The gym bro is always right. It’s fun to make fun of the gym bro. They can’t math. They spend too much time on creatine. And they love the gym selfie after a good pump. But like it or not - the gym bro is always right. This is the tao of the gym bro. Tao is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom You may not like it but this is how the world ...
If you’re lacking vision, try asking this question…
If you’re lacking vision, try asking this question... I was talking with a friend about a pretty big business decision several months back. There were several directions they could go and while we were talking, I asked a question in the flow of the conversation: What’s the right way to do this? The answer was super clear to both of us. Of course there were obstacles and issues (some pretty substantial), but they seemed pretty trivial in ...
Creative Debt
On Clearing Creative Debt In computer programming - the term “technical debt” is used quite a bit. The idea is that over time as you build something, you slowly accumulate technical debt. The idea is that you start by building something. Then you add something else on top of of it. Then you build something else on top of that. Over time, if your’e not particular about paying down your technical debt, you end up with a little bit of a ...
Type 2 Fun
I’m not much for video games, but I think I still have quite a bit of “fun” - it’s just a different type of fun. It’s called type 2 fun. You might be familiar - you might not. Here’s what I mean. Type 1 vs Type 2 Fun In the endurance and outdoor world, people often use the phrase “type II” fun to distinguish between “fun” and “fun.” Type I Fun Type I fun is what you think of with fun. Easygoing, laughs, relatively care-free “fun.” Some of ...
Sunday Sermon 1/52: Life is Short
“Stop saying, I’d like to be this. I’d like to be that. Grab your f—king nuts and be it” I didn’t do an annual review this year. I had plans for one, but it seemed life had other plans for me this last month (more on that in a future newsletter). One thing that’s gotten really clear - life is short. So short. This year especially - it seems like things go by fast. 2020 was both months and 4 years ago somehow. Wow. Sometimes the ...
I asked ChatGPT to help me come up with some ideas for my Impossible List for next year. Here’s what it came up with:
I asked ChatGPT to come up with some new ideas for my impossible list next year. If you're not familiar, ChatGPT is a new project by OpenAI designed to make AI content accesible in a chat format. I decided to ask it to help me come up with some new idea for my impossible list. I'm going to admit: "join a protest in a foreign country" caught me off guard. I decided to ask them for more "very, very extreme sports" to try out. Now with ...
48 Hours of Nothing
I went to a Getaway House for the first time in a few years a few weeks ago to do a quarterly retreat. I’ve been meaning to do a quarterly retreat and planning process but I seem to find a way to get out of it. Working hard is easy enough for me, but taking a step back to plan out the lay of the land has always been a struggle. Going during the week drops the Getaway pricing from like $400-$500 on their peak weekends (crazy talk) to roughly ...
Vulnerability is Overrated
Vulnerability is overrated. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Fun story - I actually sat down next to Brene Brown in a Portland classroom “greenroom” while we were both getting ready to do breakout talks at one of the first WDS events 10+ years ago. Great lady, and then next year she went on to give her TED talk on vulnerability that’s got some 17M views and counting. Great job Brene! Maybe at the time, vulnerability needed some PR, but it’s gone way ...
12 Things I’ve Learned From Running IMPOSSIBLE ® For 12 Years
I was meaning to write this last month, but life came up. Some point over the past 6 weeks, Impossible turned 12. Wow! A lot has happened, from running my first triathlon, to an ultra marathon on every continent, to getting sued (twice), starting multiple businesses, getting in the best shape of my life, and knocking a ton of stuff off my impossible list. My life changed dramatically when I spun up some bluehost servers to start my blog (while ...
How I Got In The Best Shape of My Life at 35
“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” - Socrates Right around the beginning of the year, I looked in the mirror. I was working out 5 days / week, getting my butt kicked and when I looked in the mirror, I thought “meh.” I wasn’t fat, wasn’t jacked, but definitely didn’t think I looked like I worked out as hard ...
