Running
Finding Your Tribe
I was listening to the Intentionally Wandering Podcast by Jeff Sandquist last week and it really struck a chord with me. The topic he was discussing was "How About Finding Your Tribe."
I am a frequent listener of the podcast and I have found that I almost exclusively listen to it when running in the morning as a way of reflecting. This episode specifically got me reflecting not only after listening to it but now as I am writing it a week later. I am guessing it was just the right timing as we and probably the message I needed to hear as we just had some good friends stay with us for an extended weekend. Then we went to Iowa for a short trip to visit family we don't see enough which then led into a very after a hectic week at work. Finally, probably the icing on the cake was that I realized it was the first week of August and some of my summer goals of connecting with friends and spending more time with family down in Iowa had not turned out as I had planned.
“Ultimately [finding your tribe] comes down to reaching out to people. … It comes down to putting yourself out there to find the people that you resonate with.” - Jeff Sandquist
The podcast, during that morning run, really made me reflect/challenge why my existing connections are still very important and reminded me that I still need to do a better job of staying connected to them. Also, it hit me that even though my life/work tends to get away from me, I still need to continue to create/cultivate new(er) connections with people that I resonate with.
This idea of “Finding your Tribe” fits nicely in a year of changes as I continue to reflect on how I want my life to look in the next year/decades to come. Even, more importantly, it is an underlying theme that guides who, what, and where I want to spend my free time.
There is a lot of other good resources that Jeff points you to with links on his page so I would suggest you go listen to the podcast and check out the other links and information he has. While you are at it, consider supporting this local (to me) Minnesota Podcaster by checking out his Pateron page.
Early morning run through the wooded trail less traveled… #peaceful
The More of Less by Joshua Becker
It has been more than three weeks since I have finished the book titled The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own by Joshua Becker and honestly this was a book I really couldn’t put down after I started it.
Before I tell you about the book specifically I want to point something out, I had originally started with only the Kindle version and was enjoying reading it at nights before bed but I realized that I only found limited time to pick it up every night as it didn’t fit with my normal routine of reading/listening to things. So I decided to upgrade my purchase to the audible companion which was well worth it as I could listen to the Audiobook during my morning run, or while cleaning up and getting things ready in the evening for the next day. However, the biggest benefit was that I could then pick up my Kindle and actually physically read the book right where my audio portion left off. Honestly, the best of both worlds and I would recommend it for this book as I can see myself reading and listening to it again in the near future.
Now onto my thoughts of “The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything you Own” by Joshua Becker. For someone like me that has just stumbled upon this concept of minimalism, I still really hadn’t figure out what it meant and assumed that this book was going to tell me how to throw away almost everything I own. I quickly realized by Joshua’s definition of minimalism it didn’t specifically talk about “physical things” and in fact, I feel this is a much better definition than what people think.
Minimalism: the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from them
After reading that definition in the book it dawned on me as to why he titled the book “The More of Less.” Through the book, he explains this from his own personal story of why he wanted less as well as through the stories of others which are great examples of how The More of Less can take on many forms. In fact, you quickly realize there isn’t a wrong answer or a right way, you just need to figure out your own WHY. It is a tough question that takes some time to figure out and I honestly believe it might change as you go. It has for me at least. Once you start formulating it in your head, it should become clearer as to the actions you might want to take in order to get you on the right track. That track is again where this book is great. Joshua does a great job laying out various examples of what you can do to take those next steps after the why. In fact, most are simple steps to get you started, and nothing life-changing like selling/getting rid of everything you own. Now I had started some of this process of removing less value-added things in my life (I call it decluttering) before I read the book but one of his super simple ideas to start was to keep your car clean. Why that is so simple that it hadn’t even been on my mind yet and with 3 kids your car quickly becomes overtaken with “stuff” all over. So that night after reading that part of the book I cleaned both our vehicles out. Now after 3 weeks it is still cleaner than before because it is easier than before and every time I get into my car I just feel that much better.
That was just one example of the many that are touched on in the book. Honestly, when I got to the last page I was just finishing an early morning run and I was a little sad that the book was over. There is so many useful examples/thoughts that Joshua put in there and I enjoyed hearing all of them as they continued to shape my thoughts.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone as I think everyone can find pieces/parts of the book that will relate to their lives no matter what your own personal situation is. Joshua Becker has also written some other books, has a blog where he captures his thoughts as well at Becoming Minimalist, and also has a 12-week course titled Uncluttered.
Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like. - Will Rogers
Very peaceful early morning run around the lake
Early morning run in the rain.
Went on an afternoon run while the big kids biked. Thankful for the uphills so I could catch up to them.
#Run3rd
It was one of those perfect nights outside earlier this week when the moon was really bright making it super easy to go on a longer run when my first thought was to keep it short as I had some work to get done. However, the glow from the moon and the warm weather was just too perfect to pass on the opportunity to complete my Virtual 5k for the upcoming #Run3rd 5k event I signed up for.
Now you are probably asking, as I was 2 years ago, what the heck is a virtual running race and what difference is it than just going out on a run and completing a 5k? Honestly, there isn’t much difference unless you want to feel that extra push to complete a 5k and make it act like a race. The thing that really appealed to me about this specific race was the already strong presence of a community around this #Run3rd theme. The concept has been out there for a while so with that drove a good turnout in year one as people wanted to be a part of the Virtual race and as they finished they would share their experiences on Facebook and Twitter. The other positive of just a virtual race in general for me is that I didn’t have to travel anywhere and didn’t have to give up my weekend as a normal race would probably last all morning with events and registration. The actual race they have is on Saturday, April 2nd in Mesa, Arizona and it seems like as of today you can still register for the actual event or virtual one (http://www.run3rd5k.com/).
Now you might be wondering what this #Run3rd movement/community is and instead of having me try to explain it I would suggest you go read about it here and/or watch the video below, which is really the mission statement and tells a good story.
“I run 1st for myself, I run 2nd for my family, I #Run3rd for you.” - Sean Astin
The thing that drew me in was that I felt like where I am in my life today I align with the mission statement of #Run3rd. I just had never thought of it that way but it does put some things into perspective.
PS - One cool benefit even doing the Virtual #Run3rd 5k, if you are on the fence about it, is that you still get a finisher medal as well as a cool t-shirt.
Edit: Here is the cool shirt and medal I got for the 2016 run and I can’t wait till next year!
A Brother Jogging
I was telling my wife last night about how running at night sometimes plays tricks with your mind. Most of the time it is when someone suddenly comes up out of nowhere and is walking/running at you, behind you, or just someone in the shadows of their house porch coughs or starts talking to someone on the phone.
That reminded her of this great video she shared with me by comedian Michael Jr. and I couldn’t help myself but pass it along.
via A Brother Jogging - YouTube.
Peaceful outside tonight for my late night run.
Podcasts from January/February
Now in the second week of March (playing catch up), I thought I would give a quick list of some Podcasts (and favorite episodes) that have been keeping me company while running in the evenings. My favorite part about all of them is that you can subscribe to them in iTunes, which makes it super easy to pull the next one up when you are heading out on a run or long car trip.
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis (@jason) - The show is done twice per week where the host Jason has various entrepreneurs on talking about their companies, what they do, and how it could change the world. Also, every couple of weeks there is a news roundtable where he has two guests on that talk about some of the big tech topics out there. In January, one of my favorite shows to listen to was E614 where Jason was talking to the CEO Emily Kirsch who Co-Founded PowerHouse. The conversation was very interesting as it touched on what some new companies are doing along the lines of Solar and how Solar is becoming cheaper and one of the major roadblocks they run into is Policy.
The Tim Ferris Show by Tim Ferriss (@tferriss) - This is a great podcast and Tim has some really great guests like Edward Norton, Chris Sacca, Shaun White, Naval Ravikant, and Seth Godin. Note all of those were just in the month of January and February. Each of those people was probably my favorite episode of the last two months and I won’t dive into it too much as I wrote a little bit about Naval Ravikant’s interview in a prior post.
Intentionally Wandering by Jeff Sandquist (@jeff_wandering) - This one was created by a local Minnesota guy named Jeff Sandquist. I really like how the podcasts are normally only 20-30 min which is perfect to listen to the whole thing in one sitting (or run as I prefer). The other neat thing about this podcast is that it revolves around this same theme of Intentionally Wandering and, in my opinion, sharpening your own focus on how you view your world and the world around you. He brings in some very interesting guests as who also do a great job of making you think and sharing their experiences. In fact, I really like how he ends the episodes with guests the same way by asking them the same question that I always try to answer myself after each one.
