Tag: Slow Jams

APFT Sept 2020

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APFT late results from Sept at GC

Name                   Merkins %      BBSU %       Run %            AVE %
Olaf                         93                       66                      89               82.67
Slow Jamz           66                       52                      58               58.67
Fire Marshall Bill    58                  51                      43                50.67
Lutefisk                  71                     71                       78                73.33
Mile High               77                     58                       86                73.67
Shop Vac               94                     52                      NA                NA
Fun House           84                      95                      94                  91

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Shield Lock 2020.1

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Bobber and YHC were tossing around an idea of doing a Shield Lock focused month at his AO over the Summer – and we were finally able to land on the month of November. Today was part one of YHC’s shield lock taking over Block Party for the month to discuss the SL and inflict pain.

So, what is a Shield Lock (SL)? 

If you click the link above, you’ll read about it in a manner much better articulated than YHC could. A Shield Lock is a metaphor of men who “lock shields” together to form a stronger barrier against those powers actively trying to bring us back to sad clown status. If you’ve seen the movie 300, you’ve seen a Shield Lock (Phalanx) in action and how effective it can be against an attacking force.

YHC led with a quick message about the SL being a group of 3-5 men with a common goal of getting better. YHC highlighted the three P’s (3P) of the SL being Proximate, Purposeful, and Periodic. Two of YHC’s SL were in attendance this morning, World Wide Leader (WWL) and Wegmans.

With that, we moseyed to the spot of our first iteration. Today’s Weinke was designed to focus on the ups/downs and how the men to your left and right can motivate you through the differing paces of life.

 

Proximate

“Proximity requires physical nearness. The Shield Lock will not function if its Members are geographically disparate. While men no longer literally interlock their shields to fight, the metaphorical battle still requires physical contact. Teams are founded upon Trust , and Trust waxes and wanes in direct proportion to physical distance. Trust is hard to build and maintain, and the farther away another man is the harder it is to Trust him.”

 

Slow/Pulse Circuit

Low Slow Squats x 20

Hold 60 Seconds at end of last squat

Pulse 20 times

Recover

Forward Lunges x 15 (one side at a time)

Hold 60 Seconds at end of last lunge 

Pulse 20 times

Flap Jack

Recover

PAX get into Forward Leaning Rest Position – 

Merkins x 10 IC

Plank Hold – 30 Seconds

Lift one leg at a time, pulse 20 times up and down

Recover

Mosey to Upper Pike Lot

 

Purposeful

“By locking shields with other men, the HIM hedges his brother’s peak against his own valley, and vice-versa. He knows that his valleys will tempt him to the Flux, and that he will need the strength of his brother’s peak to maintain Acceleration. Likewise, he knows that it will be his peak that provides his brother the bulwark he will need when a valley draws him toward the Flux. This, not companionship, is the ultimate Purpose of the Shield Lock and its primary distinction from a Club.”

WWL is a man of discipline. So much so that every evening at promptly 8:34 a text comes through from him highlighting four items, as a daily AAR.

  1. Daily Weight
  2. Daily Red Pill (DRP)
  3. Completion of our SL Bible Plan
  4. One extracurricular activity to better one’s self (reading a book, spending time with M/2.0, community service, etc).

This purposeful communication allows YHC to better fight the Flux and stay out of the valleys that are inevitable, and to return the favor to WWL and other members of the SL when they are down in valleys.

 

Build Up/Bearpee Circuit 

1:4-10:40

8 CT Body Builders:Bear Crawls

Many breaks were taken during this iteration, as it sucked terribly. During one of said breaks, YHC took time to talk about a hero (or anti hero, if you so perceive it) in the Bible – Samson. He was a man of great strength but he had many weaknesses. Instead of surrounding himself with strong, like minded men, he decided to take the solo path and “do it himself.” On many occasions, he made decisions that were unbecoming of his path as a Nazarite, and it led to his ultimate destruction. Ultimately Samson came back to God and was given strength to perform one more time for God’s glory – but YHC regularly wonders how Samson would have ended up if he had solid counsel and strong men to his left and right.

