There is a strange duality to this time of life: so much is happening, yet it can feel like not much progress is being made. The past few weeks have been like this.
Take running, for example. I have only gotten in one run a week, so there is not much to report in terms of mileage or training updates. But I have been strength training several times a week, and that has been a real win. I have not done this much consistent strength work in a long time.
These workouts have been especially valuable lately. Between holding the baby in awkward positions, trying to keep my energy up throughout the day, and taking care of my physical and mental state, strength training has become more than just exercise, it’s maintenance. Newborns are tough, and moving consistently has helped me be better for anything coming my way.
From a training perspective, there may not be many big updates right now, but the foundation is getting stronger. I have been focusing on movement, full-body work, and overall fitness, and I have found my passion using kettlebells, maces, and clubs. There are so many great movements, and it feels more functional. Dumbbells and the bar/rack of course still have their purpose, but I have really been enjoying the more unconventional, full-body work outside in the yard.
It feels amazing. I am not sure whether it is being barefoot and grounding in the grass, the fresh air, the environment my backyard has become, or the workout itself, but there is something primal about it. Seeing butterflies, bees, identifying birds and counting sets is simply fantastic. The other day I was doing back and shoulder work in a storm, getting rained on between sets. It was energizing in a way that is hard to explain. These moments are what keep me in the interested throwing the weights around.
The plan for now is simple: keep at least one running session each week, get some miles on the bike, and continue the workouts. Keep it simple. When life allows, I will slowly increase the running mileage and start building toward the OUC Half Marathon in Orlando later this year. For now, the goal is to be present, take care of the baby and my wife, and continue working on myself.
That same slower, steadier rhythm has shown up in my writing, too. “Built Over Time” has taken longer than I expected, but I think that’s because it’s becoming something bigger than I originally planned. I thought it would be a short blog post. Now it’s looking like somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 words. I am sitting at around 2,000 words right now, and I have barely reached the first year and a half of my career.
It is the longest blog post I have written so far. As I started working through the story, it kept unfolding — so much happened, and I want to make sure I do it justice. This is my story, and I want to give it the space it needs to be told well. Sepember has also been great for my writing in general, journaling is a foundational habit and that is helping me get into other areas like the blog/newsletter and socials to be improving. I think I am finding my rhythm.
That same feeling of “there’s more here than I expected” bled into something else this week, too. I got a little frustrated with myself because my attention felt scattered. As you can imagine, there is a lot happening in my life, and having time away from work has allowed me to explore some interests I haven’t had much time for before.
The problem is that more time and more curiosity can quickly become more things to do. I already have several interests and activities, and adding new ones meant other things inevitably got sidelined. Once I noticed that frustration building, I knew I needed to step back and unpack it a little.
I ended up watching a few videos about polymaths, and the idea really resonated with me. I have always had broad interests, an open mind, and a need to be learning, building, or doing something. That often turns into many hobbies, projects, and directions competing for my attention.
But there is a positive side to that, too. Being interested in many things has made me adaptable. That versatility has helped me throughout my life, especially in situations where I needed to learn quickly, adjust to change, or take on a role I had never held before which seems to happen often.
I keep coming back to the fuller version of the old saying: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
Maybe the real work isn’t trying to eliminate every interest or force myself into one bucket realistically that will never happen. I have to continue learning how to balance what priorities while still making room for curiosity. Leaning on the systems and habits I’ve already built as a baseline, and staying ready to take opportunities as they come up. As James Clear says in Atomic Habits “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
So, back to the main point: what does progress actually look like right now? When I look at what I’m doing, the list is honestly kind of wild:
- 66 weeks of activity
- 145 weeks of reading
- 511 days reading consecutively
- Posted my first book video — last week’s weekly reading update was actually a video. Check it out on IG
- Created and posted my first YouTube video
- 2,000 words into “Built Over Time”
- Started a detailed outline and first chapter of my trilogy (this one’s years away, but it’s started)
- Created a habit tracking app
- Documented mushrooms that I have taken pictures of – names, traits, etc
So while in some areas like running, endurance training, big adventures nothing dramatic is happening right now. It is still important to me, something that I enjoy but it just doesn’t fit into things right now.
That’s the strange thing about life: none of these on their own feel like a huge breakthrough. One run a week isn’t a training block. Two thousand words isn’t a finished manuscript. A single video isn’t a channel. But stack them up, week after week, and they start to look like something. Progress doesn’t always announce itself, sometimes it just quietly compounds while you’re busy pushing through situations.
If you’re in a time where the big wins feel out of reach, I’d love to hear what your “quiet progress” looks like right now. Always important to recognize and appreciate the wins when it is easy to overlook. We owe that to ourselves.
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