I read someone say the other day that it feels like we are all grounded. I would have much rather just taken the spanking and moved on! Anyway, I hope everyone is hanging in there.

This blog may feel a little different than the past few, I’m about to share some real coaching so I hope you will stay with me for the next few minutes and read it. I hope that all of you are holding up okay. It’s not easy, that’s for sure, but I hope that all our efforts of social distancing and physical space will help a few less people get this thing and help a lot less people die from it.

“Respect is earned, not given.”

I heard a man at the airport say to his colleague as we waited to board our flight. I did not take the time to listen to anymore of the conversation, I knew all I needed to know about their work environment. I had seen it too many times before.

About 8 years ago my wife and I decided to take our then 5 and 3-year old on a hike up the trail near Rattlesnake Lake in Washington State. The hike is a little over 5 miles with an elevation gain of nearly 1,500 feet.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been a challenge, but we did not fully anticipate the conditions of the trail. We arrived at the trail and found snow and ice on the ground. Not only that, the temperature was just barely above freezing. We didn’t have the appropriate footwear, outer clothing, snacks, water, etc. We had been hiking as a family nearly every week for almost a year, but most of our hikes were in the Seattle area with little to no elevation difference. To put it bluntly, we were not prepared for this hike.

Despite these conditions, the kids were troopers. There was little complaint out of them until we got a few hundred yards from the top. By conversing with other hikers, we knew we were close, but had no idea what exactly laid ahead of us. As we let the kids rest, my wife and I debated our options. We could turn around, but we knew that the “prize” was the view from the top. Either way, up or down, we knew we would have to carry the kids at least part of the way. We made the decision to persevere. We each took a child in our arms and climbed to the top of the mountain.

I remember when I first realized I needed to get my vision checked. I was about 28 years old and I was driving home on the interstate at night. I began to realize that I couldn’t read any of the words on the signs until I was right on them, sometimes too late to actually read them. I also noticed that every light that I saw actually appeared to be three lights in the shape of a triangle. I thought to myself, “this isn’t normal”. I did what any other rational person would do, and I put it off. It wasn’t until I started getting headaches that I finally pulled the trigger and saw an optometrist. It appears that even though I had 20/20 vision for my entire life up to that point, my eyes had decided to change, specifically the shape of my cornea had changed causing astigmatism in both eyes. The good news is that the condition is easily fixed with corrective lenses.

Where are you at in your journey? In your Life, your Business, with your Family and Friends? Are you Happy, truly Happy? Are you achieving everything you have set out to do? These may seem like redundant questions and the intro for a motivational speech, but they are serious questions to consider. I have spent a lot of time in my life asking myself these very questions.

I have found a knack for listening in the last several years. I enjoy it, and I feel that it allows me to make a positive impact in peoples lives. It is amazing to see someone’s attitude change through a conversation. I always try to help people see the positive side of things, because I know deep down that if we change our focus to the positive, we will unconsciously seek out and reinforce these positive thoughts. I know this, but I am also guilty of slipping into the same negative space that I try to help others stay out of. Why is this? What am I doing to put myself in these mindsets? I have found that the root cause of this problem is me. I am the problem, because I am trying to do it all myself. I found that the outlet that lets others gain their direction was missing in my own life. I needed someone to talk to and to let me rationalize my thoughts. This is not something that comes easily for me, but most things that are worth while do not come easy. So, I ask this question again, where are you in your journey?

I have a strong respect for heights…in other words, I’m afraid of heights. It isn’t so much the height itself as it is the potential to fall. So, when my wife asked me to go “rock-climbing” with her, I got a little apprehensive. Wanting to spend time with her and understanding the need to take care of my physical well-being, I reluctantly agreed.

We are often confronted with obstacles and barriers in our lives. Some of them are psychological such as fear, others are physical. Overcoming these obstacles may appear daunting, but they are certainly achievable!