1 More Invitation

1 brave thing: Extend an invitation beyond the target.

I’ve been sharing how inviting guys into the next CL Thomas Fellowship helps me be brave. Today I had a lunch meeting with a new friend not expecting to invite him to the fellowship but being open to it. The unique part here is that he is single whereas all other guys are married with kids. The brave moment was to trust my gut aka the Holy Spirit over my “target demographic.”

Why it matters. This moment reminds me to be fully present with the person and recognize new possibilities.

Launch date is set. There will be 6 other men joining the next fellowship group and we launch on Sunday night!

Alarm clock

1 brave thing: Waking up

When the alarm clock goes off after a family vacation the pull back to the warm bed is real. However I had a brave moment and won the battle this morning. With double layers of pants and shirts I made it out in the gloom with 8 other men for a F3 workout in single degree temperature.

Why it matters. Getting back on the discipline path after a vacation is hard and worth it. I don’t want to lose momentum in my training and having relationships urging me on to get out there helped me show up.

Let’s keep the brave moments going!

Justin

Hot and Snowy Soak

1 brave thing: Snowy Soak

Today we finished our family travel with a natural spring “hot soak.” With 20 min left I got out of the warm bath house and went outside to stand in the snow for some cold therapy.

Why it matters. As I mentioned before, cold therapy can help trigger our immune system into repair mode to help with longevity. Really I just wanted to give the family a good laugh and for me to try to maximize the bath house experience. It truly felt warmer after getting out, standing in the snow for a brief bit memorizable cold minute or two and back in the natural spring!

Another brave adventure.

Justin

Snow Run

1 brave thing: Running with snowflakes

It’s hard to keep on a running schedule during a holiday weekend of travel. Throw in a few inches of snow and the challenge increases. After a day of skiing my body was tired but the snow actually gave me inspiration. It was so pretty that a shirt easy training run went from hard and brave to fun and brave.

Why it matters. Im training to make training more fun and easy to do. This idea comes from the book Atomic Habits. Today the snow falling introduced the fun.

Skiing

1 brave thing: Family Skiing

It’s 11:30 pm after a great Sunday with family and friends in Hit Springs, Va. I’m proud to sneak in this post by the daily deadline because it was such a legitimate brave day. We completed a full day of skiing.

Why it matters. It’s scary learning something new like skiing. I picked it up at the same time as my oldest daughter 4 years ago. It’s fun to learn something at the same time as your child. I keep learning and growing by challenging myself to ski once a year. I don’t love heights. I don’t love the feeling of falling forward on ice. I love the adventure with the family.

Brave Invitations Continue

1 brave thing: Asking others to share a brave moment

My brave moments recently have been invitation focused. This weekend we are in Hot Springs, Va with two other families. A moment presented itself tonight with all 14 of us in the living room. So I invited everyone to have a brave moment and report back to everyone their experience.

Why it matters. Hopefully my brave year helps others as well along the way.

The Adult in the Room Might Be Us. Another friend once told me a story that she thought “an adult needs to do something here” and then she realized she was that adult. It happens fast. We go from the teenager looking up to the old adults. Then we turn 40 next week.

Cheers,

Justin

Inviting Fellowship

1 brave thing: Coordinating the Next CL Thomas Fellowship®

Inviting others into an intentional relationship is brave. I think back to when I proposed to Amy: there was both excitement and stress. Not the kind of stress like is she the right one but rather the significance of the moment type of stress. On a smaller and more frequent scale, I feel a similar twinge of excitement and vulnerability when I recruit guys to join my Christian small group. It’s a 9-month fellowship that I feel is part of my life’s work and purpose. Therefore it’s a perfect brave moment to lean into.

Why it matters. I have to be willing to accept rejection, if not I will never invite others into important life activities with me. I’m thankful Amy said yes 14+ years ago, and today I’m grateful five men are joining me to learn how to provide for our families like Jesus.

Intentional invitations make the difference. I’m learning how important it is to be clear in my communication, especially when inviting people. YGuides actually does this really well. Each month, a Dad/daughter pair from the crew handmake and deliver invitations to other members of the crew for the upcoming meeting. It adds just another memory and shared adventure from the experience of YGuides. Another way I’m developing this skill of “intentional invitation” is to have friends sign-up to pace and support me in the 24+hr ultra in March. All of this feels like brave progress.

Cheers,

Justin

Health Appointments

1 brave thing: Schedule that Health Appointment

I’ll share more about the health experiments I’m doing in future entries. Today, the brave moment was simply scheduling my next health appointment on the calendar. We are all busy and one way to identify priorities in life is to review our calendar and finances.

Why it matters. If health is a priority, it is going to take some investment of time and money. Today, I took action.

Progress and more energy today. After a low-energy day yesterday, I had a burst of productive output. This is an important reflection to make. I made a conscious decision to rest and sleep early yesterday. The dividends were apparent today. I made progress with my work and knocked out a 10-mile run.

Cheers!

Justin