Very interesting insights from two different books today,
From Essentialism: We can multi-task, but we cannot multi-focus. We can accomplish multiple tasks at one time so long as they are so simple as to not need focus. We can only truly focus on one thing at a time. Choose what needs to be focused on.
From Atomic Habits: This is one I’ve likely mentioned before, but each time I read it the light bulb still lights up. You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. Big goals without appropriate systems in place will not be accomplished. Dream big, put time into building the system to help you reach the dream.
Appreciation:
The song Winners and Losers by Social Distortion is one I like to load into my playlist from time to time to remind me of our ability to choose. Such a gritty gut punch, there is nothing to soften the blow of the lyrics. The music is so intentionally rough and reverberates through you while the lyrics cut deep into the choice we each make each moment of each day we are alive… ”Which one will I be today?”
Will I be the me who lives into the person I am called to be or will I be the me who makes the wrong choice, is pulled by temptation and ego, and lives further across the gap than I normally would be? Each day we struggle within ourselves to choose how we will live, how we react, how we see the world.
This song is a reminder of the struggle we each have every single day, the choice we have to make on how we will live our lives in each moment.
Winners and losers turn the pages of my life We’re beggars and choosers, with all the struggles and the strife I got no reason to turn my head and look the other way We’re good and we’re evil, which one will I be today? There’s saints and sinners Life’s a gamble and you might lose There’s cowards and heroes Both have been known now to break the rules There’s lovers and haters The strong and the weak will all have their day We’re devils and angels Which one will I be today? Are you happy now with all the choices you’ve made? Are there times in life when you know you should’ve stayed? Will you compromise, then realize the price is too much to pay? Winners and losers, which one will you be today? There’s a light and a dark side Standing at the crossroads, there we’ll meet There’s prophets and fools there The lies and the truth will be at our feet I got a reason To turn my head and look the other way It’s heaven and hell here Which one will I live today? Are you happy now with all the choices you’ve made? Are there times in life when you know you should’ve stayed? Did you compromise and realize the price was too much to pay? Winners and losers, which one will you be today? Which one will you be today? Which one will I be today?
Social Distortion – Winners and Losers
Presence:
This evening when I got home from work it was already dark, but Gavin and I turned on the lights and threw the football around outside. Of all of the moments of the day it was the one I was the most present in. Spending some bonus time with just the two of us, outside, and joking around was exactly what my soul needed. Those bonding moments are amongst my favorite!
What is the one thing that would make the biggest impact? If there was only one thing to focus on in a given situation what would give us the greatest traction? How could we leverage that one piece the most while ignoring or minimizing the trivial which may be disguised as important?
Over the past week my thoughts keep coming back to this. I usually try to enact several solutions and add new things in an effort to improve a challenging situation. I’ve been reminded of a story working with Dad when we were remodeling our kitchen and he taught me the power of thinking about the one most important point to focus all the energy – when he easily moved something I’d been sweating and busting my butt on for well over fifteen minutes.
With that mindset the world has looked very different today. I’ve paused, considered, and thought through some challenges to find the most impactful piece of the equation. Once I found it I’ve started working on it to move the dial in a positive direction and I’m seeing fairly quick and significant progress.
What a wonderful reminder for Future Mike – pause to make sure you are focusing on the one most impactful thing. You can’t do it all, not all action will have a return, put all the energy in one unified direction rather than spreading it out.
Appreciation:
Tonight I’m grateful for two similar but different things – journaling and stories. I’ve been reminded several times of how important they both are to my life recently.
Journaling is such a simple yet powerful way to organize thoughts and experiences. The memory of a journal is flawless so long as we populate it immediately. Having the ability to “time travel” back to a specific day and re-live something important and relevant to our lives is priceless. Taking the time to unpack an experience and apply thought to it also helps us process the world around us and our experiences in it so much more deeply.
Stories have the power to ell us exactly what we need to hear from the safety of being 10,000 feet away while being packaged in an easy to open box we can carry with us for years to open and re-experience when we need it. A simple parable will stick with us in ways that bare wisdom will not.
Both of these tools have been of huge benefit to me recently and I’m grateful for them.
Presence:
Throughout the day my awareness has been at a higher than normal level – and I haven’t done anything to force it. I’m not sure if it has to do with getting a better than usual night of sleep (quality and quantity) or with the solid action plan for the day or the mix of several different activities which all hit on different strength sets. From my run to work to my lifting to dinner at home to yoga to riding with Gavin while he drove on a spare tire for the first time I’ve been tuned in very well. Not sure how to replicate it, but thinking the more I pause to be aware of presence the more well grounded I will be more often.
Early bedtime is an awesome treat! Can’t wait to get a full night of sleep. The better the sleep on Sunday night the better the week typically goes.
Appreciation:
Spending the evening with some of my closest childhood friends was so much fun! We shared so many laughs, talked through old memories, created new ones, and did what friends like us do so well – spend time together enjoying each others company.
