The Brave Blog
I'm documenting a year of being braver in my career, life, and faith. The goal is to write every day, and you can get a summary of brave stories by signing up for my weekly newsletter. Stories I'll share:Being brave in sales and growing a new consulting divisionTraining for a 100-mile ultra raceLiving authentically for Jesus
Scroll down for new entries and sign-up to get the weekly summary!Running in the Dark
A sick dog. A tired wife. A dark morning. And a Navy Seal.
1 brave thing: Training Early
Goldie our dog is whining. Its 3am. My wife takes her out. Sleep is normally easy but not this night as I toss around feeling unsettled. Perhaps work, outstanding to-do items, the significant and important Fellowship weekend ahead of me, etc. Before I know, it’s 5am and Goldie needs to go out again. I take her out and decide to lace up the running shoes.
Why it matters. Jocko Willink, retired Seal and author has a great line about the only thing you want to put off is taking a day off. Today was a great example of getting out earlier than expected for a training run to not allow a tough night get in the way. Fortunately this is a once a quarter type of occurrence.
And so it continues!
Justin
Lunch with the Competition
What happens when our egos are challenged? Some humility and learning opportunities.
1 brave thing: Meeting a Better Version of Myself
Today a mutual friend introduced me to another employee benefits consultant. The reason was this consultant had gained 3x the number of clients I had over the past 18 months and he though there may be some shared opportunities. A part of me didn’t want to go- to face the reality there was someone in my area doing what I do but better.
Why it matters. I needed to address my ego, pray for wisdom and I went with an open mind to learn. Well that’s what I tried.
Be more aggressive. What I learned from my lunch meeting with the competition was I have to be more aggressive in making my work known. Sounds like a brave challenge.
More to come!
Justin
Asking for help
Bravery can be as simple as asking for help. I’m fortunate to have many friends I can ask for assistance and I finally did today.
1 brave thing: Plan a fun date
I am thankful for the CL Thomas Fellowship group. I’m part of a new group now and I mentioned how I wanted accountability with a couple of things and one was simple on the surface but true- plan a fun date with my wife.
Why it matters. It may not sound brave but asking for help with childcare and saying no to other things is important to prioritize. Sometimes it just takes asking for help from those willing to give it.
Walk-In Journalist
Instead of going back to my car I decided to do something brave and random. To enter a business and pitch my services.
1 brave thing: Newspaper Editor Chat
I walked back to my parked car holding a bag of groceries and a to go cup of tea. Instead of going into my car I walked into the local newspaper office and introduced myself and volunteered to write for the paper.
Why it matters. It was capitalizing a spur of the moment brave thought. Why shouldn’t I write for newspapers? Why not start right in my small hometown of Hillsborough, NC?
No promises or clear next steps. I introduced myself as a health coach and interested in writing on establishing habits. I shared about having to make and maintain habits around my ultra training and it sparked a fun 3-4 minute chat. I left, sent an email afterwards and have no idea where this will go. But it was a brave moment and that’s what matters.
To writing more and meeting more people,
Justin
Confident Consultant
Sometimes in order to be brave we need to prime ourselves. Today gave me a case study into this truth.
1 brave thing: Consulting and selling
Today I had two significant client calls and they happened in just the sequence I needed. The first call with a long term client. I facilitated with confidence because I’ve demonstrated results and trust over time. The second call was with a new client who we are looking to move from a small engagement to a larger one.
Why it matters. Because I was confident earlier in the day, I brought that same confidence in the second call when my sales moment presented itself. I may have shied away from that opportunity in the past.
Let’s keep it going.
Justin
Volunteering to Preach
I’m learning that bravery is voluntarily putting myself in situations that require me to get more brave.
1 brave thing: Preaching
Today I had a coffee meeting with the elder couple from my local church and I volunteered to preach. I’m not a pastor, I’m trained in business, behavioral health, and licensed for consulting business owners on health benefits. But I volunteered nonetheless!
Why it matters. As one podcast I listened to recently said, “you don’t get less scared you get more brave.” I’m trying to voluntarily put myself in situations that require me to “get more brave.”
More to come,
Justin
Podcast Strategy
I’m looking for new ways to maximize my time and impact. How can I do that through the lens of a passion project of mine with the Become a Provider podcast?
1 brave thing: Exploring podcast help
I started the Become a Provider podcast during the pandemic and episode 119 just launched today! You would think I have the system nailed by now but my brave step is asking and exploring help. I want to keep the editing quality high but without my effort.
Why it matters. As I balance the priorities of my family, training, consulting and coaching work I want to maximize my output and impact. Exploring tools and people to help with the podcast is a step in the right direction!
Let the brave act of learning and delegation continue!
Justin
20 days and 20 hours to go
Going for a long training run reminded me how much further I have to go in just 20 days.
1 brave thing: Another long run
It was cool and beautiful morning and afternoon for a long 5 hr training run. I ran a portion of the Mountain to Sea trail that is part of my MST 100 trail race. 20 days to go until race day!
Why it matters. The goal is to train to set me up for success on race day. However it is crazy to go for a 5 hour run today and to think about going for another 20 hours on race day.
Let the brave training continue.
Justin