“What is your why? Why do you do what you do?”
I should probably start writing my own answer down to see how much it changes over time. Another nice thing, since I am normally out running when listening to podcasts, is how Jeff puts show notes on the websites about the episodes with links to find the other materials (books/articles) that were mentioned in the show. One of my favorite recent episodes is a solo episode he did titled " Lessons Learned from Being Curious" and there was a quote in there that really stuck out to me as I can see myself in this quote sometimes.
“We are all born curious, but not all of us remain curious. Curiosity, while it does come naturally to all of us, it can easily be suppressed, lost and destroyed, depending on our environment, our upbringing, our experiences, and even our thoughts and our reactions and emotions towards this idea of curiosity.” - Jeff Sandquist
So what are you waiting for go check out some of these podcasts today! Also, do you have any that you listen to frequently? Let me know in the comments.
Running to Refocus
Here it was 9:30 pm at night and I was just going to quickly finish writing a blog post I had started a couple of days back, but I was stuck and it felt like it was taking me too long to write. It wasn’t just flowing out like some of the ones last week did. Then I realized that it is getting pretty late and I really wanted to get a run in tonight.
So…. I went for a run.
During my run, I reflected on how I have been having so much momentum with this blog and I should have just finished that blog post since I haven’t made a post since last Friday. Once I completed my run, feeling refreshed and motivated, I was reminded of a quote about why running appealed to Bernd Heinrich who was being interviewed in a video series titled “Why We Run” (video is at the end of this post).
It appealed to me because I could do it all the time where every I was, no matter where I could always run. - Bernd Heinrich
This year as I have refound my love for running I have tried to embrace a quote like that. I have been running on some cold days and very dark nights. However, for me, it is time well spent and the motivation I feel from going for a run is just too good to pass up. Now I know I didn’t publish the actual blog post I was working on but I was stuck and needed to run away for a while. In fact, as a result, of my run, I realized it helped motivate me to write/share something instead of having it feel forced.
Now for a question, when you get writers' block, or writing seems slow, doesn’t flow, or feels forced how do you get through it or refocus? Leave me your thoughts or tips in the comments as I would love to know how you refocus.
Hobbies and Side Projects
Can someone have too many hobbies or side projects?
That is the question I have been pondering over the whole month of February. Also, yes I know it is ironic since this is the same month I took a Blogging 101 course as well as having this crazy idea of creating a site called the Bloggers Meetup.
I look back at the month and I have still continued to do things that I have wanted to do, like running, reading (or listening to book tapes), keeping up-to-date with some podcasts, and trying to spend more time with my family on the weekends instead of being buried in work or side projects.
However, I do sometimes wonder if I have taken on too much. It is unfortunately in my nature to keep volunteering at events, helping non-profits, starting side projects, or just trying new hobbies. I am thankful that most of the things I do have different cycles of when they are busy and when they aren’t so it normally doesn’t create too big of a conflict. However, then there are the times when my hobbies start to become more of a burden and it overlaps with other projects/hobbies or just my family time and that is when it really makes me think.
I really starting thinking about this a couple of weeks back and even though I love all of the projects I have been doing/created, I believe I would like to take the next step and get more focused on a couple of them. It is not that I couldn’t continue what I am doing today but at some point when the next side project comes along that seems interesting I won’t have any resources to devote to it. Or I will not be as devoted to another project and at that time, it might be one I would like to be devoted to.
So this year in my year of changes, I am going to try to make sure I keep tweaking my focus on things. That is not to say I will drop everything tomorrow or even next month or within the next year. I am going to start by looking at what projects/hobbies I carried forward from 2015 and make a list of why I am doing each and what I hope to continue to gain by doing them. Some are very obvious to me right now but others are not. As I am not sure what my longer term vision of doing it is.
How about you? Do you have any hobbies or side projects that you have been doing for a while that you need to take a closer look at the why? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Power of the Habit
I finally got around to catching up on some blogs and podcasts that I listen to late last week and I realized that two of them seemed to be touching on the same topic, “Habits”.
