October is a month of hard. Hard days, busy schedules, birthdays, fitness, work. I’ve certainly experienced this first hand. Many I’ve spoken with have as well. It’s the seasonal changes. Getting kicked a bit in the teeth, shit in by others, snapped at by loved ones happen. Doesn’t mean we have to take any of it. We talk a lot about tools to manage stress. The breath work, the journals, the malas, the gratitude. These are tools to help us prepare to absorb the hard days. Just like a good pair of running shoes. They don’t make you run faster, train harder, feel better… the reality is those new shoes will give your feet blisters too if you go too far.. too fast.. without properly breaking them in. However, if you walk in them before you run.. those shoes will absorb the efforts.. the impacts.. the distances you put yourself and feet through. Remember calm is not the absence of chaos. It’s learning, using, and practicing with the right tools for you to absorb the efforts and the impacts of the road each day. Now go create some miles and bring back some stories to tell.

Something I’ve really come to appreciate about our Saturday morning calls is how much I get out of just listening to the other guys. Someone shares something they’re going through, a lesson they’ve learned, or even a small change they’ve made in their life. And sometimes it gets me thinking about something in my own life that I hadn’t looked at that way before. I think a lot of us have spent years trying to figure everything out on our own. I know I have. And sometimes all it takes is a conversation with another guy to see things a little differently. That’s a big part of why I started Anchored & Ready. I don’t want this to be another group we join and forget about. I’d love for us to actually get to know each other, share what we’ve learned, and have somewhere to turn when life gets heavy. If you’ve been hanging back, I’d really encourage you to jump in. Share a book, a podcast, a habit that’s helped you, or something you’ve learned the hard way. Come grab a coffee with us on Saturday at 7 AM Pacific. You don’t even have to talk. Just come hang out and listen. The Zoom link is in the calendar. And if you’ve got a buddy who could use some good men around him, bring him in too. I know we’re all busy. I’m not expecting anyone to be in here every day. But this place only becomes a community if we actually get involved. So here’s something I’d love to hear from you guys. What’s one thing that’s helped you lately that you think another guy could benefit from? Doesn’t have to be anything profound. Just something real. Stay anchored. Keep going.