mid life celebration – Page 17 – Disney Employee Engagement Speaker

So Then What Happened?

So the second week, I ran two mailboxes a day. Third week, three mailboxes a day.

Yes, many of you have heard this before. Which is one of the secrets to excellent results – repetition. Never get tired of doing the basic, common sense things.

Stories are critical to perpetuating past success and moving to even greater success. You already knew that right?

Eventually, the goals became impossible, but their pursuit was compelling.

What’s fascinating is how intense it was to rise to the level of representing the United States at the 2009 Master’s Track & Field World Championships, without anyone knowing.

Neighbors. Family. Work. Ten years. Ten years of dedicated, relentless effort.

Invisible to everyone around me. For a decade.

Now, neighbors know. And Family knows. Yet to this day, most where I work have no idea.

And so the question today is this, “What is your impossible goal and will you persue it without any fanfare or glory, but just for the sake that it’s a noble goal?”

Every Body Is Watching You

Are you a movie star?

A rock star?

A Hollywood celebrity?

Most likely, we can all answer these questions with a resounding, “No.”

But I beg to offer a different perspective (imagine that, lol).

People are watching you the same way they watch famous people, and they are doing the same thing to you they do after watching famous people.

Judging.

We are all telling a story about what we value. Yes, we are. Every single day. Every choice we make is another “scene” from the movie entitled “Your Life”.

And this brings us back to a very poignant question, “Am I an example or a warning?”

Lane 8 Motivational Flashback

Last weekend, I met with a great friend I’ve known for over a decade. He’s really smart and asks the best questions. Plus, he’s a great listener.

Long story short: While I was sharing the story on my 1982 cross-country bicycle trip, he came to a realization, and so did I.

When I said cross-country, the original intent was from one coast to the other. But for a variety of good reasons, it didn’t happen the way it was envisioned.

And for a moment, it started to feel like maybe I was misrepresenting the truth, and I questioned myself.

In summary, Derrick Redmond, an Olympic 400 meter runner, may tell people he ran in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, but that may not be the “truth”. You owe it to yourself to watch this, and then ask and answer the question that follows:

So, did Derrick Redmond run in the Olympics?

Lane 8 Celebrity?

Yes, and it’s not Tiger Woods. Then who?

Jack the bear.

Jack the bear?

Yes. Jack is our son’s teddy bear. Our son (9) has three of the exact same bear – all gifts from family. Fischer Price made this bear years ago, and on his collar, Fischer Price named him Jack.

Jack was my Dad’s name. My Dad never met our son. He passed away from early onset, rapid progression Alzheimer’s disease in 2001.

Anyway, our son lets me travel with the one with the torn ears.

What started as a cute little idea to help me feel connected to our son while I travel the globe, has turned into something a little more. Jack is starting to report on his impressions from some of these places.

Here’s a quick one from Mexico. Take a look:

What does this have to do with exercise, fitness, health and wellness? If I have to explain it, it won’t make sense, but it revolves around balance – the whole person, not just the body.

Man, It Felt Good

Sure felt good to go for a short run and work out at Gold’s Gym yesterday.

Why? Because it’s been nearly a week. Why? Because I’ve been traveling and working hard.

Got home (from Anchorage, Alaska) about 1AM Thursday morning, got a few hours sleep and taught all day Thursday. Then taught all day yesterday (Friday).

But I refused to let another day go by without exercising. Sure, I had to get up at 4AM to run and the run wasn’t even half of my usual distance, due to time constraints. And yes, I was very tired on a Friday afternoon (from travel and a six-day work week). Did I feel like changing clothes and driving to Gold’s Gym? Nope.

So what motivated me to go the extra mile?

Simply this. I’ll be darned if I’m going to give up a decade’s work of life changing health habits because my schedule continues to be challenging. Here’s a no-brainer: our efforts to get healthy do not matter if we don’t fight hard to win the battle to STAY healthy. Ya with me?