I live with the belief that once you become comfortable, your chance at reaching your full potential in life dwindles rapidly. Therefore, you must never be satisfied. If you achieve this discipline, you will have lived life to your fullest potential when your time is up.
As I was about to turn 30 years old last year, I concluded that I needed more discipline. More challenges. More adventures to scare comfort and satisfaction away from my mind and vocabulary. “Discipline equals freedom.” On July 20, 2017, I launched the challenge to myself of climbing 4 mountains in 4 years (#4yrs4mts everywhere on social media. This will end up being far more than 3 mountains, before Everest is attempted). 2018 would be a 14er in Colorado. 2019 would be Mount Kilimanjaro. 2020 would be Mount Denali. 2021 would be Mount Everest. To create discipline from day 1 of this challenge, I gave up added sugar and alcohol. Today, I celebrated 1 year without either, and I’m not turning back—I also gave up meat just over 6 weeks ago, to more efficiently cut weight. For added discipline over the past year, I forced myself to start running more than I ever had before. The target was 100 5ks before turning 31. Today, I celebrated having run 120 5ks between turning 30 and 31. Along this journey, something magical happened. I became addicted to running. Now, between turning 31 and 32 years old, I’ll complete 12 marathons or longer distances. My first marathon is tomorrow, July 21. My first ultra race is October 27; a 50k. I’m learning to love the pain. The running will increase my stamina for the mountains. The running increases my stamina for boxing. The running increases my ability to handle higher stress situations which occur within the ventures I’ve co-founded—and life in general. With the mountains being the largest targets, I’ve decided to climb for causes I care about. Next month, on the week of August 20, Mikayla and I will be climbing Grays and Torreys in Colorado. With it being 2 14ers, I want to summit for 2 causes. The first is for the Iowa State University Boxing Club. From now until I climb, I’m encouraging you to donate, so the club can purchase new equipment, which will better accommodate our growing program. The second is for NewBoCo. From now until I climb, I’m encouraging you to donate, so they can provide additional resources to the programs fostering entrepreneurship, which include the Iowa Startup Accelerator, EntreFEST, and Vault Coworking. While I’d rather you make the donation directly (you can through this Facebook fundraiser, to NewBoCo), I’ll accept and deliver it if you’d like. 100% of funds I receive will go to their respective causes. PayPal: cmooney2008@gmail.com Or Message me. Thank you for reading and for being in my life. With Grit & Gratitude, Clayton
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