Book 1: The Power of WHO!

The Power of WHO! by Bob Beaudine

I had the opportunity to hear Bob speak at a luncheon hosted by Leadership Tyler in August of this year. He talked about a way to be a steward of your relationships that was really a paradigm shift for me. I realized that many of my relationships tend to center around common interests such as work, church, or hobbies. The thing that challenged me about what Bob had to say was that I should be approaching my relationships with the question, "how can I serve you?" rather than "what do we enjoy doing together?"

Although the book's underlying premise is "You already know everyone you need to know to get anything you need in life" what I walked away with is not using your friends to get what you want. It's more about helping your friends get what they want and from the overflow of that, they will help you in return.

Bob talks about 'Your WHO world' in terms of a few different levels. The Inner Circle follows Jesus' discipleship of 12-3-1. That's 12 that you are really close with, 3 that you have a special relationship with, and 1 that is your best friend. Outside of your inner circle will be the rest of your WHO. Bob defines WHO as:

... a “community of friends” that’s been built over many years with love and unconditional giving. These are friends who genuinely care about you and share your core values. This particular network of friends, if asked, will actually come to your aid. They want you to succeed. They want you to achieve your goals.

While we all have goals in life, Bob explains that WHO comes before WHAT. Relationships are really what life is all about. Jesus said, "Love God... and love your neighbor". While these WHO relationships will be the catalyst, it's important to know what you want because "you can never get what you cannot see."

Using a principle that Bob refers to 100/40. First you identify 100 'Who' in your life that meet the description above, then identify the 40 'What' in your life you've always wanted. Pursue your WHO and find out what their WHAT is, and help them get there!

The last thing I really walked away with was the idea of having a personal board of directors. These are people who know and love you and will speak wisdom into your life when you need direction or help considering a decision. The reason Beaudine recommends a Personal Board of Directors is:

There are many more paths that lead to failure than there are that lead to success. I’ve come to believe one of the very best strategies you can implement to achieve maximum protection is to create your own “Personal Board of Directors.

I would highly recommend The Power of WHO! to anyone.

I Might Be Crazy, Part 2

So on top of all that reading I mentioned in my last post, I also have some pretty ambitious physical goals.

I posted about my goal to qualify for the Ironman World Championships a while back and I've been working toward that end. In fact, I am going to Panama City, FL next week to register for the 2011 race. I tried to register for the 2010 race last year online but the race was sold out within an hour of registration opening online. So I did some homework and here is what I found. Participants in the current year's race can register on race day. Registration opens to others on-site Sunday morning, and online registration opens at noon. So I'll be there the morning after the race, credit card in hand (I would pay with cash, but plastic is all they'll take).

A good friend of mine, Matt Hamilton, got into triathlons a while back and has caught the bug. He is registered for Ironman Texas in May 2011 so he's been a good training buddy. Until...

The best I can guess is that I'm overweight and much older than I used to be. Two months ago, I had a few nagging injuries that just kept getting worse, so right now I'm in the middle of a six week running break. I can still swim without any problems (if I'll just go to the pool), but I've been hesitant to get on the bike because I don't want to aggravate a back injury I've been nursing. All that to say, I am still working toward qualifying for Kona, it just probably won't happen at the 2011 race.

So where am I going to get the time to train 5-10 hrs a week early on and upwards of 15-20 later, plus reading 10-15 hrs a week? That's a great question! I'll let you know! Right now, it's getting up early, not watching as much TV, and disciplining myself to get my work done at the job in a set amount of hours. I'm realizing that I have extra time that could come from all the time I spend on Facebook and Twitter, but I'll save that for later :)

Nike+ Challenge

Last month I started this Nike+ challenge with Deyl and DJ, and had this little widget on my blog about the progress. DJ uses Spam Arrest, and he never gets his email :p so he never confirmed the invite. that being said, Deyl kicked my butt...albeit by a technicality. I suppose there are runs that he may not have loaded, but I forgot to load the 15 miles I ran while I was staying at Deyl's house. (i know what they say about excuses...everyone has one and all of them stink)

So congrats Deyl...Texas I'm sorry.

A Weekend to Remember!

This past weekend I got together with a special group of people in my life, ReTeam T7 1999-2000. That year at Sky Ranch was a life changing year for me. I learned so much from Wendel and the guys and girls on that team. I learned that it's okay to mess up, as long as you learn. I learned that my past doesn't determine my future, my present does.

It was such an amazing weekend. Most everyone from T7 was there, but we were missing a few: Patrick Dove, Jason Shipley, and Lance & Tiffany Ferguson (they just had a little baby girl the Friday night before).

I've been to more reunions this year than any other in my life...probably b/c I'm getting old :p But I've decided that as often as I have the opportunity, I'll keep going to them.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Thanks for stopping by! Add a link to your favorites and check in every now and then. I try to post regularly with what is going on with me and my wife.

Leave me comments and let me know what you're up to. Thanks again for stopping by.

BTW - if you have a blog give me the address so I can keep up with you too!

P.S. I found this hit counter that gives you a map of the location of your visitors. Here is the map of the folks that have stopped by since last night. (pic updated Oct 31)

California Dreamin'

We made it safely to California on Wednesday. We spent the day today with family and tomorrow we're off to Santa Barbara for the Westmont reunion. We are staying with two of my favorite Californians, Deyl and Paige Kearin. After the reunion, it's a surprise Sunday evening (blog post to come). We're happy to be here safely and we'll keep the updates comin'.

The advantages of accuracy

so I purchased this Nike+ system back in in June after I read a couple of posts by Deyl and DJ about their Nike+ experiences. It was this same experience that got me blogging more regularly, so thanks guys!

Well, I've been running with Nike+ for a few months and have just been depressed at my performance. I was a runner in high school and college so running 9 and 10 minute miles was just a downer. then I thought, "hey you should probably calibrate this thing." what a difference. The distance was off about 10% so I was running farther and faster than it was reporting. Since then I put in 7:37 mile and a 24:45 5k. nothing stunning...my glory days pr's for those distances are 4:45 mile and 17:31 5K. still nothing to write home about, but when I thought I was having trouble running fast than a 9 minute mile I wanted to cry.

Anyway, that's all better now and I've been so encouraged with my last two runs now that everythings accurate.