"If youth only knew, if age only could!"

Do you truly know what you want? I mean if you had to give a 30 second elevator pitch on what you want with the rest of your time on this journey...COULD YOU HONESTLY COME UP WITH A STRONG, SOLID RESPONSE?

The ultimate problem in life (for some its really not a problem because they either DON'T care or they ALREADY have it figured out!) is that most people figure out what they really want and how they want to obtain it at a stage that is TOOOOO late. 

So like the title of this post says...."If youth only knew, if age only could!" 

Do you know what the reference point is? 

Here is a little friendly reminder...its the most precious commodity we have in this world and the only commodity that once its gone...well its gone forever! 

The answer is TIME!!!! 

TIME is something we know is extremely important but, honestly, DO YOU USE IT THE RIGHT WAY? 

The easy answer is NO! In today's world we are on our phones TOO much, we play around on the internet TOO much, we fall into a stage of anxiety which ultimately is worrying about something in the future that may not happen TOO much, we argue over stupid shit like politics, nutrition, exercise, paint colors and random opinions TOO much, we delay on making that stressful phone call that we know we need to make thus loosing sleep over a call that ultimately may go better than expected...TOOOOO MUCH! 

You, me, the NBA player last night, your kids incredible teacher and my buddy who is worth more money than I would know what to do with all have one thing in common...NONE OF US ARE PERFECT AT MAXMIZING OUR TIME AND USING IT TO THE MOST EFFIENCET LEVEL POSSIBLE! 

Guess what? It's completely ok as long as you know that is your TRUTH! 

My step-dad had some health issues last weekend that were extremely stressful and pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind, a patient of mine lost her, extremely healthy brother of 34 years old, to a massive heart attack and that pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind, my absolutely adorable, beautiful, badass daughter is graduating high school and that most definitely pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind! 

The problem is I will go through my day today, privileged to the opportunities in front of me and I will get lazy in my GRATITUDE department and I will forget at some level how lucky I am to have the TIME I have! 

Is this upsetting? Not at all because I am human and as humans we often forget how amazing we have it overall! 

This is why my 30 second elevator pitch becomes so important because this is when I can speak it into my own mind and remind myself WHAT REALLY MATTERS!

My elevator pitch...

"My practice in life has always been to push myself one percent better than I was yesterday. Spiritual, mental and physical growth allows me to take care of myself which in turn strengthens my bonds in life. Whether its racing an ultra-endurance event, watching my kids conquer their dreams, acknowledging how lucky I am to have met my wife, inspiring someone to find a passion or leading a movement to change the world, life is a canvas that allows me to paint my own future." 

If your path has taken an unfortunate turn lately...its ok! Take a minute, take a deep breath, saddle back up and LET'S GO!

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count! 

How bad do you want it?

 

"If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse!"

I could probably list a few dozen lessons my step-dad has taught me over the past 30 years but one CONSTANT message that always flips into my mind is...NOTHING OUTWEIGHS HARD WORK! 

As a kid I can remember night after night watching him work at our kitchen table on law case after law case and the one thing I never remember hearing is...COMPLAINING! 

I never heard...

This is too hard! This doesn't matter! There is no point! No one cares! I should just quit! I am not good enough!

Not one time ever did I hear...any complaints, any negativity, any objections (ha ha...like that little lawyer jargon thrown in), any hints of frustration or any desire to throw in the towel! 

He just kept showing up...doing the work needed...to be as successful as all of it was important to him in order to live the life he desired and to help raise the family that meant everything to him and that wanting in bad enough still first him up NOW.

In my life I have always noticed a trend...I am 100% involved in EVERYTHING I do...UNTIL I lose that importance factor. 

I have humbly accomplished a lot in my life that I am extremely proud of and I have also let a lot of cool things slip out of my grasp mainly because I lost love for the endeavor. 

I am not proud of some of the things I have let slip in my life but that is life for me and everyone. 

What we want bad enough...we fight for and go all in towards accomplishing that GOAL. 

This week I hit a pinnacle of ultra swimming that I have had on my bucket list for many, many years!

Hitting the magical number of 10,000 in the pool was everything I thought it would be and more. 

I was hoping that my body would hold up strong and it did as I held the same pace for three hours straight. 

