2016 In Review

What a year!

If you said last January I'd be cartwheeling and performing pull ups, I'd of looked at you crazy. Why would anyone even do that?

At the beginning of 2015, I couldn't scale 3 flights of stairs without stopping for breath. I couldn't perform 5 consecutive push ups without dropping to my knees. Sure, I was down to 250 but obesity wasn't the only thing 35 years of laziness caused. I was out of shape and fitness wasn't even on my radar.

Backstory

It started with 2015. I was juggling excuses like a circus clown. I was so fixated in trying to control everything, I payed no mind to the talents I possessed. What's more, I wasn't even in control.

My first step on the path toward success was becoming aware of where I was.

So like how a gamer builds a hero from a peasant in a RPG, I began auditing where I was so I could get to where I wanted to go. I was the level 1 unlikely hero.

Now in D&D, you audit abilities and rank skills to measure success in given activities. A moderate jump may have the difficulty check of 10. If you have 8 ranks in acrobatics, you might as well add a back flip into the mix since you still have the 20 sided dice called life to add to your total.

Reality

The thing is, my physical ability scores were low and my corresponding skills were dusty.

But how do I get from where I was to where I wanted to be?

I audited what I could control. What I did, when I did, daily. My choices.

Looking back, I wonder how I got anything done with such a schedule.

I remember, I didn't.

The Shift

Once I wrote my variables down, I began to see trends, habits.

They were what I had control over. In identifying my habits, I found I could manipulate them. I found I could change my choices. When my habits started to change, so did my life.

Seeing it work, I used the same principles on mindfulness, fitness, and weight loss. I would write down where I was at, then start testing the variables. The improvement I encountered this past year was remarkable! No longer was I hoping to find a perfect skeleton key answer to solve all my problems.

I was no longer seeking the magic pill of success.

Now, I was making small changes to small things weekly and reaping results!

Mountains Moved

The kicker is, nothing I did was hard. Sure, it was uncomfortable, sometimes it felt painful, but not hard! There were some scary dragons but none more powerful than what I could handle. Some I thought would take me had me fearing all hope lost. But as the pain passed, I rose from the mental ashes stronger, more able to meet new challenges.

Things that tripped me up, I learned how to expect them. I discovered how to expect their arrival. These horrific events no longer terrified me. I could push through them. I am more and more emboldened with each trial I persevere.

Yeah, God does moves mountains, but he moves them through you.

More Work

Don't get me wrong. I got a lot of things wrong this year. I realized how jacked up I am. There's a lot of times I was a complete jerk to others. I'm still working on that.

But I no longer see it as a self condemnation. I no longer see myself as a failure for failing. I see it as an opportunity for growth. I see it as a lesson to learn.

And that's what I'll continue to do in 2017. I will push my abilities to grow my abilities. I will not bury and hide my talents but will grow and invest them.

Goals for 2017

• Focus on Empathy and Building Relationships
• 100 Blog Posts
• 10 Lives Changed
• 1 Public Speaking Event