FOCUS!

I had the good fortune to reconnect with a friend from the past recently (I'll not call him an "old" friend--we're not there yet, at least in our own minds).

Bart Iddins and I grew up in the same hometown, in the same church, and we were in Boy Scouts together.  Both of us attended UT where neither of us started college with a bang.  That's where the story begins.

Bart went on to veterinarian school, set up a practice, joined the Air Force, then went to medical school.  I went to physical therapy school, ended up starting a practice in Maryville, and have lived most of my life here (so far).

Dr. Iddins has literally traveled the globe, having served multiple deployments and enjoyed a rather spectacular career in military service.

I have found a community that has embraced me; a place where I was allowed to grow a career that has taken me places that I never even dreamed of.

Dr. Iddins is now a Major General (a 2 star general) based at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, in direct command of 8000 troops and indirect command of another 14,000.  I was in San Antonio last week for a meeting and quite by chance reconnected with him.

And then we discovered that we both loved bicycles and so we set up a bike ride on a gorgeous Saturday morning.  While cruising the Texas countryside, we went from catching up with where our lives had taken us to talking about how we got there. 

What we discovered is that we had similar stories.  Average kids from a small town, no one ever really thought either of us was destined for the incredible lives we have both led. 

No one except our mothers.  Blessed with strong mothers, Bart and I were given positive affirmations from an early age.  I remember my mom telling me "now you tell those girls at that school how good looking you are" when I knew it wasn't true but it was probably what I needed to hear at the time.  Early on, I lacked confidence in a lot of arenas.

We both learned a lot about leadership from our Boy Scout days.  Adult leaders that placed us in positions of increasing responsibility--it was a microcosm of leadership development. 

Even growing up, we both had a whole lot of focus.  As teenagers, we were into strength training.  Some of our workouts were positively brutal.  Both of us are Eagle Scouts. 

We agreed that neither of us ever tired of learning.  Both avid readers, when we get beyond the technical aspects of our jobs we love good books. 

For the past few weeks, I've addressed a lot of things that might form the pillars for success in life and athletics.  Hard work.  Integrity.  Dedication.

Today, the message is the importance of focus.  I've seen it time and time again.  The ability to focus on the task at hand gives you the absolute best chance of success regardless of the arena. 

I'm notorious for over-promising and multi-tasking.  But what I've discovered is that when something becomes a priority, laser-sharp focus gets it done.