Last week I was having a reflective moment on projects I’ve done outside on the different homes we have lived in and I began to think about the tools I’ve rented and wish I would have bought that would have been the most beneficial over the years. The one that always comes up; is that I wish I would have bought a “Dingo bobcat”. Which then triggered thoughts on what is the one -well maybe two or three- things that I should buy or being doing in my hiking, personal, and work life that are/will make the most impact in these different areas of my life. And these could be things or actions that I’m all ready doing or need to do.
In Hiking, it’s been the Pocket Pal trail maps of the front range, which show the all the trails in a given area with details of directions to the trail head, directions on the trail, elevation, and difficulty. I like the paper copy version because it makes it easier to show to others that are with you and the digital copy shows you, your location in real-time. The other item that has been the most helpful is having good traction to wear. Micro spikes are great for giving solid traction on ice and snow. Hiking in the elevations of 7,000 to 9,000 plus feet on a regular basis, I find myself using them from October to May.
What are the one or two items you have or things that do that make the most impact for your regular hiking?
In my personal life, this trail tip is making me think about things I should be doing on a more regular consistent basis. The first one is getting enough sleep at night. We think “let’s do just one more thing before we go to bed”. Then we suffer through the next day because of it. The amount of sleep we need varies by person and I believe that whatever that number is, we are not hitting it. The other one is taking the time to connect and pray with my wife each night before the day ends. I get so focus on making sure “I have everything planned out to start the next day”, and yet skip the most important thing of praying with my wife.
What are the few things you can be doing differently that will have the most impact on your life? Or maybe it’s even getting that “Dingo”.
At work, I’ve been able to make new connections and existing ones stronger by getting outside of my defined work space group. Here it’s been providing presentations on the Cultural Significance of Memorial Day/Veteran Day and organizing hiking outings; both local and to the Grand Canyon for a Rim2Rim one day hike. We talk a lot about building trust at work, but nothing lives it out like giving your car keys to a co-worker at 5:30 am on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and knowing they will drive 210 miles to the South Rim to pick you up in 12 hours while you hike 27 miles across the Canyon. The area I know I need to focus on this year; is taking time each month to learn technical details on the projects I’m Project Managing. I let the busyness of the days blend into each other and don’t stop to do product learning. It’s something I need to block on my calendar on a regular basis.
What things have you done this year at work to improve your environment? Are there one or two things you should be doing, but haven’t started yet?
When it comes to making improvements in our hiking, personal, and work life, we often create a laundry list of all these items. Then we set back, take a look at everything and then give up before we even start. We fail to realize that even doing one or two things can have a huge impact. I’d like to hear the one or two things that you are doing or plan to do this year to improve your hiking, personal, and work life.
This and other “Trail Tips” can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfredandersen and www.alandersen.co
Al Andersen 