๐๐ดโโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ Ironman Recap, 31 Money Lessons, and How to Find Purpose as We Age
Two quick updates before we dive in:
1) I redesigned my website: www.nathantanner.netย Seven years after building it myself, I decided it was finally time to hire a pro.
2) The St. George Ironman 70.3 was earlier this month. It was an incredible day. I smashed my PR by 8 minutes but fell short of my younger brother, who lost 20 pounds and learned how to run. ๐ค Hereโs the full recap. I share four key lessons learned in the Observations section below.ย
Books, Articles, etc.
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks (Book)
Working closely with high performers has taught me a counterintuitive lesson. I long thought that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that accompanies aging. But the truth is the opposite. The greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs.
Arthur Brooks calls this the striverโs curse. In his words, โPeople who strive to be excellent at what they do often wind up finding their inevitable decline terrifying, their successes increasingly unsatisfying, and their relationships lacking.โย
As someone who self identifies as a striver, and someone who spends his days helping strivers reach peak performance, I really enjoyed this book. It served as an important reminder of whatโs important and the need to continually invest in the things that matter most. Highly recommend it.
The List of Things We Should Worry About Is Actually Pretty Short by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Letter)
I recently stumbled on this letter F. Scott Fitzgerald sent to his daughter. The author of The Great Gatsby outlines a handful of things we should worry about (courage, cleanliness, efficiency) then shares a long list of things we should not worry about (the past, the future, failure, others getting ahead of us, etc.).
Fitzgeraldโs 1958 letter is a needed reminder that the list of things we should worry about is short.ย
31 Lessons Iโve Learned About Money by Ryan Holiday (Article)
Money is a fascinating topic. Whether we have a little or a lot, itโs something thatโs often on our mind. We donโt learn about money in school Weโre forced to figure everything out on our own. This piece provides several good insights. Here are the three that resonated most.ย
Youโll probably never reach โyour numberโ. We all hear people say, โWhen I hit $Xm, Iโll be good.โ No one ever seems to get to that number because we either move the goalposts or set a ridiculous number to begin with.ย
Poverty isnโt having too little, itโs wanting more. I have a friend who has a crazy high salary but lives paycheck to paycheck. He legitimately feels poor. Being rich isnโt making a lot of money. Being rich is having enough.ย
Money is better spent on experiences than possessions. But there is a cost to saying yes. And not just a monetary one. Saying yes can take your most precious, non-renewable resourceโyour time.
Observations
St. George Ironman 70.3 Recap: Redefining Whatโs Possibleย
Here are four key lessons learned from a beautiful race day:
Focus on what you control. In the weeks leading up to the race, I looked at the weather forecast at least three times a day. I was worried the morning might be too cold. I was worried the afternoon would be too hot. Some days the forecast showed a chance of rain, while others showed no rain. But I couldnโt control any of that. All I could control was my preparation, my mindset, and how much effort I gave. I had to focus on that and ignore the rest.
Do the little things right. In triathlon, you can save time by becoming a stronger swimmer, biker, and runner. But you can also get faster by shortening your time transitioning from swim to bike and from bike to run. Becoming faster in the three triathlon disciplines requires a ton of work. But you donโt need to improve your fitness to improve your transitions. Transitioning faster saved me seven minutes. Often itโs the little things done incredibly well that make all the difference.
We all need cheerleaders. The St. George volunteers and supporters were incredible. People lined the streets throughout the race, holding signs and yelling words of encouragement such as, โyou got this!โ or โkeep it up!โ The energy was electric and it motivated me to keep pushing. We all do hard things in life and there are times when we want to give up. We need cheerleaders to champion us and help us keep fighting.
We donโt know our limits. I trained hard for last yearโs Oceanside 70.3 and gave it everything I had on race day. I finished with a time I was proud of, one I didnโt think I could beat again. I knew the St. George course would be more difficult and I told myself that finishing five minutes slower than Oceanside would be a win. Going 5:47 and beating my Oceanside time by eight minutes wasnโt something I thought possible. Our limits are almost always self imposed. We donโt truly know our limits until we test them.
Overall, the St. George 70.3 was an awesome experience and one Iโm grateful I could share with my brother (even though he beat me). Click here to read the full article.ย
How Michael Phelpsโ Pre-Race Routine Can Help You Perform at Your Peak
Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete, having won a record 23 gold medals. The secret to his success was building a mindset that prepared him to be at his best when everything was on the line. This piece explains how he did it.
Gratitudes
Iโve found power in regularly expressing gratitude so Iโll continue the habit. Iโm grateful for the end of another school year. Our kids wrapped up school last Thursday and we celebrated with a pizza/pool party. Theyโve all grown a lot in the last year. Sometimes I catch myself thinking how simple their lives are. But then I remember the challenges I faced when I was their age. Iโm grateful for their courage and effort. Iโm grateful I get to be their dad.ย ย
If you've read anything worth sharing I'd love to hear about it. And do let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.ย ย
Nathan
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