Day 3,048

Growth:

In re-reading Ender’s Game I’m reminded of why I so enjoy diving more deeply into the most impactful books I’ve read. Today there were a few points in which I had to pause to re-read and reflect upon a sentence or two. When I’ve read it in the past those points were glossed over in my brain, but now they’ve awoken and have me thinking.

A specific example of this was a short line talking about a confrontation between Ender (the protagonist) and a terrible leader he had to work with. Ender talks about the hot anger of the bad leader vs the cool anger Ender held himself. His anger was able to be used for his benefit, the hot anger used the leader. Short and sweet reminder of controlling our emotions rather than allowing them to control us.

While I just wrote about it recently I’m still thankful for remembering the importance of diving deep into books over and over again to truly suck the marrow from their bones.

Appreciation:

Throughout much of my career I’ve led client meetings of all types. These were often to dig more deeply into how their productivity and profitability could be increased, to help them find ways to better engage their talent, and in learning how we could provide better value and service to them in the future. I scheduled, planned, prepared, and led those meetings.

Today was quite different, I was a participant of the meeting and thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of being able to listen and think. Throughout I was listening at a deeper level, seeing otherwise invisible connections, and then considering future solutions and opportunities. I was writing notes feverishly, afraid the thoughts might vanish before I had time to take stock of them. By the time the conversation was over I’d written several pages of notes and captured so many ideas and insights. It was AWESOME!!!

I used to find joy in the ego rush of leading a meeting, today I found a greater satisfaction and joy in listening and thinking. This is something I will work to do more often.

Presence:

Often our brains and fears and egos get in the way of having the difficult but necessary conversations we need to have. When we find the courage (or, more likely, the wisdom) to talk through the difficulty we find a deep sense of joy and connectedness, even if the end result is not what we desired. Today I was reminded that within these conversations when we open ourselves up completely and are fully vulnerable we often find a wildly deep sense of presence.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,047

Growth:

Taking time to define the true issue is time well invested. It is easy to shoot from the hip and guess, but so much more successful to pause and make sure the right challenge is being solved in the first place. 

This came up in two different ways yesterday, and both were handled better as a result of clearly defining the issue. Much research was involved, many different factors were examined, and once correlation it was found it was much easier to solve.

Appreciation:

While it may not be the most exciting thing to most people, I am very thankful for my list of books I like to read at least once per year. Each of them hit me for different reasons and are excellent reminders to dig deeper rather than just go wide. This month I’ve already read the following for the umpteenth times:

• Awareness by Anthony de Mello
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Today I started re-reading Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and I have the following books all ready to go next:

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
• Die with Zero by Bill Perkins
• New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
• The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Bishop Tutu

Though the books are the same each time the me who reads them is always different and happens to learn new things from each. Their depth and complexity seem to increase with each read and the nuances catch me at different levels than the times before. Throw in some excellent reminders and I’m always so excited to read and re-read these books.

Presence:

This weather is AMAZING!!! The moment that really sticks out to me today was when I took my lunch cooler back out to my car a little before noon and soaked up the glorious Spring feeling weather – in late January! Later in the evening Gavin and I snuck out to the park next door to throw the football around while also taking in the unseasonably warm fresh air.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,044

Growth:

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!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,043

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

Thanks!!!

Day 3,042

Growth:

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.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,040

Growth:

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.

Thanks!!!

Day 3,039

Growth:

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.

Thanks!!!