Are You a Wolf or a Dog?

Yesterday's image of the ants and grasshopper reminded me of an old Aesop's Fable that went something like this:

A hungry wolf happened upon a well fed dog. The well fed dog asks the wolf to join him in his life of leisure. The wolf agrees at first. Upon closer inspection, the wolf notices the dog's fur has been worn down at the neck and inquires as to why? The dog explains the collar as to which all dogs must wear. The wolf leaves the dogs company deciding he'd rather starve than be a slave.
 

I realized upon reflection, that this fable does not only represent the liberty vs. slavery question, but it also represents the two ways of decision making.

You can live your life as a dog making all the easy decisions and playing everything safe. This will guarantee that you life a comfortable life, but in return you will be living the life that society deems is proper. You will not be able to follow your dreams and passion.

Or you can live your life as a wolf. You have the freedom to pursue your own dreams. Though the reward is great, the risk is equally high. You could find a feast or struggle with famine. You will need to hone your talents and constantly improve your skills and knowledge to minimize the risk and maximize the reward. The life of a wolf is much more difficult.

Neither existence is right nor wrong. It is up to you to decide. Are you a wolf or a dog? I know what I wish to be.

-P
Day 28/30 (Two more to go).

Steps to Becoming a Better Man (Part 2) - Does this help you reach your goals?

So, one question I have been asking myself a lot this summer is "Is this action bringing me closer to my goals?"

If not, I try not to do it. Now, I am not perfect and do give in to temptation, but I have forgone many non-goal tasks and replaced them with more productive actions.

For example, my PS3 has not been turned on in over a month. Sometimes I miss it, but I know I get obsessed with video games. I know if I start a game, I will have to keep playing over and over until I get that platinum trophy. So I don't. At first it was hard, but I kept busy. Now that I am seeing success (weight loss, more energy, and successful fundraising and race running) I realize that the pros much outweigh the cons. Those 20+ hours a week that I used to spend chasing virtual shinnies, have been replaced with accomplishment.

Does this mean I will never play a video game again? No. I do boot up Candy Crush and Temple Run when I have a down moment, and I have a feeling that Batman: Arkham Origins and Kingdom Hearts 1.5: HD remix will suck up a lot of time in the future. But I will be aware of how much time these actions are taking and will try my best to schedule them into my downtime rather than letting these actions interfere with my goals.

It helps to have your goals written down and to review them frequently. Start with baby steps. With each success you will want more success. You will find yourself craving positive action and forgoing neutral or negative time sucks.

See you all tomorrow. Build those cathedrals.

-P
Day 27/30

How to overcome anxiety a little at a time.

The next 30 day challenge will be an organization challenge. Since summer break is here, I decided to put some things in order, so I can hit the ground running.

It's amazing how much anxiety comes from having an overwhelming amount of material to look at. One place that I have a ton of material that stresses me out every time is... my e-mail inbox.

My goal today was to look at the two e-mail accounts that had the largest backlog of e-mails. One e-mail account had over 800 unread messages. The other account had all messages read, but had 1000+ e-mails to sort through.

I first organized the e-mail by sender. Any e-mail that came from a newsletter or advertisement, instantly went in the recycling folder. Any e-mail from a social contact over two weeks, I deleted. The only e-mails I saved were:
1.) E-mails planning an event. And I only saved the most recent e-mails of these.
2.) E-mails that were receipts for purchases less than 3 months went in a folder.
3.) E-mails that were notifications for joining a website, forum, or physical membership. (I only save one as a reminder) - all e-mails went into a single folder.
4.) E-mails that were responded too, but were waiting for a response.

After two and one half hours. I am now at inbox zero for these two accounts. Some of the side folders need to be reorganized, but this will be accomplished during the next 30 day challenge.

I can feel the weight lifted off my shoulders. Give it a try.

-P

Day 26/30

What's this about a Spartan Race?

So. With yesterday's success behind us, Just 3 Guys look forward to another race. The Warrior Dash was a fun 3.1 mile trot, but we want challenge. Next on the list, The Super Spartan: an 8-9 mile obstacle course run. This time too, if we can't complete an obstacle: Mandatory Burpees!

I've got about 5 weeks left to train for it. I've cleared my summer schedule with my wife, and will be waking up first thing in the morning four times a week to increase my mileage to around ten miles. I am still working on adding a body weight workout 3-4 times a week and will be adding a daily (less Sunday) burpee routine.

Hopefully a little adjustments to my diet and the near daily workouts will help me lean out for this race. If the training goes well I have two more obsticle races to run. This will bring my total up to four races! Lets see if I can find some 5 and 10 k's in there to come closer to my 2013 goal!

-See you all tomorrow.
P

Day 25/30

Warrior Dash Success Story.

Me on the left. Just Three Guys!

I did it! And I completed my goal of running the whole race. 3.1 miles of running through a hilly farm and forest. Over, under, and through obstacles.

Goals Completed: Ran the whole race!
Raised $1240 for St. Jude!
Competed as a team: "Just 3 Guys"

It feels great to complete these goals. It feels great to complete this race. Small successes will start snowballing to create major successes.

I am so motivated to compete at more of these races.

So here is the lesson learned from the Warrior Dash. Make acheievable goals. Make it a social event. Your motivation will never be higher.

