I voted for myself...

This is not a political post. Let me repeat. This is not a political post. This is about how in August I started casting votes for me. No I wasn't committing voter fraud.

Let me explain...

Back in August I decided I needed to make some changes. Our family has worked really hard to be good citizens by following all of the advise of health experts during COVID-19. We have stayed home and opted out of all of our usual activities. While I've found many blessings during this time after about 6 months the pandemic lifestyle was taking a toll on me. I needed to make some changes while still being a responsible and safe member of my community.

What I did was what my friend John Brubaker (CoachBru.com) recently described in one of his awesome newsletters as voting for myself.

For 6 months I had been telling the players on my team that they needed to make their mental and physical health a priority while at the same time ignoring my own. Classic coach behavior. I had assigned them The Coffee Bean by Damon West and Jon Gordon. It's one of my favorite books. One of the key lessons from Damon is that you must train yourself spiritually, mentally and physically every single day. Once again I was imploring my student-athletes to follow this guidance while at the same time I was allowing myself to deteriorate in all of those areas.

One day in August I woke up and decided it was time to make a change. Voting for me was all about making the changes I wanted to see.

The first step for me was to start working out again. I began with easy home workout videos on YouTube. They don't require any equipment and they are led by energetic people. Next I talked my wife into buying an elliptical. I love ellipticals. I remember the first week thinking there must be something wrong with the machine. I can barely go for 15 minutes. We also purchased some weights. I don't particularly like weights because I find them heavy. But I knew they were important for the changes I wanted to make.

I also started walking our dog Reese every morning. That seemed to make everyone in my family very happy! After a while I got real bold and decided to start running with Reese. The first run did not go well. I have the scars to prove it. But my attitude toward running has improved as has my actual ability. And Reese is an awesome partner as long as she doesn't see any birds, cats, cars, people, other dogs, ants, or vacuum cleaners. Oddly enough we were running yesterday and someone left their vacuum cleaner on the sidewalk. Reese freaked out!

Because my soreness started to reach epic levels I decided to try yoga. The relaxing kind. Not power yoga. Not hot yoga. The deep stretch feel good kind.

Then came the really hard part. Eating healthier. I started slowly and just kept improving each week. I also got to the point where I enjoyed feeling and looking better more than I enjoyed eating. There is something really inspiring about fitting into a pair of jeans that you haven't been able to wear since 2012.

After about a month of eating healthier, exercising, and yoga my energy level started going through the roof. I've gotten to the point where I can't sleep past 6:30 am and I love it! That has led me to start meditating for 10 minutes every morning right when I wake up. It is a great way to start the day spiritually. My wonderful friend Lorie Wilson of Turlock Warrior Yoga leads amazing morning meditations.

The next thing I started to realize was that I would benefit from a more active lifestyle beyond just working out. After a while 90-120 minutes a day on an elliptical gets boring. I've run out of Netflix shows to watch. And for my mental health I needed to turn off cable news as much as possible. I started by riding my bike to work. I've also taken up kayaking, Stand-Up Paddle Boarding, and most surprisingly hiking. All three have amazing spiritual, mental and physical benefits.

Each of these steps: (1) eating healthy, (2) exercising, (3) yoga, (4) meditation, and (5) a more active lifestyle were votes for me. They were votes for change. Votes that are allowing me to become a better version of me so I can be a better father, husband, friend, and coach.

Voting is important. The Presidential Election may only come around once every four years but the opportunity to vote for you happens every single day. The biggest votes you will ever cast in your life aren't in elections. They are the ones you cast for you.