I was also hoping my mind would completely give out on me at some point and I would have to choose how bad I WANTED IT and...well...that moment came and went multiple times during the swim. 

You are probably confused seeing that I wanted my mind to fail...WHAT? To me when we hit that point...THAT...is the exact moment we start to grow!

Endurance sports truly is a 20% physical and 80% mental game! We train so hard to get our bodies ready for battle yet rarely train our minds for the tactical game that lies ahead of us. 

Isn't life the same way? Physically we are mostly in tune to what is needed to get through our days yet mentally we throw in the towel when someone cuts us off in traffic, we burn the mac and cheese, we hit the snooze button a half dozen times, someone critics us, someone doesn't agree with our views and when the weight on the scale is not coming off as fast as we want! 

We come up with a million different excuses as to why something is just not for US! 

Those excuses are just your bullshit reasons and I challenge you to hold off from throwing the towel in and just try one more time! 

Trust me...there are two things that will be worth it...

1.) Accomplishing a major hurdle, obstacle or goal is worth its weight in gold...I would rather struggle through a three hour swim and come out the other side a better man, dad and human than I would like to win a million dollars or have some fancy car that means NOTHING.  

2. ) Regret is a terrible disease and while you might not regret something now at 40 years old...I guarantee that if you don't go all in on accomplishing everything you desire then one day you will be on your death bed wishing you wouldn't have given in to that excuse! 

So all I have to say is...

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

GO GET IT! 

Make It Count! 

You don't have to...YOU GET TO!

 

"You don't have to see the whole staircase...just take the first step!"

Yesterday I full on had one of those days! A pity-party in which I was the only one attending! 

I had many things on my daily TO DO LIST...with a very long swim being one of them! 

However...the gloomy, overcast, rainy, I am sore, motivation no where to be found, pathetic mind was forcing me to develop excuse after excuse as to WHY I didn't need to swim! 

Patients asked what I was doing after work and with a probably weak, defeated tone I said..."I have to swim!" 

It took a few times of rehearsing my excuse script in my head and losing more and more energy as I used the word HAVE until I reached a point of...

STOP! 

That stop point didn't come until my first stroke hit the water...

I was like a kid having a temper tantrum, fighting myself all the way to the pool as to why I SHOULDN'T be swimming. 

Luckily my wife is brilliant with her verbiage and gave me some delightful, four letter word, response when I said I was going home instead of swimming. 

Once that first stroke hit the water...I was literally transferred into a new mindset state and realized, yet once again, that I don't have to swim...I GET TO SWIM! 

Everything we do in our life falls into the same self-talk paradigm...

I don't have to be a good dad...I GET TO BE A GOOD DAD!

I don't have to be kind to people...I GET TO BE KIND TO PEOPLE!

I don't have to write this blog...I GET TO WRITE THIS BLOG!

I don't have to eat well...I GET TO EAT WELL!

I don't have to train for a 10 mile swim...I GET TO TRAIN FOR A 10 MILE SWIM!

I don't have to go to work today...I GET TO GO TO WORK TODAY! 

Everything we do is an opportunity to be better than we were yesterday! 

When we think in a GET TO mindset we are immediately gravitating towards a state of GRATITUDE and when we are in that state of GRATITUDE its almost like drinking rocket fuel towards success. 

I learned this morning that my Uncle's dementia has gotten pretty bad...it breaks my heart to hear how he struggles to remember family members and simple day to day chores. 

Knowing that neuro-degenerative disease runs in my family even helps me highlight the importance of celebrating what I GET TO DO! 

You may love complaining how life isn't fair because of the thousand of silly reasons we complain about but what really do you have to complain about? 

Life is definitely not fair at times but it is always up to us to stay on the horse and keep fighting forward. 

What do I GET TO DO TODAY?

I GET TO keep making it count!

I GET TO be married to the most amazing women ever!

I GET TO be a dad...greatest job ever!

I GET TO never grow up and keep using my imagination for good! 

I GET TO get uncomfortable via exercise and keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible for me! 

I GET TO simply stated...appreciate all life has given me...the good, the bad and the ugly as they all equally have brought me to this point in life! 

Thanks to everyone who has donated money to my swim (link is above)...I am about to level up training some so stay tuned to more updates! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count!