Day 24/30 of creativity challenge.
See you all tomorrow!

-P

Competing Against Myself - "You Run Marathons"

Tomorrow I am going to run the Warrior Dash in honor of St. Jude's.

Here is another story about how I kept putting off this whole get your life together thing.

In 2007, I ran a marathon, and I signed up for another. About halfway through training for my second, I got an injury which prevented me from competing in it. After that, I stopped training. I don't know why.

In 2010, I signed up for the Warrior Dash because, hey, why not? It sounded fun and challenging and so I started training. Not really. I ran on and off for a couple of weeks. Then nothing.

When I arrived, it turned out my brother and his friend were also running the race. They showed up in full zombie viking attire (even won the costume contest that night). I didn't even take advantage of dressing up and having fun with it.

I just ran the race. I stayed right behind my brother's friend for the first third of the race. Then I overtook him after a mud pit incident. He was hot on my trail for the next third of the race. For the final third of the race, we swapped positions for about 5 minutes. I was giving it everything to keep up with him. I'm in running attire. He's in furs and carrying a giant cardboard hammer on a broom stick. Except for the costume, he... he looked fine. Finally, he looked at me, grinned and said, "C'mon PJ. You run marathons. I can't beat you." He then kicked it up a notch. I tried to keep up, but the lactic acid was burning and I couldn't keep pace. He finished about a minute ahead of me. "Wow. I can't believe I beat you!" He patted me on the back. "Sorry." I shrugged it off, but decided next year I would beat him.

The next year... I am ashamed to say I walked the race. The year after that, I didn't even go. This year, I started training too late. I let life get in my way. But momentum is on my side. For the next 12 months I am going to train to beat my old self. PJ runs marathons. I can too. I build catherdrals.

-P
Creativity Challenge 23/30 - Almost there.

How can I have the energy to do it?

I am feeling a little burnt out, to be honest. Creating content every day is more difficult that I thought. However, I have noticed that even though I am feeling a little down right now, my energy is a lot higher than it usually is. I can't believe I have made it 22 days into this challenge. That would be a C at this point. I usually give up after day 7 or so.

Here's why I think that my energy is doing well.

1. I have been sleeping 6-8 hours a night.
2. I have decreased the amount of fast food I was eating, and am weaning down to a drink or two of soda.
3. I have been working out 4-5 times a week.
4. I have found some success.

These four things are the same items that every self-help guru on the planet tells you will give you energy. And "a-durh" It works! There's a reason these people tell you these things, so you do them, it works, and you think they are miracle workers.

This is all it takes. Try the first 3, and the last one will come. It's a self sustaining cycle. Try it and let me know how it goes. For now I am going to rest. I have a rough couple of days coming up.

-P
Day 22/30 :0D

Steps to become a better man (Part 01) - Defining my personal brand

So last week, I started reading the book Personal Branding for Dummies. I'm not sure exactly why I picked it up off the shelf. Maybe because this summer I have a lot of dreams and plans to work on.

A lot of my plans involve social networks and building relationships online, but my online presence is divided up among the many e-mails acounts that I have had over the past 15 years. So I was thinking that this book would help me sell myself on the Internet.

However, I got more than I bargained for. I found there is a lot of reflecting to do. So... I will be working on creating a personal brand while I launch those projects that are itching to get out of me.

Over the next few weeks, expect to see more posts labeled Personal Branding as I explore this book and the resources it provides.

-P
Creativity Challenge Day 21/30 (At this point, I would earn myself a passing grade. C- and climbing!)

P.S. My science friends: If these personal branding posts start to get a little woo-woo new agey. I give you permission to knock me down a few pegs. Please call me out.

Things to Do - Worried About Your Mental Health? - Seek professional help and talk about it.

Why are we as a society worried about distressingly high numbers of suicides and bullying, but yet as are incredibly silent about the main cause? Mental Illness. These two examples can better explain my point.

First up is a beautiful webcomic from the wonderful Beatrice the Biologist website.

And then to drive the point home, this touchingly funny Ted Talk by Ruby Wax.

Why are we scared to talk about and get help for our mental status? Any ideas?

-P
Creativity Challenge Day 20/30 (66.6666667% complete)

Why am I blogging?

Why am I Writing a Blog?

There comes a time when you need to ask yourself why you are doing something. Is your life benefiting from the action or is it being harmed? If your life is benefiting, do it more. If it is being harmed, stop doing it and do something else.

Here are the reasons I am blogging:

1. To improve my writing. My biggest weaknesses are my writing skills, but I love doing it. I hope that by writing every day, I will learn to improve my writing skills and will find my voice.
2. To chronicle my search for happiness for my daughter. I wish I could know more about my parents. I hope she can get to know me in a much different light through my writing.
3. Because I have to create something. Seriously. Putting my words out in the public makes me feel.... good. I feel happier and less stressed by making posts. It's a weird catharsis.
4. To hold myself accountable. I hope by listing my goals to the dozens of you that read this, that I will be more likely to follow through on my challenges.
5. To find like minded people.
6. To help other people. By documenting my adventures, perhaps people can learn from my mistakes and successes.

I am almost 2/3 of the way done with this challenge! See you tomorrow. Keep up the chase.
-P
Creative Challenge: 19/30