Hope springs eternal as
I search the distant landscape
The path I choose will determine my fate
The goal is to win the daily grind
Which path will I take?
Determination sets the course as the search continues
Multiple options, multiple venues
Working towards the important things in life
Without trying the only thing left is strife
The Walk into the Future blog went back home to Negril, Jamaica over Spring break last week. Decided I wanted to get back down for some sun, fun, rum, and reggae. Mission accomplished.
Spent most of my time relaxing but got some good reading in while making time to break out my snorkel gear. Not much into the tourist activities but enjoy hanging with the locals and seeing the island from their perspective.
Documented this trip with pictures instead of my usual word play:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
This was a good trip for me. Love to explore and get great pictures while in Jamaica. Looking at traveling to the Dominican Republic or the Turks and Caicos on my next adventure.
Which one would you pick?
Irie!
“If you can dream it, you can do it”.
(Walt Disney)
Goals continue to be a huge difference maker as my Walk into the Future extends into the fifth year of existence.
I never make New Year’s Resolution but discovered creating a set of yearly goals allows me to track my progress and see personal and professional growth. This process has been working well for me so no need to adjust it for 2023.
My goals are broken up into several categories to ensure I display a level of depth and growth throughout the year. I don’t make this process overly complicated; it’s worked in the past and don’t see a need to adjust now.
Interestingly, I hit every 2022 goal marker I wrote down except for one. Several friends asked me about my goals in January and I simply stated 2022 went so well that I was going to run back most of the same goals in 2023. Small tweaks but want to continue to move forward with my growth.
Reading goals
I started reading Proverbs daily when I lived in Warner Robins, Georgia. I got the concept when I read a book written by Steven K. Scott: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived. I thought it was a get rich quick book but quickly learned that reading Proverbs provides wisdom in life. I read Proverbs daily before work and look for ways to level that wisdom in my day. My other reading goal is to read one book (minimum) each month. I love learning leadership principles so most of my reading is done to help me grow as a leader. Currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Travel goals
Always looking for new places to explore so I want to visit some new spots this year. My running tourist role has me booked to return to Clearwater, Nashville, and Orlando. My new race destination for 2023 will be the San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon. I’ve been to San Diego before but have never raced that far west—should be a great week for me in San Diego. I will return to Negril, Jamaica this year and want to make it down to the Turks and Caicos as a new adventure. Weekend travel will revolve around Orlando, Melbourne, Jacksonville, and Palm Beach Gardens.
Consulting
My Authentic Leadership consulting program extends into 2023 with new contracts and clients. My work in this space was a happy addition to my 2022 goals and it looks like it will continue to grow in 2023. I have already signed contracts with two different groups to bring the Authentic Leadership platform to staff members. This side gig allows me to branch out into areas of professional interest for me and hone my organizational development skills. My goal is to consult with additional organizations in this space.
Writing
My writing was steady in 2022 but one area I didn’t complete was publishing my Authentic Leadership eBook. This is a carryover from 2022 so I will need to get this done in 2023. Poems, blog posts and LinkedIn articles were writing goals I was able to meet last year. I will continue to progress in 2023 with an eye towards more content on LinkedIn to share the Walk into the Future content with a larger audience.
Exercise program
Well, everyone that reads this blog knows running a full marathon was a highlight for me. It was written down as a 2022 goal and I put the work in to meet that goal. I will continue to lift weights twice a week and get 4 weekly runs in. My long runs will be done on the weekends with 25 – 30 weekly miles. I have a full racing schedule for 2023 and this keeps me motivated to log training miles.
Volunteer
This is a new category I want to explore in 2023. I do a ton at work but need to branch out into the local community and help there as well. The Salvation Army and Treasure Coast Food Bank are two organizations I plan to help this year. I did volunteer work with the Salvation Army in Tallahassee and enjoyed my time with them. Will reach out to both organizations this month to see what I can help them with.
Goals have been huge for my success. What goals do you have for 2023?
Irie!
“Everything you can imagine is real”.
(Pablo Picasso)
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else”.
(Lawrence J. Peter)
I start each year by creating a set of goals for myself to ensure I continue to Walk into the Future.
Past years I created a goal to run a set number of miles during the year (example: 1,000 miles) but decided to eliminate this practice and concentrate on run quality instead of quantity.
My 2022 run goals centered around 3 quality runs weekly without the shadow of a set number of miles as the goal. I always found myself singularly focused on the end number instead of the impact each run had towards my goal and fitness level. Mentally I was always chasing a number I made up in January and that was not always a fun activity.
Fast forward and the 1,312 training miles I completed in 2022 is the most yearly mileage I have ever completed. Launching my full marathon training program in July helped me clock miles but I was well on my way toward a mileage personal record (PR). The marathon training process highlighted I needed to add training sessions and mileage to fully embrace the run challenge of a full marathon.
I routinely ran 3 days a week prior to my marathon training program and needed a 4th day to continue to build my mileage base. I also needed to create a true run plan to identify the targeted mileage for each session.
