Greg McMullen

Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting.

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of research on swimming, which may come as no surprise to any of you out there. One of the sites that I like to frequent is by Former Olympic Swimmer Glenn Mills, GoSwim.tv

Why do I want to reach out?

While I feel like the connections I’m making in Indianapolis and the surrounding areas are valuable, it’s always nice to have an experienced mentor. Someone you can ask questions, get advice from and look up to. The head coach at Pike is a great resource and I know that he’s dedicated to the sport (ASCA Level 3 Coach), but isn’t it nice to have more than one person to discuss (tips, techniques, ideas, etc) with?

Coach Mills has been involved in swimming for over 30 years and has truly been tested, strained and has proven his techniques work by being certified as an ASCA Level 5 Coach. View Glenn Mills’ bio on GoSwim.tv.

To give you a better idea what the coaching levels mean here’s an excerpt from the ASCA Coaches Certification the Purpose and the Process. (PDF)

There are three things analyzed in the Certification process. They are: Education, Experience and Achievement. Your Certification shows that you have met the required standard at each Level. The Five Levels become increasingly difficult. Level 5 is composed of the top 2-5% of coaches in the USA. Level 4 is the top 5-8% and Level 3 is the upper 15% of coaches. Level 2 requires more “units” of education and experience than Level 1.

How will I reach out?

Well, I honestly already have. I follow Coach Mills on Twitter (@GoSwim), read and watch his coaching ideas or technique tips and (attempt) to comment on things that interest and intrigue me.

My plan is to continue on this approach, ask questions and get insight on how to become a better coach and leader.

Who is someone you are afraid to reach out and connect with? Why are you afraid? How can you overcome that fear? Share your thoughts and this post, it’s always appreciated.

Photography by BJWOK / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself. How will you surprise yourself this week?

You want to know something about me? I don’t run, ever! Running is my Kryptonite. The reason I have such a problem with it is:

• I have bad knees
• I have a bad back
• I hate it
• It makes me feel like death
• It just plain sucks…

So you can imagine what I was thinking when my beautiful girlfriend says “Greg, ______ and ______ want us to join them in the Redlegs Run. Of course, me being the guy that I am I tell her “okay!” This is also when I had JUST received my new Nike+ Running System and I thought I would use it all the time….not so much.

“Training..”

Now, here I am donning my brand new Nike Shox (which I do love), my new iPod Nano and my Nike+ hitting the gym just about every day for about…oh…2 weeks (maybe 3). I was utilizing the Coach/Training program that the system had suggested for running a 10k to make sure I had some stamina for the races. Oh yeah, did I mention we registered for BOTH the 10k and 5k…

Needless to say, my training didn’t go well…

Closer to the Race…

Sarah starts hitting me with the “you should probably start running so you are ready for the race!” I just shrugged it off and said I’d be fine. She was running about 2 miles 3-4 times a week, whereas I just wanted to lounge around after getting off of work.

Honestly, she was right I should have worked harder for the race.

The Night Before and Race Day…

Friday before the race I headed out to my parent’s house to drop off some of my non-essential running gear and spent some time with my dad. He asked me “are you ready for the race?” I immediately replied, “heck no, I’m just gonna give it my best.”

Later that evening, I headed over to Sarah’s parents house and right before bed I tweeted out (after taking some Alieve and using IcyHot on my back and knee):

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/mcmullen_greg/status/79379784316100608"]

To which I got the response:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/kitkieser/status/79381143174127617"]

Thanks Kit, you were right. I didn’t die! (Even without the bagel) Sarah and I surprisingly made it through the end of BOTH races! We ended up running 4 or 5k of the entire 10k and then decided that we deserved a rest and walked the entire 5k. I just have to say, I was completely shocked that we did as well as we did.

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

Every day I fight with the owner of my organization about trying something new within the realm of marketing. He’s dead set on looking at all of the other companies in the industry and saying “Well, they aren’t doing it, so why would I?” Being a true leader in an industry is what keeps you alive!

This quote is absolutely right. Imitation is suicide. You have to learn to differentiate yourself. People have said that imitation is a form of flattery, but is it really? No! It’s annoying. Anyone with a sibling knows how annoying a copy cat is. Making yourself different from your peers is what makes you “you.”

My goal every single day is to try and find who I am what I want to do and what/where I want to be in my life. That doesn’t come from being a copy cat; it comes from hard work and dedication…to you.

What are your thoughts on the subject? What is your “Divine Idea” that represents you?

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?

If I had the chance to share my personal message with anyone, it would always be the same.

“Always do your best and never let anyone say you aren’t good enough. Work through the tough times because the end result is always better than you could ever imagine. Finally, only worry about things that you can control, life is too short to through a fit over things that you have no control over.

That’s it, short and sweet! What would you say? How would you share your message?

The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson says: “Always do what you are afraid to do.” What is ‘too scary’ to write about? Try doing it now.

So I wasn’t really sure about what to write on this prompt. I know that many of my fears and personal challenges involve choosing the proper career path for myself. However, I was talking with Sarah and she gave me a GREAT idea for what to write about. So here it is, a list of my top 10 fears.

My Top 10 Fears (in no particular order):

1. Getting Married – Sarah and I have been together for well over 6 years now. I’m entirely confident that she’s the one. It’s just…well…I have cold feet and nerves. It’s almost like they stay in Antarctica year round.
2. Losing my Parents – I’ve already lost all but one Grandparent (two before I was even born) and that was hard enough on me, my brother and my parents. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to lose a parent.
3. Telling my Parents and Brother how I truly feel – I know I love them, but I just have a hard time saying it.
4. Losing contact with my closest friends – Marriage, kids and jobs. These all have the same thing in common. Taking too much time from people to do other things. I know it’s unrealistic to think we can see each other every weekend again. Seeing them once or twice a year isn’t quite enough.
5. Not being able to pay my bills – With a car payment, two student loans, utilities, rent and a few other things it seems like money is hard to come by. I make enough to live currently, but jobs aren’t guaranteed no matter how hard you work.
6. Buying a first place - As with all 20-somethings you have to consider buying your first place. Finding something within your price range and being able pay the bills (all of them) on time every time with a home is still a challenge and fear.
7. Semi-Trailer Trucks – When I was 16, I was involved in an accident involving a semi. The tow company said had I rotated even another degree the air bag would not have deployed and I may not be here at this point.
8. Spiders – I have some inherent fear of spiders…and they are just gross
9. Storms – Yes Sarah, I’ll put it on here for you! I’m mainly afraid of DRIVING in storms and bad weather.
10. Free Falling – After talking with some people on Twitter (@bgKahuna) I realized that I left this one off. I really can’t stand the feeling of free falling, which is the root cause to why I don’t like roller coasters and will never sky dive. The NFL Lockout – I WANT ME SOME FOOTBALL!

To be honest I tried to think of 10 serious ideas but I really couldn’t come with any hence you get the last four on this list…

What are some of your fears? You don’t necessarily have to have 10, but share them! It’ll be awesome if you do. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of the site and share this with your friends with the methods below. Thanks!