Strength of a Decision

A few years ago my wife approached me regarding a 1/2 marathon race in which she was looking for support on her training. I could see in her face it was really getting the best of her. The race was along the shoreline of Huntington Beach and happened to be Erica's first race since she broke her leg a few years earlier snowboarding. Inquisitively I asked, "How can I support you?" Erica said "I don't know, maybe check in with me and make sure I'm training consistently." With no hesitation I said "absolutely, anything else you need?" She exclaimed in a low voice "I don't know?" In absence of thinking I exclaimed, "Do you need me to run this with you?" Now at this point in time, I'm not a runner by any stretch of the meaning and was literally running 1 mile a week only to warm up for weightlifting. My face turned red with concern, I bit my tongue and in my head said "Oh shhh what did I just do?" Erica's face lit up like I had grown 2 inches, looked like George Clooney and the sex appeal of Brad Pitt. In an enthusiastic voice Erica said "Oh my gosh that would be amazing! Sign up right now!" I realized at this point there was no going back on what I said because I could not let her down. I proceeded to go online and sign up. A wave of energy came over me and an epiphany. I thought to myself, "You will be in the best shape of your life and your wife will be so impressed you ran this race with her." It was clear I needed to schedule my training and prepare for the race. I asked Erica "When is the race?" "February 1st” she said. Again, the feeling of "Oh shhhh" came over me, it was January 7th, and I thought, "Was it even possible I could train in time?" In extreme calmness and confidence Erica said "You will do fantastic." My mind was made up; I sat down and wrote a nutrition plan, hydration and running regiment. I ran 1 mile that day, 2 miles the 2nd day, 3 miles by the end of the week. By the second week I was running 5 miles, waking up at 5 am to train and began to time myself to finish at her target time of 1 hour and 55 minutes. I was consistent, confident and sustaining a great regiment of running, diet and hydrating perfectly. In my mind I felt I was unstoppable, there was a tremendous amount of leverage and I knew without a doubt I would finish. February 1st rolled around and I finished the race in 1 hour and 56 minutes. It was exhilarating and led me into curiosity.

The word decision is derived from German origin and literally means to cut off all else. As I reflect on this event I realized I was fully committed to the result and had made a rock solid decision. I began to ponder questions. Why is it that I struggle to be consistent with the gym and yet follow through with such determination on something I typically would not have any interest? How often do I struggle to make a rock solid decision & why? Why do I often fall short with decisions I make? The next epiphany came clear to me. The art of a strong decision requires clarity, leverage and commitment to the standard necessary to reach the result. I often help people feel the psychology of a decision through pain or pleasure leverages. Would you follow through with your goal if I was to give you a million dollars to achieve it? Would you achieve the goal if your left arm and right leg would be taken from you if you failed on your goal? Making strong decisions for many can be messy, frustrating and seemingly just out of reach. It requires cutting off all other limiting options to be successful. When was the last time you made a strong decision? Did you succeed? How did it make you feel?

The Power of Proximity

As I reflect on the quality of my life experiences including people I consider friends, acquaintances, business associates, my wife etc. I begin to deeply value the Power of Proximity. If I go back 11 years ago, I can recall sailing my boat with a very close friend of mine Jeff and his very beautiful neighbor Erica. She not only caught my eye that day but also began to shift the paradigm of how I viewed my life. As I spoke to Erica I quickly noted there were unique traits about her and powerful set of guiding forces in her life. It perplexed me, intrigued me and impacted my thinking. As I fast forward 2 years later, I drastically shifted in my career to working at Anthony Robbins as a coaching consultant and Erica was my fiance. What I was not aware, is Erica through the power of proximity had an incredible peer community. She surrounded herself with people who inspired the best in her. I began to reach my goals in my life, no longer just had pie in the sky dreams but learned strategies to actually bring them to fruition. I tell this story because the power of proximity continues to inspire, create and evolve not just myself but those that carefully select their peer communities and use this power. I often attend conferences & events that challenge the status quo and what I note is the room is full of those that don't accept the status quo as well. I encourage those that truly want more in their life to read daily, set goals, choose carefully those you spend time with because there is truth that we begin to mold to the peers around us. This applies to every aspect of your life whether we are discussing goals, values or perceptions of the world. Who are those who are in close proximity to us in our life? What value do we bring them in their life? What value do they bring to us in our life?