Prior to 2022 I would just go out for a run and then determine how far I wanted to go during that session. Running in 2022 forced me to lay out a detailed weekly training program to identify how far I would run during each session. I know this sounds simple and I’m sure most folks do this, but my running program had structure but needed more focus to get me to the start line for the Palm Beaches marathon. I discovered putting a number on the training session (3 miles on Tuesday, 5 miles on Wednesday, 8 miles on Thursday, 10 miles on Saturday) made me hit my mile markers each session. Anything less than what I projected left me looking for ways to get my miles in. Weekly mileage numbers were critical to my running success in 2022.
Mile by mile, day by day allowed me to top 1,300 miles in 2022. I’m sure I could have surpassed that number if I put more focus on the mileage for each session prior to July 2022.
My 2023 run goal is to run 4 days weekly (25 – 30 miles total) with one day dedicated to speed work. I am registered for 10 races for 2023 with a combination of 5ks, 10ks and half marathons. I don’t know if I will tackle another full marathon in 2023 or ever but never say never. I will let my weekly running sessions determine how many total miles I run in 2023. Excited to track my progress and growth as I expand my running base and test myself with road work.
What goals do you have for 2023?
FYI: Clocked 127 miles in January 2023! 😊
Irie!
“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”.
(Zig Ziglar)
(Image by claudia martinez from Pixabay)
Solitude
Solitude rhymes with gratitude
And really is not the end of the world
Most people assume
The hustle and bustle of life
Makes the gratitude for solitude profound
In the life of those who can allow
Solitude to influence their attitude
And enjoy the energy and flow
Solitude in life can help you grow
My Walk into the Future continues to allow me to make a difference in the world daily. I realize most of my life and writing focus appears to only be on my marathon preparation but I’m still busy with my consulting work as well.
I embarked on an Authentic Leadership consulting project with the St. Lucie County Tax Collector’s office to enhance leadership training for front line supervisors. I have been working with this organization since February but never got around to sharing with my readers. Well, now is the time to get a full understanding of the project.
The Director of Organizational Efficiency reached out to me on LinkedIn to discuss my Authentic Leadership work back in February. We had initial conversations on LinkedIn and transitioned to a phone conversation on the impact of Authentic Leadership within the work environment. I was scheduled to attend a local Chamber of Commerce event the next week and she asked if she could join me during the event to talk more. I’m always networking so invited her to join me at the Chamber event.
She brought her supervisor, the Chief Deputy with her to the Chamber event to meet me as well. We spent most of the Chamber event discussing my Authentic Leadership work and how it might benefit their organization. We agreed to stay in touch, and they invited me to meet their leadership team—an audition if you will since I did my Authentic Leadership presentation for the group.
This led to a request to provide a 5-part leadership training program to the 18 department leaders.
I worked directly with the Director of Organizational Efficiency on the topics, dates, and frequency of the training program so we could maintain a schedule that provided maximum exposure for the leaders. The topics requested were some that I already had in my library, but I was able to build new, innovative training sessions based on the needs of the organization. FYI, a full training needs assessment was completed by the intended audience to ensure I provided training that would benefit the organization—not just something I wanted to share with them. This is a major key to a successful organizational training program.
A companion 3-part leadership training program was requested for staff participating in the LEAD Academy—next line leaders coming up through the organization.
5-part program topics:
3-part program topics:
There was some overlap with the topics, but I was able to tailor to fit each group and their needs based on what they requested in the needs assessment.
It was great being able to see the leadership growth in each group—some folks did not understand what leadership should be when we started but quickly developed outstanding insight on leadership when we were done. I like to look into the eyes of my clients to determine if they understand a topic and the growth, I saw in the eyes of both groups they are better leaders now.
I remind my clients leadership requires continued learning and development. You must adapt to situations and people but having a strong leadership foundation is key to organizational growth.
I am in the process of building a 2023 program for the same organization to capture more up and coming leaders. This will ensure the organization continues to evolve and grow based on the training provided to the staff. Excited to partner with this organization again in 2023. Also, looking to expand my client base to conduct training with other local organizations. Never a dull moment for me! 😊
Irie!
What projects are you working on? Make it great!
Drive
Keep moving ahead
The dreams you dream are all in front of you
The actions you take
The dedication you display
The time you take
To chart the course
All come down to the drive you have
To seek your dreams and then to fulfill those dreams
Drive your success by allowing your dreams to come true
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is not promised
But the promise of tomorrow leads the way
To ensure every effort today
Is made without delay
Waiting for tomorrow
Shortchanges things you can get done in the present moment
Wasting opportunity and precious time
To find the pot of gold you deserve
Start using your time today
To find your path to a better tomorrow
(Image by claudia martinez from Pixabay)
Solitude
Solitude rhymes with gratitude
And really is not the end of the world
Most people assume
The hustle and bustle of life
Makes the gratitude for solitude profound
In the life of those who can allow
Solitude to influence their attitude
And enjoy the energy and flow
Solitude in life can help you grow
(Image by rose-de-velours from Pixabay)
What did I see?
When I looked over the horizon
And tried to see my future
The future said everything will go well
You just need to find you way
Understand the pursuit of happiness
And begin your journey today
Don’t waste your time
Running around without a sense of direction
Chose your path
Live your life
And walk into the future
Walk Into the Future 