DAY 3

AofM
FIND A MENTOR

Whether they know it or not, I have mentors all around me all the time and I keep my eye out for their positive influence.

Home/Fatherhood

I keep my eye out everywhere I go. I forgot how the saying goes but Zig Ziglar, a great author on salesmanship, believes that "If you get the man right, you get the salesman right." Translation: When you care for yourself, you care for your working-self... set things up so your success at home sets you up to be successful at work and vice versa. Anyway, his quote that I was eluding to went something like "When something is going right, take notes." Wherever you go, be a student. Take notes on what someone is doing right (and if you know the person, give them the praise they are due); when something isn't quite right, take notes on how you could do it better. I love everywhere (mostly to tell my wife that if our kids act that way, they're gunna get their @$$ beat... you know what I'm talking about).

I look to my friends who have children, I look to my friends who are someone's children, I look to my pastors on how they love a church and FOUR children, and of course I look to my parents. In a time and age where its the norm to move out of the city/state/country of your parents, I want my children to know their family. I never met my mom's parents in the Philippines. I never met my dad's mom (she passed away when my dad was young). I barely remember meeting his biological dad (who is just like him). We visit his step-dad every few years when we're in California. I want my children to know their parents and grandparents well, and I want my children that we all love them very much. I look forward to my parents (both sides) to mentor my wife and I, and my children as well. THIS is the most important mentorship to me - family.

Work

I read a lot of books on positive attitude and true salesmanship (not selling to sell and make a buck, but to offer someone a product/service that is valuable to THEM and makes THEM better). Zig Ziglar and Jeffrey Gitomer are two of my favorites so far. In terms of people I know, I've never asked them directly to be my mentors (and I should) but my mentors are my boss and my closest co-worker and great friend, Jeff.

My boss is very ambitious and sets the bar high when it comes to serving the customer. Imagine you called Comcast and got a live voice within 15-30 seconds. Our goal is to give the customer a live voice within 30 seconds no less than 90% of the time... and we're good at it! He also teaches us to ask questions to that the customer and I can really discover the heart of every issue. We give him a lot of crap for his new-age/hippie approach to life but his authenticity and enthusiasm is one in a million. Don't tell him that though.

Jeff and I go back-and-forth on mentoring each other (I got him into CrossFit, and my knowledge of CrossFit and nutrition helped me get land the job with his help). The kid is just a little older than me but has the work ethic that makes Puritans blush... that is when he works. haha! Great guy, knows his stuff, isn't pushy, and speak in terms of helping YOU out. The one thing that I wish I could imitate better is his ability to set goals and sprint after them early i.e. Reach out to 5 new contacts before noon. He doesn't mess around and is always keeping an eye out for people that he can offer some help to. He thinks about helping others so much that it can be a fault; when you put others first too much, you neglect yourself. just sayin', Jeff!

Church
If you can't tell already, my spirit is important to me. In fact, its the only thing I'll take with me when its all said and done. My wife and I have been going to a new church for us for a few months and it feels like home or like family. The pastors are great because they genuinely want to be a part of your lives (that is not to say that other pastors aren't). I dont know what it is about meeting up with another dude over some grub, but he invited me out to grab some Thai food with no agenda on his part - just meeting up and getting to know each other. They offer any advice and challenge us to be better people, because that is how God relates to them and they convey it so well to us. I'm very grateful for a small church of the warmest people you'll ever meet. I look forward to being mentored and offering any mentoring that could be of service.

Manliness

Last but not least, I have a couple of buddies who influence me to be a better man. My buddy, Cameron, used to intern with me at our old church in Oak Harbor. We designated a Sunday a month where we would wear our ties to church and look slick (compared to our usual jeans and t-shirt with fewest holes). I still go to his grandpa's house to see how many animal heads he has on the walls and how many guns are in his collection. I think I smoked my first cigar with Cameron. I look forward to picking up some hunting and fishing when he gets his @$$ back up to the NW!

My other buddy, Wayne, is a great guy to help me get out for some adventure. I used to climb everything, camp anywhere, fish for anything, you name it. It's a lost art when you get on your own, so I'm glad that I have someone like Wayne around (even if he bites off more than he can chew... I'll probably tell the story about our hike to summit the north Twin Sister!).

Gym

At the gym, all of our coaches are great springs of knowledge when it comes to giving your all in a workout and moving your self or your weights efficiently. I big reason I'm doing this blog is to keep them involved and to track the advice they have tossed my way. To them, its not about looking good, but how what we do in the gym impacts our lives outside of the gym. Are you hiking more? Are you more competitive? Are you looking for a top-notch quality in all you do? In my case, are you having a day that is pain-free? My favorite piece of mentorship from everyone at the gym has been "When are you going to recovered? Because we'd love to have you up and running again so you can do this WITH us." Camaraderie and teamwork for a common goal of bettering one's self. It makes the world go 'round.

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Sleep
9 glorious hours!

My work schedule has an alternating Wednesday and Friday off. So I have today off, then next Friday, the following Wednesday, and so on. It helps us to clear our heads and be ready for our customers. I really like it because I'll either have a mid-week break or a 3-day weekend. not bad.

WOD
No workout today. I thought I was going to help my parents move into their brand new house so I was going to treat it as an active rest day. We ended up just looking at the house and envisioning what would go where, what they would need to buy, and, my favorite part, where the grandchildren get to stay the night at. Needless to say, I'm going to squeeze in a quick workout tomorrow and 100% of my stretching.

MWOD
CALF-STRETCH - CHECK... I used a "2 by 4" about a foot long angled in a corner to change it up a little bit. SO much better!

Food/Supplement Log
BREAKFAST (late)
- 3 scrambled eggs
- Mango Peach salsa
- 16 oz coffee w/ HWC
- Cod liver oil, multi-vitamin

SNACK (I had a doctor appointment at 130... didn't eat until about 3pm)
- full bag of jerky. whoa.

LUNCH (minutes later)

- Caesar salad from Haggen. tossed out the cheese because I think it stinks. lemon, had the dressing but didn't use it.

- fish oil, Cal-Mag, ArthroGenx (rx'd - glucosamine/MSM/natural anti-inflammatories)

DINNER

At my parent house, and they cooked up some Digiorno pizza and bread sticks... one of my many favorites. but I resistant the grain/gluten with something slightly better - cold friend chicken they had for lunch or dinner before. hey! beggars can't be choosers. I had a good three pieces, limited myself on the crispy skin. so...

- 3 pieces of chicken

- 1/2 mango

- fistful of almonds

"DESSERT"

- fish oil, cal-mag... maybe a little meat or something to put it down. doesn't that sound like a delectable final course?

Notes on the day: Today was my day off, but I still had a lot of running around to do. On anyone's standards this is a monumental week of progress, but I know I can do better yet! New Year, new goals, new schedule and new baby... yeah I pull together quite nicely! Jenene and I plan on doing a 6-week birthing/breast feeding/caring for the newborn class soon. Man, have I got some stuff on my plate, but I'm up for the challenge. I'll be ragged, but I'm up for the challenge.