Tree Branches – Walk Into the Future

The grateful 5 (5 things I’m grateful for)

Grateful

“A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles”

(Pinterest)

Dictionary.com defines grateful as feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful.

Pretty simple concept and one to dig into a bit more. I do a lot of reading and came across a blog article titled the Top 5 Things I am Grateful For. The article and title are straight forward so I decided to try my writing chops to explore this from my perspective.

Family

Spend any amount of time with me and I will tell you about my family. My family on my mom’s side consists of 5 uncles and 4 aunts. The last time we counted I had 32 first cousins and 69 second cousins. I know that last number has gone up, but we have not counted them in a long time.

This large extended family unit allowed me to grow up in an environment where most of my early friends were family members. We did not add nonfamily friends until we started school because there were enough of us around to field our own teams in most sports.

I am grateful for having so many family members who go out of their way to look out for each other. Seems like a simple thing but we spent most Thanksgivings with this large unit and enjoyed our time together. COVID-19 put a halt on our large family get togethers last year but hopefully we can find a way to get the crew together this year—safely!

Friends

My Walk into the Future journey has allowed me to make some truly great friends. Please note, I do not let a lot of people into my inner circle, so my friends are special people to me. I have friends who are not cousins and I have known them my entire life. We stay connected and get back together whenever possible and continue to grow our friendship.

I have friends I met while in the Air Force and we have become our own family unit. I look forward to getting together and catching up whenever possible. COVID-19 has put a halt to our running tourist trips, but I am sure we will get back on track in the future. New Orleans is calling!

I met my best friend in the gym one morning as she bullied me to help her with the weights she was lifting—true story! 😊 Seriously, a simple gym conversation launched a great friendship, and we chat and catch up on life as much as possible. See you on Park Avenue!

My tree branches are all friends I look forward to catching up with. Could be a simple email, text, or phone call but love hearing how well my folks are doing in this world. I enjoy seeing them exploring life via Instagram stories and pictures they share. I live through them daily and enjoy seeing the growth of my tree. WE ARE! Go Bucks! Go Noles! Go Gators!

Running

I found running later in life but cannot imagine a world without me putting in my miles. The concept of running a half marathon was foreign to me in 2013 but now I run 6 to 8 half marathons yearly (pre-COVID). I had no intention to run another half marathon after my first attempt because it took me three full weeks to recover. Of course, I had no idea how to train, hydrate or recover properly—lessons learned the hard way! LOL.

My stated goal for 2022 is to explore my first full marathon. I am hoping COVID does not come back like 2020 and eliminates all future running events. I am always looking for motivation when I run so training for a full marathon should keep me putting in the miles for years to come. Trying to convince several friends to come race with me. Let’s go Laurens! 😊

“Running helps me maintain my ‘never killed anyone’ streak”.

(Pinterest)

Health

Happy to report I can eat and drink whatever I want. My running and weight training programs help with this, but I am blessed with good health. Running has not caused undue aches or pains and helps me maintain a healthy weight without counting calories. My weight training provides strong muscle structure to keep me moving forward. My annual physicals produce good numbers, and the doctor does not have to get onto me to eliminate anything from my diet. Grateful to continue to age well! 😊

My Blog

Started the Walk into the Future blog without a clear understanding how it would impact me. I thought I would just write a few things down and see if anyone wanted to read my words. Turns out the blog has become an extension of me and gives me a platform to share thoughts, ideas, and adventures. My writing process has slowed down as my work obligations expand but I am still able to keep 4 to 5 weeks of blog articles in my production library. I would like to get back up to 8 to 10 weeks of articles in reserve in case I need to revise or update them before publishing. Not sure how long I will continue to publish the blog but still have a ton of material to explore so hope you stay with me on this journey! 😊

Bonus: My readers

Grateful for everyone who takes the time to read my blog. Your positive affirmations always put a smile on my face and inspire me to work to produce better content weekly. Thank you for following the Walk into the Future blog! Well done!

What are YOU grateful for? I welcome your thoughts!

“The struggles ends when the gratitude begins”.

