Go Farther

The hardest part about taking action is taking action.

I often say “I’d like to…” or “I should…” or “I want to…” and in most cases there’s a divergence between what I say and what I do. I’m not referring to outcomes at work or at home, or even most endurance race events that I decide I’m going to do.

This is more of the pie in the sky, dreamy kind of stuff. The childhood fantasies or experiences I’d like to pursue as an adult with the financial ability to pursue such things.

Warren Buffet recommended a “Two List System” in which a person creates a list the top 25 things one wants to do or accomplish in the next 5 or 10 years (or longer) and then choose the top five.

James Altucher wrote about this approach more recently, and often talks about “The Power of No” – staying focused on your most important outcomes.

Once the decision is made where to focus, then it’s a matter of taking action with the right steps in the direction of whatever the chosen outcome, and that’s where I think most of us hit a roadblock. At least I do. I get so focused on the enormity of a big outcome that I paralyze myself from even beginning or exploring the process.

Jack Canfield uses his “rule of 5” – choose five action steps each day that will bring you closer to your desired outcome.

A strategy I recommend for clients whenever they tackling a project is to simply list the first three steps they can take right away. These first steps should be SUPER easy and designed to just get started.

I thought it’d be fun to list ten of my “things” – ten outcomes or experiences that I say that I want to pursue, then list out what would be my first three actions steps towards accomplishing them – eat my own dog food here.

The first three steps should so easy that just by identifying and stating them, I will feel compelled to take action right away, and because the first steps are easy, I should see progress quickly, feel momentum building, experience success and then want to do more.

I do well when I’m in a flow in pursuit of a started outcome. It almost feels inevitable that I’ll accomplish it. The key is putting myself into that flow with quick wins and early successes. And if I’m not willing to do even these first few steps, then maybe I really don’t want to do that “thing.” It’s a good test either way.

Here goes…

1 – Trombone Lessons.  From 4th to 11th grade, I played the baritone horn (a.k.a. “euphonium”) and got pretty good at it. In 8th grade, I was first chair of a ten-school conference band and second chair of the South Jersey Junior High Band. In high school, I performed in both jazz band and concert band as an extra-curricular activity.  In 5th and 6th grade, I picked up the trombone as a second instrument to play in the concert orchestra, but never really played again after that.

Last year at the Davis Farmer’s Market, a small group of young musicians played a compilation of jazz, show tunes and marching band music. I was drawn to the trombone player. I love the loud, controlled splats. The smears and slurs reminded me of The Muppet Show, and I like the elegance of the trombone’s dark, smoky tones in a performance setting.

So why not take a few lessons on the trombone to see if I enjoy it? Besides, practicing an artistic hobby is only going to help my efforts to win a Nobel Prize…

Last week, I walked into Watermelon Music and asked about rentals and lessons. The guy there told me they had plenty of rentals and that the instructor’s contact info is on their website.

First three steps:

1. Send an email to the music teacher on the Watermelon Music website (DONE!)
2. Register for one month of lessons
3. Rent a trombone from Watermelon

2 – Standup Comedy. Brian Koppelman (he co-wrote the movie “Rounders,” is the co-writing of “Billions” among other huge accomplishments…) and Sara Blakely (founder of SPANX) each took a year or more of their lives to practice this trade.

I’ve read Judy Carter’s book – “The Comedy Bible.” A couple years ago, I started a file in Evernote where I keep ideas for a comedy routine but I’ve updated it less and less recently. I took an improv class in Sacramento.

I think I could be good at it. I’m generally good at quips here and there (or so I think…), though my “humor” gets a little dark and unfunny at times, and I wouldn’t want to go in the direction on stage. I’d want to keep it clean. I’ve watched Sinbad’s “Sinbad Where U Been” many times. It’s one of my favorite routines. Bo Burnham is wildly entertaining to me because of the effort he puts into his shows and how he extracts three and four layers of comedy from every thread.

Nothing is stopping me, or anyone, from trying an “open mike” night other than personal inhibitions and the fear of failure. I can handle both.

First three steps:

1. Research open mike nights in Sacramento.
2. Sign up for improv class.
3. Print my comedy notes from Evernote and cut into small segments to begin assembling into a routine.

3 – Fly airplanes. Back in 2011-2012, I took private pilot lessons along with Lena, accumulating more than 70 hours of flight time including a few solo flights. I was getting close to my VFR license. Probably another 2-3 months and I would have gotten there.

When Benjamin was born, three things happened: 1) time dissipated as happens with a newborn at home, 2) it was way more important to Lena to finish than me – it all started with her dream, so we focused on her getting in the hours to her license, and 3) I decided that I wanted to go for Ironman #3, which on top of the training, happened to be in Australia, so there were all of the logistics and planning with Benjamin just a nudge past his first birthday on race day in March 2013.

