When in doubt, get a great night of sleep! Seriously, life is so much easier after a rejuvenating night of sleep. well over eight hours today and I felt like a brand new person!
Appreciation:
In addition to knocking out everything I wanted on my task list for the day I did something Future Mike will be very thankful for… I wrote out my task list for Monday when I’m back in office. Rather than trying to get back on track after four days off I’ll be able to jump right in and have an awesomely productive Monday!
Presence:
There were several wonderful and engaging conversations with friends today. Each brought a big smile for slightly different reasons. So much love, so many smiles, so many shared moments!
Over coffee this morning a friend shared how he keeps a Decision Journal for work. Each time he and the leadership team make a decision they write it down, work through what they hope to accomplish, identify potential challenges, and any other useful notes. In six months after the decision they go back to the journal and compare their notes to reality.
I’ve heard of this strategy before, but I haven’t talked with anyone who has followed through on it to this level. As he shared his experiences with it I couldn’t help but wonder how much this practice could help me in the future. Definitely worth practicing!
Appreciation:
It was raining and cloudy as I drove to Eau Claire this morning. It was dreary and foggy as I went to Menomonie for a meeting. The clouds were just as dark as I went back to Eau Claire. The monotonous rhythm of the windshield wipers were hypnotic as I drove for an hour and a half lulled me almost to sleep. Even now as I blog I’m serenaded by the raindrops falling outside my bedroom window.
In days gone by I’d stay awake just out of spite rather than succumb to tiredness. Today I’m making the right call. I’m writing my blog from bed. I’ve got my book on my nightstand, and I’ve already said good night to the boys. As soon as I’m done typing I’m picking up my book for a chapter or two and then heading off to sleep. Sometimes I need to remember to take a cue from nature and get some extra rest.
Leia embodies how I am feeling right now 😉
Presence:
As I wrapped up the fiction I’ve been reading my breath was almost taken away by the surprise ending! Gavin never gave me any warning about a very dramatic U turn the story was about to take as it concluded. Honestly, I wish I would have watching my heart and breathing rates as I finished it, it was a nail biter!
I am such a fan of how well told stories can pull us in so completely and get our emotions moving.
Hmm…. There were a handful of nuggets today worthy of note:
An example of the beauty of forgiveness in the fiction I’m currently reading (Golden Son).
The act of writing uncomfortable notes about myself in a journal is more difficult than it should be yet also more rewarding than I think it will be.
Clarity, clarity, clarity. If we as leaders can be successful at only one thing please let it be in providing clarity.
Accept the world as it is, be the best us we can be, if our best self is meant to make a positive impact on the world we will.
Appreciation:
What a wonderful day full of introspection! There were many moments of pause and reflection. With a little space and some quiet the mind can really reconnect with the soul. One of the practices to which I give credit for days like today is asking myself the question “If I only had 10 years to live what would I stop doing today?” At the end of each day and then typing my answer. As I drift off to sleep it seems to open my mind to so much more and the next day I live a little nudge closer into the me I should be.
Presence:
One of the reasons I love yoga so much is the fairly regular sensation of being a beginner even several years into the practice. Tonight Mandi used a common pose with a subtle twist and shift that caused everything to feel brand new. My presence was immediately pulled into the tension in my outer hip as I had to really force myself to move in a way I’m not sure I have ever done before. Talk about 100% focus! In many ways it reminded me of log rolling.
Nothing like being knocked off balance to regain balance!
Sometimes some incredible ideas and thoughts can be generated by reading fiction. Throughout this year I’ve been taking more time to jot down some of the insights and quotes I’ve picked up from each book I read, fiction included. The fiction series Gavin turned me onto, Red Rising, hit me with a couple of great ones within the span of a page this weekend. Here is one of the nuggets I took note of:
“We all have our own tides inside. They go in, out. Not really ours to control. The things, people that orbit us do that. At least more than we’d like to admit.”
Pierce Brown, Golden Son
The quote really hit me between the eyes on a couple of levels. The concept of having an internal tide of emotion flowing through us was a new thought to me, so fitting in so many ways. I initially stopped reading after the “not really ours to control” part and re-read it several times. So true, there is an ebb and flow to my emotions that does feel out of my control. There is much of the moment by moment choice I can make, but the metaphor of a tide is so spot on, there is something deeper that sometimes it seems I need to swim stronger against or that puts the wind at my back. Throw in the last two lines and it grows even more true and accurate.
So thankful for taking the time to jot some of these quotes and notes down as I read, they provide wonderful fodder for future thought and contemplation.
Appreciation:
This has ben a wildly full and productive day. From waking up early-ish for a Sunday, to knocking out a quick walk after breakfast to wear out the pup, to getting stuff done around the house, to wrapping up the last details of our Grand Canyon backpacking trip, to church, to hiking, to making and enjoying dinner with both boys and their girlfriends, to spending time on the deck relaxing, to now typing up my blog it has been a nonstop rail to rail day. Busy as all get out, but a wonderful balance of productivity with a bit of present and future relaxation all built in.
During days like this I sometimes think back to how many weekend days I wasted in my youth, sitting on my butt inside, playing a video game or watching TV, and not accomplishing anything. What I would give for the opportunity to have some of those days back. Alas, I can’t, and that’s okay. I can remember this feeling and be sure to maximize the remaining time I have. I can live into purpose, I can remember to relax but in a way which is still of benefit to my goals and dreams, and I can make the most of each today I am blessed to have. So much more joy is created in days of busy productivity like this than lazy days wasted on nothing.
Here’s to days like this to motivate me to live into my best self, the reminder of wasted days of youth as fuel for the fire, and for remembering to enjoy and appreciate each moment I’m blessed to live.
