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Here's a look back at the month of August. Overall it was a great month. Two triathlons, a trip to DC where I did a 1/2 Marathon, lots of training with friends, start of a new school year.
Daily Goals for August
Monthly Goals for July:
Yearly 252 Goals: 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week
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This is a post from Jon Acuff (writer and speaker) about leadership lessons from Chick-Fil-A, specifically Dan Cathy. I trust it can be an encouragement and challenge to us all to lead in a way that prioritizes people. 3 things I learned from spending 10 seconds with a billionaire Fourteen years ago, I used to hang out with Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A a lot. I know what you’re thinking, “Of course you did, Jon, couple of billionaire ballers like you? You had a ton in common!” That’s fair. At the time, he was the CEO of one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the country and I was funny. OK, I was a little more than that, I was also a hungry writer, willing to jump at any project that I could. So when a friend connected me with Dan and asked me to help him write a few leadership ideas, I was all in. I knew it was a special opportunity at the time, but looking back on it, I didn’t fully grasp what a learning experience that 18 months together was for me. I would say it’s hard to pinpoint my favorite thing he taught me, but it’s not. It’s very easy. We had a 10-second interaction I still think about to this day. Here’s how it happened. Dan and I were meeting at the Georgia Dome the day before the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. He was scheduled to meet with key personnel and I was there to workshop leadership ideas with him. We were down on the field when his cellphone rang. “Excuse me for a second Jon, I need to take this call.” He left for a few minutes and then walked back. “Sorry about that,” he said, “That was a sophomore from the high school Sunday School class I teach. He wanted to see if he could get some tickets to the game tomorrow.” That 10-second interaction was an instant masterclass in leadership. Here’s what I learned. 1. If you’re too successful to serve others, you’re not really successful. Dan is a billionaire and he was still finding time to teach a high school Sunday School class. I know some thousandaires that are too busy for people. “Once you hit that sweet thousandaire level, that mid-level Kia level, you don’t have time for the little people!” But Dan did. He hadn’t “arrived” in the sense that he no longer had time for people. He still put a priority on serving others. I saw this behavior countless times. The first thing he would do when we’d visit a Chick-fil-A together was empty the trash. The billionaire CEO was not too busy to take out the garbage. 2. It’s good to be available for interruptions. There’s a real temptation for successful people to crawl into cocoons of their own making. They get surrounded by layers of subordinates until they’re completely disconnected from the real world. Their assistant has an assistant who has an assistant. It’s almost as if the higher you climb the ladder, the further you get away from those messy, distracting things called – humans. This is dangerous because the more successful you get, the more people tell you want you want to hear. (Emperor’s New Clothing.) Dan was doing just the opposite. The kid in his Sunday School class had his cell phone number. Did that mean Dan occasionally got interrupted? It did, but the human connection was worth the interruption to Dan. 3. People are the point. The next time someone says to you, “I hate to bother you,” pause and think to yourself, “What have I done to make this person feel like a bother?” Sometimes, it’s my face. When I’m in the middle of a project and someone asks me a question, I can look up with a mean mug that seems to say, “I was in the middle of writing the Magna Carte, this better be very important!” I’m working on that, I promise. One of the signs that people trust you, that they want to follow you, that they feel safe with you, is how often they connect with you. Another way to say it is, “People who don’t feel important won’t bother you.” When I was writing this newsletter, my youngest daughter, who is out of school for a snow day, busted into my office. She wanted me to read an English paper she wrote in 2022 that she had recently found on her laptop. I’d love to say that I always get those moments right, but that wouldn’t be true. There’s plenty of situations in the past where I reacted with impatience. This time, because I was writing this exact principle, I made time for the moment even in a busy day. People aren’t a bother. People are the point. Last year, I was invited to speak at a Chick-fil-A event in Nashville. I got to tell this story from stage and Dan was in the audience. He might not have even remembered those 10 seconds, but I sure do. Here’s to leaders who pick up trash, teach Sunday School when no one expects them to, and make people the point. Jon  The Lake Lure Triathlon is one of my favorite triathlons. The course is nestled among the mountains of North Carolina which makes for some remarkable scenery along the way (and helps distract from the hills on the bike course). The volunteers are kind and giving. The finish line is on the beachfront of the lake. The post-race food is home-made sandwiches and cookies. There's a lot to love about Lake Lure, and I'm thankful to have done the race for a second year. My total time was 1:22:15 which was over a minute faster than my time of 1:23:52 in 2023. I'm thankful to see that progress! Here's the breakdown: 14:53 - 750 Meter Swim 0:59 - T1 43:15 - 14 Mile Bike 0:41 - T2 22:25 - 5K Run 1:22:15 1st place (out of 27) in my age group 10th (out of 272) overall The swim was faster and more fun than I remember from last year, which is really encouraging considering my swimming is usually my "worst" leg. The bike was quite hilly but incredibly scenic. The run was about 1.5 miles slightly uphill then a turnaround and 1.5 miles slightly downhill. I tried to leave it all out on the course especially the last 1.5 miles. The best part of the race was connecting with friends. My friends Mikey and Grace and Mark and Rachel were there doing the race and it was so good to see them! Overall, it was a great day!     Here are my goals for August. Let's go!
Daily Goals for August
Monthly Goals for August:
Yearly 252 Goals: 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week. Here's a look back at the month of July. A lot happened in July which made things interesting from a goals standpoint. Birthday, Anniversary, two triathlons, NCAA soccer officials fitness test, 206 mile bike-ride from Simpsonville to Beaufort, and an entire month of EDUcamp at BJU.