(Neale Donald Walsh)

Always remember Rosewood, Florida (Repost)

Justice

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

(Nelson Mandela)

Happy to see the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement continue to draw attention to racial injustices. The momentum gained after the George Floyd murder continues to lead people worldwide to protest injustices. It feels real this time, but I thought that after Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Eric Gardner, and Michael Brown. Too many instances where black people are killed, and the justice system does not provide justice. Not trying to be cute with words here but most of these examples were seen on video just like George Floyd but no justice for black victims could be found.

Would like to say these are just isolated examples and America really treats black people well. Yep, we all know that would be a huge lie and I could not say that with a straight face anyway. America’s majority has treated people of color horribly and then try to convince us everything is okay. It is not and has not been okay for a long time.

Decided to go back in history and introduce Walk into the Future readers to Rosewood, Florida. Most people have never heard about Rosewood or the horror the black families endured there. It does not get the same press as the Black Wall Street massacre but is closer to home for me.

Sadly, I did not learn about Rosewood until the 1997 movie directed by John Singleton was released. I grew up in Florida and never heard a word about the massacre in a history or civics class. Rosewood is less than a two-hour drive from my hometown Jasper, Florida so it is equally shocking how close this type of mob/Klan activity was to my family.

I watched the movie and remember thinking this happened right down the street from my hometown. How is it possible I did not know about this? How could an entire town get wiped off the face of the earth and nobody said a word? This appears to be the American way. We condemn other countries and regimes for their atrocities and then hide ours from the public.

The movie stirred me to visit Rosewood in 1997 so I could see the place for myself. Sadly, the only substantial thing to identify Rosewood is a placard to let you know you are in the place where the town of Rosewood use to be. There are a few buildings there now but most of the things in the area are incorporated to Cedar Key, Florida. Felt weird being at the site of a massacre of black people but believe this was an important lesson to never forget the past so these things do not repeat. Like what is happening now; we cannot just let these injustices occur without responding in kind.

The BLM movement is here to stay, and we will need to remain vigilant to ensure human rights are respected for all. Keep learning and growing tree branches—we need you to make this a better world!

Learn more about Rosewood, Florida here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/03/rosewood-florida-massacre-racial-violence-reparations

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society”.

(John Lewis)

Repost from August 20, 2020.

Always remember Rosewood, Florida

Justice

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

(Nelson Mandela)

Learn more about Rosewood, Florida here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/03/rosewood-florida-massacre-racial-violence-reparations

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society”.

(John Lewis)

Repost from August 20, 2020.

Daily flowers—send them now!

Purple Rose

(Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay)

“Don’t wait for people to die to send them flowers”.

(Reverend Simmons, New Bethel AME Church)

It is amazing the things we retain from our childhood. I attended weekly Sunday school and church services at New Bethel AME church while growing up in Jasper, FL. I am sure Reverend Simmons said some other amazing things but the quote above always stuck with me. Never understood it as a kid so maybe that is why it stuck with me all these years.

Thought it was a weird saying until I fully understood his meaning. It can be interpreted multiple ways, but he was reminding us to cherish/celebrate the people in our lives while we have them. Waiting for a tragic incident is a bit late to let people know what you think about them.

I decided to write this post 3 days after Kobe Bryant, his daughter and friends died in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles. I am not much of an NBA fan but watched Kobe during his Hall of Fame NBA career and more intently after he retired. He ventured into business, screen writing, venture capital investments and his sports academy as part of his life after basketball. He became successful in these endeavors because he displayed a thirst for knowledge and sought out mentors to learn new things. He continued to look for ways to get better and make a difference in the world. Believe he was on the verge of expanding his portfolio in the entertainment world but never got a chance to complete this portion of his legacy.

I will not dive much further into Kobe’s life, but his unexpected passing brought me back to what Reverend Simmons reminded us EVERY Sunday—Do not wait for people to die to send them flowers.

I use a lot of quotes in my daily Walk into the Future, but I am sure my tree branches have never heard me use this quote with them. May seem weird to share so much with them but not this one aspect of my background. Allow me to provide a bit of clarity and how I leverage the quote in all my interactions.

I take my role as a tree seriously and believe I should model positive things for my tree branches. I also want to continue to make a difference daily. So, I provide theoretical flowers every day to my people!

