The 12 Day Stretch

You may have noticed the ol' output on Dammaged Goods has been a bit muted in May. I had a huge office project crescendo and executed over the last 12 straight days. Time at the gym took a week long break while I racked up one 22 hour day, helped unload, place and move 10 truckloads of stuff, walked 30,000 steps on two consecutive days and didn't sleep more than 5 hours a night for nearly a week. But my efforts, planning, organization and fortitude pushed me through as I was called The Terminator, indefatigable and dubbed the guy who knew. Being mentally prepared always helps as once you get the scope in mind and expect a tough challenge, when it ends up being not so bad, your spirits are up instead of burnt out. I took pride in my efforts as my plan was always to have one day be the bitch or the bear so the rest of the project would be easier each day. Luckily planning the work and working the plan worked out. I had To Do lists and goals for each day along with projects everyone could work on.

Of course there were times I wanted to call people out for being less than helpful or not using common sense but in the end I never flipped my top as many around me thought I had every right to do. But our true character is revealed when we're tired or upset right? Getting pissed, throwing a hissy fit or getting demoralized wasn't going to help anything or anyone so I had to keep pushing, communicate, and follow up so everyone felt supported. Of course I wasn't the only person involved and was set up for success but much of directing traffic fell on me and as a natural dot connector, I just had to do the Damme thing. So remember, do the best job you can, have a plan and don't be afraid to ask for help or delegate. Take the wrap for mistakes, learn from them and move on and in the end, don't be be afraid to accept accolades. Until then, keep (figuratively) racking that shotgun and blasting that seemingly unstoppable machine a la Kyle Reese aka Michael Biehn or picking yourself up from the mat like Van Damme in life and Bloodsport!