What Gets You Out of Bed in the Morning

What gets you out of bed in the morning?  It seems like such an innocuous question.  That's what I was asked one day by a good friend who saw me as something I didn't even realize I was, someone just going through the motions.  I remember staring at him without saying anything, thinking it over for a long time and finally having to admit to myself that I didn't know.  The more I thought about it the angrier I became with myself because I did not have the answer readily available.

Soon after that incident, I began to see and hear common themes popping up all around me.  I saw a commencement speech made by Steve Jobs in which he said, "You have got to find what you love... If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.  Don't Settle."  He also said, "Every morning I get up and look in the mirror and ask myself, if today were my last day of my life would I do what I'm about to do today?"  I thought long about this and the reality was the answer more often than not was no. 

A few weeks after that I was sent to a conference, which was intended to be a future leaders conference for our company.  For me it ended up being one of the most introspective weeks I've ever had.  The first day I was there, I was that same question once again.  "What gets you excited when you get up in the morning?"  I was also asked several other questions which I spent many hours thinking through and trying to answer. 

In the end it was simple there were really two questions I needed to come to grips with: 

1. What gets you excited when you get up in the morning?
2. What do I dream about doing if you remove all the external factors such as money, time, family pressures, etc.?

I decided I would not leave the conference without knowing, what it is that really excites me.  Every minute I was not participating in conference activities or doing the gratuitous glad handing and socializing that is almost a necessary evil at these things, I was locked in my room with a pad and paper scribbling down all the things I love the most and thinking hard about what a perfect day would look like.  By the end of the week, I had my answers.

So I spent the next few days restless, after 6 months of soul searching culminating in a week trapped inside a hotel and not seeing daylight, I finally had my answer.  But, I also had another question, so what?  The problem now was not so much what I wanted to do, but rather, how to do it.  And while I still do not have those answers, I decided to create this website.

Here I plan to post ideas, progress and trips. I will talk about what I have tried, what has worked and what has not. I will solicit ideas and talk about what I know and love such as trail running and distance cycling tours, etc. 

Perhaps you can use some of what you read here to achieve your own dreams!

You have to live life on the edge because it is not worth living any other way

If you have ideas feel free to send them here