And why being a pro athlete taught me it’s true
You want to do more for your New Year’s Resolution in 2021.
You want to create momentum so you write a 2021 New Year’s Resolution that will truly change your life.
You want to be great, get that six-pack back, and reach a milestone.
You want to be free to choose your next big thing.
As a former pro athlete, people ask me where my inspiration came from, and I get annoyed by the notion of it. I rarely feel inspiration. …
The first question I want to ask you is: are you authentic?
There are days while I solo-travel or nomad or backpack that I don’t need anyone but me. I am self-reliant. I live simple. This creates an internal space for happiness and existentialism. For reflection. Maybe you feel this too. To fall off the grid is divine. To disappear into yourself and come back stronger is the chrysalis we “Americans” may need to live better, happier lives.
Why live the nine to five?
Why travel to the same place every year?
Why stay in our comfort zone?
Not many people value working a nine to five as much as society values…
“Dang, where is my hair going?” I asked myself this morning, plodding my fingers through my thinning, backward mullet. My life is probably halfway done. I can get oddly existential on days like this, where I want to meditate on the things and ways and places I’ve been.
But why?
Why do I care?
The days are coming shorter and faster and slower and quicker all in the same way. Like a cloud that evolves into a bunny shape and then a dragon seconds later.
This is life and it changes as fast as my mood, or Chicago traffic, or…
And How American Culture Fails Americans
“You’re gonna die,” my brother Damon said.
“Maybe, maybe not…” I respond, thumbing through some paint cans. “But I’m done painting. I’m done with the real estate game for a while. I just need a change. I need to challenge myself in a new way.”
“You don’t even know how to sail.”
“No — but I’ll learn.”
My younger brother glanced at me and back to the glistening white wall he was rolling. He had white paint stains on his brown carpenter jeans and a black beanie. He kept his eyes staring forward. …
A pro athlete on building startups, achievement, and expecting results
Expectancy Theory of Motivation says that there is a positive correlation between perceived or real efforts and outcomes; that favorable performance will yield a favorable reward and that reward will satisfy an important need.*
Let me start by saying this: I’m not the smartest, the most athletic, or the most intelligent person. I got a 21 on my ACT in high school. I finally dunked a basketball my senior year in high school and I skipped math entirely in college by finding the major that didn’t make you take it. …
And Donald Trump wasn’t one of them.
Christmas lights flicker in the early morning in Petoskey, Michigan. The snow falls, layered in fluffy, light flakes, the stuff that can’t turn into snowballs. It’s the stuff that blows through your jacket like fine silt and melts quickly when it lands on your skin. This winter cold was typical of my childhood, and it reminds me of how far I’ve traveled and how much I’ve changed — and yet, how many things don’t change.
Like our American society.
After my 14-year pro-athlete career ended, I used to have a meet-up every Saturday with Petoskey friends. We called this group…
My life success hacks and habits I took from the pro athlete world to the pro startup life to do my own thing
The 11 success habits of a millionaire.
The American world tries to tell us who you will most likely become depending on your zip code.
There is no happiness in becoming a millionaire, but there is happiness in understanding the process of learning how to become of great value to the world around you.
These are my 11 success tips to becoming of great value to the world around you, and if you become a millionaire — a happy millionaire — you’ll have enjoyed these creating these habits.
Adam,
Indeed. How can you build something of solace for people you love that don't quite think or live the same lifestyle as you?
“Do you want to buy a place in Costa Rica?”
“I do, but how do we manage it?” I ask.
“I dunno,” she says. “I guess we talk to Bruce. He’d probably love working on something down there.”
“We should get some friends and go in on it, right? I mean, what are we waiting for?”
“Owning real estate is a lot of work Trevor. We don’t have to buy. We could rent and move around as well. Travel the country and stay in different spots. As long as we have internet, I can always work.”
“Yes. I just know…
How do find the creative flow state when your life feels boring?
What do I stick to in life that remains utterly and uselessly boring?
Usually nothing.
What do I do when my life or career becomes a mindless routine of boredom or going through the motions?
Usually depression, anxiety, sadness, or yeah, more boredom.
What do I do when my fitness routine is stale or not authentic to who I am?
I quit.
Ironically, quitting can be the right thing, especially when it keeps feeling wrong over and over and over.
Yet, how do we know what or when the right time or path to change is?
The irony is, we…
