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Anyone going to The 48th Annual Mayor's Christmas Parade Parade today?
Fantastic event today!!!
2021 GG Masters Tour is coming to Kearneysville, WV on 07Aug2021! Age divisions from 30 to 70+, RX and Scaled for all. Also a qualifier for the Master of the Masters 2021 Tour Championship in early 2022! Information and registration here:
i just need to share that my bright spot this week was the 22 minute mark of today's 7 AM zoom class recording.
BRIGHT SPOTS FRIDAY!
I’m spending this Friday morning in Vangie on a mini-roadtrip...a little loop up to Philly, over to Lancaster and back home. The objective: pick up the last few pieces of the replacement pull-up/squat rig for our indoor space at Nevermore.
As the gym emerges from hibernation to a slow rousing with outdoor classes to a full awakening with live indoor sessions, we are putting one of Warren Buffet’s maxims into practice. Buy when everyone else is selling. Buffet used that line in a letter to stockholders nearly ten years ago, adding, “We’ve put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years … Big opportunities come infrequently. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.”
Our first steps back into action included moving 44-feet of steel rigging from our indoor space in order to create the perfect outdoor gym...the likes of which you won’t find outside of locations such as Southern California. We got such positive responses to the undertaking that we’ve decided to keep rockin the outdoor space indefinitely. Hence the investment to resupply our original location. The risks of added overhead and logistics exist. But I read once that the inherent risk of living at the edges of the human endeavor is what drives new ideas and, ultimately, progress.
In leadership circles there’s a term “free-to-fail”. Instituting this free-to-fail culture is encouraged because failing goes hand-in-hand with taking risk. For instance, the C.E.O. of WD-40 has a policy: On every project, he wants to hear what went wrong, not just what went right.
And so here is my challenge to you this week: live at the edges in your workouts (or at work or elsewhere in your life). Add that extra five pounds even if you’re not sure you’re going to hit the lift. Come out of the gates too hot on purpose and see how far you can push before you bonk. Conversely, take some weight OFF the bar, leave your ego in the parking lot for once, and make certain your form is PERFECT...all week. Attend the workout that “looks boring” or the one that isn’t necessarily in your wheelhouse.
A hint of craziness can be a good thing. Don’t hesitate to ZAG when everyone else zigs. The Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “There is no great genius without a tincture of madness.” We’ve all intuitively understood that people who are geniuses are often a little bit crazy.
My Bright Spot has been literally THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX! If you’re wondering how different one gym can be from another, come join me for a taste! Here's a link for a free trial week 😉
https://nevermore.pushpress.com/open/subscribe/ftmk
If you know me well, you know I like to put Apple lemmings on blast, because it seems sometimes like everyone is simply following the herd. But I can’t forget that APPLE was BUILT on a foundation of disruption and creativity and a bit of craziness, as evidenced by one of the best ads ever…
What is your Bright Spot this week?...
There’s a great scene in Pulp Fiction towards the end of the movie where Samuel Jackson’s character Jules tells John Travolta’s Vincent that he’s planning on retiring from the life of a contract killer. “Whatchu gonna do then?” asks Vincent. “Well, that’s what I’ve been sitting here contemplating”, replies Jules. “Basically I’m just gonna walk the earth. You know, like Cain in Kung Fu...walk from place to place, meet people, get in adventures.”
If you know much about me and Angie, you know we’re typically either ON an adventure or in the midst of planning one. This year has been no different, though COVID-19 is certainly changing our tactics. The spring roadtrip was blown up almost from the jump, as we were forced to hightail it home when the gym shut down. So we set our sites on the fall, this time with a couple friends.
When would we depart? How long would we be gone? What would be our primary destinations and how much time would we spend at each? I enjoy this part...plotting the trip on a map, calculating travel times, assembling the must-do lists. And after a bit of deliberation we settled on our first goal: Glacier National Park. Then this morning I get a message from our travel companions with a link to an article titled, “Blackfeet close eastern border of Glacier for remainder of 2020 season.”
Now what?
