Forge Your Path

Forge Your Path Podcast launches tomorrow!

FRIDAY FUEL - DECEMBER 9
THE BAILEY CHRONICLES

So this week we adopted an eight month old puppy named Bailey…and let me tell you – if you’re looking for a growth mindset challenge, I highly recommend doing the same!

For the past 3 years, my daughters’ mission in life has been to get a dog. Their Christmas list literally reads, “Santa, if you get me a dog, feel free to disregard all other presents!”

In the week leading up to this life-changing event as well as the past 72 hours of life as a Facciani, I discovered some patterns of thinking that were great reminders of how the mind can be a detriment to your hopes and dreams whenever a change occurs.

#1 “What if We’re Not Ready?”
This thought has been prevalent over the past year – and reemerged in force this week. "Maybe let’s wait until the spring…or summer…or 7th grade." If we wanted to, we could have discovered dozens of logical reasons to wait to take action.

However...when I think about any major life transition I successfully navigated…

Going to School: Did I have a full playbook for everything? Or was I prepared enough with the essentials, and figured it out each day?

Buying a House: What benefits would I have gained for waiting another year or two? Or would rates have spiked along with house prices marching ever upward?

Parenting: I was 36 when Annie and Lily were born. Were my wife and I ready? Not really. What benefit would we have gotten from waiting? Or would we just have been older?

Again - I have concluded sometimes it’s better to act than wait for the next day, week, quarter, year, decade, or lifetime.

#2 "How am I/How will we?"
In the week prior – and the last 72 hours – a million questions have emerged. “How am I going to find time to workout again? What happens when it rains today and I need to walk him? What are we going to do on Christmas Eve?”

I have concluded this: focus on winning the moment and the day. Plan and prepare for the essentials…but avoid over-analysis. I can’t solve next week’s problems, or even tomorrow’s. Execute in the short term to win the day, and plan for short term success. The intermediate term planning and strategy will come.

#3 "Never and Always" Thinking
When Bailey announced himself to the world yesterday with ear-splitting barking at 4:15 AM, I found myself thinking “I’m never going to sleep again.” Last night there were similar fears such as “We’ll never be able to take a vacation again” and “We will always be stuck at home.”

I’ve found that in any scenario where progress should be the focus, “Never and Always” thinking is rarely an asset – unless you can flip it. In changing times, a great “Always” thought is this: “Whatever life throws at me, I ALWYAYS figure it out!” Choose empowering thoughts – as opposed to going global to create permanent scenarios out of temporary snapshots.

Wish us luck with Bailey and have a great week!