At a time when we’re keeping our distance from one another, I hesitate to use the word “public” in a good way for this post but it’s my blog so I’ll go for it. Last week I had the privilege of being invited onto the Brothers & Barbells Podcast with Troy Ismir. He’s a man that I see as a mentor, a friend, and a serious force to be reckoned with in the fight for God. It came out this past Tuesday and I was able to listen to it during one of my ruck walks this week (did I mention I’m a week into the 75 Hard program from Andy Frisella?!)
Listening to your own voice for an hour is a bit weird but what a powerful way to check yourself on what you believe and how your actions line up. Most of what I said, I was proud of once I listened to it as it truly represented my approach to the world. But I’ll be honest – there was one thing about my morning routine that had actually been slipping since we got quarantined at home. Sure, my normal routine is to get up between 4:30 and 5:00 in the morning as I told Troy but in the week before the podcast, I had slept later nearly every day. Since the podcast came out and people have listened…I’ve been up on time to get after it. That switch leads me to why I wanted to write about my experience with the podcast and give you a challenge. It isn’t because I want to brag and promote it (although it would be cool for folks to listen). Instead it is because I learned firsthand, as I have with starting this blog, that there is serious power in going public with what you value.
I’m usually quick to bash social media for all the negativity and comparison it can bring but there’s always a balance. Social media is great for accountability. If you post that you’re going to run an Iron Man next year along with a bunch of videos with you working out but you never actually run the race, you lose integrity. If you share out you’re launching a company and then never make the website for it, everyone will see you differently. There’s nuance in this of course and the line between “annoying self-promotion” and “accountability” is a thin one, but the overall setting is useful.
Being on the Brothers & Barbells Podcast was a lesson in accountability for me. The podcast is on every social media outlet, I sent it to family and friends, and I shared it on my own site. If people listen to it, I want them to not be surprised by what I say. How I describe my life should be how I live my life and the same goes for you. If we are to maintain integrity toward living the LIFE Council creed then our walk and our talk have to align.
So, what’s this mean for you? It means that I think you should use the power of public to your advantage. Zach Mercurio, an author and speaker focused on purposeful work, who I consider a serious mentor of mine told me that “you have to ship it out or it’s just inventory costing you money” when I told him last year that I had a bunch of writing sitting in my “saved files”. The metaphor was clear, and it sparked this writing that I love. If we keep our values and our work to ourselves, they might be great, but they aren’t helping anyone else.
It’s intimidating to go public with things in our modern era. One scroll session on Instagram is enough to make you feel like the most inadequate person to ever walk the earth. But as scripture tells us more than anything else, “do not be afraid”. Patrick Sweeney brought the same point to bear in his recent book Fear Is Fuel. He said, “to be truly happy and successful you’ve got to recognize your fears and use them to power greatness…”. Your fear of inadequacy is real, but you can choose to control that fear and let it drive you to reach your goals.
It doesn’t have to be social media, even though that is the easiest outlet. If you don’t have social media or don’t want to use it that way, do it the old-fashioned way and tell someone. Pick up the phone or walk to another room and talk to a person for a real. The point is to use your fear as fuel, step out in public, and find accountability. At no other time can you be accountable to people all over the world who are doing the same things you are and driving as hard as you are. Use it.
Weekend Challenge
It’s simple this weekend. Make one of your values or goals public. Social media, a phone call, conversation, whatever. Make a goal or commitment and share it with at least one other person. Ideally this will be someone who you know will call you up to reaching the goal not someone who will validate any excuses you might come up with.
Oh and bonus…check out the podcast here (come on, I had to plug it a little bit)