It's currently 5:13am here in Colorado on a beautiful Sunday morning and I probably should be getting caught up on sleep after an intense week of work, life, and training. But my mind won't let me.
I'm thinking about you.
I'm thinking about all of us.
It's next to impossible to just lie in bed, because I'm starting to feel my purpose in life revealing itself.
That purpose? To help people that are stuck.
That's you, that's me, that's all of us. We often find ourselves in a place where we read "that one thing" that knocks us off-kilter in the best possible ways and causes us to look at life a little differently as a result. Forget how you've always done things. Patterns in life are efficient ways for survival, not growth — screw inertia.
So, you're going to see a lot more content from me. More writing. More video. More interviews with people I admire and respect. And if the people demand it, interpretive dance with my Goldendoodle.
There is no shortage of "influencers" or "thought-leaders" on the internet, so what makes me so damned special?
Trust me, I wrestle with that very question every single day.
But, the responses I've gotten from my writing over the last few months and years have made it incredibly apparent that the world is hungry for raw, unfiltered, authentic content to help us grow in our careers, our pursuits, and the lives we know we can have. It's time for me to go all in on that. It's time to believe in myself, in you, in all of us.
Contrast Therapy
I truly believe we all have a unique thumbprint to leave on this world, and it's made up of the trillions of variables and experiences possible in our lives. My perspective on life comes from a myriad of adventures, successes, and, most importantly, contrasting failures.
You may have heard of Contrast Therapy, defined as "a series of repeated immersions in water, alternating between warm and cold temperatures that lessens muscle fatigue to decrease pain, swelling, and lactic acid build up following intense exercise."
It's the contrast that helps us turn a painful experience into a state of readiness to take on the next challenge.
It's the contrasts in life that make us unique and give us our story, making us better with each successive iteration.
I now lead successful engineering and technology teams, became a Certified Ethical Hacker, and graduated from CTO Academy...
From: getting promoted beyond my own level of incompetence, burning out hardcore as a result, and swearing that I would only "work my way down" the corporate ladder.
I now compete in (and sometimes win) Crossfit competitions and complete grueling 24+ Hour GORUCK events...
From: a life plagued by obesity and issues with health anxiety / hypochondria.
I now complete massive creative endeavors like my Award-Winning Documentary...
From: a nasty habit of never completing anything and starting more projects than I ever finished.
I now lead men at things like The Crucible Project to find their true potential and be the men this world needs...
From: being weak, powerless, and miserable inside, unable to realize my full potential.
I'm now a damn-good coach and mentor. From 8th grade football to seasoned software developers, to rooms with thousands of people...
From: letting impostor syndrome overwhelm me with constant feelings of inadequacy.
I'm special. You're special. I intend to make you realize this, even if it's uncomfortable. Even if I piss you off.
Why is it so hard to ask for what we want?
Like a cheetah slowly stalking its prey and then unleashing an unimaginable burst of speed to achieve its goals, it's time for me to give the world both barrels of what I've got.
I'm going to be publishing content here weekly, and I'd love for you to join me on the journey by subscribing to get the latest updates.
To cast a vision for how I think I can help even more people a year from now, I'll be:
Continuing to grind down my own rough edges
Helping people individually with private coaching and mentoring
Regularly speaking and presenting at conferences
Publishing authentic, raw content daily
Working on a book that becomes a bestseller
Do you ever notice how difficult and uncomfortable it is to say your goals out loud? I certainly did, and so this post is my way of leaning into that discomfort, recognizing that I very well could fail.
The alternative is to never try to make these goals a reality.
The alternative is to never believe in people more than they believe in themselves.
The alternative is the factory defaults in life.
Fuck that. Let's go.
🙏 Thank You
Your support so far has been incredible and I can't wait to hear what you think about some of the truly amazing things I have planned. I can't believe how many things are falling into place behind the scenes right now.
If you're new here, I'd love you to check out some things I'm pretty proud of:
YOU ARE NOT THERE YET*.
I suck at lots of stuff. My mind contains a long list of things I don't know how to do. And just for fun, stuff I simply suck at. It's a quirky mental ledger of shortcomings written in the ink of gallons of impostor syndrome. Shooting from the hip, here are a few things that come to mind when I think of my deficiencies in countless areas of my life:
BALANCE IS BULLSHIT. BOUNDARIES ARE BEAUTIFUL.
Balance: the Rainbow we all chase. "I just want to find something with a good work / life balance," she proclaimed while pondering her next career move. "That's great, babe, but it's bullshit and impossible," I said, once again adding style points to my husband of the year candidacy.
MOST HEROES GET WOUNDED: THOUGHTS ON ALWAYS SAVING THE DAY AT WORK
I'm an addict. Yes, I'm addicted to the rush that comes every time I swoop in to save the day when there's some bug, outage, or issue. I'm addicted to the praise and admiration of those whose pain I've remedied. And, the more I think about it, and maybe closer to the truth, I'm addicted to some fleeting validation that I'm still needed and vital in my o…
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