Our Mission – Building an Amazing Company that Impacts People and Concrete.

Running is one of the most important parts of my week. About 2 -3 times a week I leave my home for a run through a trail that follows a local river. Sometimes I take a phone and listen to a podcast; sometimes it’s just me and my mind. It’s a way to get some physical exercise but most importantly, it allows me to be me. To ponder, to pray, to think, to problem solve. On one particular day, after a few days of rain, I trekked through an area that had overgrown a bit. The weeds had grown so tall and wide that they covered the small footpath in-between. Being somewhat stubborn in my demeanor, and previously making a deal with myself that I would not walk any portion of this run, I hiked my knees high. My speed stayed consistent; I felt terrific, somewhat like “I can’t be stopped. Nothing was going to slow me down!’’ Until about halfway through that span, my right foot slammed down on something hard; either a rock or root and my ankle rolled under my body. Instantly pain shot up through my leg, I let out a scream and ‘BAM!’ – I was on the ground. That was the end of the run for the day, but not only that day.

For five weeks, as I recovered from some torn ligaments (a fancy way for a severe sprain), I walked with a boot, and brace until the swelling and pain left, and I regained strength. Five weeks of no running. No time in the woods by myself – lost endurance and lost power. But, maybe if I would have just walked instead of ‘powering through’ I would have spent those five weeks getting stronger. Realistically I would not have lost anything from walking that small section on that one run. I traded five weeks of recovery for one 20′ path.

So now fully recovered and running again, I still face the same predicaments. Spots in the trail where it is overgrown. At first, I thought of this as a low-risk situation that would probably not happen again, and I wanted to run through full force. But recently, I thought a bit different. “Why can’t I walk through these areas?” I can’t see the ground, what am I losing from walking through this spot, rather than running? The risk is high – I could sprain my ankle again. Lose weeks of running, over just taking a bit more time to walk through these spots.

The same is true in business. I have made several mistakes in running our company because I wanted to run through the brush, instead of walk. I wanted to ‘get through’ instead of taking a minute to walk through, so I don’t get tripped up. When creating the Best Product sometimes the best bet is to walk – instead of run. The Best Work takes time. Maybe the Best Work requires one more trip back to the job-site to finish strong. So what decision are we going to make on our current projects? Is our mind ‘running’ towards the next thing we need to do, worried about getting home, thinking about how it’s been a long day, or can we keep our mind healthy towards creating the Best Product? Maybe stopping to think, slowing down our process, not only for our own satisfaction but also to serve our customers?

Just to clarify – I am an extremist in all sorts and parts of my life. I naturally tend to go that way. So I have to learn to ‘slow down’ sometimes. In all reality, some other people do need to power through obstacles. They might spend their whole life walking the entire trail never seeing any results. We are all uniquely made and need to learn when to go fast and when to slow down. Failing forward in progress of a pursuit is always going to win out against no action.

Heard. Watched. Read.

• “Don’t worry about whether you like your situation or not. Life doesn’t give a damn about what you like. It’s up to you to connect what you want with what you need to do to get it and then find the courage to carry it through.” – Ray Dalio, Principles
• “If look at anyone who has tried to make a change you will find tons of fans, as well as people don’t like them. It’s just the nature of being a true leader.” – Russel Brunson, Expert Secrets
• Liked Best/Next Time – This week as my day came to an end I would open up Evernote on my phone and journal Liked Best/Next Time. This is an activity where you make a small note about what you liked best about your day and one thing you would do differently next time. It’s been rewarding for me – give it a try.