Dad Bud

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.” - Brene Brown Let’s get vulnerable.  No really....let’s talk vulnerability here, what it means to me, and why I believe it is so important for achieving great things. For me, vulnerability is putting yourself out there with no safety net to save you. It’s breaking down every piece of yourself to completely expose your weaknesses. It’s being willing to not only expose those weaknesses but to confront them head on, attack them, and really try to overcome them.  We, as humans, don’t typically deal well in this space. We don’t naturally welcome weaknesses to the forefront, put a spotlight on them, or expose them for all to see. The basis of our humanity is to be strong, to win, and to not show weakness, and this is exposed more now with social media and it’s misrepre...

“What man (or woman) actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him” – Victor Frankl Why talk about goals now?  Likely you prefer, like most, setting goals based on calendar year accomplishments. This is one of the most natural ways of goal setting. Here we are 3 months from year end and I am already in full on planning mode for the goals I wish to strive for next year. I’ll share some of them but will not on one specific one, as I like a balance on sharing out loud along with keeping something at bay until I can scream it from the hills in excitement. I spoke about a list I made at 20 years old, as an early adolescent, of things to accomplish in life. “100 things to do before I die” was what I titled it. I kept it to 100 as it was a manageable number rather than a lifelong, never-en...

“Just 'cause you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there” Chester Bennington, Linkin Park Let’s talk injuries here, because you really want to avoid those at all costs -obviously.  They get you out of routine (if you have one already), they put you into an inactive routine, and help to drag you down both mentally and physically. From the site of the injury across your entire body, you feel the struggle. I classify injuries as both physical and mental, as they both take the same toll on you. They drain you. Physically you can hurt an ankle or a foot, awaken some longstanding knee issues, back problems, neck problems, toes, chest, shoulders. Whatever it is, it happens to us all in one way or another. We all have something that aggravates, especially when we head out for a longer run, try a new exercise, or lift a child a wrong way. Some are worse than others. Some have cures like different shoes or socks, some need extra special care, and some hold ...

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” Edmund Hillary  I’m 9 weeks into this blog, so far speaking to the lessons I’ve learned and how I’ve mentally had success. I began this blog over 2 months ago to tell my story as to how I, as a regular guy, ran a full marathon (42.2kms) without ever having run more than 21.1kms, on a short training window, and also keeping harmony in my work and family. Likely at this point you’re thinking; I still don’t know how he ran the marathon? What was his training regimen? What did he eat before, during, after? What shoes did he wear? What crazy physical ability does he have over the rest of us who haven’t completed a marathon? Success in life is 90% mental, only 10% physical. I firmly believe this statement above. I live by it, love by it, and know it has attributed to much of my success in life.  This is the reason you haven’t read how I physically handled the run, it’s just such a small piece of the puzzle. I...

“Take a chance – it’s the best way to test yourself, have fun and push boundaries .” Richard Branson I learn a lot of lessons, daily lessons, from my 4 year old daughter. Children will teach you so much about the world that you’ve forgotten or pulled back from as you’ve turned into an adult. As she heads off to her first day of kindergarten this week; taking chances, pushing boundaries, and testing herself is exactly what she’ll be doing. She doesn’t think of it that way nor do many adults think of children that way.  Kids are resilient, tough, and headstrong but also caring, kind, and vulnerable along the way. If I were that well rounded of an adult I would be much more successful and able to complete many more task I believe are outside my reach. Let me put kids and school into context. Picture yourself changing jobs every year, once a year or sometimes more. New managers, coworkers, peers every single year in September. Many adults couldn’t handle that, too m...