Daily Goals for July
Monthly Goals for July:
Yearly 252 Goals: 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week. It was cloudy and humid when I pulled up to the race site at Furman University around 6AM on Saturday, July 20. Thankfully, the rain wasn't too bad and race conditions were suitable for a great day overall. I did a four-mile ride and two-mile run to warm-up for the race and then made my way to the pool to begin. The 250-yard swim was fast and furious. With a swim that short it was full gas the entire way to get out of the water as quickly as possible and onto the bike. I managed to finish in 4:27. I was in and out of T1 in 54 seconds to start the 16.2 mile bike. The bike was a single loop course around the area with rolling hills. I finished the bike in 46:19 and then in and our of T2 in 37 seconds. The 5K run was mostly flat and I tried to leave it all out on the course. I finished the run in 19:19 to bring my final time to 1:11:35. Last year my time was 1:12:35 so I got faster by a minute which is very encouraging. I placed 1st out of nine in my age group and 13th out of 197 overall. My friend Ricky blazed through the course to win with a time of 59 minutes(!!!). And it was great to see my friend John Lehman do the race as well. Overall a great day at the Swamp Rabbit Triathlon and a huge thank you to the Set-Up Event Staff and all the volunteers.    What a great day at the Richard B. Russell Intermediate Triathlon! This was my second time doing this race. Great atmosphere. Great course. Great people. Here's the overview: Date - Saturday, July 13, 2024 Location - Richard B. Russell State Park, Georgia Distance - 1500 meter swim, 22 mile bike, 10 kilometer run l departed Greenville at 4AM to arrive at the race site at 5:30AM to register and get set-up. I like to get to races early to get a feel for the location and have plenty of time to warm-up. We gathered at the lake at 7AM for the national anthem and last-minute directions and had a staggered start for the 1500 meter lake swim. The swim was a two-loop course of 750 meters for each loop. I managed to finish the swim in 32:31 and get into the transition area. Transition 1 was 1:50 and then off on the 22 mile bike. It was an out-and-back course that including mostly rolling hills and just or two significant climbs. I stayed with a couple guys which was very helpful for pacing and managed to finish in 1:01:28. I was in and out of transition 2 in 0:45 which I was very happy with to begin the 10K run. The run was a two-loop course that started on a trail and transitioned to paved roads. Thankfully there was enough gas in the tank to keep the pace moving, so I finished the run in 43:27. My finishing time was 2:20:04 which placed me at 14th overall out of 93 and 2nd in my age group of of 9. I missed first in my age group by less than a minute but managed to be three minutes faster than my time last year, so overall I am thankful with the results. It was a fantastic (and hot) day on a beautiful course; and I look forward to being back next year Lord willing! Picture credit: nicole-eliason  "How are you?" "You looked like you were in pain?" "That was amazing!" "Way to go!" "Are you ok?" These types of questions and comments were plentiful this morning around 8:20AM. I was feeling awful...and awesome! I had the privilege of running with over 1,000 other runners in the Red, White, and Blue Shoes 5K on the campus of Furman University this morning - July 4, 2024. It was hot, humid, and humbling. My goal for the last several years has been to run a sub-19 5K. My 5k races over the last few years have included times of 20:00, 19:28, 20:30, 19:49, 20:40, 22:35, 19:28, 19:37, and (just three weeks ago) 19:08. So close. Yet so far away. I've been doing interval training with running buddies for several weeks to work on my speed at the 5K distance and felt pretty good for the race today, but not good enough to feel confident considering the course (some hills) and weather (hot and humid - this is July in South Carolina, after all). This morning I woke up at 3:19AM and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and read a while and then did a slow 16-mile bike ride to warm up my legs. I had experimented with this approach in training and had better results with speed running after a similar bike ride than just starting with running. After the ride I changed into running clothes and drove to Furman University. That's where the magic began. My friend and colleague Trenton ran cross-country in college for the BJU Bruins and offered to pace me to finish in under 19 minutes. I was very thankful for his offer. We walked most of the course before the race talking about the turns, elevation, and general strategy for the race. I had an GU energy gel 10 minutes before the race as some gatorade and then we took to the start line. The race began at 8AM. The first mile felt great and fast. We completed the first mile in 5:45. The second mile around the lake did not feel as great and was not as fast - but we kept the right pace. The lake was scenic and helpfully distracting from the pain, if only a little bit. The third mile was awful. I wanted to stop. I felt like I needed to throw-up. But Trenton kept me going through encouragement...and some helpful screaming to motivate me to keep pushing. I heard people screaming my name as I ran by (the same people that said after the race that I looked like I was in a lot of pain....because I was in a lot of pain). Trenton kept running and encouraging and pushing. "Just one minute left!" he said as we neared the finish line. As we ran into the stadium we could see the timing clock at the finish line. It was ticking ever closer to 19 minutes. Just a few seconds left. I dug deep, tried to keep up with Trenton, and we crossed the finish line at 18:54. After the race I basically fell down and poured water all over my head to try and cool off. It took me several minutes to get off the ground and start to smile. After a while several other friends finished and we took a group picture of us all smiling together. It felt awesome. I'm so thankful for all the encouragement and help, especially from Trenton. He's already offered to help pace me for my attempt at a sub-18 5K. I'm going to take him up on it. Now back to training!   Here are my stated goals for July. Let's go!
Daily Goals for July
Monthly Goals for July:
Yearly 252 Goals: 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week. It's hard to believe 2024 is half-way through. Six months down, six months to go. Here's quick recap on progress for goals from the month of June. Thankful for progress but still have so far to go.
Daily Goals for May
Monthly Goals for May:
Yearly 252 Goals: 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week. |
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