Have you ever stared in the mirror and not recognized the person staring back? Has time gone by so quickly that you blink and it seems a dozen years have passed? If you answered yes to either one of those questions, I understand how you feel.

I have been trying to process what I want my next set of goals to look like. What do I want to accomplish in 2023? So, I have been taking to myself in the mirror. The face I see is older than I feel. Where has the time gone?

Don’t misunderstand me. I like the guy in the mirror very much. He is an older and wiser version than I had in the past. He is more driven and sure of himself. He is also more…what is the word I am looking for? Different. He is different than I expected him to be.

When I was young I wanted to sing and write music. That was my plan for the future. So, I practiced and got better and got a full scholarship to sing in college. I was young and creative. I was carefree and arrogant. I knew the future would work out. I had no idea how, but I had faith that it would.

During the second semester of my Sophomore year I began to grow discontent. I didn’t like who I was becoming. I felt like I was floating through life and didn’t have a clear focus.

That all changed the summer after my Sophomore year. I started a wonderful relationship with an awesome woman. God put her in my life at the perfect time. It didn’t take me long to shift gears and ask for her hand in marriage. She said yes in September of 1998 and we married the following January. We will celebrate anniversary number 24 in a couple of weeks.

Becoming her husband helped focus me. Having a partner does that. I still had dreams, but I also had real world things that needed to be done. It took some years of struggle, but I figured out what I was good at. I have been working to get better at it ever since.

I am not the same man I was 24 years ago. I thank God for that quite often. I have grown and matured. But, I am still not done. I want to keep the evolution going. I must continue to grow and improve.

I may not recognize the guy in the mirror all the time, but I sure like him. It is time to keep moving forward and see what he does next.

That is it. That’s the post. I feel so very thankful.

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and with it a ton of calories that were a lot of fun to eat. There was rest and relaxation and, more importantly, awesome time with my favorite people.

With the new year almost here, have been debating about what goals to conquer next. I originally thought I would start my next 100 Days Strong challenge today, but I have decided to use this week for planning and start again on January 2nd.

Until then, I am resuming the daily habits from the first 100 days. By New Year’s Day I will have clarified what additional goals I want to pursue. I intend to keep my 7 original goals and add in 2 to 3 more.

I will provide greater detail in the coming days. I am excited to start again and see the progress continue.

Today is the day. I planned this out 100 days ago and I am finally here. Today is day 100.

For several years I have had the thought that I would get a head start on the next year and get my fitness (and life in general) in better shape. The thought usually hits me some time around October. I mull it over and then watch the idea fade.

This year has been very different. In the past I have “wanted” to change. This year I made the change. In so doing I clearly distinguished the difference between wanting something and working for something. It has been quite a journey.

Let’s recap the goals I have been pursuing:

1. Follow my exercise program. I had been lifting weights for about a year, but needed a more clearly defined regimen. To the weight lifting I added walking daily and yoga. This goal also included exercising every day for 100 days straight. I finished this goal today. It feels good.

2. Follow an eating plan. I discussed this in a previous post, but it bears repeating in part. I had to figure out how many calories I needed to eat every day and stick to it. I chose 2600. This is well below the calories I burn for the day when I am active, so it creates a sufficient deficit. I have lost almost 35 pounds in the last 100 days. I am down over 40 since the beginning of the summer.

3. Read or listen to a chapter of a book daily. This is what I have accomplished:

Books Read:

• Never Split the Difference – Chris Voss
• Creative Calling – Chase Jarvis
• Building a Storybrand – Donald Miller
• Make Your Bed – William H McRaven
• Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink
• Ted Talks – Chris Anderson
• As You Wish – Cary Elwes

Working on:

• The First 20 Hours – Josh Kaufman
• The Dichotomy of Leadership – Jocko Willink
• Platform – Michael Hyatt
• The Storytellers Secret – Carmine Gallo
• The Screwtape Letters – CS Lewis

4. Write daily. You can look back on this blog. There are 100+ posts since September 12th. There is a lot of room to improve here and I am looking forward to doing just that. First step was writing. I have done that.

5. Drink 100 ounces of water daily. I have made this a core habit. I am proud of this one. I do not want to live my life dehydrated.

6. Take a progress picture daily. I have done this every day. It has been strange and there are many photos no one will ever see, but I will share some of the progress photos (that I am comfortable with) at some point. I would like to share this one for the moment.

The photo on the left is from last week. The photo at the top right is me in May of this year. The photo at the bottom left is me in September. The journey has taken me a long way.

7. Encourage someone daily. I have done this every day. This may be one of my favorites of all the goals. I want to be a persons who actively lifts others up. This one has felt good.

This journey has been so worth it in multiple ways. I feel better. I look better. I have been living on purpose. I have been actively trying to uplift. This has been awesome.

So, what’s next? I am going to celebrate Christmas with my family and then…write the next 100 Days Strong list and do it all over again.

Today is day 99. One. More. Day. To. Go.

I say this like I am going to quit what I have been doing. I’m not. I am going to look at the goals and see if they still match what I want to pursue, but the journey will go on. I may eat a little more over Christmas, but this has been too good to not keep going.

This has been a journey worth taking. More to come tomorrow.