Your fingerprints

Each job you do is a self portrait. You leave your work behind for all to see or experience. 

No matter what you do, autograph your work with excellence. If you don’t, you’ll be trapped in a mediocre existence. If you do, good things will happen.

How are you going to do things today?

Habits make the man

Some people read – every day. Some people smoke – every day. Some people drink six cups of coffee – every day. Some people watch two hours of tv, workout, stop at McDonalds, run, work on their project, hangout someplace, or spend time on their obsession – every day.

The cumulative effect of these habits grows and makes you who you are – and who you aren’t.  

A habit is an action repeated often without thinking much about it. You should think a lot about it – and craft your habits carefully – because like it or not – they are crafting you.

What are your habits?

What your schedule says about what's important to you

Most people say they want this and that. But when you look at what they actually did today, you will find what is really important. Did they spend time working on the next step to take them to their major goals? Did they learn something new that they need to know to get them there? Did they put TV, Facebook, entertainment or really low value activities in front of what would be most important to them in a year or two?

Show me. What did you do yesterday that tells me you are serious about making your life better and getting the big things that you say you want?

What about today? 

Strengthened by adversity

Each generation talks about it – “what we went through made us tougher”.  When we experience adversity, we don’t get rattled by small stuff much anymore.  

If we haven’t been blessed to have any real external adversity in our lives, we need to create some for ourselves. 

Attempt difficult things, strive, and push your limits.  

You don't know what you can do…

…until you try.  I believe you can do a lot more than you think.

Your beliefs are your limiting factor.

What do you believe?  

Emotion is created by motion.

Get moving.

How do others feel after being around you?

If we feel irritated, conflicted, or bad about ourselves after interacting with someone, we don’t have a very favorable impression of that person and we are not likely to want to be around them again or do anything to make their life easier.

But if someone makes us feel good about ourselves, we like them and want more, and want to reciprocate.

How do you make others feel about themselves?

We all like positive attitudes

One study showed that 95% of people who were fired were not let go because of incompetence, but rather the inability to get along with others. A positive attitude and ability to work in harmony with others was also correlated with getting promoted. It seems that people in positions to do the promoting like to be around nice people.

How would you rate the attitude and friendliness of yourself and the few people around you at work?

Dig deep

I wrote this long before the race, but right now, Tanner and I should be about mile 780 ish. That was my goal, make it to mile 780 by the second daybreak Pacific Time. Hopefully we are around Lareto which is mile 800. Hopefully I made it about 280 – 300 miles in the second night (last night) and made it through the bad 20 mile long rocks in the dark (yikes!) before the Military checkpoint at San Ignacio.  

If I am at mile 780 or better, I should be able to finish about 7:00pm tonight. The two tougest parts of the course (580-600 and 778-830) will be behind me soon.

Now it’s the second full day. Most of the night riding is behind me. I hope to finish before dark. I have at least 330-350 miles to go if all goes as planned. 18 miles from the end is a section called “The Waterfall.” No water involved. It’s a steep downhill with rock ledge drop offs of 2 and 3 feet. I hope it’s not dark when I get there.  

By now my back, hands, shoulders and knees are in extreme pain. I have blisters on the bottom of my feet. My butt is raw. I am playing every mental trick I have to keep going. My team is worried about me. I am going slower. I am still moving forward, watching the clock, doing mental calculations. I get reports on Tanner’s location when I see my truck. I pretend he has a magnet on the back of his bike, pulling me forward.

This is the plan (except for the pain part – that’s not planned, just an unavoidable reality). The last 300 miles I should average about 30 mph – so you can do the math as to when I may finish. I don’t know what time I will start, but I probably have to finish by 11:00pm to be the oldest finisher in Ironman history (53) and for us to be the only father and son Ironman finishers ever, let alone in the same year!

Send me some good energy. I will fight.

Public Declaration

When we want to accomplish a goal, declaring it publicly is one way to keep ourselves on track. If we quit, we know others will know that we said one thing, and we didn’t do it. So we stay with it.

Today, I am riding in the desert. I may be somewhere around Valle Trinidad or Bahia Los Angeles on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. All my life I’ve seen a map of North America and Mexico, and being from the east coast I never thought much about that little stick of land on the Pacific side of Mexico. It is beautiful varied desert landscapes with picturesque oceanscapes along the west, and the Sea of Cortez to the east.

I’ll be riding alongside the Sea of Cortez and then race over to the Pacific side and see the ocean there – back and forth several times.  

I have to trust myself. I’m an expert rider – that’s not an issue. I have to read the terrain and judge carefully how fast I can go at any one stretch. There are surprise washouts, switchbacks straight up on one side and straight down on the other, rocks of all sizes strewn everywhere. I can handle all this with a sharp mind. 

I must watch out wherever there are people along the race course – and over the 1134 miles there will be 400,000 of them. This race is a big deal down there. But where they congregate in the middle of nowhere spells trouble. They are watching the tough spots and waiting with their cameras. Sometimes the tough spots are man-made booby traps – a dirt jump followed by a pit or rocks usually. I have to pay attention carefully.

I must ensure not to get hurt. Sometimes just sticking a foot out to save yourself can twist a knee or foot, as happened to Tanner when we pre-ran the course two weeks ago. At mile ten, he injured his foot and could not walk that night and had to ride in the truck for four days as I finished riding the course.

I have to feed my energy out slowly. Adrenaline is not your friend when you have to ride 40+ hours. I must relax on the bike, and twist that throttle while not winding myself up any more than required.

I must not get dehydrated, and I must not run out of water (with electrolytes). I must eat correctly. Relying on energy drinks and gels for 46 hours is a mistake.

I must talk positively to myself – even if I have to lie. I must face reality at the same time, not taking wild chances. I must watch the average speed and the clock. I must not miss a single gas pit stop – a small trailer set up every 50 miles or so, often in the middle of nowhere. If I do, I’m out.  

I must not break the bike. At times I will approach 100 miles per hour. I must be vigilant. Other times I will be working hard in a tight winding river wash filled with rocks to make 18 miles per hour. If I drop the bike in the rocks, it may poke a hole in the engine case. If I drop it in the silt, it will vacuum it in and blow up the engine. The bike and I are inseparable partners. We are one.

I must not get lost. 1134 miles is a long way. I must watch my tiny GPS screen as there are thousands of wrong turns to potentially make. Taking your eyes off the course to look at the GPS can be dangerous. The timing of my looks will be important.

I must see Tanner to the finish. There is absolutely nothing more I can do for him, other than be his wingman and see him at the finish.

And I must finish.