My Five Year Posting Anniversary

I wrote my first article Thanksgiving week, 2014.  Over these five years I’ve written between 140-165 articles.  My first year writing I posted on WordPress and I don’t know how many I wrote that year; therefore my count is bit vague.  I switched to Mailchimp in 2015 and have produced 139 articles over a four year span.  So, I’ve averaged somewhere between 28-33 articles a year.  If I were to guess the average length of each piece was between 800-900 words.  That means I’ve written and shared roughly 131,750 words! 
 
In celebration of the 5-Year Anniversary I wanted to share the random things I’ve learned: 

• There are critics and performers in life- I want to perform and not criticize.
• Taking risks is dangerous.
• Playing it safe and small is deadly.
• Your kids are more likely to become what you do, not what you say- model well.
• Drive fast, take chances- you only live once. 
• Your “voice” is the most important thing as a writer. 
• The quicker you realize that internal success trumps external success the better.
• Take care of your spouse first, your kids second.    
• Minivans get a bad rap; if you have more than two kids buy one.
• Make your present job the big time. 
• Being able to self-reflect and evaluate is incredibly hard for most people.
• Those who can self-reflect and evaluate possess a tremendous competitive advantage over those who can’t.
• Sharing my thoughts has increased my accountability. 
• Authenticity and vulnerability are attractive personality traits. 
• Being physically present with family isn’t as important as society makes it out to be.
• Being mentally present when you are with family is more important than society makes it out to be. 
• Competitive sports are one of the last “no spin zones”: stewards of the game must fight to uphold this. 
• A high performing team will beat a high performing individual.
• Being a part of a team requires sacrificing a little of your individuality.
• That sacrifice is totally worth it. 
• We tend to exaggerate our hardships and minimize others.   
• Culture is important but so is talent.
• Leadership is important but so is “followership.” 
• People want to help; have the courage to ask. 
• If you aren’t curious it’s impossible to grow.
• If you aren’t growing you are going to get run over.
• Data and technology are here to stay but it will never replace human connection.
• Haters are going to hate.
• If you are looking for quick fixes you’ll be searching for a long time. 
• Poor diet and lack of exercise manifest physically as you advance in age.
• The older generation always has, and still continues to be disappointed in the younger generation.  
• It’s time for the older generation to get over it.
• Always leave it better than you found it.   
• Detaching emotionally is important in successful decision making. 
• Detaching emotionally from decision making can make detaching emotionally from family and friends more likely.  Be careful. 
• Stop saying, “I’m old.” You are never old unless you want to be. 
• When hiring read the candidates thank you note to the secretary and not the boss.
• Defense wins championships. 
• However, offense gets your name in the paper. 
• Being busy is a choice. 
• Carving out time to think, reflect, and create is worth the investment. 
• You are not as important as you think…enjoy yourself. 
• Kids haven’t changed, but adults have.
• A funeral can be enjoyable- a life-well lived is inspiring. 
• Timing and luck do matter.
• The harder and smarter you work the odds of experiencing positive timing and luck increase.
• Racism still exists and I can’t for the life of me understand why. 
• If you are feeling down do something for someone else.
• When your playing career concludes it will be better to be known as an unreal teammate than an unreal talent.
• It won’t mean a thing if you didn’t earn it. 
• If you would want it for your kids you ought to do it for yourself. 
• There’s nothing like being a part of something bigger than yourself.

 
A sincere thank you for accompanying me on this journey.  The relationships and connections I’ve made or enhanced via this newsletter is incredibly full-filling.  Your patience and guidance is greatly appreciated. 
 
I’m just getting started, friends.  I look forward to growing and improving in the next five years.