Good morning!  Pictured above is my wife passing me by on our jog that we went on yesterday. She told me to set the pace, but as we got closer to the end, she passed me up.  I will fill you in at the end of this blog.      

 

Thursday is a day when my wife goes to her office and so to help out, I prepare chili in the crock pot the night before.  Needless to say, I went to bed at 9:30 and didn’t get it done.  So at 4:30 this morning I was cooking chili.  Even though I got up so early, I felt rushed the entire morning.  Not a good way to start the day!  But it is my own fault; I didn’t stick with my new routine.  I should have prepared last night so I could enjoy the peace and the quite that I have become accustomed.  This reminds me of a conversation I had yesterday with a colleague.  He competes in triathlons.   For the record, I have the highest admiration for individuals that compete in any kind of endurance race.  The level of preparation and the mental strength needed to complete such a task is hard for me to comprehend.  This is a paraphrase of what he told me: “You start with a plan and then you do it every day.  When it comes time for the race, you are prepared.”   

 

Such a statement makes me look back on my success and failures.   I have noticed a common thread: preparation in the form of having the proper plan and then the discipline to following through with the plan equals a high rate of success for me.  When I have had no plan and no discipline to follow through with the plan, I have usually failed.  So for my goals I formulate a plan and then break it down to very small obtainable goals that I can accomplish every day.   

 

At the office I have the words “Great Today” on my wall.  At the top of my mind, I only want to think about the task or goal at hand, and then do it the very best that I possibly can.  Because the sum of being great today leads to an accomplishment of a goal that I once thought unreachable. 

 

Back to my wife.  Last year she wanted to run in her first competitive 5k.  Every morning, Monday through Friday, she would wake up at 5:30 and run.  She started out with a plan that would have her run for a short distance and then increased her distances every week, until she was running more than a 5k every day.  The day of the race, when it was time to perform, it was easier than her training for it.  The day of the race, she not only competed, but she came in first in her class.  And yes, she now kicks my tail when we go running.      

 

Make it a great day!

 

Andy