Author: Michael Kreiling

Thankful for a Leadership Lesson Through Dominic, Scarcity in Doses, and an Unexpected Pose

Day 3,207

Growth:

Yesterday we helped Dominic plant trees as a part of his ongoing Eagle Scout project. There were many Scouts, parents, and siblings there to help and Dominic’s job quickly changed from planting trees to directing the volunteers. Then the media showed up and he was pulled in another direction, public relations. Throughout there were a couple of times when it was easy to see that he was frustrated with not being able to help to physically plant the trees. Several times I heard parents remind him that it is a part of leadership, changing from “doing” to “directing.” He smiled and understood, but there was still a dissonance between what he felt he should be doing and what he needed to be doing.

What an awesome leadership lesson for him to learn! We can’t do everything ourselves, we do our best work when we work with others. The role of a leader is to help show others the way and support them as they do their work. It is such a difficult change to get used to, but a necessary part of growth as a leader. I’m so thankful for the opportunity he had to learn this yesterday… and for the wonderful reminder it was for me also.

Appreciation:

Sometimes scarcity is a gift. The clarity of a tight deadline (or a couple) can really sharpen the mind to a razor edge. This week is a wild one to be sure! Thankfully I’ve planned ahead, gotten a lot loaded up, have prepped for potential curveballs, and have great people around me. Today was a study in productivity, focusing on only necessary tasks and going fast and furious. Tomorrow will be more of the same and I’ll finally take a deep breath on Thursday.

Here’s to the sensation of a deadline breathing down the back of my neck to help me kick into a higher gear to focus!

Presence:

At yoga this evening Jenn threw us a little curveball. After a very intense, hot, strenuous, and sweat soaked workout she had us pause flat on our backs for a moment.

“Take it in, the sensation of being flat on your back, your entire body relaxing into the mat. Take it in, enjoy it, be present in this moment.”

While the workout itself was kicking my butt and had my attention, I was very much focused on holding the pose or transitioning to the next while quickly swiping the sweat out of my eyes. This pause right in the middle, totally relaxed, was an entirely different type of presence. I was immersed in the sensations of laying relaxed on my back, allowing my breathing to slow back to normal, feeling my heart slip back to its normal resting rate. It was an amazing moment!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Time on the Trail, Passing the Test, & In Tune with My Body After a Long Hike

Day 3,206

Growth:

Even a day after the time spent in the woods on my hike I can still feel the calm and stillness of my experience on the trail. Throughout the days I was transported back to footsteps on the trail, memories of a song I heard and exactly where I was when I listened to it on the trail, and the sights all around me.

The time spent hiking on a trail isn’t just for that moment, it sustains the soul for eternity.

Appreciation:

Our brains are really interesting things. After completing my 50k hike yesterday my perspective of myself felt very much improved today. I felt more successful. I felt as if I was an inch taller, 20 pounds lighter, and had reduced my body fat by four percentage points. I was more confident and happy with myself, my drive, and my grit. Everything felt better.

In reality – almost literally nothing had changed other than taking more steps than normal. I really hadn’t changed much at all. There were likely no measurable differences from yesterday morning before the hike to this morning other than some stiffness and soreness and maybe a little weight loss due to dehydration. Mentally though, everything had changed.

I now KNOW that I can hike 50km (31.07 miles) in one go rather than guessing. I now KNOW that I can grit through the pain and suffering of hiking a crazy long distance in a heat index of a degree below one hundred. I now KNOW that I can keep finding more and more ways to drive a wedge between what my mind thinks is possible and what my body is actually capable of.

Yesterday I tested myself. I passed. That fact has made all the difference today.

Presence:

I’ve been very in tune with my body today. After the beating I gave it yesterday I was very nervous about getting out of bed this morning, and rightfully so. My first few steps were brutal, my feet felt like they’d been broken. My muscles were all stiff and my joints were taking some time to loosen up too. In taking those first few steps I was surprised at how I noticed each and every muscle group involved in hiking!

Throughout the day everything started to knock the rust out. I caught myself taking steps without soreness in my feet. My legs started moving fluidly. The short walk we took Leia on really felt wonderful. By the end of the day I’d spent a lot of time on my feet and had helped Dominic and the Scouts plant a bunch of trees – AND – I was feeling great!

