Meal Prep

All set up for success tomorrow.  Watching the Super Bowl now.  A little surprised that Peyton is off to a decent start. 

Got my chicken prepped for tomorrow, school work done, really killing things right now. 

I know tomorrow is going to be tough, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.  Time to build some discipline.

Bleed

I may have written about this before, but I feel the need to do it again.  The best writing advice I've ever read was from James Altucher.  He says to bleed when you write.  Not literally, you'll make a big mess, but figuratively.

I've seen this play out over and over in big posts, Facebook posts, and books.  The ones that get the most attention and reach the most people are the ones that really connect emotionally with people.  The author really makes themselves vulnerable and opens up. People want to connect with that and relate in some way.

No one will ever really identify with the logic of the words that you put on the page.  They identify with the struggle and the emotions of what you write.  If logic always won out, everyone would have lots of money from making smart financial decisions and the world's population would be much smaller.

I will be doing my best here to bleed in as many ways as possible.  That's scary because it opens me up to criticism and I'm sure I could lose some friends and family.  When I really think about it though, when I think about my values, I don't care.  I'm not necessarily writing for anyone but myself.  It's nice to connect, but being honest serves as a great filter for removing the people that aren't really meant to be there in the first place.  You don't like it, there's the door.  I have a mission in this life and you don't have to be a part of it, that's cool.  Go find yours.

Music, Friends, and Life

January 26, 2016

I went to the Ryan Bingham concert at First Ave in Minneapolis tonight.  It's going to be a night that I will remember the rest of my life.  One of those moments where everything in life just comes together.  A moment that no one can really understand unless they were there, yet they understand completely because they've had the exact same types of moments in their life.

I was with three friends.  One an acquaintance that I like, but haven't really been through anything with.  Another a friend of nearly ten years that I see every couple of months, but when we hang out it feels like we've been friends forever.  The third friend is a friend that I had a falling out with, but this was the first time we had reconnected in nearly two years.  

We were friends through a project that was life defining and it was based around the music of Ryan Bingham and many other artists that we had a great connection with, so it was kind of interesting that the same thing brought us together again a second time.

We are starting to work on another project again and I'm not certain where it's going to go.  Maybe it won't get any further than jamming in my basement or his garage.  In a way, it doesn't really matter where it goes, it only matters that we're traveling somewhere and living life.  That's the whole goal isn't it?  To actually live life?  

I was reminded of a quote the other day that most people die at 25, but aren't buried until 75.  I feel like I live a life more full than most, but that still hits me every time I read it.  I have a great fear of not living life to the fullest and I would rather fail at everything while trying than live a safe life on my couch.  

I have come to understand that there are people with the polar opposite point of view as well.  I used to think they were cowards, but I now realize that's just them and their journey.  They are as happy on their path as I am on mine. I used to force people to travel my path, but that just leads to frustration for everyone.  I won't do that any longer.

What I'm here to say is that if you like to travel this same path that I'm on, reach out and make contact.  None of us need to travel our path alone, there's much more strength, power, and fun in numbers.  Here's to the good life.

The Tests of Life

February 5, 2016

No bullshit coming from me this time.  I've been out of the lifting game since I completed my powerlifting meet in October of 2012 where I pulled 500, squatted 455, and benched 315.  I worked my ass off to get there and then lost motivation.  I also find my love for playing music in April of 2013 and it equaled game over for lifting since then.

Yes, I had a few spurts of getting back into it, but nothing stuck.  It just wasn't there inside of me.  When you don't have your life together outside of the weight room it's hard to have it together inside.  At least it is for me.

The last 16 months have been the hardest time of my life.  I won't go into detail, but the events that took place forced me to sit back and really look at who I was.  To look at who the people around me were.  I didn't really like what I saw.

This forced me to tear down everything about my life and rebuild it from the bottom.  It's a never ending process, but I got rid of a lot of the fluff and things that didn't matter.  In my daily activities, in my mind, and in my life in general.  If it didn't add value it was out.

Not everything happened immediately and I'm still working on a lot of it.  That's OK, it's a process.  You don't climb a mountain by going from the base to the peak in one motion.  You climb slowly.  You get to a new level and chill for a little bit while you get acclimated to the new elevation.  You have to be confident that the ground is firm, regain your energy and then make another move.

Life is the same way.  Every new level brings out people trying to pull you back.  Every new level also brings out the doubt in those around you.  They don't believe that you've actually improved.  They will test the hell out of you to see if it's real.

That's a good thing.  It forces you to prove to yourself as well.  Every test you pass will give you confidence.  Every test gets easier as you go.  When you get to a big test all of those skills you learned along the way have prepared you to pass it.

I received my six week plan from Paul Carter today.  I've come to a level on the mountain of my life where I can't really get any further in the condition I'm in.  I'm not terrible by any means, but I'm slowly falling into the average category.  Fuck average.

The tests I've passed and the skills I've learned have prepared me for this phase. It's going to be tough, but that's what makes it fun.

This weekend I will be prepping and grocery shopping to get off to a great start. I will post a little about that process over the weekend.