Presence:
This morning when we went out for breakfast we were seated right next to a table full of some of my Express friends! I hadn’t seen a few of them in quite some time and it was an awesome surprise seeing them in person. Nothing like serendipitously bumping into great friends while hanging out with other great friends!
What a timely post based on reading Essentialism 😉
I’m in the couple minutes between Gavin’s powerlifting meet and hanging out with dear friends so this is short one. Here’s an abbreviated list of gratitude today:
Watching Gavin grow mentally and physically
Spending quality gym time with Becky and Mom
The look of joy when someone out lifts their goal
Spending time with childhood friends
Remembering the difference between intent and compulsion
More timely advice from Greg McKeown’s Essentialism on the power of perspective. When facing a situation in which I must choose something over something else, which mindset do I utilize?
“What do I have to give up?”
or
“What do I want to go big on?”
Hey Future Mike, do yourself a favor. Always choose the latter.
Appreciation:
I’ve gone back and forth on this section today. There are some directions I almost went including my workout, team successes, working through difficulty the right way, spending time with business colleagues turned friends, and future leaders. All were worthy, but I think what I am most thankful for is the confluence of several ideas and trainings and lessons.
At a certain point today I felt very overwhelmed. Normally, I would react in a handful of ways like taking immediate action, letting my emotions get the best of me, or move on to something completely different until I calmed down. Today I took a deep breath, used my five minute hourglass and watched the grains slowly drop, and then spent time doing nothing but thinking deeply on the issue at hand. I took it apart and broke it down. I looked at it from many different angles. I tested some potential options. I considered how this was best handled. I focused exclusively on this challenge. While this happened I had phone calls, emails, and messages piling up. I ignored them and held the line until I was ready to move on after I’d had time to walk through it.
This is not my default reaction, but it felt as natural as if it were. In that moment I paused to appreciate just how much I’ve grown over the past year. Simultaneously, it was very similar to earlier in the week when I got my most recent fitness results. The successes and growth propel me to work still harder to improve further. If this much work helped me grow by this much, how much more growth is possible if I dig deep and push further? I’m excited to find out!
Here’s to the successes we have that become a springboard for future larger successes… especially when they come as we work through challenges. We always have a choice to make. Do we choose to focus on the challenge itself or do we focus on the growth attained specifically due to the opportunity?
Presence:
This evening was the Winona Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet. My buddy Mike and I were the dessert auctioneers and had the honor of helping local businesses pay large sums of money for desserts with all the proceeds going to help a Chamber program focused on helping students get real life work experience and training. By the time the dust settled local businesses contributed over $11,000 towards the program.
Throughout the fifteen minutes or so we had an absolute blast, so many laughs and smiles! Helping to brighten lives while brightening lives through that shared experience was epic. 100% flow state the entire time for sure, felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be in that moment – physically and mentally.
We never step in the same river twice, we are never the same person when we read a book another time. This proved very true today as I started reading one of my all time favorite books, Essentialism by Greg McKeown. Over the years I’ve read this book on “the disciplined pursuit of less” several times and each read has brought new insight.
Today was no different. Within the first few chapters I had an epiphany moment that helped me see a solution to a challenge in a very different way. It connected to a couple of ideas I’ve been working through in other projects. Crazy how perspective works, isn’t it? The answer has always been there, I just wasn’t ready to see it yet. I’m very thankful for the advice I learned long ago to read and re-read the books that hit home the most.
Appreciation:
The movie Inception revolves around the idea of planting an idea in someone’s head while they are dreaming. This idea grows and grows and becomes a core of who they are and how they react. Over the past week or so an idea has continued to grow and grow and is taking on more and more of my thought processes. It is a challenge I’m working through, but coming at it from another direction (which is why I started re-reading Essentialism in the first place). While I stay focused on and up to date with the work I need to do this project appears randomly in my brain and connects to what I’m working on at that time and shines a different light on both projects. This cousin of an earworm – I’ll call it a “brainworm” – appears and reappears throughout the day and I’m finding myself jotting more and more notes and ideas to myself about it. Tomorrow I’ll have time blocked out specifically for it and I’m excited to see how it all plays out!
Presence:
Due to scheduling challenges I had two weightlifting workouts planned for today. I hit a solid push workout this morning and then a pull workout after work. I am feeling completely spent now and I still have a leg lift and cardio workout ahead of me tomorrow. Honestly, the reason I am putting this in the presence section is because the workouts helped me be present throughout most of my work day. In the morning I had more energy from working fresh off my workout. In the afternoon I was able to push through some things knowing that I had heavy stuff to throw around after work. All in all, more presence today as a result of lifting!
Without an insanely full plan the entire span of time is used to accomplish the less than full plan set forth. With an insanely full plan the same span of time is used to accomplish so much more. The same amount of time will be spent regardless. Plan huge, bust ass, and maximize the time.