Now each of them talks about it from different angles but both have made me reflect on the habits I have been trying to break this year. Or even more specifically some of the good ones I am trying to create this year. Some people might say well that really sounds like a New Years' resolution, but for me, it is more of a time commitment change in focus that will be ongoing.
This brings me to the first blog that has been actually talking about it all year. The site is called Break the Twitch and it’s creator Anthony Ongaro does a great job of framing this up in his post a while back called “How I Created Daily Action Steps to Achieve My 2016 Vision (And You Can Too)”. There is actually a lot of good stuff in there about helping you create a vision for 2016 and follow through with it. However, based on how I have been changing my habits this year the following quote resonated with me best.
To eliminate a bad habit, we first need to establish a good habit to take its place. - Anthony Ongaro
Then as I was running last outside last week and listening to The Tim Ferriss Episode titled Naval Ravikant on Happiness Hacks and the 5 Chimps Theory. I would definitely suggest you listen to it as there are lots of good nuggets of information in that podcast. For me, the reason it really stuck out again was this talk of habits and breaking habits.
Learning how to break habits is an important/great meta skill. - Naval Ravikant
He talked about the power of habits and that after you have broken a habit it helps teach you that all habits can be broken. In fact, he said he break habits and creates new ones frequently. One tip he had to break habits is a daily workout as he suggests it is very important to do some kind of physical activity at the same time every day no exception.
He suggests further that it happens in the morning as it will lead to better choices as you have to make sure you get to bed earlier.
I couldn’t agree with him more on the psychology of physical activity and having it be in the morning. For me, I have been adding a new habit this year of running but not in the morning as he suggests but at night. This isn’t the most ideal, and it does lead to some of the same things he mentions as leading to better habits all around.
How about you, is there any new habits you are hoping to create in 2016 and in the process remove some bad ones? I would love to hear about your success so far or what is holding you back in the comments below.
Sometimes you have to ask
I am not one of those people to ask others for things. Specifically, in my career I am good at what I do but when I want to make a role change or find out about an opportunity from someone I end up dragging my feet and most of the time miss out on the opportunity. I tried to do better over the past couple of years but still it is something I am uncomfortable confronting people about. However, for those times that I have stuck my neck on the line it has been worth it even if it didn’t end as I would ultimately hope but, at least, I didn’t have to think I just missed out.
Today I was again reminded that it never hurts to ask. I have thought about my career path at the company I am working at lately. Don’t get me wrong what I am doing now is fine and I don’t mind doing it but I keep thinking in 10 years I don’t want to be doing the same thing. Also, as I have grown more in figuring “Life” out the last couple of months I realized I really would like to do something different.
On the same lines, I am reflecting back on an email I sent to a CEO that I have run into from time to time over the past 3 years. The company he works at had a job posted that I was interested in, I didn’t think I was qualified and kept dragging my feet for weeks. However, I finally found the courage to ask him if he would mind chatting about it which within an hour he emailed me back the name of the CFO for me to email as well copying himself. In the end, my thoughts were right, they wanted someone with a little more experience but I feel a lot better knowing it wasn’t just a missed opportunity.
Do you have any times in your career that you wished you would have spoken up to find out about an opportunity? Or did you have a time that you did speak up and how did it turn out for you, I would love to hear your thoughts, leave them in the comments below.
Quote of the Week - 02.12.16
“You weren’t born to just pay bills and die."
My wife sent me this quote the other day and it really made me reflect on things so I thought I would share. I decided to put that quote on a photo I took while hiking with a good friend in Colorado a couple of years back. In fact, my wife bought me the plane ticket to go see my friend for my birthday and looking back it was a great present as it got me to do what I had been talking about doing since I left college but kept saying to myself I was too busy.
I was more out of shape back then as I hadn’t gotten into the swing of running again but it was well worth it once we made it to the top. It was a gorgeous day and the view from the top of Estes Cone was awesome. Luckily, the trail we took, which started at Longs Peak Trailhead, wasn’t too strenuous and I would suggest it to anyone that finds themselves in the area.
Here are a couple other pictures I took from the peak, hiking up, and from the base of the mountain to give you a feel for how high up we were.
*Panoramic picture from the top of Estes Cone in Estes Park Colorado.*
*Picture of the other Mountains around Estes Cone as we were hiking up.*
*Estes Cone is the Mountain we hiked up to get the pictures above.*