Happy Sunday Everyone:
We finally took advantage of the boys having to get schooled from home and up and left town. We’re on Lake Norman in North Carolina. Why here? Its HQ for my coaching company, CORE, we have some great friends here, we’ve never been…and now I’m not sure we’re going back…what a place (kidding, we’re coming home).
More importantly than the place are the people, and the main point of Sunday Thoughts today. Anyone who knows Rick Ruby, owner of CORE, knows that he’s one of a kind, to say it mildly. If you don’t know him just imagine the drill sergeant in full metal jacket w/ a big heart. To say its his way or the highway is the ultimate understatement. He accepts no excuses, he allows for no wiggle room, if you’re on his bad side, you’re done….sounds fun, right? He’s not fun and he’s not nice yet he commands the respect of everyone that works for him, including me. He’s not a perfect human by any means yet I think he spends his days trying to make up for past, present, and future transgressions. He does so by pouring into other people in the only way that he knows how, which is to drive you to change for the better through massive accountability or to get out of his program. He’s not for everyone but if he’s right for you, he will change your life, which is what he has done for me, and my family.
The point of this Sunday Thoughts is not to kiss Rick’s ass because I’m here. The point is to acknowledge the impact that other people can have on you, both positive and negative, and the importance of being purposefully aware of the outcome from spending time with these people. I believe iron sharpers iron and I believe the opposite to be true, perhaps rubber softens rubber??? I can only hope no-one reading this intentionally hangs out with bad people for the sake of being worse, but I can certainly hope and wish people reading this would seek out good people for the sake of being better. I can read all the books, listen to all the podcasts, mediate, journal…do all those things that I love to do and that are important to me, but spending time with people who practice what they preach and live a life in a manner that I want to live my life…there is no substitute. A friend actually just asked me last week if I thought I had outgrown Rick and CORE, and it caused me to think if that could be true? Now that I’m here the only thing I could equate it to would be an alcoholic outgrowing AA. Why would I stop doing something that has made my life infinitely better? Why would I stop hanging out with people that have helped me bring out and leverage my strengths, work on my weaknesses when needed, and just be a better overall person? Why would I stop that? Everything we do while we’re here on this earth works the same, put in a little, get out a little, put in a lot, get out a lot….could be a job, could be life…the concept remains the same. Rick pours a lot into people and he gets a lot out.
So much more I want to talk about, his YTD charity numbers (approaching 7 figures), his work outs with Jack and Thomas while here and what my boys have learned, how his team has taken care of my office setup while I’m here (down to my favorite snacks), the generosity of my own coach JJ (who just moved here as well), I truly could go on and on to drive home my point further. For now I’ll leave you with my own hope for you, which is to be purposefully aware of the people you spend time with and how those people make you feel and what impact they have on your life. As important, reverse the lens and ask yourself how you make others feel and what you do for their lives. There are so many good people out there that want the best for you. Being intentional about finding those people is so worth the effort. To be on other end leaves you with so much gratitude you want to explode. The feeling can’t really be described, only felt.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.