I make a point to text, call, email, LinkedIn, visit or carrier pigeon (LOL) someone daily to provide them their flowers. May look like:

Happy Monday!
Happy Friday!
Go (insert name)!
How are you?
How are your students doing?
How’s the family?

I could add more to the list but believe you get the message. It may be small things but once I understood what Reverend Simmons was telling us I discovered a ton of ways to provide flowers daily. Some of you may prefer real flowers but I cannot afford the daily costs so guess you will have to be happy with my texts, calls, emails, LinkedIn, visits and hopefully those dang pigeons arrive soon! 😊

So, do me a favor, look around and identify who you need to send flowers to and get busy! Thank you!

“It’s the one thing you can control. You are responsible for how people remember you—or don’t. So, don’t take it lightly”.

(Kobe Bryant)

“Live for yourself and you live in vain; live for others and you will live again”.

(Bob Marley)

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Transition towards the future!

(Image by Volker Sachse from Pixabay)

“Light precedes every transition. Whether at the end of a tunnel, through a crack in the door or the flash of an idea, it is always there, heralding a new beginning”.

(Teresa Tsalaky)

I spend a large amount of time generating lists in my daily Walk into the Future. This is not a new phenomenon because I find my lists help keep me focused and moving forward in multiple areas. I track everything: daily activities, weekly to-do lists, yearly goals, every gym workout, every mile I run and how fast I ran them. Small correction, I do not track what I eat—may need to add this process since I have decided to eat better in 2020—we will see! Guess a grocery list would help with this, huh? 😊

Decided to discuss my list making process because a tree branch wanted me to write an article about what the transition from my previous work life to my current Walk into the Future journey looks like. His interest was more in understanding the transition because a lot of people talk about making a change but never really discuss what happens during the transition.

Of course, my transition started with a list. I sat on a beach on 4/14/18 and created a PRO/CON list to give me a visual of why/if I wanted to Walk into the Future. Did a complete assessment and put items under the PRO (stay) or CON (walk) column to give me something measurable. The list was heavily populated on the CON side so my decision to Walk into the Future was easy to make and backed by data. I will not dive into what was on the list but wanted to share there was a process involved to help with this decision.

“Transitions in life can offer opportunities for discovery”.

(Robbie Shell)

Throwback article on moving forward:

https://walkintothefuture.blog/2019/10/17/dont-fear-the-unknown-life-moves-forward

I am sure there are books and additional articles written by others who have transitioned from one work environment to another. This process is unique to everyone who decides to Walk into the Future—I will share things unique to me and my current Walk into the Future.

Humility

Being humble signals a willingness to learn and continue to grow. I have never professed I know everything, so I continue to be a lifelong learner. I read, network and ask questions when I do not understand something. Humility can speed up the transition process by seeking others to help along the way. Therefore, I never turn down meetings, speaking engagements or random conversations—I am learning as I go, and everyone can be a good source of information for me. I have maintained relationships with mentors and expanded my mentor pool to ensure I’m continuing to learn and grow.

Patience

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! This is an old leadership axiom to get people to focus on the process and not get overwhelmed with the perceived end results. Most things in life are a process and can be overcome with a patient approach. I have had to display a high level of patience during my Walk into the Future because not everyone I encounter is trying to get to the exact place I am. They may not even know how to help me get where I am headed and may need to refer me to someone else. I have learned the art of the follow-up call/email very well during this period! 😊 Remember, one bite at a time.

Sense of Humor

Laughter is a great way to release endorphins and makes you feel good. Laughter is also needed in this process because I do not take everything so seriously. Life is stressful enough without us adding more to it. I make a point to laugh, tell jokes and enjoy life to the max. I smile when I pitch a proposal to organizations for speaking engagements and I smile when organizations so no thank you. I generate a big old grin when I book a gig—it feels good! The key I believe is not to get too high or low during this process—laughing daily helps with this. I make a point to smile, laugh and enjoy myself when presenting to others—believe people relate to others who smile.

Confidence

Spend any amount of time with me and you will understand I do not lack confidence. This really helped when making the decision to Walk into the Future. It also leads to the ability to keep moving forward even when things do not go my way. I have heard the word NO more times than YES during this process but cannot let that distract me from my mission to make a difference daily. My lists mentioned earlier help as well because they allow me to check things off—never discount the importance of checking things off a list—it shows progress! I view life as a journey and confidence helps every step of the way. Positive self-talk is an outstanding way to get and maintain your confidence levels.

