Everything is figureoutable. Everything. What makes me smile is hearing that from my teammates reminding me of that very fact when we face a difficult situation.
Appreciation:
This morning we lived into our purpose. As we have for the past handful of years we’ve had an awesome opportunity to give back to our community. There is nothing more fulfilling than living into our purpose, what a gift!
Presence:
Sometimes you need to have a moment of chaotic fun with teammates to break the tension of the entire office. Sometimes that needs to happen more than once in the same day. Here’s to today being a day in which the shenanigans were much much needed and appreciated, as were the moments of bonding before, during, and after stress.
Be honest with ourselves when life is difficult. Itās okay to admit when weāre not okay. Once we acknowledge that we can start to work on it. Funny how quickly we can then shift into growth and actionable steps. Not accepting the struggles stunts our growth and delays our healing.
Appreciation:
I love that there are the āSupportingā roles Oscars. In our lives we have many starring actors, but there are exponentially more supporting bits.
This afternoon I had the opportunity – twice – to revisit individuals who made outsized positive impacts in my life as compared to their roles. They may have each only been in the film of my life for a short time, but they both taught me much about business, being a dad, being a leader, giving, hard work, and even F1 racing. Both of them – both named Tim – helped me grow into the person I am and have left a mark on me through stories I still share.
They may both be gone, but their legacies live on. I am so grateful for their positive influences!
Presence:
Sometimes the craziest moments and situations turn out to be the most memorable. Gavin and I got home at almost the exact same time tonight and were welcomed with an awful surprise, a dog whoād had a bad accident in her kennel.
After a little retching on both our parts we opted for positivity and humor to help us through a ācrappyā situation.
Not an ideal scenario, but one weāll remember for the hilarity that followed as we took care of business.
Moments of awareness and clarity are opportunities to change, sometimes drastically, as they help us see the world as it truly is. Savor those, but more importantly, heed them before they fade from memory.
Appreciation:
Having a profoundly strong support network provides significantly more opportunities for well being. The more people who surround you and are willing to help allow us to grow so much more freely and completely, they will help pick us up when we stumble.
Presence:
The calm quiet of pausing to soak in the world around us. Moments of joy, moments of stress, then all deserve the full focus of our being. Hereās to remembering that they all help us grow into the people we are meant to be, especially when we pause to fully drink them in.
If is okay to feel tired and exhausted, it is not okay to not do something about itā¦ especially resting. If I am going to run hard I also need to remember to rest hard.
Appreciation:
Throughout the years Iāve collected some of the best advice and quotes Iāve heard into a handful of different resources. When life becomes challenging I have s tendency to pull them out and find one or two which really call out to me in any given moment. They provide a ledge to stand on, the oxygen needed to breathe through the challenge.
Sometimes when I set to thinking about the various activities of men, the dangers and troubles which they face at court, or in war, giving rise to so many quarrels and passions ā¦ I have often said that the sole cause of our unhappiness is that we do not know how to stay quietly in our room.
Blaise Pascal
This phrase comes up far more often than I care to admit. It is a reminder to pause and consider whether Iām taking the time needed to think or if Iām seeking out distraction so as not to have to work on something larger. When this line catches my eye it typically means I am avoiding alone time rather than seeking it out.
Tonight Iām grateful for my collection of quotes and wisdom, they continue to pay off!
Presence:
The moments in which we witness the compassion of other humans, true beauty!
There is only so much one can do at any given time. To push to hard while taking on too much will only lead to further issues. Pause, assess capabilities, determine priorities, accept that not everything can be done at once, and then take action on what must happen first. Give yourself grace, breathe, do what you can, don’t create further challenges by being too headstrong.
Appreciation:
Where do we choose to focus? When the day is done where do we reflect – the positive, the negative, or both? How wonderful that we have the choice to make each night as we go to bed!