 

Now, my man Wegmans has it all going on in the SL. He uses a perfect combination of sass and positive language to really drive home a point of when YHC is veering off the Path. A true linguistic HIM that doesn’t let you give a BS answer when push comes to shove. He is not bashful in his correction of YHC and others in the SL. Every man needs someone to speak to them like this from time to time – especially in a horizontal relationship such as the SL.

 

Periodic

“Periodic is the final element of the 3P. The Shield Lock must come together periodically to be Effective. For the HIM, this is a form of preventive maintenance. The Amateur waits until the needle is on empty before he stops for gas, but the Pro fills his tank periodically–regardless of where his needle is pointing at any given moment. By meeting periodically, the Members of the Shield Lock recognize each other’s incipient valleys and proactively initiate the fight against the Flux as a Team. In this way, the Shield Lock parcels out the pain felt by the man in the valley and bears it together as a team.”

Every Tuesday at 0445, YHC’s SL comes together for an hour ruck followed by an additional DRP to strengthen one another. We takes turns switching out who Q’s.

 

Fast/Hill DORA Circuit

Because what good is a message about the Shield Lock without some DORA?

Partner up, P1 runs down Massey St Hill and back while P2 works on reps of:

100/200/300

CDD’s/Curb Dips/Seal Jacks

Head back to COT.

 

What has my SL done for me?

It has kept me away from bad habits, kept my head up in challenging times, it has allowed me to tap into wisdom that I would have otherwise been blind to if I were doing this thing alone. It has stretched and challenged me to be a better man. It has given me life long friends. 

At the end of the work out, YHC asked by show of hands who was in a Shield Lock. About 75% of the PAX raised their hands. Good.

If you’re not in a SL, look to your left and your right. Who do you post with regularly? Who’s in a similar stage of life? It doesn’t have to be some magical connection reminiscent of a Hallmark movie. We are men who (for the most part) all have the same struggles. This is important. Take the step!

 

Dirty Harry and Repeat are the other two in YHC’s shield lock. They could not be in attendance due to illness today, but they have impacted YHC in many ways.

DH is the kind of friend who will do dumb things with you because you want to do them. By dumb, YHC means ridiculous GORUCK training and marathon rucks – for fun. He has impacted YHC in many ways beyond taking a DRP, as he has served our country and he proudly serves his M and 2.0’s above all others.

Repeat is the quiet one in the group, but he has stepped up when hitting the peaks to pull YHC out of the valleys. He is a solid member of the group and has walked alongside YHC recently in life challenges that we both are facing. YHC is happy to have him in the group.

 

Announcements

FiA LKW Marathon this weekend – hit up Slow Jamz for more info!

Fort Mill Golf Tournament Dec 12 – hit up Stang for more info.

Christmas Party up and coming. 

Read your newsletter.

Prayers/Praise

Rebel’s 2.0 is 23 today! 

Praise for YHC’s Shield Lock

Prayers for our country.

Prayers for One Niner looking for a job. 

 

Bobber – thank you for tapping our SL to lead on such an important topic. We men cannot do this alone.

Punch List out.

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Mentality – Thinking Right is a Daily Decision

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Footloose 10.22

15 Pax got a little better in the gloom at Footloose.  HIIT warmed up the group with 2 rounds of 3 min intervals (4 exercises w 10 reps each)  and a long lap around the yard.   A slow mosey returned the group to a parking lot with a slight incline and a cone.   In honor of Rebel’s Double Nickel Birthday, we began with a modified version of 5’s:   5 Burpees at the bottom with 5 Squats at top and the modified bear crawl up to the cone with a Donkey Kick before continuing a mosey up to the top. We finished the A$$KIcking Autumn workout with a modified 5’s of Diamond ( in honor of the double nickel Birthday for Rebel, we completed 5 rounds with 5 reps at each of the 4 corners.  Round 1 -5 burpees at each corner, Round 2 – 10 Merkins at each corner, Round 3 – 15 Monkey Humpers at each corner, Round 4 – 20 Overhead Claps…….Running out of time, we headed back to COT with 1 min to spare and 1 min to finish a quick Round of Mary.