I’ve thought I’d like to go back to finish my license. We could fly longer longer cross-country flights together and I could do occasional work flights to Palo Alto or even down to Los Angeles for workshops. It’s a bit of a fantasy to do those things and would require a big time investment to not only earn my VFR, but to accumulate the hours and experience to feel comfortable flying solo through busy airspace and longer cross-country flights.

Oh by the way, I don’t have the patience that it requires to be an excellent pilot. There’s the constant probability of a plane failing it’s preflight inspection, grounding a flight and throwing a monkey wrench in my plans. I don’t like that kind of uncertainty. I get frustrated with the mechanics of planning a flight and procedures.

For example, Lena once found a bird’s nest in the engine during preflight – twice – once before an evening flight, then she flew the same airplane in the early morning the next day only to find that birds had rebuilt the nest again in the engine in less than 12 hours. Another time after a 100-hour service, Lena flew a plane that sprung an oil leak, forcing her to divert back to the airport in short order.

Much of this would be mitigated by owning a plane outright because it would fly far fewer hours than a rental and Lena would assuredly be in charge of maintenance, but all kinds of things can still happen.

Despite all of these reasons to the contrary, I have an inkling to get back and finish my license.

First three steps:

1. Send a text to my friend Tim for his opinion on how long it would probably take for me to complete if I committed to flying twice a week.
2. Contact 2-3 instructors at University Airport about their availability to take me on as their student.
3. Schedule a “restart” flight – a demo flight of sorts to make sure I really want to do this.

4 – Finish a novel. I started a novel about eight years ago, and it’s been on the shelf since. I don’t particularly care about publishing it – I just want to finish the damn thing. Most successful authors never publish their first novel.

I love writing – the process of building and constructing sentences and paragraphs. All of my published writing take the form of business writing or blogging. Writing through a storyline, developing the characters and reaching the end of the book is a compelling literary endeavor.  It’s a challenge churning out 50,000 words while maintaining a plot, developing characters and reaching a resolution.

Right now, I’m reading Norman Mailer’s book “The Spooky Art” about writing, and just finished Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art.” There’s a persistence and a grind to writing a novel that jives with my personality, much like Ironman training or building my business.

But on the other hand, I’ve not seen this project through yet, and I’ve been known to start projects without finishing them, ergo why this is on this list. November is National Novel Writing Month every year. I could delay until then and put in the time daily to torture what I’ve written so far to completion. Or I could get started today…

First three steps:

1. Find what I’ve written so far in Evernote.
2. Organize this writing into a single notebook.
3. Take a blank sheet of paper and draw out the story line I’ve written so far to see where my mind takes it next.

5 – CrossFit Games. I started doing CrossFit a few years back (again thanks to Lena!). I’ve never been a huge weight-lifting kind of guy – I did it in high school to try to build up my chest muscles because I wanted to look like a stud (I failed…) and nowadays I lift weights and practice CrossFit to bolster my endurance training. It’s been a HUGE boost to my efforts, and was a big part of my Uberman accomplishment.

I’d like to see how I’d do with a year’s worth of training to focus on competing in the CrossFit Games. Anyone can give it a go – just go to the local CrossFit gym and participate in the measured workouts that are used for the Open competition. Here in Davis, we have a kick-ass CrossFit box.

My body responds well to this type of fitness and training and I believe I could do well with the right focus and effort. It would be nice to see how I would stack up against the very best competition.

First three steps:

1. Research when Stage 1 begins for the 2017 CrossFit Games. (DONE! Turns out, registration started back on Jan 12 and Stage 1 begins on Feb 23…)
2. Review the Open Workouts from past years here.
3. Chose one of the past workouts to do today in my garage. I’m going to workout today, so why not put myself to the test right away?

6 – Learn a new language. I’ve traveled to Europe, Latin America and Central Asia, each time adding to the realization of how limited life can be when you’re unable to communicate. I’ve been to Italy and Central America several times, each time wishing I spoke the local language.

In high school, I did well with French until I was asked to drop the class because I was a pretty annoying discipline issue. (Sorry, Ms. Hern. I really am. I know I caused you a lot of hard days…)

I picked up two semesters of French in college because I had to do a language, and again, did pretty well, but I’ve not pursued it since. I’ve taken a couple of community college Spanish classes and had a private tutor come by the house for a stretch to learn Italian. The Latin-based languages make sense to me, I’ve just never devoted time to focusing, practicing and using them.

This week, we’re registering our son for kindergarten and there’s a Spanish immersion program for K-6 grades which we hope he’s able to join. This is a lesson from my own life that will absolutely benefit him, and maybe this is my chance to learn alongside him starting this year.

I think I’m most torn about which language to learn. Spanish is most practical. French would be the easiest because of the four years of base training. Italian would be the most fun, and least practical of the three. I’ve learned some Russian as well, but again, not terribly practical.

