taken and how often there is a lack of action after the communication.

Over the past week I’ve taken time to look at some very interesting data from some of my various teams.  In analyzing their phone call activity I’ve been able to clearly see that levels of success are almost directly in alignment with the number of phone calls they make.  To be clear, as I hear Becky’s voice in my head, correlation does not mean causation.  With that in mind I can’t say they are more successful because of the number of calls they make, but there is more than a fleeting correlation of high call numbers to success in their roles.

Personally, I had an excellent reminder of that while talking with my mentor this morning in our weekly call.  As I explained a particular challenge he helped me peel the layers back and we quickly determined that the solution required more personal communication.  At the root was a reliance on formats of written communication that hit everyone at once and were not personalized.  Moving forward I will not make that mistake again.

Put all of these pieces together and I’m reminded of just how powerful actually conversation can be.  Electronic communication has its place, but it should be the exception more than the rule.  Today will stick with me for quite some time.

Thanks!!!