Tenacity

So today was the Pub…..we’re gonna run, right? The backblast might be funny if ShortSale is writing it. It might be short if Stroganoff is writing it. You might need a thesaurus if you are getting Monkified….HOWEVER, Whoopee is the Q so who know’s what we will see, hopefully something about George Strait???

Today we ran-no surprise. But my BB is not about the run. It is about something I did later in the day-I went to a Rotary meeting and heard a speaker that got me re-focused and I have not stopped thinking about it all day so I wanted to share that instead of “we ran this morning.”

We heard Michael Smith speak today about his experience in the Navy-he is now retired. He was involved in cybersecurity with the Navy and served under several extremely successful leaders during his 20 year career. He worked with leaders such as General McChrystal and Admiral McRaven (famous for his “Make Your Bed” speech-look it up and watch it if you don’t know what I am referring to). He talked about these men he worked with and focused on specific things he learned from several of them. He started off his speech with the impact that something the Rotary Club did that gave him chills-we sang America the Beautiful and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  His speech was both motivating and humbling-it made me proud to be in F3-a group that recites the Pledge at each workout with a flag present (most of the time), and it also made me embarrassed about fartsacking when I did not make the most of that day by getting up and working out. And then he got me-he mentioned the Lone Survivor story-the event that cost several servicemen their lives, including Lt. Michael Murphy….the man behind THE MURPH. This is what got me-I have not been doing my pull-up routine and he was calling me out without even knowing it. I got home today, almost ran to my closet, and got my pull-ups in and immediately felt better.

I am writing this for a few reasons-to share how this affected me, to motivate those of you who are prone to slipping off THE PATH like I am, and to make sure someone (? anyone) makes me accountable-we all need this. Make each other accountable-whether it is running, rucking, eating right, spending time with your family, even something as seemingly insignificant as using poor form on Merkins…whatever-we all need to be pushed to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. We don’t need pats on the back. We don’t need ‘attaboys. We get enough of that from other people every day. We need our brothers to push us, make us tougher, make us healthier, make us BETTER, and sharpen us (#ISI). Call us out (myself included) when we start getting that Sandy V-I know I get it more often than I want to admit.

Here are the words that Michael Smith talked about today. All of them have significance, some more than others to each of us. Tenacity is the one that got to me today-I think it is because I think I have been lacking in this as of late. That will change-starting today.

Think about this and get your butt out with your brothers as often as you can.

Diversity         Credibility                Competitive          Execution          Accountability

Inclusion          Vision                         People First            Tenacity            Humility