Mental and Physical outlets

My blog articles cover a lot of topics as I continue my Walk into the Future. I purposely seek out activities to enhance my mental and physical well being daily. My daily workouts, running program and yoga practice are designed to boost my physical fitness and allow me to generate endorphins. Never discount the impact physical activity provides to daily life.

I am an avid reader, so bookstore and library visits are a regular part of my program. I gravitate to blogs, online articles and LinkedIn to ensure I continue to learn new things. My book topics range from self-help, psychology, poetry and autobiographies. I do not venture into fiction much—John Sanford is the only fiction author I read on a regular basis. Discovered him by accident over 20 years ago while stationed on Okinawa, Japan. Been reading his work ever since.

I maintain a journal which helps me process my thoughts and aspirations. This is a weekly process for me or anytime I am at the beach. Lastly, the Walk into the Future blog provides an outstanding mental outlet vehicle for me. Get to write and test out ideas here right in front of YOU! 😊

So, there you have it. This is still an active transition for me as I explore new ideas, topics, interests and partnerships. This journey will continue, and I am sure there will be pivots needed but the smile on my face will not go away.

Enjoy your transition as you walk with me!

How can you make the transitions needed for your journey? Who can you partner with to enhance the transition period? Thanks!

“Life is a transition”.

(Lailah Gifty Akita)

2020 Winter Park 10k and a podcast on the side

Podcast March 2020

(Image by Florante Valdez from Pixabay)

“Life is a blank canvas and you need to throw all the paint on it you can”.

(Danny Kaye)

Ventured back down to the Orlando area for the 2020 Winter Park 10k. This race has been on my running calendar the past two years because it allows me to hang out with great friends and family while running a unique course in Winter Park.

Track Shack promotes this race as a fantastic course to run a 10k personal best (PB) and it does not disappoint. There were several runners ringing the PB Bell strategically placed in the runner’s village after the race. Always exciting to see the joy a PB time brings to runners.

Mastering College to Career podcast

Coordinated with an Orlando tree branch to stop on the way down for the race to catch up a bit and record another episode on his Mastering College to Career podcast.

The podcast is Daniel Botero’s way to Walk into the Future and he has added on-line courses, videos and workbooks to go along with the weekly podcast episode. Very proud of his efforts and the difference he’s making with college students transitioning into the workplace.

Daniel provides me with the topic of discussion prior to the podcast and then we get to work. I’ve known Daniel since 2011 so we have a great working relationship and energize each other when we are in the same room. He wanted his students to understand the behind the scenes interactions between on-campus recruiters and career centers. The goal was to provide students with a better understanding how/why employers recruit on their campuses and the work involved to get them there. Was very happy to share my career center and employer relations knowledge with Daniel for the podcast and helping his students.

Found out I’m the first person on Daniel’s podcast to return for a third time. This put a smile on my face, but the smile got bigger because Daniel asked me to cut another podcast episode before I left his recording studio. So, it turns out I’m the only four-time guest on the podcast now. The additional podcast episode was to highlight the recruiting calendar employers utilize when deciding which campuses to visit. What a great way to start my race weekend! Got a chance to catch up with Daniel and cut two podcast episodes to help his students continue to move forward in life. (Both episodes should be live in April 2020).

Left Daniel’s recording studio and headed straight to Track Shack to pick up my race packet. Always exciting to see the Track Shack staff engaging with runners buying new gear. Love they host a spring sale the entire week of the Winter Park 10k race. Always can find some new gear and the sale prices are fantastic. Got a chance to chat with one of the Track Shack owners who I met one morning while running in Tom Brown Park in Tallahassee. Turns out her daughter lives in Tallahassee and works at FSU—small world!

Carb loading

Headed to my favorite Italian restaurant, Café Panuzzo’s with Jayla to carb load and catch up. We normally dine at Café Panuzzo’s or Buffalo Wild Wings prior to my races and Italian dining won this round. Café Panuzzo’s never disappoints when we visit. I stuck to my normal selection of chicken parmesan with pasta and Jayla got adventurous with the calzone. Got a double order of bread since my goal was to get as many carbs as possible prior to the 10k. Most got burned off the next morning, so no harm and their bread is fantastic!

https://cafepanuzzos.com/

Winter Park 10k

The morning started out cooler than expected but was great once we got started. Told several tree branches prior my goal was to run fast this year and wanted to record a good time. Happy to report I ran a 10k PB of 56:41 and felt good during and after the race.

