Barcelona Marathon

Random collision of events can be a great surprise. Sunday, I stepped out of our rental apartment to see thousands running in the Barcelona Marathon. Our morning walk to our family’s first excursion of the day was parallel with one leg of the race. As we were walking along, voices in all sorts of different…

How far we’ve come

One of the biggest challenges I face is not defining myself at any one specific point in time but instead, assessing myself by how far I’ve come. It’s human tendency to assess ourselves by looking through the lens of today and measure ourselves at one point in time but the true test to measure is…

Growth Combine

This week the NFL Combine displays some of the most incredible athletes in the world. This group of athletes are mentally and physically put to the test in the hope they grow their draft stock for the upcoming NFL Draft. Physical tests such as the 40-yard dash or seeing how many times they can bench…

Is motivation what we care about?

Recently I came across some studies on the topic of how employees’ motivation at work is continuing to decrease. Organizations respond by flooding money into inspiring employees with the hope of flipping unmotivated employees magically into motivated employees. But what if this idea of solving for lack of motivation is not the actual problem we…

Price of change

Jim Rohn famously said, “for things to change, you have to change.” If you’re not happy where you’re at right now, it’s not the outside world that must change. It’s the person in the mirror that must make the decision to change. But if I’m to make the decision to change my circumstances, am I…

Power of the basics

Kobe Bryant was one of my favorite basketball players to watch of all time. His competitiveness, IQ for the game, incredible athleticism, and nonstop motor are just a few of the reasons why he’s considered one of the greats. Recently I came across a clip from a well-known basketball performance coach, Alan Stein Jr., reflecting…

Why the RUFF draft is needed

There are many weeks where an idea randomly comes across my mind on what I want to cover for my weekly blog. In the moment, whether it’s walking the dog, driving home from work, or any other random moment, the idea is clear in my mind. It all makes sense and the vision of where…

Great day creator

I recently watched a clip of Mike Tomlin walking into one of his team meetings and greeted everyone with the phrase, “Hello great day creators.” I love the power in the simplicity of his greeting. Yes, this is the same Mike Tomlin that after 19 years of coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers has decided to step…

All wins aren’t the same

As a Chicago sports fan in his 40s, admittedly there hasn’t been a ton of great games to cheer for in quite some time. We’re now coming up on a decade of the Cubs World Series championship, and the Bears unfortunately have given us more high draft picks (due to how bad they’ve finished) than…

Why we workout

Look at most any survey out there for what people are prioritizing for 2026 goals and you’ll find a goal around health and wellness. Losing weight, eating healthier, and working out more tends to follow an annual trend of priority. If you have a goal centered around either starting back up with working out or…