Appreciation:
Over the past eight weeks or so there has been a gathering momentum in my life. Pushing further, striving for more, clarifying goals. My sense of purpose has grown, I’m seeing a much more clear view of the gap between who I am and who I should be. I’ve seen this gap in the past, but now it seems I’m also seeing the materials to build the bridge across it. As I take each step forward it seems as if Universe keeps conspiring to make the next step more visible and easier to take. I’m gathering inertia and I can’t stop smiling.
As I look back over the past month and change of tracking I’ve of course noticed a couple of days that were off, they were 0’s (on my scale of -2 to +2 of how joyful the day was), but they are few and far between. I have yet to log a -1 or -2 (though I know they will happen at some point most likely). What’s interesting is that on the 0 days I find I haven’t made progress towards a goal, I haven’t lived into my purpose. When I score myself at night and write notes to myself about what happened I seem to quickly notice the issue and have always bounced back the next day. In some ways those 0’s motivate me to live better into the next day!
So grateful to enjoy this inertia AND so motivated to keep up the hard work that keeps it growing.
Presence:
Today seems to be a collection of moments of presence, especially those focused on connecting with others.
Excellent conversation during my morning run with Becky
An early morning meeting with someone I’m helping with their career
Hand delivering a copy of my book to someone who brought back some wonderful memories
Celebrating the success of six weeks of a fitness plan with the coach who’s helping to create the success
Connecting with fellow franchisees on shared challenges and successes
Starting plans for a future adventure with a friend
Setting up spontaneous plans with a couple of lifelong buddies
Talking with Mom on my drive home
FaceTime with Dominic to catch up on his college experience
Dinner with Becky and Gavin
So many moments of connection with others, so many smiles, so much presence.
Take thirty minutes to distill a book into a usable and memorable summary for future reference. Wonderful investment of time!
Appreciation:
I’m not sure I’ve ever quite covered this before or not, but I’m so appreciative of my passion for reading. There is so much knowledge and wisdom to soak up from others and reading is a wonderful vehicle for learning.
Presence:
There was a specific moment while reading Matthew McConaughey’s book, Greenlights, that snapped my head into an immediate state of presence. So much so that I had to go back and re-read the sentence.
When Matthew told his dad that he was no longer going to pursue being a lawyer and instead attend acting school his dad responded with five words. Five words that emboldened Matthew. Five words that were his dad’s acceptance and encouragement all rolled into one. Five words of advice that would help motivate and push him.
“Well, don’t half assume it.”
So many memories of Dad offering the same advice came flooding back. Many time I received that advice, that blessing, that instillment of hard earned wisdom, that challenge to be the best version of myself.
Interesting concept to come back to at another time (aka a breadcrumb for Future Mike to follow sometime)…
Two very different tasks with very different results in the past 48 hours led to an excellent couple of examples of investing time. Learning video editing software is something that will pay large returns in the future as “memory dividends” from travel. Learning how to reconfigure Outlook for a minor improvement after a laptop has been reimaged will not have solid returns. I pushed through on the video editing app and rightfully quit the Outlook change after five minutes and went back to a vastly superior technique – pen and paper.
Rather than diving into time consuming projects I need to remember to pause and evaluate the future return to put my time in the right place.
Appreciation:
There are many times when I have an idea that I get very passionate about. Too often I leave it as an idea and don’t act on it like I really should. Today I realized it was time to start acting on two of those ideas and I’m so glad I did! The sense of purpose has been amazing!
Presence:
Between my small group workout and yoga I’m totally tapped! For reals, my legs will be crying when I wake up for my run tomorrow morning. That said – the clarity, focus, and presence of both workouts today were totally worth it.
There was a specific moment during final rest knight in which my body was exhausted and my brain just let go in which I felt a deep oneness with all. A perfect moment of stillness connected with everything thanks to the intense physical activity.
The power of a list is rather incredible. As soon as I have goals, tasks, and projects written down there’s a much higher likelihood that they will be accomplished and I attack them with a stronger sense of urgency. Today I put that power to work and made progress in a couple of directions rather than wasting time.
Appreciation:
This has been a solid weekend at home – no crazy agenda, no big plans, just a lot of time with Becky, Gavin, and Leia and time to myself. A wonderful opportunity to pause the world and enjoy time at home. Exactly what the doctor ordered! Throughout my brain has had the space to wander to a handful of conclusions that will help out in the future – both for work and personal stuff. I love travel and vacations, but sometimes the time at home is exactly what I need.
Presence:
This one may seem a little weird, but I’m grateful for the moment of presence I am currently in as I type this blog. Even though I’ve done this over three thousand days in a row it is still something I look forward to every single day, an opportunity to pause and chill. Today it was exactly the moment I needed to pause and focus.
Thankful for Forty 