Track Shack does not use the corral format for races so the first mile was crowded with runners of all levels and time expectations. Decided to patiently work my way through the crowd and then pick up my pace once the runners thinned a bit. Made up most of my slow start once the course flattened and went about my plan to go faster this year. Knew my time was going to be good (for me) at the 4-mile mark and got comfortable with my pace and breathing. Decided to pick up my pace at the 5-mile mark to see how much improvements I’ve made in the past year. Was able to pass several other runners and get to the finish line with a smile on my face. Learned to smile crossing the finish line since everyone with a camera is snapping away.

Got my medal, checked my time and rang the PB bell too. Great race, people and after party! Can’t beat drinking a beer and eating donuts at 9 am in the morning. Running is the best way to stay in shape and overindulge at the same time.

Will keep this race on my calendar because it’s fun and they will always have beer at the end! 😊

What podcasts do you listen to? How have the podcasts helped you Walk into the Future?

“Oh, the places you’ll go”.

(Dr. Seuss)

Follow Daniel here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedanielbotero/

Follow Track Shack here: https://www.trackshack.com/

Run Winter Park

Life is short—spend your ENERGY wisely!

Energy

(Image by Myriam Zilles from Pixabay)

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life”.

(Aristotle)

Dictionary.com defines energy as the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.

Have you ever examined how much energy you invest in others? Are your energy investments being deposited in the correct places?

I ask these questions because I’ve had some interesting conversations with several close tree branches over the past couple weeks. I view my energy and time invested in others as valuable commodities. I’m mindful of how and when energy (time, thoughts, actions) will be invested to ensure I have the energy (time, thoughts, actions) for the right people.

Please note, I still envision myself as a People Builder but also understand energy can’t be expended equally to everyone. Finding the proper balance can be tricky but is necessary to ensure a proper life flow. This balance also provides the ability to move your energy focus and prioritize how and when you decide to expend energy.

I perform a yearly PURGE to ensure I concentrate my energy investments in the correct places.

So, on December 28, 2019 I went through my phone and LinkedIn contacts to identify contacts without mutual interactions within the past year. Mutual interactions can be defined as texts, networking requests, phone calls, simple conversations, etc. I took this action to remove potential clutter and reinforce why I have saved contacts in my phone and LinkedIn. These are the people who should get the energy investments mentioned earlier. I’m not on Facebook so no need for a PURGE on that platform.

Removing the miscellaneous (without a better word) contacts allows me to invest energy on the right people moving forward. Now, I don’t have to scroll through as many people to send out a text or LinkedIn message. This may seem like a small thing, but it reminds me of the importance of tree branches and why pruning is needed in life. It seems I always get a random text from someone in the PURGE a couple days after—it never fails. I don’t automatically add them back—I give them a test phase to see if they add energy to me—if not, they stay purged.

“Become more aware of what’s really worth your energy”.

(Pinterest pin, January 2020)

My example focuses on contacts in my phone and on LinkedIn. Don’t overlook the importance of the energy you expend on people in real life. I’m looking for people who display positive energy and are moving forward in life. Negative energy people can drain the life out of you and should be addressed or removed from your environment. Life is too short to continue to drag or tolerate negative energy on your Walk into the Future! Go ahead and have the tough conversations but make sure your time, thoughts and actions are focused on positive outcomes.

Get that #2020 vision you deserve!

How do you ensure your energy is invested in the correct places? Where can you adjust and ensure your energy is spent wisely?

“It’s a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly, just as it is to be angry with a car that won’t go”.

(Bertrand Russell)

Please note: this post was inspired by a conversation I had with one of my mentors who is 80+. She was able to apply my energy concept to her daily life and move forward in a specific situation where she was spending unnecessary energy. Life is funny, I’m providing mentorship to my mentors now. 😊 Irie!

Wormhole for Energy

(Image by Genty from Pixabay)

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