This is about life choices, lifestyle changes and attitude adjustments.

• Work out for at least one hour at least 8 (eight) times per week.
• Wake up before 6:00 AM on most days.
• Go to bed before 10:00 PM on most days.
• Shop for groceries at least twice per week.
• Eat plenty of protein.
• Eat plenty of vegetables.
• Drastically reduce fat intake.
• Zero fast food.
• “Go out to eat” less than once per week.
• Average reading or listening to at least one book per month.
• Reduce many distractions, like social media, TV, alcohol, nicotine and caffein.
• Write more.
• Listen more.
• Listen better.
• Do not multi-task.
• Do not start a new personal project until completing one first.
• Have more conversations in Spanish.
• Ignore idiots.
• Drink lots of water.
• Pay off all debt (period).
• Stay simple.
• Keep online posts to less than 200 words.

Signed,
~Toby Getsch 3/26/2011

Paul: I see Paul, maybe once a week.  He’s a local homeless guy in Kirkland, WA.  I presume he’s homeless, given his belongings and signage and general demeanor.  I told myself that the next time I saw him I would stop and introduce myself.  So, I did.  I stopped my motorcycle, got off, walked up and introduced myself.  We chatted for 30 seconds or so and he went on his way.  I have no idea, but I think that may have made his day.

Jerry and Cheryl (sp?): They have parking spots next to me in the garage at the condo where I live.  It turns out that we have several Minnesota connection.  They are in the area for 6 months, renting a condo in my building.  They’re traveling to Chelan, WA tomorrow for a vacation and I just got back from a trip in that area.  We talked for maybe 20 minutes or more.  They’re very nice people and it was good to make a connection.  Jerry and I talked about what makes a place feel like home.  His parting words were, “Thank you for your wisdom.”  Wow!  Talk about humbling.

Yeah, stopping to say hi is not overrated.

Kickin' it - on the river style.

After a few days at 90+ degrees and lots of sun with BBQ’s going all the time and local hang-out spots and plenty of driving, I can confirm once again that I like to travel and be outside and be in the mountains.  Great company makes it all the better.  This particular afternoon spent at the river was one of my favorites.  It was cold water, but it felt sooo refreshing.  Good times!

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The one that sticks out in my mind the most is 1994.  I was in Central America on the beach on the 4th of July.  It was our only day off during a 16 game, 13 day exhibition basketball trip with Sports Ambassadors.  After a training camp in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (I spelled that out because it’s fun.) and some interesting flights, we toured through El Salvador and Honduras, playing high school teams, club teams and even the national teams of both countries.  So, during the break from all of our playing, we watched on whatever TV’s we could find.  It wasn’t hard to find the games on the TV’s.  Everyone would crowd the street and smile and watch the games.

Another one that sticks out was in 1998.  I had just returned from study abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico.  That was a 3 month long Spanish immersion exchange program with the University of Minnesota.  Watching the World Cup that year was so much more rich after recently having experienced so much of such a beautiful, rich Latin American culture.

I don’t really remember the 2002 World Cup.  I had just moved from Minneapolis, MN to Seattle, WA.  There were many other things going on in my life.  There’s a lot more to that story, but I’m moving on.

In 2006 I was between full time gigs, doing independent computer consulting for most of the year.  I had a couple friends that had a beautiful apartment in downtown Seattle, with an amazing rooftop patio.  The BBQ’s and hang out times were so chill and fun.  I think we called it Sky Bar.  They were from Chile and Costa Rica, if I remember correctly, but I’m not totally certain.  Regardless, they had the jerseys for their respective teams and knew all the songs and chants.  We had mohitos and danced with friends and had a grand time.  It was super fun to have a number or other Spanish speaking friends who were so passionate about such an awesome, world-wide event.

And, now this year… It’s 2010.  I’m just thinking through the many things that have passed and what I’ve learned and where I’ve been.  It’s truly amazing.  God’s had a watchful eye on me, the whole time.  One of the lessons learned through the various life skills classes and counseling and moves and job transitions and heartaches with love lost and love gained (rinse, repeat) and all of the other mountain tops and valley experiences… We’ll be ok.  Soak it in, both the good and the bad.  Learn.  To fail greatly is ok and means you’re trying big things.  And, ultimately… “Time is my friend.”

