I gotta be honest…I’m WRECKED today, friend. And I had such a “Case of the Mondays” yesterday I wasn’t even able to get out this newsletter until this afternoon. Why am I so wrecked?
Last Sunday I ran a Tough Mudder OCR (obstacle course race) with several of my fellow Optimizer students who have been training every other weekend for the last six months to prepare for this race (and a Spartan Race next Sunday).
And we had a blast!
Before the race began I talked with my fellow mudders about the importance of not only measuring our lives in years but more importantly measuring our lives by the quantity of meaningful moments we create. And every single one of the racers created their own meaningful moments they’ll never forget.
At the end of our lives when we look back on how we spent our time, we’re not going to regret the things we did do.
When we look back on how we lived our lives we inevitably regret the things we didn’t do.
The things we avoided out of fear. Or looking stupid. Or possibly failing.
But rarely will we ever regret trying something…even if we inevitably fail.
Despite the immense fear of the cold water, the unknown, the electric shock (yeah, it’s a real thing), failure, or otherwise, my students stepped well outside their comfort zones to discover they are capable of so much more.
Once you flip the switch in your mind where you realize you’re capable of achieving so much more than you ever imagined, that’s a switch you can never turn off again.
And that’s when life gets really interesting.
What Do You Want 2023 To Look Like?
As the new year approaches, you may be thinking about how the past year went and what the new year will bring. Maybe you’re happy with the direction your life and career are headed…or maybe you’re ready to make some changes?
As 2022 winds down, I understand how easy it is to get caught up in the chaos of the holidays and fall into the trap of thinking “I’ll just write December off as a loss and start fresh in the new year.”
Rather than simply take a hiatus during the month of December, my team and I want to set you up for success when 2023 rolls around so you can consistently and sustainably take action towards your most important goals all year long. That’s why we’ve carefully reviewed our entire podcast library of over 200 interviews to bring you what we believe are the top 5 best conversations to help you design the more balanced, more productive, and more fulfilling (and creative) life that you deserve.
Here is the first part of this five interview series with the legendary Tony Horton, creator of the best selling home fitness program in history P90X, who has also been my ninja mentor for the last four years as well as a friend. This interview is from way back in the Optimize archives at the very beginning of our relationship where Tony went in depth about how to define your purpose and start living large.
Be well.
Zack Arnold
Creator, Optimize Yourself
P.S. I’d love to know friend…if YOU were in charge of compiling my top 5 podcasts, which episodes would you include and why?
Zack Arnold
Zack Arnold (ACE) is an award-winning Hollywood film editor & producer (Cobra Kai, Empire, Burn Notice, Unsolved, Glee), a documentary director, father of 2, an American Ninja Warrior, and the creator of Optimize Yourself. He believes we all deserve to love what we do for a living...but not at the expense of our health, our relationships, or our sanity. He provides the education, motivation, and inspiration to help ambitious creative professionals DO better and BE better. “Doing” better means learning how to more effectively manage your time and creative energy so you can produce higher quality work in less time. “Being” better means doing all of the above while still prioritizing the most important people and passions in your life…all without burning out in the process. Click to download Zack’s “Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Creativity (And Avoiding Burnout).”