On Wednesday, the email I received from the Daily Stoic made reference to Homer’s Odyssey, particularly the strangeness of the poem’s ending. The email reads, “despite spending every waking second for ten years fighting to get home, despite overcoming nearly insurmountable obstacles on his way, despite all the carnage of the final battle to reclaim his kingdom, Odysseus does something almost inconceivable the second he possesses what he longed for…he starts planning to leave again!” And while the email focused on our incapability to be still, I interpreted the story a little differently. Maybe Odysseus realized, upon FINALLY reaching his destination, that life really is about the journey.
We’ve heard all the quotes. Emerson’s “Life is a journey, not a destination.” Arthur Ashe’s “Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” Jack Kerouac’s perfectly succinct, “The road is life.” Yet, we still focus so much on getting THERE (whatever that goal may be).
Even here at Nevermore. The goals: losing some weight, hitting a PR on a lift, achieving the fastest time in a daily workout. But I challenge you to set that aside a bit. Focus instead on overcoming the obstacles...learning where your breaking points are after being pushed to your physical and mental limits. Focus on the relationships you’re forming with your fellow athletes as you face adversity together. Focus on what you’re made of, because we learn this not when we COMPLETE our goals, but during the PROCESS. Author Michael Neil reaffirms this point in his book Supercoach: “Obsessing about goals is like playing a game of fetch with yourself, using your happiness and self-worth as the bone.”
You might not even need to reach your goal to be successful. What you get out of TRYING is guaranteed to make an impact. By simply SETTING OUT to achieve a goal, you’re forming new habits, striving towards something bigger than yourself, and infusing your life with purpose. THOSE are the lessons that develop character.
My Bright Spot: The fall roadtrip is ON! Spreadsheets and timelines be damned. We’re still not sure where we’re headed, but does it matter?! Regardless of where we go, we’re destined to meet people and get in adventures!
What is your Bright Spot this week?!...
BRIGHT SPOTS FRIDAY!
What if there was something out there that was used to represent value. I’d certainly want to incorporate that into not only my personal life, but also my business. And what if that same thing was useful for communication. Our entire mission at Nevermore is built on the foundation of relationships. Furthermore, in our heated atmosphere as a city and as a nation, productive discussions are more than desired right now, they are imperative.
What if that THING also held symbolic meaning. Like the interweaving of lives, or a reminder of natural GROWTH, or the writing of a future together. Or best yet...of a blank slate and NEW BEGINNINGS.
This coming Monday, June 22nd we are slated to reopen our doors after more than three months of shutdown. It has been a trying time to say the least. And we are more than ready for our grand reopening...our new beginning. At Nevermore, we have restructured our service offerings. We’ve redefined what ‘CrossFit’ means to our members and to our surrounding community. And we have even undertaken a rebrand...to Nevermore Fitness and Wellness. June 22nd will forever mark the date of a new Nevermore (Nevermore nevermore).
And every year on this date, the relaunch of this venture will fall exactly SECOND among my thoughts. You see, on this date one year ago I married Angie Lutz. There is nothing I value more in this world than the life I get to live with my wife. There is nobody who simply gets me the way she does. Our lives have been intertwined for thirty years, nearly fifteen as a couple. We have grown together in more ways than I can possibly recount and we are constantly reinventing who we are and where we are headed. Every adventure is a new beginning, one I am grateful for every single day.
One year. The first anniversary. The gift of THE THING. Paper. My Bright Spot.
What is your Bright Spot this week?!...
Special thanks to the gym owners and coaches who have contributed materials so we can have a quick turnaround on resources for you. And a special thanks to those that volunteered to help (We had a lot of people fill out the form to help but had to limit the number due to trying to move fast)
Bobbi Hollars from 9th Wave Fitness
Eric Conner from Crossfit Reform
Kristin Carasiti from Nevermore Crossfit
Carl Neidholdt from Crossfit Cerberus
Andrew R**e and Melissa Donaldson from MyVitality Nutrition
Seth Berbert from Put It Up CrossFit
Kiersten Mueller from Another Level Fitness
Judah Boulet from No Risk Crossfit
Adam Morden from StrongHearts Fitness: School of Movement - CrossFit Courtenay
Miska Toivonen from CrossFit Sörnäinen
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Virtual BE-WAP (Wellness Ambassador Program) this Thursday 4/30, at 3:30pm! Family yoga and videos to some delicious recipes! Link is in the comments! Hope you can join us. Thanks to yoga instructor Carasiti and Nevermore Crossfit!
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