Thanks to everyone who interacted with my first post, I have been busy every Sunday at the moment with Work, dinner, and some service work. Plan is to be on this upcoming Sunday. Having said all this, my weeks have been busy since joining Life Skool and interacting with some of you and you all have given some amazing input. Over the past 4 years I have been dealing with some high anxiety especially when it comes to severe weather. My junior year of college I came home for the weekend and before I went to bed I still remember the sky being green at 11 pm at night no tornados but there were many all over the state of Indiana that night. I heard of some that were down south of Indianapolis that wiped out some of the area they lived in. Fast forward to 2024 I was umpiring a few games including a championship softball game. Next thing I know I feel a very chilly straight line wind on an 80 degree day and when my friend and I looked up at the sky a tornado was coming right down over us. My first instinct was run, get in my car, drive away. I will be honest I still hear those screams of people in fear as they ran to their cars. The rest of the year was fine but then going into 2025 there were many storms that were firing including one that caused me having anxiety attacks every few hours. Heading into 2026 now that I have a job, I am heavily in the agreement of staying safe and not having messy commutes. Yes I always will understand tornadoes and storms happen and yes I also know not everyone will see a natural disaster and it might be rare to see one in general. Over the years I have learned a few things about my anxiety. Today I will share 5: 1. Control what you can control no you cannot control the weather but you can control what you watch stay off weather apps on all hours of the day, focus on the present, 2. Stay prepared know if weather is to come maybe go to the lower level for the night I remember early on when this really spooked me I had many sleepless nights 3. Find something enjoyable but also talk to others as storm anxiety is very real especially when you are alone. The worst thing that could happen is being alone with your thoughts and thinking the worse. Instead, focus on the positives 4. This one has helped me more and more recently when bad weather happens don’t be self centered think about what if your kids at school aren’t safe or cousins or sisters at college aren’t safe do you think this affects them like it affects me. For example when 3 rivers and union city got hit this weekend I was thinking about how hard it has to be for them to keep going especially after all that has happened. 5. Finally, God and I have a heavy relationship on many things but when it comes to storms I often ask him why do storms come with severe potential. I never have got a definitive answer but I can say finding relaxing activities during the time it happens is key to keep yourself going. It is so hard but showing up and working problems out is so important to keep going.

Hey Life School, what's one way we can show up today? What does that look like for you and how can you prioritize that to make your day just a little brighter? We want to create a ripple effect of blessings. If we can make a difference just by looking someone in the eyes with a smile, we can create a chain reaction beyond our farthest reach. It all starts with one small deed or conscious action to show up. So how will you today? Would love to see your response and encouragement for our community!

Roughly 21 months ago I graduated from Purdue University. While I felt proud of my accomplishment in completing my bachelors degree. I had no sense of direction as I decided not to pursue grad school for school counseling. My summer went by I went to Florence and Rome for a graduation present. But come August, I was still stuck in college mode… and quite simply had to find a job. Sadly from August 2024-May 2025 I was jobless outside of umpiring softball and baseball on some week nights here and there. I applied to jobs in HR, data analytics, recruiting, and even some business type jobs hoping and praying that I would land somewhere, often times getting ghosted. Roll around to March 2025 I landed my 2nd legitimate interview in a recruiting company where I would be onboarding newcomers. I got to the 3rd round and on April 2nd 2025 my life changed. I did not get that job and got nothing related to that job… Instead on September 24th 2024 I was studying to become a special education teacher and was transitioning my psychology degree to an online teaching program called teachers of tomorrow. Sadly I put it on hold from November- April as my family felt I wouldn’t make enough money instead of going where my heart wanted to I went where my brain went and went back into the job search but in reality I had no plan except wanting a job which turned into a dead end really quick. Going back to April 2nd I was sick of being ghosted by companies as it caused me so much loneliness as most of my peers were off in the work world. And I finally put my foot down and said I’m going into education and working with the future. Which in my current position I am an instructional assistant in special education and the reward is greater than the paycheck as I’m helping people day in and day out. Consistently showing up to a study session to study for my two teaching exams on March 27th and funny enough April 2:) is crucial to my success. One thing I hope others can take away from this is most people settle for average. Simply put people want to live a simple life and settle down and not take that extra step. I live by many standards but there are 3 I go by:

I've been at Internship all day and had 4 awesome therapy sessions with clients. It's hard, taxing work, but it's rewarding and reminds me why I'm in the field. I was going to drive home, leaving at 5:45 pm (later than usual and it's an hour commute back), but I decided to stop by my school's library to finish an assignment due tomorrow night. When I knocked that out, I felt fatigued and tired since I haven't eaten yet, but I knew that once I ate I would clock out for the night. I debated putting my reading on hold (note: my weekly goal is to read 5 pages a day, at least 4/7 days of the week), and I've been struggling for weeks to actually attain my goal even though it's important to me. But I said "it's just 5 pages, and if I do it right now before I leave the library, I'll get it done and I can report to @Govind that I went the extra mile to crush it." It's such a minor win, but I thought I'd share it with you guys because I've made so many excuses about my reading but I'm hoping to meet my quota this time. Our Life Skool call yesterday helped me feel energized to really go for the gold. These goals are meant to keep me grounded and stay motivated, rain or shine, so I'm not going to let my tiredness stop me this time! (Even if that won't always be the case). Who's with me to set some goals and make our dreams come true!? Thank you Life Skool, What's a minor win that you guys have had this week?

Thank you to @Govind Nadathur and @Casey Kaufman for today's call. Love getting to hear how you do your high performance call with each other and how it works for you both. Also love how you do a nightly (daily) recap to share strengths & struggles - brilliant. @Mark Matthews has this hoodie I love that says "Honor the Struggle". So - In that vibe I'll share a struggle I've been working on (maybe others will do the same). My old default is staying up late (night owl) - and yet I've realized that I love getting up early (5 or 6am). When I do get up early, I have the best days. It's easier to get my morning routine in (Growth Day Journal + get outside and move). But...of course it's hard to get up early when I'd go to bed late (1 or 2am). It's an old/bad habit that doesn't serve me (like I don't want the day to end), even though my body is sending me all the cues that it's ready for sleep. The hack I've figured out...is to follow my wife to bed (usually 10pm) and then read (lights out no later than 11pm). Holy cow what a difference it makes (not just for me but also for my connection with my wife - awesome high quality time together). It also leads to even more awesome high quality conversations & connection in the mornings (those have been a gamechanger for our marriage). The trick for me is the same universal/1st principal of sticking to routines/rituals/inputs that work with consistency. I'm making progress (not perfect) and not judging myself when I miss. I just get back to what works (follow my wife to bed - so simple). Love the community @Mark Matthews & @Govind Nadathur are building here (amazing). Seth Godin defines culture (community) as 'people like us do things like this'. Who wants to share next? What are some struggles you're dealing with? P.S. Being vulnerable is a leadership quality I choose to embody.