Nice work by all!!  Thank you to Boss Hogg for the opportunity!  Prayers / Praises and a Happy Birthday Celebration wrapped up the morning: Bass-oh-Matic brought Bundt cakes for all Pax to enjoy.  Happy Double Nickle Birthday to Rebel (the day after actual Bday 10/21/2020)

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Back at the Swamp

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We had 12 Pax for the Friday morning workout at Rivergate.  After the disclaimer, the boot and ruck groups split up.

The boot camp group moseyed to the front of Buffalo Wild Wing for the following warm-up exercises:  SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills, and Plank Stretches.

Next, we ran over to Khol’s for a round of 11s between the curbs.  Carolina Dry Docks, Bear Crawl, LBCs, and Crab Walk back.  When we were finished, we headed back to the front of Target.  The message, “Go as fast as you want but when you arrive at the Target, burpees until the six arrives.”  The message was not a deterrent, a few of the guys ran ahead and completed about 10 burpees before  the rest of the group arrived.

We continued to the fountain for a round of Dora.  One partner ran around the parking lot while the other partner started on the leg heavy routine.

100 Jump Squats

200 Step ups

300 Lunges

Back to COT.

Great job everyone!

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Fresh off GR021, we’re now at the Fire Ant

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If you were one of the 20 PAX that attended Fire Ant today, you heard me talk briefly about the impact of GR021 (GrowRuck 021) in Louisville this past weekend. Along with Olaf, Shady, Italian Job and Dark Helmet, I was blessed to participate in this extremely impactful weekend. Much like the rest of F3, the true benefits go way beyond the workout or in this case, the 14hr team ruck event spanning Saturday night into Sunday morning.

I tried to bring back just a taste of what we experienced and some of my learnings but unless you actually participate in these GrowRuck weekends, it’s hard to comprehend. However, I did want to bring a taste of the PT to our local PAX and so with 19 other Ruckers, we did the following.

Disclaimer

Warm Up
Jog, Knees to chest, Jog, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Jog back to our rucks

SSH x 5
Windmills x 5
SSH x 10
Windmills x 5

Ruck Up
Rucks overhead for a 30ct
Ruck Curls x 20 IC
Squat hold with rucks overhead for a 20ct
Ruck swings x 20
Tricep Extensions x 20 IC
Squat with ruck press x 10 IC

2 line ruck shuffle to back lot & ground the rucks
3-tier suicides then ruck up
Bear crawl to the far suicide line and plank
Bear crawl back to the half way point and circle up
Slick-dying cockroach x 30IC
BEAR ROACH for a while (I think we did a total of 20 to the left and 20 to the right). For this exercise, you get into a bear crawl position with your ruck on then upon command, roll over to the dying cockroach position. Upon command, get back to the bear crawl position.

2 line ruck shuffle back to the first starting spot and circle up
5 Merkins – 10 Carolina Dry Dock – 15 Bent Over Rows (all IC)
5 Squats – 5 lunges each leg
2 line ruck march back to COT

Announcements:
Read your newsletter
SIGN UP FOR THE F3 10YR
SIGN UP FOR A FUTURE GROWRUCK

SYITG
Maximus

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“Buffet of Awfulness”

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14 HIMs posted at Footloose this cool, dry Thursday morning for a Shatner beatdown. We started with the usual warmup exercises at the shovel flag, and then moseyed to the Church of God parking lot for the OYO main event.

Mumble chatter started immediately when the plan was shared. Anchor Man was super excited to start off with 100 pushups, and coined the phrase “Buffet of Awful.”

We started off with 100 reps of each of the following;

  1. Merkins or CDDs, then run around the church building and over the high stairs.

2. LBC/Hello Dolly, then lap around the church and stairs.

3. Squats/Alt. Lunges, then lap around the church and stairs.

4. Plank Jacks/Shoulder Taps, then lap around the church and stairs.

Repeated the same exercises at 50 reps each round with same lap around the church, and then we moseyed up the hill to the back of First Baptist Church for wall sits. Each of the 14 PAX did a 10-count, and then we moseyed back to the shovel flag for COT.

