Train for Chaos

8:1 Ruckers to runners on a post-Mortimer Sunday at the Coconut Horse, with another 3 (Stroganoff, Defib, Short Sale) for QSource making for a strong showing on a day when I’m sure it’d been easier to just stay in the Fartsack.  FNG on Daylight Savings Sunday too made for a good time as we welcomed BetaMax to the group.

It’s Q’s Choice at the Coconut Horse QSource, so YHC stuck to an old favorite – Bricks & Guardrails.  No notes were taken, so here’s what I remember:

Our goal is to continue to accelerate, and at the same time, life throws us, and there’s inevitable wrenches in the plan.  We can’t spend all our time being careful though and just avoiding mistakes.  As we careen down life’s highway, it’s important to lay the bricks that make up our guardrails.

Bricks are positive habits that are advantageous to ourselves, others, or both.  Examples of bricks include:

• Posting
• Maintaining a healthy diet
• Journaling
• Prayer
• Reading
• 2nd F opportunities

There are times in life when stress rises and we’re tested.  At these times, will we be the men our beliefs tell us to be?  The strength comes from support, and will be based on the groundwork we laid prior.  As stress goes up, support needs to too.  We should resist the urge to retreat and try to handle it on our own.  It’s at these times that the Shieldlock is vital, and the relationships we’ve built give us a boost and keep us strong when we need it.  We also benefit from resisting the urge to be selfish and finding a way to give back, even during hard times.

How can we help be a support in someone else’s guardrails?  By knowing them well enough to hold them accountable to their standard.  From QSource: “Enforcement requires the intercession of another person to measure one’s actual performance or behavior against the standard he previously agreed to set for it…. Without Enforcement, a man’s Blind Spots will lead him to continually lower his own standards to meet his own declining performance until both meet at the bedrock of his life.”  And it’s important to get back on track as quickly as possible.  In F3, we have this agreed upon standard of just posting.  If you haven’t seen a guy out lately, at the very least, you can hold him to that standard.  Then the better you know him, the more accurate and impactful your enforcement can be.

Finally, if we find ourselves decelerating, what do we do?

• Reestablish fundamentals – In the course of accelerating, we take on a lot.  When we crest the peak and start down the other side, all those things that we juggled just fine before can get tough.  Make sure the basics are intact and build from there.  Keep an eye on your Concentrica.
• Show up – It’s simple.  Our actions can take over when our head’s not in it.  Show up anyways.
• Mistakes are inevitable.  Avoid the 2nd Mistake – If we mess something up – diet, Fartsacking, or anything else – it’s not a good thing, but it’s just a single mistake.  When we do it again, that’s the start of a bad habit.  Again, get back on track as quickly as possible.
• Train for Chaos – No excuses.  If your acceleration and principles only hold up in ideal circumstances, they’re not worth a whole lot.  As much as we don’t want to admit it, most of our growth comes from chaos.  Stay aware in the storm, learn from it, and be better prepared for the next one.

So grateful for the opportunity to lead and the opinions shared by the PAX at the Horse during QSource today.

Big volunteer opportunities on the horizon, with Rice & Beans (Anchorman) on Tuesday, Food Ruck (BOS) Saturday and Dream Center (JJ) workout coming up by the end of March.  Contact the PAX leading those efforts for more details.

Thanks again for being the HIM and examples that you are.

Yabba Dabba Doo