Quotes of the Week from Me:

“Instead of, ‘Other people are…’ Try, ‘I will…’ Make it about your goals, not those of others.”

“Practice. Practice consistency. Practice resilience. Practice patience and dedication. Practice practicing. Commit to something. See how many days you can keep at it. Work through it. It will be okay!”

“Resistance bands add additional resistance throughout the entirety of a repetition. The tension actually increases as the movement is completed. Adversity seems to have similar benefits.”

“No time for tired. When you wake up tired, go anyway.”

Quotes of the Week from Others:

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” – David Thoreau

Yeah, I know, Thoreau. It’s brilliant though.

“Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them.” – La Rochefoucald

“A man is great not because he hasn’t failed; a man is great because failure hasn’t stopped him.” – Confucius

“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.” – Plato

Quick Optimism

Time to count up some blessings.

Remember that the unemployed dream of having a frustrating work day. Those who are homeless dream of fixing a squeaky door or clogged gutter. Those who are depressed dream about what made you smile today.

And above all, your good health is irreplaceable.

I see some similar versions of this concept all the time. These examples too. Rarely is the other side addressed. If you are struggling with one or more of these areas, I am thinking of you, I wish you luck, and I hope you get the support and resources you need! It will be okay.

Full Newsletter

Good Enough

This week was incredible. And I’m jazzed as hell about it.

I saw some incredible people. I met some new ones. I worked out like a mad man. I spent tons of time at work and also with my family. Just one of those perfectly busy weeks.

I also got in trouble with my wife, Taylor, because I am training with heavier weights again and I keep eating all of our protein bars…

Entrepreneurship Class

I met a multi, multi, multi-millionaire, maybe even a billionaire, this week. I was sitting in on a class about entrepreneurship and the speaker was a former co-founder of a travel technology services company that did $400 billion in revenue annually. He has since sold the company and moved on to other ventures. He told some incredible stories and we worked on some great introductory concepts for starting a business:

1. Identify a problem
2. Brainstorm solutions
3. Work extremely hard
4. Know when to push through adversity and know when to close up shop and start over again (impossible to know, so you kinda have to wing it when starting out).
5. Bad, creative ideas are the best for the process of elimination. Then you can move on to some better ideas. Spit your ideas out. Get them out in the open. Did they sound dumb? No? Run with them.

Effort

The integrity of effort. I mean real effort.

RPE in the lifting world, is the rate of perceived exertion when performing an exercise or lifting movement. It’s a fancy way of saying, “I think I am working this hard when I do this.” It works on a scale from 1-10. 1 is the easiest. 10 is the hardest.

The half-joking side of me always thinks, “Just move the damn weight” but I understand the point of RPE when you are tracking your progress.

You can compare RPE to other data points, like how many reps you can complete of 85% of your one rep maximum. For example, if you can do a 225lb back squat for only one rep, 225lbs should feel like RPE 10. Max effort. Can’t push harder. If you then did a 220lb back squat and it felt like RPE 2, you should probably work on your understanding of effort. Try more reps or put 10 more pounds on the bar.

No matter what system you work with when completing a task, it is important to understand how much time, energy, and overall effort you are putting into things.

That is why I think moving our bodies in general is so important. It is a way of checking in with ourselves. Testing what we are capable of; showing ourselves what we are capable of.

We get to be proud of our current state while knowing there is always more to improve upon. I am obsessed with both. I am excited to know what I can do and what I will be able to do in the future. I am excited for what you have in store too!

Good Enough

“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, ‘Soften the orange a big on the right-hand corner.’ I don’t try to control. A sunset I watch with awe as it unfolds.”

-Carl Rogers

I stumbled upon this quote from Carl Rogers the other day. It reminded me of the entrepreneurship class and how we talked about the power of a good team. A great environment for learning and getting work done can unfold on its own; the kinks get worked out and the team works well together or doesn’t. And that’s good enough.

This quote also reminded me of moving our bodies. We all move differently and there is no secret formula for success. Again, let your abilities unfold naturally over time. They are good enough.

Finally, this quote reminded me of an old story on Being Good Enough. Enjoy below.