It has been 293 days or roughly nine months. That is how long it has been since my last blog post. I enjoy writing these, have multiple topics in mind, and even gave myself a monthly goal of writing a new blog over the last nine months. So, why has it taken me so long to write a new blog?
I could give you a million excuses, but in the end, it all comes down to the fact that I did not commit myself to doing so. It is not just writing a blog that I have not fully committed myself to complete. I have also had a list of daily rituals I told myself I would add into my life…such as reading before bed, meditating each day, and stretching. Oh, how I hate stretching! And while I have been busy this year finishing the first draft of my novel and becoming a new father to a beautiful baby girl (all of which I am extremely proud of and thankful for), I still have this strong desire to improve myself, break my usual routine, and be more adventurous.
As I was sitting down to write this blog, I did not want just to write a blog to mark it off my mental "to-do list." Instead, the question that kept appearing in my mind was, "why do I do, what I do?"
Each day I wake up, I have the decision to do whatever I would like. I could hit the snooze or even turn the alarm completely off and just sleep. Heck, living in beautiful Hawaii, I have the luxury to strap my surfboard to the roof rack and catch waves all day. The options are unlimited. However, Monday through Friday, I am up, working from my home office by 6:15 am followed by back to back training until 6 pm. Saturday and Sunday I am up by 7 am and training at the park at 9 am. Some might say "that is a lot of work." However, to me "work" is not the word that I would choose to use.
Early out of college, if someone asked me why I wake up in the morning, I would have answered, "I do it for the money." At the time, my sidekick would tell me, ‘if you do not wake up early during the week and go into the office, you will lose your job and won't be able to get what you want." In my mid-twenties, I would have answered, "I do it for the money, but more importantly for my career growth." If you were to ask me today, in my early thirties, my answer would be different once again. Today, I would answer, "I do what I do each day because it is challenging, fulfilling, valued and connects me to others." Over the last ten years, I have learned what's important to me during this lifetime and the legacy I want to leave behind. Family, friends, love, joy, happiness, and living a life full of purpose are just a few of those.
And so as you can see from my first two answers, my sidekick was very focused on money and career growth early on. Two things many people focus on, on a daily basis. Before I had started to coach my sidekick, I had not yet identified my purpose and motivation for waking up each day with energy. When you are so focused on the materialization of something as "your success," it is hard to stay motivated and feel like you get something out of each day. You cannot feel money. You cannot feel career growth. Sure a bonus here or a promotion there feels great at the moment, but you do not get bonuses everyday. However, what if you could feel like you were getting a bonus everyday? What if you could feel motivated to do even the most stressful of tasks? That is what I have come to realize through identifying my purpose. Through purpose I found passion. Passion for getting up each morning and completing the small, maybe irritating, and stressful tasks. The tasks that once felt mundane now have become important. Because now the little things lead to the big things. Each task now brings me closer to my future goal. The goal of creating, a purpose driven life that brings health and happiness to those around me.
So while I still have many more adventures to come coaching my sidekick, I can at least lead him knowing that I know my why.
