Are You Insane?

I often hear people say they are seeking balance in their life.  Are they really?  Do you know any highly successful person that is balanced?  When I say "successful" I don't necessarily mean they are rich or are the CEO of a business.  In fact, they may be a highly successful dad, spouse, teacher, bicyclist, or hot dog eater.  They are just remarkably good at what they do.  Do they get there by being balanced?  NO!  They sacrifice balance to be exceptional at what matters to them.

The one way I would describe the remarkable people I know is INSANE.  I've got a friend that runs marathons.  We started our first marathon together.  He is still running them.  Not just running them, though.  He is finishing near the top of his age group consistently.  That doesn't just happen.  A couple weeks ago we were in the mountains with our two families and he went running.  He ran 4 miles and the total climbing was 800 feet.  I think I recall his pace being about 8:30 min/mile.  That is insane!  It doesn't just happen.  He runs long distances regularly.  He runs at all times of the day, including 4 AM, and in just about any conditions.  When it comes to running (and a few other things) he is INSANE.  

I've noticed that same thing with some highly successful business people.  Their daily routine isn't normal.  By "normal" people's standards, they are insane.  Highly focused.  Highly disciplined.  Not balanced.  

What about people with a strong faith?  They usually have crazy devotion plans.  Again, by most people's standards, they are insane.  

So, what are you INSANE about? 

Options

What do star quarterbacks, snow days, Navy Seals, and your future success all have in common?  NOT being comfortable in the cold, although that probably wouldn't hurt.  OPTIONS!

Two nights ago we had some snow.  Some people think of just fun on snow days.  Well, as a business owner, fun isn't often high on the list of priorities on a snow day.  We have to decide if, or when, we will open.  The first step is getting there.

I don't recall my dad ever missing a day of work due to weather conditions.  What I do remember is him often parking his car at the front of the neighborhood the night before any potential snow.  Why?  Well, there was a hill with a sharp turn between the house and the main road that was hard, and sometimes impossible, to navigates when the roads got slick.  My dad had a commitment to do his job, slick roads or not.  Parking at the front of the neighborhood gave my dad the OPTION to go to work.  Was he a more talented driver than everybody else?  No.  He just prepared and gave himself more options.  Now, they may have closed the office due to weather from time to time but if it was open, he kept his options open by choosing to park a 1/2 mile from home.

So, yesterday, in the snow, it got me thinking.  Some people would just leave their cars in their driveways and limit their options the next day.  Some people plan ahead and do the necessary preparation to ensure they have options, regardless of what the weather does.  Leaving my neighborhood, I saw some cars parked away from homes so they would have options and I saw some cars stuck because they hadn't prepared and, consequently, had no options.  This is true every day of the year, too, not just on snow days.

Good quarterbacks go to the line of scrimmage knowing, and having practiced, various options of the play they just called.  They survey the defense and choose the best option.  The option most likely to bring success.  Sometimes this is a second or third receiver and sometimes this is a completely different play (an audible).  What if the quarterback called a play and had no options?  He just went to the line and ran the play regardless of the defensive setup.  If the quarterbacks are of equal talent, which will have greater success over time?  The one with options or the one that doesn't have options?

Navy Seals rely on options to successfully execute a mission and to survive.  Sure, they have a plan of attack but a mission rarely goes exactly to plan.  The bad guys may have weapons that weren't anticipated.  There may be more of them or they may not be where the Seals expect expected them to be.  Their success and survival is dependent on having effective options.

So, how can this apply to us?  Simple things.  As the previous blog post said, we can back into parking spots so that if it snows, it's easier to pull out.  We can go to college because that will open up options for careers later in life.  We can put money into savings so that when opportunities arise, we have the option to take advantage of them.  We can do our job well where we are so our boss may offer us options of advancement.

The best options seem to come from planning and preparation.  If we wait till the snow has fallen to work on our options for transportation, we probably won't have as good of options as if we had planned the night before.  If we wait till the job we want is available to get the college education, we might not have the option to pursue that opportunity.  If we wait till we see an investment we would like to put $$ into before we save our $$, we will miss that opportunity.  But, if we start now, plan for our future, we can create the options we want.  Get that education, save the $$, and park the car where the weather won't limit our opportunity to succeed.

Often, those that are succeeding are those that have prepared the best options to choose from.

Backing In

For the most part, I really like driving my F-150 but there are certain times I don't.  Parking is one of those times.  It is a pain to back it out of a space so I almost always back into the spots.  This allows me an easy departure.

Could this apply to life in general?  How often do we have a choice of two options?  One is easy now and postpones the difficulty.  One is difficult now but makes the future easier.  Dave Ramsey says, "live like no one else now so that you can live like no one else tomorrow."  Truett Cathy's first book was entitled "Its Easier to Succeed than to Fail".  The point was that it is easier to do it right the first time.  Its easier to do the hard work up front.

Which one do you choose?  Do you back into spots or back out of spots?