Thanks Boss Hog for the opportunity to lead at such a great F3 The Fort AO!

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Sweep the core

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YHC  took over for Pantheon at the last minute to allow the scheduled Q to attend the memorial beatdown at the Coop.  I hadn’t Qed since before the pandemic and figured with numbers low, it’d be a good time to keep distant whilst also dishing the pain.

Five PAX gathered in the gloom this morning near the shovel flag at Pantheon. Divac, Tesla and Flounder I knew, but Slow Jamz I’d not yet met. The disclaimer was disclaimed while holding a chunk of cardboard that was carved off a shipment of wine that the M has been importing since February.  Fitting that the box for the merlot would have scrawlings of a madman, intent on seeing merlot on the pavement.

The Warmup

Quick mosey over to the parking lot space by the crosswalk for a quick warmup. Let’s keep it simple with 10 SSH, 10 Low Slow Squats, and a few ten count hamstring stretches. That’s it.

The Thang

Quick jaunt over to the crosswalk to explain. On the cardboard are two columns, aptly labeled “1” and “2”.  PAX are instructed to choose a column, do all the exercises and run a (.34 mile) lap on the queueing road, and continue until COT. Alternating columns is suggested as column 2 is a bit more difficult than column 1.  PAX may also choose to do both columns for a short lap in the parking lot. It’s UvU here, with about 40 minutes to see how many laps one can get in.

Column 1
10x BBS
20x Flutter (2 count)
30x LBC

Column 2
10x Rocky BBS (two punches at the top)
20x Box Cutter
30x LBC

It’s an attack on the abs, Sweep The Leg style!

COT

YHC shared some thoughts about the 3rd F (see NMM).

Announcements were announced.

Prayers were offered up:
Flounder’s friend, Sue, who we’d prayed for last week, has gone home as expected, and for her husband who has seen two wives lost to cancer.
Slow Jamz’s M, who just returned from NY. The family has lost a brother/son to a hit and run in New York.

Naked Man Moleskin

Some great mumblechatter was heard at the crosswalk. YHC was pleased with the number of complaints as well, though it was a bit disturbing as many of these complaints manifested in noises that are generally reserved for the boudoir… I suppose I’m not complaining.

Tesla smoked everyone with nine full laps. YHC got a solid eight.

Slow Jamz tried to get the flying EH on a sad clown that has been flying by Pantheon for a few weeks now, but he’s not biting. I believe Olaf spoke with him last week.

The 3rd F from CoT…

In CoT I talked briefly about how the 3rd F, Faith, is often hard to explain to people who reject faith.  I translate that pretty frequently to “Faith that I am not the center of the universe”.  And spoke a bit about my personal conviction that we need to try to put others needs in front of our own needs. And we should always be putting the needs of others in front of our convenience and luxury.

Here I expound:

I find it difficult talking about F3’s core principle “Open to all men” in relationship to the 3rd F, “Faith”.  On the surface it’s hard to make the relation work, they seem incompatible because no matter what I say, what men seem to hear is “Open to christians”, and I don’t want that to be the case.

F3 obviously isn’t for every man (if it was there would be mass logistical chaos in every city at 0500).  But how do we stop the word “faith” from auto-translating to “barrier”?  I evangelize F3 pretty frequently, and I’ve seen the facial twitch when that third F is uttered more often than not. When I witness that tic, I try to weaken the barrier.

As mentioned in CoT, that third F may be described as “Faith that I am not the center of the universe”, you often hear “I am 3rd”. Which, I feel, is a lot more appealing to those men we will meet (generally on a daily basis) who may not share your/our/my faith. While I believe in Jesus, I cannot require others to do the same (Paul going so far as to say, if they reject you, shake it off and move on).

Despite this, I know that there is often great honor to be had in living 3rd. Though there are the depraved few who see Michael Douglas in Wall Street as their god, they still might be attracted to a free workout… unless they own gyms.

There are dozens of scriptures in the Bible that expound on the inherent wrong of living luxuriously while others live in want. To live 3rd, to me, my “faith that I’m not the center of the universe”, means that I have to decide between commodity (Starbucks, Beer, Wine, the newest cell phone, my ruck, the list is almost shamefully long…) and the aid of others.

