I’m back!
Life has been full as of late (good things, hard things, other things) and even though I haven’t been publishing blogs on a consistent basis, I’m still writing often. I’m popping in to say hello to those that follow along (hi!) and to share a simple reflection that I hope will encourage someone else to reflect for themselves.
Here’s the prompt: if you could only be known for 3 things, what would they be?
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My 3 Things
1. Encourager – of those I love.
I hope that everyone that I interact with feels encouraged because of how I listen, care and challenge them. Growing Project Endure and being a coach allows me endless opportunities to support others in the pursuit of growth and that’s a beautiful thing. It’s also a hard thing because not all encouragement looks the same. Some people need a gentle push, others need borrow belief and some need direct challenge (“tough love”). Being an encourager means honing the skill of awareness, keeping the best interest of those I’m serving top of mind and showing up from a place of love. Being an encourager is something that I’ve always had a pull toward and something that gives me deep fulfillment (and that wouldn’t be possible without encouragement from those around me).
2. Investor – into what/who/where I see potential.
From a young age, I’ve had a fascination with pursuing improvement and spending time on things with a reward at the end. However, I’ve also been gifted with the ability to delay gratification and wait for long periods of time – both traits lend themselves well to investing. I’ve been interested in the stock market since I was in middle school but being an “investor” goes far beyond finance. I love getting to pour energy, effort and resources into people, opportunities and things that have the potential to grow over a long period of time. Part of what I do at Project Endure is create spaces and experiences for people to explore their potential and endure the ups/downs of getting there. Being an investor is something that feels like a part of me because it’s fundamental to how I see (and interact with) the world around me (put energy into things that will make life better (for me and others) down the road).
3. Builder – of meaningful things.
There’s part of me that loves stacking bricks; taking small steps toward a bigger goal (e.g. the run streak @ 1,662 days at the time of me writing this). I’ve learned over time that building things invites the risk of collapse. In other words, when you create anything, you invite risk of obstacles appearing, things going wrong or even worse, things falling apart. To me, building is hard and exciting because it gives me a chance to be creative and then use effort to take the artistic side of me and make it tangible. In this season of life, that looks like building Project Endure and more important, building a life with my wife. Building things has taught me a lot of who I am, how I operate and the person that I want to become. The things that we build also shape us and the act of creation is an awesome way to grow as a human. Being a builder is something that will always be part of who I am (and something that will help me help others as I go).
To put an asterisk at the end of this, I don’t care to be known. This exercise is through the lens of those that know me; this is how I hope to be seen as a result of how I interact with them and show up in the world around me. In other words, this reflection boils down to how I desire to operate on purpose and with purpose.
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If you’re still reading at this point, thank you! I’ll close things out with a quote…
“The ironic thing about life is that you are a different person to everyone you meet. To some you are quiet, to others you never stop talking. Some remember you for your kindness, others for the moment you walked away. You are a villain in one story, a hero in another, and to most you are just a passing thought, a name they once knew. You do not exist as one person but as countless versions of yourself shaped by brief moments and personal perceptions. Here is what feels unsettling. You will never know yourself the way others do. You will never hear your own laughter the way someone else does. You will never see how your absence lingers in a room you once filled. To yourself you are simply you, but in reality you are a thousand different stories, none of which you will ever read.”
Alan Watts
Do hard things.
Joe Rinaldi
IG: @joearinaldi