Today was a wild one, so many unexpected twists and turns, completely different than expected when I woke up. From about 6:30am until 6:30pm it was a whirlwind of unscripted craziness, but I’m still smiling as I wind down for the evening. While I could focus on the frustrations I’m instead choosing to stay focused on the positives – the opportunity to grow, to learn more about my teams, to remember purpose, the chance to role model how we can have a bad day but still smile for Gavin, time to smile as I talk with family, and remembering why I put gratitude at the forefront of my evening practice. Throughout the craziness there was stress, but tonight I’ll go to bed completely chill and almost energized in knowing that as much as today threw at me I was able to thrive. Whatever tomorrow may bring I will face with the attitude I choose.
I am so grateful for that choice each and every moment of my life!
Presence:
This moment at Diamond Beach in Iceland, one that will be burned into my brain forever.
You can always say something you havenāt said, but you canāt unsay something youāve already said. Pause, breathe, and think before communicating.
Appreciation:
Normalcy! A weekend day at home doing the normal adulting mixed with outside time, family dinner, and board games. Exactly what I ordered up after our travels! Travel is always one of my favorites, but time at home with family is even better.
Presence:
Walking in the woods with Becky, watching our dog run around with another dog smiling from ear to ear, so much fun to see! She was having such a blast that I couldnāt help but just stand and smile as they ran back and forth over and over again.
Experience is what you get when you donāt get what you want.
Randy Pausch
Appreciation:
Taking small actions towards large goals add up to significant progress without feeling like it. As Iām becoming more intentional about utilizing spare moments to type ideas for 2025 into my Notes app I am surprised by how much progress Iāve made in a short period of time. Small actions really make the huge task easier!
Presence:
The moment of extreme beauty completely unintended as someone expresses a heartfelt emotion which ties directly to the core of the culture being builtā¦. So touching on so many levels, a reminder that change is necessary and wonderful part of life.
āOne of the coolest that a human can experience is to feel so small in a world thatās so big.ā
Marc-Andre LeClair, The Alpinist
Appreciation:
Sometimes in our attempt to help protect others we actually hamper and stunt their growth. When we offer direction and support mixed with the freedom to try something without eliminating the chance for failure their growth is exceedingly rapid and significant. Today offered up several examples of stepping back to watch others grow and each was pure magic!
Presence:
Eating supper at home with Becky and Gavin, sitting on the couch watching Gavin go through his vacation photos, going to bed at my normal time in my own bedā¦ priceless!
Going in a slightly different direction today, had a big thing in my head throughout much of day that is calling to be unleashed. The idea of having less, but more.
One of the reasons I love traveling to other countries is to experience the differences in cultures. Almost universally it seems that other countries seem to have less, but more at the same time.
Iceland is possibly the best at showing me a very realistic step or two back from where I currently am. Backpacking does an impeccable job of reminding me how little I actually need, but it is so transcendent from where I currently am that it seems sustainable in only short-ish doses. Iceland splits the distance between where I normally live and where I could be backpacking and inspires a sustainable lifestyle adjustment.
Take the Icelandic grocery stores as an insight. There are only a small handful of cereals to choose from. The soda / soft drink section contains less than a dozen options. The entire store is so much smaller than in the US.
The homes weāve been renting are rather simple. This last of the four was one of only two with a television. There isnāt much variety of anything, all four have had a mix of the same furniture, silverware, and whatnot. Not just similar, but exactly the same. All the homes have been very small, yet they have everything we need.
For sure, this is definitely a first world realization, there are so many who donāt have what they need. Many would be ecstatic for what Iāve experienced here. Whatās interesting is that I feel as if I would be too, but for very different reasons.
How much more simple would life be with less? How much emotional energy and thought is wasted on decisions over which things we need? How much happier would I be with less? How much more grateful would I be for what I have rather than catching myself wanting more and feeling miserable as a result?
We really need very little to live a joyful life. My visit has really helped me see more clearly how easy it would be to have less – less choices, less stuff, less options. For sure, certainly not less freedom, rather the willpower to remind myself much less I need.
As I look ahead to my annual personal planning I am seeing I may have found a very fitting and appropriate theme for myself in 2025, one inspired by my trip to Iceland.
Less, but more.
Less stuff, less unnecessary stress, less running in different directions, less goals, lessā¦. but more. More life, more of what is important, more joy, more gratitude, and more fulfillment.