My hope is to always maintain hope, to love even more greatly, to be challenged, to achieve great things, to have the best relationships possible, and to continue a path of simplicity, continued contentment and constant growth.  I think I’m doing ok.  I know I’m doing ok.  Come along for the ride!  Remember, time is your friend.

View of the Olympics just outside Seattle, WA

Mountains and lake a little east of Seattle, WA

Any questions?!

Sometimes I wonder, why is it that expressing a great idea is so much more difficult than having a great idea?  I know that implementation is always harder than expression.  Maybe it’s part of my recent efforts to live pretty simply and minimize the “stuff” around me from a material possessions viewpoint.  That’s great, but it is also something that’s hard to become infectious with.  You see, I don’t think a great idea or even a batch of great ideas is enough.  I want to makes stuff happen and be a person of action, not just just intellectual jargon and rhetoric.  Action begets habits and ultimately changes lives and changes the world.

So, connecting the dots, I realize that for me it is a season for listening and filtering and absorbing.  Then there will be a  season for planning.  And, then there will be a longer season for doing.  There is a lot of similarities to the consulting work that takes up my daytime, work day hours.  Envision. Plan. Develop. Deploy. Support. Rinse. Repeat.

I think I’m envisioning and planning, for this “rest of my life” project.  I know there are plenty of cross-overs between the business world and the regular, interpersonal world.  I also know that there are plenty of things that do not cross over.  I’m trying to be patient and learn, while I have some great people around me.  I’m trying to absorb and personalize life lessons that I want to make my own.  And, I’m trying to be simple along the way.  It’s not a challenge for the faint of heart!

…so is mothering…  I just watched this video and thought about all the emotions that any mom must go through.  Wow.  As a guy, on the other side of those emotions growing up, I think I just felt hungry.  I was always hungry.  (NOTE: Hunger is not really a valid emotional feeling.  That’s kind of the point of using it here.)

I guess I’m kind of a sap for stuff like this, sometimes.  I still want to hunt and protect and fix.  But, sometimes, there’s a soft side.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison

1. This will be the last time that I make a goal to get in shape by my birthday.
2. This next year will be a tough and great year because I am in just about the worst shape of my life.
3. Number two will never be repeated.
4. The ups and downs of life will be moderated.
5. My spiritual life will be at a constant progression.
6. I will continue to be emotionally available.
7. I will continue to progress my emotional maturity.
8. I will choose wise counsel and I will make tough decisions.
9. I will make responsible and wise choices, to the best of my abilities.
10. I recognize that mature leadership is more about deciding what not to do, than deciding what to do.
11. I will keep learning to be a better listener.
12. Action will not be something people question me about.
13. Books: Many will be read and some will be written.
14. I will choose very few things to devote the valuable time needed to truly become an expert.
15. I will enjoy my work.
16. I will continue not letting my work define me.
17. This will be a journey.
18. I will travel, and by that I don’t necessarily mean visit places, I mean go places.
19. My attitude will continue to be an asset.
20. I have the gift of encouragement and I will use it often.
21. Discretion will continue to be refined.
22. I will have many opinions.
23. I will not always share my opinions.
24. I will not always agree, but I will always do my best to show due respect.
25. I said “due” respect.
26. I will pray for current and future relationships, the ones that I don’t even know about yet.
27. I will finish many things.
28. I will become a truly great story teller.
29. My life will continue to be simple and uncluttered.
30. Simple and complex are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
31. My circle of control will stay small.
32. My circle of influence will grow, but will still be relatively small, growing deeper with time.
33. I will choose my friends wisely and with discretion.
34. I will stop to smell the flowers.
35. I will take breaks.
36. I will be appropriately transparent.
37. I will acknowledge and reward accomplishments appropriately, both mine and those of others.
38. Integrity, period.

~T.W. Getsch, March 8, 2010