Work intersections – while out on a run

What started this post?

I have taken to verbalizing my thoughts here using my blog. I try to keep it centered on thoughts from triathlon, headspace or mindset, life and sometimes work. Well, work has been quite noisy lately. So, in my professional development that I carved out time for on Mondays this percolated to the top. While running, I got lost in thought. I thought through work intersections and memories with my life and the balance I seek. Prompted by some of the inner processing of work scenarios, I have shared a few posts on Linkedin as of late.

Running down a dream! With gratitude and full of wise hindsight

I guess I was out on my run – see above pic. As I was thinking through some of the noise, I was really digesting how life and balance comes first. I was further thinking of how work is something I do. Work doesn’t define me. I have let my life and triathlon hobby help provide me contextual defining or labeling of me. I found that interesting because of the following thought:

Nobody wants to work anymore (1894 to present)

Setting proper boundaries, and not being run over is critical now more than ever. Asserting confidence with correct levels of empathy and courage is key. In the master/servant (employer/employee) relationship, especially in the ‘at-will’ and for ‘salary’ or ‘beneficial hourly wage’, there are so many dynamics and nuances.

Simon Sinek has a lot to say here. The video is worth the watch. Sure it’s long, but if this is important to you, its well worth the watch:

I also like a book called Peak Performance by Brad Stulburg and Steve Magness. The book talks about overwork and ultimately burn-out. It is my observation that the American work culture cultivates a generally unhealthy relationship. Work, Life, Balance. The work culture and expectations are analogous to dieting, health and fitness. At the end of the day, there is work (provided by various Masters) and there are workers willing to do so. Finding amenable conditions and compensation should just be ‘de facto’.

The sad reality is there are still plenty of masters that find exploitation or preying on naivete or desperation is a morally acceptable choice. Toxicity is just that. But seeing over a 100 years of this repeated tripe – sounds to me like their bs has been called and the employers have a decision to make. Adapt and stay alive, or stay the same and risk not being available to supply work. Capitalism tends to follow the gold standard, they who have the gold make the rules, with the internet as the de facto standard of communication- traditional or slow changing ‘brick and mortar’ standards are being challenged. A lot of masters have a hard time when their integrity is challenged and ego gets in the way.

I further observe that workers (contributors, performers, leaders), regardless of education can shop for employment opportunities. This present a challenge of course to the employer. Ever more available than before employers have never had to navigate the difference between perception and reality. With information receptacles/engines like GLASSDOOR and other online venues similar to reddit – Masters can keep banging the drum that people don’t want to work. The reality is, people don’t want to be taken advantage of – exploited. The irony is recently with COVID, many employers suggested that potential employees become smarter and more efficient. Many did! Eating crow is hard regardless of work status (employer/employee etc) – but here we are.

Anyway, I was thinking through my experiences and interactions with work. How I have encountered very good opportunities and poor opportunities alike. As I reminisced about one particularly difficult scenario in New Haven, Connecticut, my mind and heart were filled with gratitude. It was during that experience where I gained a deep empathy beyond my own. That empathy well ran deep because of those interactions and experiences. I learned how to self promote, despite obstacles. I learned well before reading Ryan Holiday’s work “The Obstacle is the Way’ elements of how Marcus Aurelius described how resistance creates growth.

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Marcus Aurelius

Even though I had a lot to be bitter about, and yes I swallowed a lot of ‘piss and vinegar’ during that experience for my wife and son, I absorbed many lessons learned. I was not a victim of my circumstance. The discovery of what I controlled was more than I understood, but I was taking steps that would later shape future trajectories with balance and foresight. I encountered deep and dark places thinking that I had back-pedaled when in fact I was merely ‘failing forward’.

As I sat looking through the wired fence up the hill at the property ahead of me and the mountains as a back drop, just how grateful I was to have climbed that mountain. It spurred on memories of how in triathlon I personally came into the scene. How I wanted to let everyone know I had arrived. I mean let’s be real, I hadn’t been too active in sports since about 1998 outside of my voracious appetite for snowboarding and avoiding life. Not that I was afraid of it, I just didn’t know where to go.

I encountered folks that were off put from my chest thumping, and I turned inward again, trying to improve myself first, so that I could be available to share and support — mind you when asked. The thoughts then lead me to remember an experience I had at a ski resort in Alta, Utah. I recall sitting on one of the old double ski chairs – feet dangling with my K2 5500’s –

Wow I have really met most of my dreams! I am here 18 years old. I have lived it all! Living the dream!

Shane’s inner voice

What a naïve and arrogant unwise schmuck I was. Geesh, talk about being full of myself. Looking back, I can see with hindsight as my clarifying lens – it was just beginning. Sure it was a winding road of wanderlust, and it still is! As I shook myself out of those memories looking at the mountain. I also glimpsed recalibrations. Liz and I have re-shaped our paths a few times – mostly together – sometimes in unison, often more of her patiently stamping her foot until I got on-board. no, really, I honestly sense we have a fairly fluid dynamic. Sure at times we are both frustrated – for me not because of her, but because I have to go with her and I chose to not do it alone. I choose to be a better person, and I am grateful she is often in my path to join me.

The Wanderlust continues – that’s the summary 🙂

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to get out and journal is a recognition of gratitude that I have chosen to put life and balance first. That I was confident enough to do so, and I can see glimpses of how that journey was shaped. It doesn’t mean that I am still not a beggar, meaning I still rely on working as a contributing subordinate myself. Rather, I have developed empathy, courage and am able to assert myself confidently and not be bull-dozed. Those skills have been difficult and arduous for me to acquire. I attribute my affinity to triathlon ands associated training because I am often comfortable in enduring through uncomfortable things.

Linkedin continues to be a strange platform to me. I still struggle to see authentic engagement. Observing pass-alongs, often ignoring lessons learned or a personal career touch. The platform provides me opportunities to intersect, engage, and see past friends, colleagues and other acquaintances. I use it as a method to network and leverage potential work opportunities. I find that is the strength and value add of the platform when I choose to lean into Linkedin – connection! This provokes more internal gratitude.

So, I encourage my circles of influence, please be safe, and be authentic. Stop! Be still. Be present! Quit ignoring the moment! Reach out to a colleague and share, with tact and integrity, why you appreciate them!