Category: Faith, Family, balance

My Simple Morning

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On your mark, get set, SNOOZE BUTTON!

Snooze

That is how I typically would start my day.  I’ve had times where I have been disciplined enough to get up and workout.  Here lately that has not been the case.  Being a dad of 3 daughters with full time job, rec soccer coach, taxi driver, husband, volunteer, husband, ect…  Making time for exercise has moved to the back burner.  As I look back at the times when I have be consistent with exercise, I have to ask myself, what was different.  The answer….  A ROUTINE.  Nothing over complex or complicated, but a simple, planned routine.

Trying to figure out where and how to start is the hardest part!

Over the next few weeks, I will introduce the “My Simple Morning” plan that, for busy parents (or anyone who needs a simple plan), will help you create a routine.  You will learn about the 3 C’s of a simple morning!

A morning without a plan is like a day without a purpose! tweet this

The best part is it takes 12 minutes.  Just 12 minutes!! 12 minutes to become more focused, energized and thankful. Can just 12 minutes change your day?

Stay tuned to find out!!

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Lumber Jack

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I love cutting down trees and chopping wood. It’s cheap therapy. I always try and get my daughters involved in outdoor activities even if its something like chopping wood. This project was part service project and part firewood gathering. The “service” side comes into play because this Red Oak that we are cutting up and hauling off came from a friend of mines yard. This friend fell from a tree stand (maybe another blog post for a later date) late last year and was unable to walk for a while, let alone clean up a fallen tree. So my daughter and I spent the day cutting, splitting and hauling off this massive red oak. 

A Good Man!!

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Good at being a man vs. being A good man. What’s the difference?

  
It’s a question of Masculinity vs. Morality. You can be good at being a man (masculine) but not be a good person. That has been seen lately in the NFL. As Bob Costas said about Hardy, the Cowboys player who had some issues with domestic violence, “we realize he’s not a very nice person, but a good football player.” 

He is good at being a man, masculinity, but not good at being A Good Man. 

  
Can you be both?  Yes….  Abosolutly. That is the goal!  Be masculine with good morality. 

So look at yourself and decide which you want to be…. Just  A good man, or  A Good Man and Good at Being a Man. 

Never Stop Starting!!!

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Heard a great statement today at church. We had a guest preacher who was probably near 80 years old and he issued a challenge to “Never Stop Starting”. 

   The nature of the challenge was to not let the success of our past be the thing that defines us but we have to keep starting everyday.  

  I love that. As someone who has been in sales and management for years, these positions start over every month with being measured. (Example…You exceed your goal for September, great, Now do the same in October.) 

So  what can you apply this to?

-faith

-family

-work

-exercise

NEVER STOP STARING!!

Lessons learned from Spicoli

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Jeff Spicoli: Well, I’ll tell you Stu, I did battle some humongous waves! But you know, just like I told the guy on ABC, “Danger is my business!” 
Isn’t that what we all want…. For “danger” to be our business. Why do we love James Bond (007) movies, or movies like Braveheart? Because we love the hero who’s lives on the edge of danger.   As men we have to find our danger. Something that makes us feel like we have conquered the outdoors. I was fortunate enough to go water water rafting this past weekend with two of my threedaughterdad daughters. What an adventure we all got to share. Working together as a family, paddling down a river and navigating the Rapids. As a group we were able to say “Danger is my business”.  

  

  

L.L. Bean Guide to the Outdoors

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I picked this book up at a used book sale for a dollar. I am a fan of L.L. Bean clothes but this book shared so much more than what I’m used to seeing from L.L. Bean.   

Besides the practical guide to outdoor skills, it also shares the story of how the company was started by Mr. L.L. Bean. 

His desire to create a hunting boot that would keep his feet dry turned into a business built in only selling outdoor products that were field tested by the avid outdoors men and women who worked for him. There are several stories of manufacturers that were turned down to be a part of the  L.L. Bean product catalogue but with suggestions for improvement from the company, the products became better and they were added.  

This book was published in 1981 and is a combination of the original Outdoor Guide published by L.L. Bean along with the stories behind he company. I’m sure there are resources for used copies of this like I found. 

Of course its available on Amazon

Not bad for a guy who only finished the 8th grade. 

The email Awakening!

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I got an email today from one of my best customers and it was like cold water being thrown on me.  The email consisted of seven words and are as follows:

“Too busy to even talk these days?”

  
 Hmmmm…  With so many ways to communicate, I had responded to his voicemail with an email or maybe a text, but either way the lack of spoken words was the issue. Of course his email prompted an immediate phone call.  I started to evaluate how I respond to my customers and potential customers. Was the smartphones ability to text, email, or tweet taking away from what is so important in the world of sales. Relationship!!!  People do business with people. 

 As the pic above says, it’s a matter of priority. Don’t get caught I the trap of letting your media communicate with your customer. So much emotion gets lost or mis-interpreted in emails or text. Actually speaking with people is far better any day. Evaluate your method of communication and see if you need anyone in your life (work, family, friends, God)  need to send you the same email I got. 
  

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished!

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Wether your a hunter like me, or you can find some other reason to get in the woods (camping, bird watching). Whatever your reason, just find an opportunity to unplug and get in the woods.  Here are a couple of quotes that will help in explaining better than I can:

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls. Mother Teresa

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Lao Tzu

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. Anne Frank

Here is a video of a recent trip to the woods. If this does make you feel a little less stressed, not sure what will. 

  

How to create an environment of CALM!!

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How often do you loose it with your kids and yell.  Unfortunaltely, I do it more that I’d like.  So to continue on the same path as my recent blog on patience, but this time talk about what our kids hear when we do that vs. what we are trying to say.  If you really want to have an eye opening experience, ask you kids what they think when you yell.  You Probably wont like the answer  I think that we communicate so much better at work because we have to plan out our answers. How many times have you written and re-written an email so you can convey the exact message with the right amount of emotion but ensuring your point is made?  Everyday?  Maybe we need to take some time before we answer our kids/wife at home. If you have teenagers, (as I do) you may be thinking….IMPOSSIBLE!!!  But it’s all about practice.  As we were all taught, practice makes perfect. Do we practice patience. Interestingly enough, this came up in our adult Sunday school class and the term “manage” was used as it relates to anger. My immediate thought was we trade out the term patience for anger because it sounds better. We prefer “I lost my patience” vs. I got angry. Second, I liked the term manage. Just like my point earlier, practice, we can use the term manage as well. If we want to be honest, we would say “I need to do a bette job managing my anger”.  

  
These are things I think about because I need to be thinking about them. If I can put it in words and in practice I will do a better job as a dad and husband with patience. Let me know your thoughts. Comment with suggestion, thoughts etc.