Jesus said we’d always have the poor… Those who live in luxury will never be able to shed the responsibility of caring for them, and the result of shirking that duty is pretty well explained. Over and over…

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Football not Footloose

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Its September!! Are you ready for some football? Well, Boss Hog apparently isn’t since he tweeted out YHC was bringing a truck load of pain via from some crappy college program, that team from the south (fans of that team from up north will get that joke). Of course Boss Hog was just trying to poke the bear. Of course it worked seeing that I am not a fan of either of those programs (WE ARE PENN STATE), the weinke was developed to be not-a-moderate and emulate a typical football conditioning workout – kuddos go to watching my son and the PKMS football team practice this week.

The tweet definitely brought out some #HIM and a PAX posting for his second time (Ranger)!

Mossy to church parking lot for COP: windmills, low slow squat, Moroccan nightclubs, IW…while we were in COP we noticed the Minnow Pond PAX heading down the hill so we decided to give them a warm welcome by lining up and performing Monkey Humpers as they passed by.

Mossy to other church parking lot for and individual OYO pain station:

100 Merkins

50 Squats

100 LBCs

50 Side Lunges

100 CDD

50 Big Boys

100 American Hammers

50 Mountain Climbers

As PAX were completing this, they took a lap around the church.

Once done, mossy back to other church parking lot for 2 rounds of:

Suicides (whats a football conditioning workout W/O them) – those who had injuries planked as PAX did suicides. Up/Downs – running in place then doing burpees as called out.

Toy soldiers to Withers Street.

3 rounds of:

Run to top of hill, 10 merkins, run back, 10 LBCs. Those with injuries did 10 burpees, 15 merkins, 20 LBCs.

Mossy back to COT

Thanks for PAX pushing through a muggy warm morning. Good mumble chatter as always.

Prayers to Teachers, Students, Parents, Cash, other PAX family/friends who are sick.

Trucker

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Get Some at GC

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Coming off the Bert on Monday at Honey Badger, I knew I didn’t want to give in and do what my body wanted me to do (ie. stay away from merkins and squats), so I did the opposite.  The results were pretty gnarly.

Did a quick mosey around the Teeter parking lot, but did the widest perimeter possible while staying within the shopping center.  I told the pax that this particular lap is what we’ll be doing in between exercises…about a 0.30 mile loop.

First stop –

15 merkins, 15 diamond merkins.  Do it 4 times.  This seemed more logical when I drew it up.  The moans coming out of Slow Jamz was epic / a little concerning.  120 merkins later, we all took that lap and ran without the use of our arms / chest..

15 squats, 15 lunges.  Do it 4 times over.  120 leg reps didn’t feel good on the next lap we did.

15 LBC’s / 15 freddies…x 4 times.  Woof, then lap.

15 bomb jacks, sprint the parking lot length.  Do it 4 times.

From there, we’re moseyed over to the apartments behind Teeter where we started at the first roundabout and I gave the pax the instructions for what i call 21’s.  Starting in that central location, we do 7 reps of an exercise, run up the hill back to the entrance of Teeter (by Red Bowl) and do 14 of the same exercise, then run back, pass the central point and run down to the water fountain, and do 21 reps of the same exercise.  Quick 42 reps of each, and about 0.5 miles of distance with plenty of uphill.

Seal jacks x 7, run, x 14, run, x 21, run.
High knees x 7, run, x 14, run, x 21, run
Squats x 7, run x 14, run, x 21, run
Burpees (I waited until the very end to throw some of these at the pax) x 7, run, x 14, running low on time so ran to COT and did burpees until 6am (most got in about 5-8 to finish).

I always say, keep it simple, and that’s what we did.  Covered 2.8 miles and about 600 reps – 120 merkins, 120 squats / lunges, 120 LBC / freddies, 60 bomb jacks, 42 seal jacks, 42 high knees, 42 more squats and about 30 burpees.  Not a bad day at the office right there.

Ruckers made their way back and we closed out in prayer – school (our kids, teachers, admin), marriages, sickness / recovery, loss of a home, and praise for our health.