All day long I’ve been very cognizant of the sensations of my body, so much more intentional focus on what I am feeling and where specifically. What a gift to be so much more present today!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Rest, Writing Down Goals, and So Many Moments On the Trail

Day 3,205

Growth:

Sometimes the best thing to do is lay flat on our backs in the shade, put our feet up on a big tree, and rest. After eight hours of hiking in the heat and sun I did just that for just under 10 minutes and it made all the difference in helping me finish my goal.

Appreciation:

Today I knocked out a version of a dream I’ve had on my dream list for 15 years, finishing a 50k (31.07 miles). Initially the dream was to run my first ultra marathon (anything over 26.2 miles), but over time it has morphed to hiking the distance in a single go. Today I can cross that one off the list!

What I’m most thankful for today is that I wrote the goal down in the first place. Many ideas fly in and out of my head, some find purchase. When they are written down they are so much more likely to happen, even if they end up being slightly modified like this one. By writing the dreams down the odds of future success skyrocket as they stay more top of mind.

Presence:

I saw and heard so many things on the nine plus hours on the trail today! From a herd of deer (including a few fawns), to an owl screeching, to a couple of sandhill cranes walking just ahead of me on the trail, to watching a woodchuck climb a tree, to hundreds of leopard frogs, to so many beautiful flowers in the marsh, there were sights to behold all around me. Nothing quite like time in nature!

Such an exquisite pre sunrise moment in the marsh!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for a Quote on Subtraction, Exquisite Questions, & an Insightful Speaker

Day 3,204

Growth:

“Maybe the journey isn’t about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”

Paulo Coelho

This quote really caught my attention today. So often I think of the journey as growth through adding, but quite often the journey is actually meant to provide growth through reduction. Most of my career has been an ongoing tide towards growth, adding offices, adding service lines, adding for the sake of adding to attempt to placate my ego. What if the growth I really need, the journey I need to take, is to distill it all, to really extract the essence by eliminating the chaff?

Appreciation:

There was an interesting question asked of us today.

“If your life was a book, what is the title of the current chapter ?”

My brain wrestled with that for a few minutes before settling upon an answer (Awareness of Intentionality).

A simply and succinctly worded question with profoundly deep undertones is a thing of exquisite beauty.

Presence:

Nothing like a ninety minute presentation that flies by in a blink and leaves you with pages and pages of notes and ideas! Our speaker today was gritty, raw, ruthlessly honest, inspiring, motivating, and insightful. My mind is still spinning as I take in all that was said and covered. Amazing!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for a Favorite Quote, Pausing to Appreciate the Past Year, & Connection without Distraction

Day 3,203

Growth:

This came up in one of my old notes today, and though I’ve blogged about it before it bears repeating.

Greatness isn’t for the chosen few. Greatness is for those who persistently and consistently choose.

Joshua Medcalf

Amen to that statement on so many levels!

Appreciation:

After a handful of conversations about family, parenting, vacations, and life I took a moment to scroll through my photos of the past year.

I hope I have many more years in front of me, no question. If this were to be my final one this has been a year I would be proud to have as my last. What a blessing and gift the past 12 months have been. I am beyond grateful for so many wonderful, fulfilling, and purpose filled memories and moments shared.

Presence:

Taking time for one on one conversations without the distraction of a screen, a device, a phone, email, or thoughts outside of the present moment… how rewarding those conversations are! Moments of connection, listening, understanding. Moments of what humanity is all about.

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Preparation, a Fulfilling Day, & a Roller Coaster Book Series

Day 3,202

Growth:

When possible, prepare long in advance. The more prepared I am the earlier the higher the likelihood of success. This evening I had an opportunity to get ready not only for the next couple of days of work, but for my long hike this weekend. There are many things I need to get right for a successful hike on Saturday and the preparation tonight really helped to get me there!

Appreciation:

Holy buckets, what a day! From running with Becky in the morning to a ridiculously busy and productive day at work to finishing a great book to dinner at home with Becky to time on the couch with the boys talking travel today has been all over the place. Nothing like the crazy high speed of a weekday during the summer!

Honestly, it’s been wild, but very fulfilling.

