Hey folks, hope you had a great weekend.
Mine wasn’t so bad, it’s just so freakin’ hot here in Toronto.
It’s weird to say, because the running joke is usually about how cold it is in Canada, but:
- we usually get pretty warm summers, and
- this seems to be an abnormally hot summer around the world
Despite this, I still decided to go for a run outside on Saturday.
Why?
I’ve been getting into a good workout routine of weight lifting a few times during the week, and a nice relaxing outdoor run on the weekend. I’m also the type of person who won’t let “just a little humidity” take me out of my routine, even if that humidity means it feels like 35+ degrees and sunny on a Saturday morning at 10am.
But there were 2 key deciding factors for me, ultimately:
Number one – the world must go on. Yes it’s hot as heck where I am, but I didn’t think it was “too hot”.
Sure, it was hard. Sure, I sweat more than usual. And sure, some might worry about dehydration and heat exhaustion in temperatures like that.
But the reality is if you prepare properly, a 30 minute run probably isn’t going to kill anyone – especially if you’re in decent shape (and a tough MF’er – which we obviously are!).
Number two – one of the key lessons I learned from running the marathon in May is that we are capable of far more than we think we are. And that’s a fact.
I proved it to myself by finishing that race, and I promised myself I was going to continue to push myself to keep getting stronger.
Now, I don’t push myself like crazy. I’m no David Goggins or Jocko Willink.
But I’ve built up a good work ethic and mental toughness, and I’m gonna use it.
We all should, and need to, if we’re going to conquer the challenges of running a business.
So when most folks sleep in on a Saturday and the extreme heat turns them off of a run, I’m getting up (after a sleep in… oops…) and taking that heat on.
I’m pushing myself through that run and feeling like a million bucks when I finish it.
It’s got the obvious health benefits of exercise, and the added mental toughness benefits. I’m getting stronger, mentally and physically, week after week.
Make no mistake, I’m FAR from perfect. Very, very far. And when I’m done that run, I take most of Saturday to relax and not do much else so I can recharge for the week.
But it’s a small example of little improvements we can make, when facing difficulty, to keep us pushing forward.
Sunday was then a very grey day in Toronto, which has an interesting effect on ones mood if I may say so.
I spent most of my day doing 3 key things (I know some of you have asked for “day in the life” type updates, so here she goes!).
First, I had a bunch of Visto admin-type work to do. Finalizing tax stuff, sending invoices, a few other conversations to follow up with and move along over email.
You know, the usual business kind of stuff, especially when catching up on email.
Second, some more active business planning and strategy work. I think we’ve made a decision about where we want to build some more immigration technology for Visto, after lots of research, talking to people, validating ideas, etc., so now we’re starting to put our plan in place.
Excited about that as we continue to push forward and innovate in the space, and was mapping out what our new tech might look like.
And lastly, getting my notes back together for Solopreneur Grind. I’ve spent a lot of the last year organizing and optimizing my content creation strategy, and now that it’s up and running decently well, I want to take the next step.
My thinking is an online community for solopreneurs, so all of us can communicate and help one another grow our businesses together. Sure I love writing these updates and don’t plan on stopping, but the solopreneur journey can be a lonely one.
I’ll of course keep you posted as these details get flushed out – SG stuff doesn’t happen overnight because I spend most of my time on Visto – but keep an eye out for more details on a community for solopreneurs sometime soon.
And if you have any ideas for what you’d like to see in the community (masterminds, accountability groups, events, etc.) then please let me know!
Lastly, to get any of those key updates right as they go live, make sure to join the email list here.
That’s it for now. Have a great day and keep grinding
