The other morning, I got up at 6 am like every other regular morning, threw my clothes on, stretched my legs , and walked to the stop sign on the campus loop behind Sobrato.

2 miles. 2 miles. 2 miles.

I was tired, not feeling that great, and hurting from biking 21 miles from the day before.

I know that you have to go through the pain barrier to get better, stronger, faster. But most importantly, going through that pain barrier makes you stronger mentally.

I stood there looking down the sidewalk, and told myself “Okay, it’s the last 2 miles of the triathlon…you’ve beaten yourself to death, you’re in pain, you’re tired, you feel sick, you want to quit…but this is the last 2 miles of the run. GO!”

That day, I ran those two miles at a 5 minute pace…ran so hard that I threw up nothing when I got back, and had to lay on the ground on the floor of my room.

I had a very interesting week in terms of personal growth.

I went through a situation and was given a really good piece of advice by one of my teachers. He talked to me a little bit about Steve Nash and his philosophy on success.

Nash never tried to be the guy on the court to score the most points, he tried to be the guy that made everyone else look great.

This really got me to thinking, and I completely changed my philosophy on how I do things. Its much better to bring in people around you than to do everything on your own.

Make teams, enroll people, cause action.

This is what it is about. That is what leadership is truly about. Sure there is leading by example, but you don’t have to be a lone ranger.

20 guns behind you has a lot more firepower than 1 gun…no matter how quick you can draw. 

I spend a good amount of time looking into what makes people successful. This is part of the reason why I am up now at 5 am every morning but going to bed at a reasonable hour every night.

Did you know that 80% of CEO’s of the top companies in the world are up before 5:30 am?

Well, in order to be a success, you have to start doing the things that have made people a success in the past. I like waking up before the sun is up anyways. It gives me plenty of time to start working, read up on what is going on in the world, and really kick my butt running, biking, or swimming.

Then, getting to watch the sun rise every day is pretty great. I guess for me its a refresher, seeing that thing come up, and telling myself that it’s a completely new day and I can make what I want out of it. 

You can never erase the past.

Think of it like this, you can start to erase the past, but you have this 100 lb. eraser and a post it note that is the size of Texas. Since you can’t erase the past, you may as well come to peace with it.

Embrace it.
Smile at it.
Love it.

I have said this before, but I am a thinker, and when I am not at peace with my past it really takes a swing at my present. So it is my current effort to relax, and not try to overwork those specific muscles in my body that are completely made up of the past.

Instead, focus on new things and ways I can improve my present.

I had some great talks this past week that really were very different from anything I have experienced over the past school year.

People have really surprised me and driven me to new things. I also have a lot of new things that are extremely exciting in my life.

School is going well, but I have been working my butt off and the results are starting to show. My knee is finally better and is starting to show signs of getting stronger.

I am very serious about training for my triathlon and almost every day watch my Norseman Iron Man video which inspires me to work harder.

It’s not easy pushing your body to the limits and beyond them. You just want to give up. But if I am going to do the things that I said I am going to do, I need to be prepared for that pain, and for that fight against quitting.

Apparently during Iron Man’s you want to quit thousands of times during the trek. I stand for never quitting. This will be the ultimate test. 

I don’t have much to talk about today in terms of philosophy.

Today is mostly just about how the past week has really changed the way I think about things. I am trying to incite people to act and show the great colors they have. This is not an easy thing, but it can be done.

If there is one thing that has been lingering in my mind, it is the fact that the heart beats true. It tells you where you’re at, where you’ve come from, and what it needs.

Never fight it.

You don’t have to force anything, but just know that it is telling you who you are and what you’re about.

That is the best piece of advice you can ever get from your own body.

Stay motivated, show passion, and love those around you as much as possible.

It doesn’t matter who those people are or how far they may be out of your life currently, but keep that love in you.

Never let it escape. 

Evan Sanders
The Better Man Project