As I write this, I have just stepped foot on the ground in California. It’s really pretty cool considering that this time a week ago I was in upstate New York only about 100 miles from the Canadian border.
With a string of mantras like “Never Stop” and “Catch Me if You Can,” it is kind of fitting that in one week I have crisscrossed the country making stops back home in Alabama, spending a few days in Texas, Utah, and now am soaking up the California sun. There are still meetings to go and people to impress, but it does give me an extreme feeling of accomplishment to cover as much ground and touch as many clients as I have in such a short time. It is also more than a little bit of fun to be out of the office, away from day-to-day issues and problems that just seem to drag on and on.
The last 18 months have been very different for me and my career. As I have written about, there were times of solitude it seemed like when I couldn’t travel and was grounded and living in a shelter-in-place atmosphere like everyone else. Then, there were times of near depression when business seemed like it was in a bottomless free fall and nobody had any idea what was going to happen and how long it was going to last. Not going to make light of it, there were more than a few very dark days. This was followed by a steady climb to a recovery where getting back on top and feeling the thrill of growing and expanding in new areas and doing things differently than we have done before and yielding great benefit. Now is the reward of adding so many life-changing experiences in such a short 18 month time that it has given me so much more knowledge, courage, humility, and grit that I feel like a whole new person.
I now feel an overwhelming sense that there is more to do. This simply isn’t enough, and with the ability to move fast and cover a lot of ground, there will be so many more opportunities made available, and there is a more talented and capable team around me in place to handle it all. This isn’t just about work either. The people (and some lack of people) now in my life and that surround me just seem better. Everyone seems in a better place, is more interested in things that really matter, not just random BS that sometimes surrounds your group of friends and family. I guess you could call it a “Covid Culling” where people who did bring drama to daily life have simply removed themselves from day-to-day thoughts and activities.
This is also a time where I have made more focus on my physical abilities, not just what is happening mentally. Working out more has become a focus of each week, and not just working out more, but almost to the point of exhaustion. Reducing the amount that I drink has made me more active and generated more energy. I haven’t had a cup of coffee in over a year now, started to drink hot tea, but even have cut that almost completely out as of late. I began a daily regimen of vitamins, am now sleeping better, and have minimized the stress that is in my life.
All of these things combined are allowing me to move fast and cover more ground. The mental and physical combination brought on by the events of the last 18 months has reinvented who I am and what I am working to build. Not just build in my career, but in my life. I have always liked to move fast, but now find a whole new gear that nobody can keep up with.