Thanks Luda for the call to lead – always love coming to the Corral.  Don’t ever hesitate to schedule me now that I’m over the bridge – happy to lead these great Fort guys.

Cha Ching

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Start Fast, Grow Steady, Finish Strong

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17 HIM descended upon the Swamp for a strong finish to the month of July.  YHC got a call from Duck Dynasty this week asking to step up and take the Q.  Upon arrival, YHC was greeted by a few early arriving #HIM and the remainder wandered in between 0507 and 0515 – well all but Olaf who came in hot and eventually caught up to us quickly at COP.

Disclaimers were announced and it was confirmed that no FNG’s were present today.

The theme of the workout, fittingly, was 7’s, 31’s and focusing on how we are finishing.  YHC laid out the theme and off we moseyed to the Home Depot Parking Lot for COP and the warm up – all exercises in cadence:

15 D/C Imperial Walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 15 hillbilly walkers, 5 burpees OYO, 10 low slow squats, holding the people’s chair we did 10 D/C Moroccan night clubs in cadence, held the chair for a Duck Dynasty 10-count and finished in the chair with 10 D/C shoulder taps in cadence.  5 more burpees OYO and then moved to 10 D/C seal jacks in cadence followed by 5 burpees OYO before moseying off to Target for the main event.

Main event – 7-31 – Start fast, finish strong.

Fittingly, July 31 required 7’s and 31’s on this relatively breezy morning.  PAX lined up to complete kracken burpees on one end of the parking lot, run roughly 50 yards and did lunges at the rate of 6 kracken burpees & 1 lunge, 5 & 2, 4 & 3, 3 & 4, 2 & 5 and 1 & 6.  After the 6 was in a short plank was called, after which we moseyed to the fountains for 15 D/C dips in cadence and then took on the 31’s to finish July strong.

31’s were a combination of merkins and squats – merkins on one end of the parking lot, followed by a run to the opposite end – roughly 200 (ish) yards and squats.  The sequence went as follows:

27 merkins, 4 squats

23 merkins, 8 squats

19 merkins, 12 squats

15 merkins, 16 squats

11 merkins, 20 squats

7 merkins, 24 squats

3 merkins, 28 squats

As the six came in all PAX, fittingly, got on their respective 6’s for 31 D/C (of course) flutters in cadence. A recover on our feet and a mosey to COT was called where PAX had just enough time for a 60 second protractor at varying degrees and a 30 second body destroyer put us right on 0600 and COT.

Announcements:

Sweati on 8-15 – launching from Colosseum (0530 for ruckers, 0600 for runners): Questions?  Get w/Backdraft.

Operation Stuff the Bus is a week from tomorrow, 8-8, starting at 0800: Bonsai is your Q.  Sign ups for 2 hour time slots are available.

Read Your Newsletter.

Prayers & praises were offered up both out loud and in the silence of our hearts.

NMM – The purpose of today’s workout was missional and aptly was held at the end of a calendar month – to start fast and finish strong.  In fulfilling our personal missions, it is imperative to answer the question “Are we intentional about how we finish or do we go through the motions and check the box?”  What would our M’s, 2.0’s and inner concentrica say if they were asked these questions about us?  Do we take the necessary steps to be thorough?  Do we take the extra minute or two in a conversation with a loved one to let them know we are present and available and not let our minds wander to the next task that lies ahead?   If you could look back at July, how purposeful was your month?  How did you “finish”?

Between 0500 and 0515 (or earlier to get EC) every weekday morning, we as PAX have the benefit of starting a workout with intentionality and purpose – completing that mission by 0600.  Do we take the same level of intentionality to our relationships, our families, our work?  How intentional is our time allocated and used?  We all get the same amount every day.  It is in finishing strong with that time that we make impact for the better and leave no doubt to those around us.  Start fast, and with purpose.  Finish strong to maximize your reach and impact.

YHC is grateful to Duck Dynasty for the opportunity to Q and to the PAX for encouraging the acceleration brought about by F3.

Start fast, grow steady, finish strong!

With Gratitude,

Cyclops

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