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The Step Up - Vol. 30: Do Something That Humbles You
Vol. 30: Do Something That Humbles YouLast Saturday I ran the Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans. ~20,000 runners, a beautiful race course, and I was out there with a ton of friends. It was a phenomenal experience! And also the worst running performance I've ever had. Ever. (I had multiple 13+ minute miles) Needless to say, it was humbling. I reflected on that experience. That specific experience, but also my entire experience so far with running. It's been fun, but man, it's been equally as humbling. No matter how good I am in all other areas of my life, it does not matter in running. Being a good public speaker doesn't change my conditioning. Being an experienced marketer doesn't change my pace. Being a strong relationship builder doesn't change my running economy. Running humbles me. Do something that humbles you. I've noticed a pattern in some of the world's greatest leaders and those I most admire. They all have hobbies, side passions, or things that they aren't the best at. Things that they care about and put energy into but aren't experts at. Things that humble them. Carpentry. Learning a new language. Gardening. Writing and reading. Running. Volunteering. Cutting the grass. Travel. Painting. Singing. Playing an instrument. I've also noticed a pattern in some of the world's worst leaders and those leaders I don't admire. Ego. Narcissism. Know-it-all. "My way or the highway." And funny enough, I usually don't see those people doing the kinds of things I listed above. Doing something that humbles you grounds you in humanity - in the lived experience. It protects you from two threats to your character and leadership:
Humility in leadership is critical. Humility as a human being is even more critical. Do something that humbles you. Sincerely, the guy who placed 876 of 1,178 in his age group. See you next Thursday, Steppers. We will succeed, Grayson Song of the Week:
Randomly found this song last week as the audio track for a early 2000s male childhood montage and got hooked. Yes, that's my algorithm - seems pretty apt to me! This band looks pretty new, so I'm excited to see if they follow this up with anything substantial. A great modern rock song with a catchy hook and head-bobbing guitar and drum instrumentation. |
Grayson Stepanek
Subscribe to my newsletter - the Step Up! You'll get an inside look into my thoughts, mental models, and ways of going about life - with the goal of helping you do the same. Take the first step and join me on this journey. Newsletter every Thursday at 4:30pm CST.
👣 Step 37: Turning Juice into Sauce A wise BestBuy worker once said: "Juice is temporary. Anyone can obtain the juice... but the sauce - the sauce is forever" Shoutout bro. An absolute gem of a video, and he's 1,000% right. Now how you do use this knowledge to your advantage? We're going to replace juice and sauce with some more "universal" terms - hype and loyalty. And we're going to talk personal branding and how you can turn hype into loyalty. Turning juice into sauce. Hype = short-term...
👣 Step 36: Why Are You Here? I read The Cafe on the Edge of the World this past weekend (I implore everyone to read it. I'll even buy you your copy. I'm not kidding), and it's core purpose is stated in the subtitled: "A Story About the Meaning of Life" While I'll leave the general story ambiguous so you can experience it yourself, I do want to focus on one of the three core questions discussed: "Why are you here?" Read differently, to yourself: "Why am I here?" It's a heavy question. Crazy...
👣 Step 35: We're So Lucky Some of our the705 Board after our meeting at Tampico's New naming convention I'm trying out! 👣 = The Step Up. Step = volume. I saw this montage of people from around the world enjoying life to the audio of a woman singing - each line ending in “I’m so lucky.” Afterward, I found myself singing off countless things I’m lucky for to that same melody. My fiancé. My family, friends, and Pluto. A quiet, clean apartment. Bluetooth headphones. A job I love. Iced coffee. My...