Change the Batteries

The fire department suggests we change the batteries in our smoke detectors on New Years Day.  Why?  The batteries aren't dead.  Why not do it every March 1st?  I'm frugal, or some may say "stingy".  I don't like changing the batteries when they are still good.  Well, I have 7 smoke detectors.  That means 7 nights a year, at 2:43 AM, I wake up to a chirping smoke alarm in a dark house.  Trying to find the one that is chirping isn't fun when it goes 3-4 minutes between chirps.  So, this year, I changed the batteries at New Years.  Now, I look at it as planning ahead and investing in my family's safety AND 7 nights of sleep.

They say New Years is when you should change them because you are more likely to remember it.  If I plan to do it any other time of the year, I'm likely to forget.

Another New Year's tradition is New Years Resolutions.  I hate them.  But, New Years is a great time to plan for the upcoming year.

I've noticed I remember events in the past by the year they happened.

1997 was when I learned my first lessons of marriage
1998 was when I learned my first lessons of business ownership vs. management
2006 was when I relearned that I could accomplish what I commit to with a marathon.
2008 was when I learned about the value to serving others while participating in a test.
2011 was when I learned about the value of a good mindset.
2012 was when I learned more about trusting God.

2013 is gonna happen.  Am I going to be intentional about my growth or just react to what comes?

Why plan at the beginning of the New Year?  So I don't forget.  Why plan ahead?  So I can sleep better.

Kindling

I'm a big fan of quotes.  But, recently I have been wondering what their value is.  It made me think about why I like them.  Here is what I came up with.

Kindling.

Kindling, as in the stuff you use to start a campfire to keep warm, prepare food or just to gather around, relax and maybe tell stories.

Good kindling catches fire quickly and burns long enough to allow the larger, longer burning logs to catch fire, which ultimately enable you to keep warm, cook, or tell ghost stories.  Without kindling, it is very hard to start a fire simply with a large log.  But, if all you have is kindling, your fire will burn out pretty quickly.

A good quote "kindles" your thoughts and imagination, which are the logs in your fire.  The resulting fire can enable growth and change through actions, just like the camp fire enables you to cook food or keep warm on a cold night.

Like kindling, though, by itself, a quote will burn quickly and won't provide much heat.

Have you collected the kindling for your camp fire?

Slow Down! So you can SPEED UP!

I was talking with a friend about golf while driving back from a fun weekend at a daddy/daughter camp.  I am not a golfer and I don't find any enjoyment on the golf course mainly because I am SO bad.  I have not made the attempt to adopt a "growth mindset" with golf.  Why am I so bad?  Well, we could probably list 150 reasons but one big one is that I try to swing too hard.  More than one person has told me that you shouldn't swing the club hard if you want to be good.  A good steady swing is all you need and let the club determine the distance.  When I swing hard, the ball goes everywhere except straight.  Which means par for me is losing 1 ball per hole (I'm not kidding).  It takes me a long time to get from tee to the cup.  Maybe if I didn't swing so hard I could play better.

Similarly, as I watch stock car racing, I often hear the announcer or spotter tell the driver to ease into the corner instead of driving into the corner so hard.  Sometimes it is in the effort to use less gas to extend their mileage.  This adjustment often results in faster lap times.  So, driving smoother, letting off the gas, and using less braking can result in faster laps.

I know when I do go-kart racing I see this first hand.  If I go full speed into the turns, I end up losing control or being passed by people that are driving more smoothly.

So, in what areas of my life am I "swinging too hard or driving into the corners at full speed, just to end up slamming on my brakes?" Could this tie into micro-managing and frustrsting my team?  How about pushing too hard with fitness and getting injured?  Parenting?  How about even in my faith?

The tough part, for me, is knowing where the line is between pushing enough and pushing too much. If you don't push enough, you leave results "on the table" and don't reach your potential.  If you push too hard, you may get good results today but at the cost of poor long term results.

I think the key is being aware that the line exists and looking for indications that you are approaching it.  Watch your "laptimes" as you push harder.  Listen for indications from your team, spouse or children.

So far, it seems that the best I can do is to be aware that the line exists and be alert to indications that I am approaching it.

Olympic Training: Life or Death Motivation

One of the few Olympic sports that uses judges to determine scores that I enjoy watching is gymnastics.  The process of determing a winner still frustrates me but those gymnasts are amazing athletes.  What guy wouldn't love to snap his fingers and have the muscles that the olympic guys have?  To be able to do what they do on the rings is amazing.  But, this isn't about one of the guys.  It is about one of the women.  Yes, I said "women", not girls.  Most Olympic "women" are 16-21 years old and they are pretty old at 25.  But, there was one woman that was representing Germany that was 37 years old.

Oksana Chusovitina is the only female gymnast to compete in 6 Olympics and she began performing internationally in 1989.  Many of the girls she was competing against this year weren't even born at that time.  What has motivated Oksana to continue so long in a sport ruled by teenagers and 20 year olds?

Well, in 2002 her son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and the best option for his survival was for Oksana and her family to move to Germany where he could be treated.  Oksana depended on prize money and relationships in gymnastics to help fund the treatment.  Her son's life depended on her not just doing gymnastics, but doing it well enough to win. 

What do you do for a living?  Could you do it better if your son's life depended on you being the best?  Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, often asks if we are giving our best effort and if we aren't he asks, "why not... why not.... why not?"  Does it take a life and death situation to motivate us to do our best?  Should it?

Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.