Presence:

While reading one of the final chapters of the fiction series Gavin recommended I became so entranced in the story that my heart rate was spiking! I had slow down and re-read a couple of parts as the blur of activity was so fast moving and dense with guttural emotion that I was having a difficult taking in exactly what the author was doing. This book series (the first trilogy of Red Rising by Pierce Brown) had me laughing, crying, stressing, screaming, shaking, thinking, and cheering all at different times – what a roller coaster!!!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Utilizing Time Blocks for Productivity, a Dream Coming Closer to Reality, & Getting Into Flow

Day 3,201

Growth:

Time blocks can be so helpful to stay focused. At work today I used that mindset to stay 100% focused on the project I needed to be focused on and it really helped my productivity. So much easier to step away from everything when I realize that one hour isn’t going to be a mater of life or death AND I turn off my cellphone and email. Less distraction, more production.

Appreciation:

After work Becky and I went to Pleasureland RV in West Salem to check out camper cans! While we’re still a long ways away from getting one it is officially starting to feel real as we are narrowing down what type would be best for us. Today we went a step further than we had by getting into over half a dozen different models to see all the different floor plans. So many things to consider as we start picking one out.

What I’m most grateful for is the excitement of a long held dream slowly but surely coming into view. This has been a dream for Becky and I for many years, at long last we’re almost in position to take action on it. We’ve kept it in our view for a very long time, so much fun as it seems to get closer and closer to reality.

Presence:

My teammate, Mike, and I had an awesome meeting with a client this afternoon to take on a new opportunity. It is one that we know, that we’ve done, but it is completely different in so many ways for so many reasons. In quite a few ways it is a completely different venture using the same tools we’ve been honing for decades. The 75 minutes of our meeting went by in a flash, total engagement all the way from start to finish. Nothing like that balance of something new and a challenge to get into that flow state!

Thanks!!!

Thankful for Exercising, My Garmin Instinct’s 5th Birthday, & a Hummingbird Fly By

Day 3,200

Growth:

When in doubt get off my butt and exercise.

Tired and want to go back to sleep? Suck it up, put on the running shoes, and get after it. You’ll never regret it, you’ll only regret NOT doing it.

Feeling wore out after work and want to sit on the couch? Suck it up, grab your yoga gear, and get to the studio. You’ll never regret it, you’ll only regret NOT doing it.

When in doubt get moving, get some exercise.

Appreciation:

For over 5 years I’ve had the same watch on my left wrist, my Garmin Instinct. It was on sale for $249 and I figured it would be exactly what I needed for the next two or three years before it slowly fell apart and the battery died. Instead this bad boy has been kicking butt and taking names while showing ZERO sings of slowing down. The original battery is still going so strong that I still only charge it once every two weeks or so. This watch is a beast!!!

Over the past 5 years my Garmin Instinct and I have done the following:

  • 20.6 million steps
  • 10,800 total miles
  • 1,124 miles hiked
  • 2,500 miles run

All that use and abuse and there isn’t even a scratch on the face. The only work I’ve done on it is replacing the band.

In a world in which everything seems to be made to be replaced within a couple of years this watch has been one of the best investments I’ve made. Cheers to Garmin for making such an incredibly durable and useful product!!!

Presence:

This moment right here – what a few seconds of awesome.

Thanks!!!

Thankful for a Large Task List, Working on a Dream, & Presence in Ordinary Time

Day 3,199

Growth:

When there’s a lot to get done making a task list always seems to be the right answer. Even though I often feel almost stifled by a long list there are other times when the initial enormity lends itself to a focus on attacking it one step at a time knowing it will all have to get done regardless. In contrast to yesterday’s post it is an intentional skipping of the emotion and going straight into action – with a plan. Today I knocked everything off my list and then some, a solid day for sure!

Appreciation:

One of the “tasks” on my list today was gathering some information about a huge long term dream Becky and I share, buying a camper van. On my way back from the Cities I passed a dealership which ignited my desire to start looking. Over lunch Becky and I did a quick local search and found one available at a dealership less than a 20 minute drive away. After diving into the details of it we sent a message online to set up a time to go in and take a look. While the actual purchase is a long time away it is nice taking the time to reality test this dream a little more, physically checking out one of the other models to determine what we like and don’t like. Working on a dream felt pretty awesome today!

Presence:

Sometimes it seems as if the best times of life are spent together traveling and on vacation. Sometimes it is almost easy to put my brain on auto pilot and take some of our “ordinary” time together for granted. This afternoon Becky and I ran a couple of errands including grocery shopping. We talked, we laughed, and we enjoyed each other’s company. In those moments there wasn’t much for distraction, just us and our errands. This gave us some pretty sweet bonus time together, so glad I was present in it!

Thanks!!!