First three steps:

1. Find a language app on iTunes. I know there are several that are good for short bursts of language learning.
2. Download the app.
3. Take 15 minutes to begin today at lunch.

7 – Live abroad. We’ve done some decent traveling for extended stretches – two weeks in Belize, three weeks in Australia, for example. This summer, we’re spending 5-6 weeks in Portlandia. Given my interest in language, living aboard for a year would be a spectacular way to learn the local language life in a new culture.

Of course, sometimes you don’t come home… We almost decided to stay in Australia after a three weeks in and around Melbourne. I was even offered a job there. A good friend has now been in London for about 6-7 years. Another friend spent two years in Sweden. Our babysitter/house sitter just left for Australia and New Zealand for five months, and my bet is that she ends up staying for longer. Why not?

While there’s lots of America to see and experience, living abroad for a year or so would be relatively easy for us as a family. I run a coaching business with clients all over the world already, and Benjamin is young enough that finding private tutors or having him attend a local school would be an easy step. For the right opportunity, Lena could do her research work from most places.

First three steps:

1. Google “Living Aboard” and see what I find.
2. Look at a map of the world to see what looks to be most appealing.
3. Make a list of the top three places so that I can devote 30 minutes to each for research that particular location as a viable place to live aboard.

8 – Earn a PhD in Psychology. I first became interested in this field when I first started as a sales rep at Prentice Hall, selling textbooks and educational materials at 22-years-old. This began with Tony Robbins’s Personal Power, then a slew of sales books by people like Brian Tracy and Zig Ziglar. The more I learned about sales, the more interested I became in psychology. At one point, I was reading William James every morning.

As a professional salesperson, I’m most interested in organizational psychology and managerial economics – how organizations make decisions. I’ve read quite a bit on this front, even compiling a table of contents for a book in this area. Later, adding my training in the field of economics and learning more about the behavioral aspects of people, groups and decisions, this field is probably the one place where I feel I would be a successful PhD and researcher.  Of course, watching my wife go through the PhD process makes this almost wholly unappealing…

First three steps:

1. Research PhD programs at UC-Davis. I’ve done this before. I just need to refresh myself.
2. Fill out an information form or see if there is an open house or event of some kind on campus.
3. Walk over to campus during the day, find the department and ask the administrative assistant for help with information and talking with a professor or two there.

9 – Run for Public Office. Back in college, I made a couple of trips to Washington DC for political-action workshops and even landed a post-graduation internship for the summer after graduation. It was unpaid and after talking with my parents, I decided to get a job instead. I’m glad I didn’t caught up in “Beltway fever” but I’ve always found elections and politics interesting over the past few years.

National elections have become less interesting, recent events notwithstanding, while local politics have become more interesting though. In my work space, there’s an commercial real estate guy that’s active in local Davis politics. There are a number of initiatives and ballots every election. I have a friend that attempted to get himself on a local congressional district ballot as a Libertarian candidate. I think there’s something that’s still impactful about local politics that otherwise would be lost in the day-to-day bickering and attenuation of holding a larger office.

The question is whether or not I’d want to pursue the effort – handing out flyers, standing around at the Farmer’s Market and knocking on doors. Do I have an initiative or office where I feel strongly enough about making a change that I’m willing to devote my time and money to such an endeavor? Not right now, but maybe later.

First three steps:

1. Go to the City of Davis website to look for election and ballot information.
2. Find out about the elected positions that will have open elections in 2017.
3. Make a list of specific topics that I care most about. This is just a way to match my interest areas with the elected offices responsible or that impact that particular area.

10 – Martial Arts. This has been an interest area for some time, going back to my post-Ironman days going into 2014. I’ve listened to podcast interviews with people like Josh Waitzkin. I practice meditation most mornings and late last year I visited a local Aikido Dojo to watch a class. It’s an interesting form of martial arts with it’s quiet flow, though I don’t have the commitment to attend classes 2-3 nights per week as is required for most martial arts.

Brazilian Ju-Jitsu is also interesting because I’ve heard it described as “problem-solving” – you’re stuck in a hold and need to figure your way out of it. I have a client that’s a beginner in this art, and she absolutely loves it even though she said it “kicks her ass.”  I like that aspect of this particular martial art form, though I’ve yet to check out a live class.

While this is definitely a “later” thing, it’s something I think about from time to time. I like the rigor and discipline, as well as the confidence I believe it would breed in myself to know that I could handle myself in most situations I might encounter. Maybe it’s part of my machismo to want to be able to defend myself or my family in a raw situation, though how practical is it really in most situations, like having a gun pointed at you? Not that I’m planning to put myself in any situations like this, but the chance exists. Okay, digressing…

First three steps:

1. Visit the local Brazilian Ju-Jitsu website to look at the class schedule.
2. Pick a day to go to the dojo to observe a class.
3. Go and observe.

So what’s your list? What are your first three steps?  

Let me know and I’ll help if I can.