Find someone who makes it look easy

I have a new favorite picture from triathlon, here it is...

Now, there are many things going on here, and I will explain why this is my favorite...first, a little background:

 

In the year 2000, I was drastically overweight, had terrible nutrition habits, worked up to 14 hours every day, and had experienced something over the 5 years before (and yes, I tracked these things): I got sick on the first day of every vacation I took throughout my teaching career.

So, in May of 2000, when I weighed in at just over 170 pounds (I'm only 5' 4"), my friend Quanah asked if I'd ever thought about training for a triathlon, I figured he was just mocking me. Little did I know the course of my life would change with that one question.

If you look at the picture above, you'll see two bikes: One yellow, one titanium. And, notice no other bikes. This means that Quanah and I were the first ones on that line to finish the bike leg and start the run portion of the triathlon.

Why is this significant? What does it have to do with the title of this post?

Many of the people I work with are looking to make changes in their lives. They want to work less, get a promotion, take time off, find a new job, leave an old job...oh, the list goes on. They want to spend more time with their family - more QUALITY time -  they want to take a longer vacation, they want to get in shape, a couple over the past year have even worked with me who said, "I want to finish a triathlon!"

I grabbed on to my triathlon mentor early in my "career" as an athlete. Why? He made it look easy.

Whether we're training, driving to a race, racing, or driving back home. He always talks in "expectancy" language. (He won most of the races he entered in years past.)

I can say, when it comes time to performing: Whether it's as a presenter, a writer, a friend, a triathlete, a brother, a... you get the point... it's important to find someone who makes it look easy.

Not because it IS easy, mind you. That's something to be careful of. In fact, there are a lot of people over the past year who've reached out to our organization to find out if working together will get them the changes they're looking for. Sometimes it works, and sometimes we have to part ways.

Change is easy to want, but ya gotta wanna go through it. Again, my advice: Find someone who is living the change you're looking to make. Invite them to coffee. Take them on a walk. Ask them for advice. And share your goals and dreams and then LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN...