Friday, April 15, 2011

Even thinking

I found out yesterday that a contract I had been working on was denied (for now!). When I heard the news my heart fell in to my stomach. I got real hot...and I let myself fall into a bad mood. I went to bed thinking...and then woke up thinking...and as I worked out the next morning in the pitch black, I continued to think... and then I realized..."well who the hell did they go with?!". So I started researching...and I figured it out...and then I started laughing. They made a horrible decision. Now even though their decision was not yes today...I guarantee I will get it soon. Which brings me to a couple points that I discovered amidst this bumpy ride:

1. Try to stay relatively even keeled. Its OK to have emotion but don't find yourself on either end of the spectrum.
2. Information is power. If I had done my research in the beginning I could of used my competitor to my advantage...but I didn't. I was riding high because of who we are and did not prepare as much as I should have.
3. Combine the first two and then react...if you are informed and even keeled...you are going to make great decisions 99% of the time. If you are not...you wont.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Dead lifting life

Preparing for life
Today I found out why this quote is true “if you fail to prepare you prepare to fail”. This is an extreme example but I am an extreme guy …I played pro lacrosse for 3 years and had a certain training regiment that consisted of 6 days a week of working out with a relatively strict diet to build lean explosive muscle. After I stopped playing I continued working out and eating the same exact way. Everyone always asks “what the hell are you training for?” and I respond “LIFE!”. Today, that answer came true! I had an early breakfast meeting which in turn had my morning routine running a couple hours behind schedule. As I rolled up to my favorite coffee shop (Caffe Pronto) I noticed a pimped out minivan with a handicapped sticker... I thought to myself “what a nice whip…I would have the same one if I was handicapped” but didn't give it any more thought after that. As I got out of my car, I saw a woman sitting in the doorway to the coffee shop smiling and laughing. I was thinking to myself “what the fuck is going on”…as I walked closer I saw her wheel chair sitting in the door way and a spilled latte on the ground. Three men were standing around her watching her try to crabwalk back to her wheel chair. She was telling them that she was so embarrassed about the wheelchair falling over but was still very light hearted about the situation. As I walked up and entered the circle of “3 little guys” watching her…I asked the woman if she was OK and if she “just wanted me to pick her up and put her in the wheelchair”. She looked a little distraught and then said she didn’t want me to exert too much energy by picking her up...my reply (of course) was that I could literally pick her up in one second. After choosing the proper lifting position that was most comfortable for her, I dead lifted her right up in her chair. As she flew into the chair, she gasped “you really can pick me up in one second”…after getting thank yous and slaps on the back…I jovially stated that all the hang cleans and dead lifts that I had been doing finally paid off, everyone laughed. But I thought to myself that the statement I had just made was true. If I didn’t work out the way that I did, I would of also been standing in the circle watching the woman try and “no leg crabwalk” into her wheel chair. Life is about being prepared. In every aspect of it. Not just work and not just your home…but EVERYTHING. I have always had the philosophy that I wanted to be prepared for anything that life throws at me, and today…I was prepared.