Day 3,004

Growth:

I am feeling pretty exhausted and wore out tonight. A younger version of me would have laughed it off, pounded an energy drink or two, and stayed up until the wee hours of the night not doing much of anything. The today version of me is wise enough to take a cue, head to bed early, get extra sleep, and be ready to kick tomorrow in the butt. Tomorrow morning the today me will feel leaps and bounds better than the younger me.

Appreciation:

Humans are a silly bunch, aren’t we? Sometimes it is so easy to hack into our own brains to better get the results we want. Case in point today is the Hawthorne Effect. This essentially states that humans react differently when they are being measured and/or monitored. One of the ways to take advantage of this is by doing things like tracking what we eat, measuring what we are doing and how often, and by finding some way to focus on something we want to change. Once we’ve got something picked out we become much more aware of it specifically because it is being measured. This then causes us to change our behavior without really doing anything about the behavior itself. Pretty wild!

I’ve recently started tracking more of the habits I want to cultivate in my life. At the end of each day I pause to track a handful of measurements – basically an accounting of how well I lived into being the best me I want to be for the day. Throughout the day the knowledge that I will be completing this task helps me make better choices in the moment to help me score myself better later in the day. Crayz, but it works!

Presence:

Today included a daily double! Sure, I prefer when the days are longer, but on days like today I don’t mind the fact that I get to experience both the sunrise and sunset while driving to and from our Eau Claire office. Both sunrise and sunset today were SPECTACULAR!!! The sky was light aflame with the reds, pinks, and oranges across the horizon. Both times I paused my audiobook to soak the entire experience up a little more clearly. What a breathtaking sight – both times!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,003

Growth:

A while back some one shared the best advice they’d received. “You can always say what hasn’t been said, but you can never taken back what has been said.”

Today I lived that advice. Rather than share my thoughts in the moment I paused and wrote an email to myself. I wrote unfiltered and said all I wanted to say. Tomorrow I will reread the email, change the verbiage, prioritize the points, and have a much more meaningful discussion. Had I just thrown my thoughts out they wouldn’t have landed as successfully as I would like. By pausing to think they will.

Appreciation:

Becky and I usually enjoy yoga date nights on Monday. Tonight that all changed. both of the boys joined us for yoga! All four of us went to yoga together for the first time!

I love time with my family, especially active moments like that. Sharing the experience with them was so awesome on a handful of levels and created the highlight of my day! Hearing how much they enjoyed it added to my smile.

Presence:

While driving from work to the gym I caught myself stewing over work stuff. Then I remembered that I was about to get my sweat on at the gym and I smiled. Nothing like lifting heavy stuff and getting the blood flowing to remind me to put the stress away and to focus on being present.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,002

Growth:

Life doesn’t need to be exciting and full of new adventures to be joyful. Tonight I found great joy in cooking dinner for the family and eating together. We watched a movie we’ve watched at least a dozen times together (Elf) and laughed as we enjoyed the shared experience.

Joy isn’t to be found in new and better. It is in the meaningful, the purposeful, and the shared. Joy doesn’t care about new models and the latest and greatest, it is to be found in presence and increased with appreciation.

Appreciation:

Some days the details are either not relevant or not something I want to share. Regardless of the reason that doesn’t mean I am any less grateful for the unshared things, they will just go unsaid. Today I’m especially grateful for an opportunity to live more closely into the person I would like to be. My soul is full on so many levels. If you’re feeling a nudge to live into your purpose, follow it. Truly amazing where it can take you.

Presence:

We went for a hike with our niece Leah today in Twin Bluffs State Park. Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather the woods still smelled like autumn. Every so often the breeze would blow a little and the scent of leaves on the ground would waft up. So many memories in each nose full, the aroma brought bake so many memories of time in the woods while growing up in the northwoods. Ahh… scent, such a wonderful sense!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,001

Growth:

Gavin’s powerlifting event today was an impactful reminder of the difference between perception and reality and the importance of form. As the competitors lifted there were so many who were shaped very similarly. By all visual cues they should be almost exactly the same from a performance standpoint. Once each lift was completed the results were wildly different.

Some had picture perfect form and lifted a lot of weight, others had a less refined form and didn’t do nearly as well,

There were some who were locked in and gave everything they thought they could give and others who more clearly locked in and gave as much as they could get from their body. The former were limited by their self perception, the latter only by their body.

Practice form, make the movement less work. Get all we can, push beyond mere perception.

Appreciation:

Hmm…. I’m now on Take #5 of this section. When I sum up all the past versions I’ve since deleted I think what I’m thankful for today boils down to one key insight. I’ve clearly mapped out my purpose and what I want to get out of this one very short and limited life and I act on it often. Today that has kept me on track, headed in the right direction, and more grateful for the experiences rather than wanting more. There was a deep sense of serenity as I drove through town for like the 8th time today as I realized I was doing it specifically because it was leading me towards all I want of life. Clarity, purpose, intention, execution.

Presence:

Watching Gavin deadlift 330 was pretty epic! Pretty awesome start to his powerlifting season!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,999(b)

Growth:

Almost 3,000 straight days of blogging! So many memories, starting to think of the best way to do day #3,000 and enjoying bonus smiles thinking ahead while thinking back. Once again I’m in awe of how much additional joy this practice has generated through the years. More details tomorrow I’d bet 😉.

Tonight I’m grateful for the night of my 39th birthday, 8+ years ago, when I took the first step down this path. What an awesome journey it has already been!

Appreciation:

OMG – such an amazing dinner with friends this evening!!! So many old memories, new ideas, and beginnings of future adventures! Spoiler alert, Iceland will be visited again soon 😉. For sure, beyond grateful for sharing dinner with close friends and sharing life!