Presence:
So much outside time this weekend, so many moments of presence in nature! Our hike today was a sweet little jaunt through Great River Bluffs State Park. Becky and I took Leia and enjoyed some of the most prime hiking weather one could ask for. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperature was in the low 70’s, the light breeze was just enough to keep the bugs away, and the area we walked was just wooded enough that each step included a little bit of both sun and shade. All the birds, squirrels, and even a deer made an appearance as we walked. Such beauty and stillness in the woods!
Due to high waters blocking off the main entrance, a secondary entrance which is only open during the weekdays, and an almost two mile walk to get to the main trail from the only entrance you can walk into and it felt like I had the entire wildlife refuge to myself. It was AWESOME!!! I spent the next almost four hours hiking with my 45# training backpack on – completely solo. The only time I saw another person was in the final of my 13+ miles, and they were about a half mile in front of me.
Throughout the hike I saw a deer (long before she saw me), a turtle, a bunch of frogs, a sandhill crane up close, a pair of swans, so many different types of dragonflies, a huge variety of birds, and so many different species of wildflower. So much relaxation in the woods, so much fresh air, so chill. Miles and miles and miles of serene solitude while hiking.
Rather than my usual routine I am going in a slightly different direction. This evening I am home alone.
Some days are perfect sweatshirt weather, today was one of them. An awesome day in so many ways, but this evening it felt like a perfect night to crawl into my most comfortable and well worn sweatshirt and watch a couple of movies full of thoughtful emotion. A quiet and still night at home, exactly what my soul needed today!
When I was learning to shoot a bow as a kid Dad gave me the advice to breathe in, breathe out, hold steady, and then release. This advice has served me well in so many aspects of life when I remember to heed it. Today was another example of something I almost ran with too early, but thankfully I paused to breathe first. With the clarity of a held breath I saw the target and it hit.
Slow the mind, remove any potential disturbance, focus, and then act.
Appreciation:
For the first few months of the year I was doing an excellent job of ending each night with a quick accounting of my day. It is a very short scorecard I use to grade myself before I go to sleep. After my trip to Patagonia I somehow fell off the habit. I’ve recently started it back up and I am so thankful I did! One of the biggest gifts it offers is the question:
“If I only had 10 years to live, what would I STOP doing today?”
The insights generated by this question, especially after an exceptionally tiring and exhausting day, are profoundly perceptive! My brain lets down its ego, sees that I’m not likely to immediately change, and goes with what was one of the biggest frustrations of the day. Taking the time to do this has really helped me see life so much more clearly this week!
Presence:
This moment right here… sitting on the couch, alone, typing my blog. No one else stirs in the house, there is no music, no television, or distraction. I can hear the sound of the ceiling fans, the light tinkling sound of one blade ever so slightly out of balance. In a sea of busyness of the day my mind is calm. I’m grateful for this quiet.
Nothing like getting the brain power of a couple of strong teams to really help shape a training and presentation for future groups! Over the past few weeks my teammates have all helped out to share ideas to improve a training we will be presenting in the next month. When I go through it live there will be so many slides which have been positively impacted by so many of my teammates. Their shared insights will definitely improve the effectiveness of the presentation!
Appreciation:
One of the things I appreciate most about the Express family is the way we all help each other out and share ideas, advice, and best practices. Today I had the opportunity to learn from one of the best and the insights he shared were awesome. Excellent insights, he really helped me look at my business in a different light.
Presence:
Gotta love when the thumbs are a little too fast for their own good when texting and spell check misses that while you technically spelled a word correctly it was not the word you intended. Who ever would have imagined that a mistaken letter could bring on a case of full belly laughs and crying from laughing so hard???
Yesterday I wrote about the power of writing everything down in order to get a sense of sanity. Today I’m grateful for the advice I received from a friend suggesting I re-write the list and be sure to point out what needs to happen today, tomorrow, & next week. That advice helped save me from taking on too much. Instead I put all the focus exactly where it needed to be.
Appreciation:
My Notes app is quickly becoming filled with so many inspiring and useful quotes and ideas! Over the past six months I’ve made an intentional effort to pause when I hear or read an excellent nugget of information and enter it into my Notes app for future reference.
Here are a few examples:
It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong.
Yvon Chouinard
There was loneliness, too, as the sun set, but only rarely now did doubts return. Then I felt sinkingly as if my whole life lay behind me. Once on the mountain I knew (or trusted) that this would give way to total absorption with the task at hand. But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.
Thomas F. Hornbein Everest: The West Ridge
Presence:
On my drive home I spent some time listening to the audiobook Life Lived Wild by Rick Ridgeway. The story has been an emotional roller coaster, the drive today contained a story that brought me to tears. The author’s voice cracked and I could hear the tears as he shared the story of taking the daughter of an old climbing friend up to see her father’s body. His friend had died while with him in an avalanche and the emotion he felt returning was palpable. So much respect to Rick for having the courage to share that specific story.
When stressed remember to pause and make a list of everything you have to get done. By the time it is done your brain has the space to process and prioritize. I needed that today!
Appreciation:
As much as I know I’m more of an introvert there’s still a huge opportunity for joy by being in the presence of others. As a greeter at church today my role was to smile and welcome everyone with peace and joy. The act of greeting so many smiling faces was awesome and brought a huge smile to my heart!
Presence:
On my ride back from dropping off Gavin I took advantage of the alone time and did a full brain dump. I busted out my audio recording app and made a list of all the projects I have going on or that I would like you to do. Spending time in thought like this putting it all together for future review was very therapeutic!
Thankful for Forty 