Presence:

Such a beautiful day today! What really jumped out to me were two moments involving the outdoors. 

The first was as I drove past Perrot State Park. A plume of smoke rose from the bluffs and when I looked close I could see a line of flames running a ways up the bluff. There must be a prescribed burn going on tonight to help the grassland restoration. 

The second was while I was driving to the La Crosse office. As I drove the sky was slowly darkening, but the sun was just low enough below the horizon to totally light up the ittty bitty teeny tiny sliver of a thumbnail of a moon. It was gorgeous! So simple, so beautiful, so chill. 

Two little moments, so glad I caught them both!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,999(a) – Due to a small accounting error I am officially one day off and will re-calibrate by calling today Day 2,999(a) and tomorrow Day 2,999(b). Back to our normal numbering on December 15, Day 3,000!

Growth:

This is what I saw when I checked the weather for our run this morning. 🤷‍♂️ Yup, it was too DANGEROUS for outdoor activity even though it only felt like 15 degrees. Huh???

I did the right thing and ran outside, in shorts. I survived and the run felt great!

There’s a huge lesson to be learned in here. Yes, we should heed advice and be smart, BUT we should work with a combination of advice AND our experiences. In this case I know I’ve run and been fine in temperatures below -10. I know how to bundle up safely for a cold weather run. The advice was likely focused on someone who does not.

Take advice, but act on a combination of that AND personal experience.

Appreciation:

While running today be my and I got into a conversation about how much easier it is to think when focused on a binary idea rather than one with a variety of solutions. When the choice is This or That it is so simple to decide which result you think is correct. When there is a scale of 100 options to choose from our brains struggle exponentially harder. What’s interesting is how many things should be more of a variety than binary (politics?). Yet we often choose binary so we don’t break our brains.

What I’m grateful for today is the awareness of my mind’s desire for easy. After our conversation I have been watching for the times when my brain attempts a binary shortcut and have been working on pushing for more variability in my thoughts.

Presence:

Running with Becky and diving into topics like the two above segments was an awesome ongoing string of moments of presence. Our run pushed us physically and we also talked throughout which led to those insights. Our time together is so much more impactful and meaningful when I’m fully present like today.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,998

Growth:

Remember to take pictures – lots of pictures! The key is in capturing a brief moment to bring back all the memories afterwards, but not in a way that distracts from the moment. 

This picture from 12 years ago brought back soooo many memories from my night of playing with Legos with Gavin! We had a BLAST!!! While the pic took about 5-10 seconds to take in total the smiles it has created were well worth the investment in time.

Don’t miss life by looking through a camera, but remember life by occasionally snapping a future memory dividend.

Appreciation:

Where to go with appreciation today? There have been a handful of different directions to go and my mind has already started about four different posts but none of them have felt right. So now what? Go with my gut.

This morning I woke up feeling pretty stiff and sore from the workouts yesterday. It was sooooo tempting to just shut off my alarm and go back to sleep. Instead I got up, got on my bike, and got a nice little biking session in. Nothing crazy, but just enough to get a sweat going while loosening up my legs and body. As I think about it, the rest of my day was built on that foundation, the decision to get out of bed. My body felt better, my head was in the right place, and the rest of the day was improved as a result of that exercise.

Why did I get up? Because future 90 year old me wants to be hiking whenever and wherever he’d like. Present me has to keep getting his butt up and moving in order to let 90yo Mike reach his dreams. Here’s to dreaming big and making short term decisions based on long term goals!

Presence:

For whatever reason I happened to notice a recommendation that Apple Music put in the middle of my app yesterday – Instrumental Motivation Boost Soundtracks. What really got me this morning was the sensation of driving in the early morning with my moon roof open to allow the cool fresh air in while I listened to Time by Hans Zimmer from the Inception soundtrack (click here to view a live performance of the song).

The song is hauntingly mesmerizing and deeply moving. As I drove I just soaked up all my surroundings, gave thanks to be in that moment, and savored the moment. It was beautiful.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,997

Growth:

We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for sometimes. Today I was reminded of how much physical activity can be done in one day – and I’ve just started to scratch the surface! Between our morning run, a small group strength training, and our yoga date night I put in three workouts and am now feeling pretty exhausted. As of last week I would have though this was a ridiculous idea, but now I’m reminded of how much better I feel when putting in that much work into my fitness. That is the core of so much of everything else in my life and should be given more focus like that. Even though it may have seemed crazy a week ago and I would have questioned my ability to do it I did it and did it well. Excellent reminder for myself to just suck it up, trust that I can do it, and get after it.

Appreciation:

Several years ago our team started the “Christmas Wish Express,” a holiday themed opportunity for us to help others in the community. People are asked to nominate people who deserve a special gift on Christmas for all the awesome they have done throughout the year. Each day for two weeks we read one (sometimes two) on the radio and award a gift card to the nominee who is also then eligible for the $1,000 main prize we offer up to the top nominee. I want to share that backstory as it is the impetus for my gratitude today.

This morning was my opportunity to select the daily winner and read their nomination on the air. One of the nominations rocked me right in the feels for its simplicity and beauty. It hits upon the spirit of giving in such a profound way. The nomination was something along the lines of:

Presence:

Last night there was a moment that keeps playing over and over in my head. Becky and I talked about it on our run and we both agreed that it was a pretty special moment, though it is one that probably has happened more than a handful of times and we were never in the right place at the right time.

Before I took Gavin to his concert last night he and Dominic said their good byes as Dominic’s train was leaving before Gavin’s concert was over. What we experienced was this:

“Love you Bro!”

“Love you too Bro!”

Followed by a hug.

Parenting gold right there. Might be one of my all time favorite memories of the two of them ever.

Thanks!!!