“If You Wanna Win, You Gotta Run the Race”

“Broken”-Watershed

It’s currently 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday, and I’m wide awake because I was more or less asleep at 10PM last night.  When the hell did I get so old?

A Friday night that involved me, a trip to the post office, Chipotle and a bottle of water.  And yes, I’m aware you’re all thinking, “a Friday night without a beer? You’re right Tom, when the hell did you get so old?” 

I’m waiting for first light to come so I can go to the Speak Easy and run from there, get coffee and crank out a bit of work on a Saturday morning.  Seriously, when the hell did I get so old?  I want to see how this cracked rib will feel running _I’m guessing not good_, I want to see how my lungs will feel with this rib_I’m guessing not good_, and I’m curious to see how my back will hold up to the rib situation_I can tell you that one…not good_.

But, I know quite well that the only way to succeed is to work harder than everyone else and not rely on luck, but have perseverance and more drive than everyone around you.

It’s been a crazy week, I sat on my first Indianapolis Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council on Tuesday, and am sitting on the Education Committee as part of it.  it’s a testament to how far my corporate career has come over the past year, through a whole lot of work, sweat, tears and persistence.  I’m excited for the impact I believe the Council will ultimately have and finding better ways that I can engage the community from a corporate, personal and volunteer basis in the future.

seriously, so much grading about marketing, even for a marketing geek like me

This week involved a ton of meetings, that bout of food poisoning and the subsequent cracked rib, some serious paper grading for my Butler kids_how do teachers do this with multiple classes and 30 kids? my limited amount of 3-5 page marketing plans just about killed me to grade_, playing with the pups with it being Bailey’s birthday and Zilla’s Arrive-versary today and otherwise keeping my head above water.

photo click will take you to article

The article (read it here) that came out yesterday on Twenty Something Indy is absolutely incredible.  I’ve been part of a lot of different media pieces both personally and professionally, but Sarah did such a great job turning our casual conversation into something awesome.  The piece came out right before I walked into an appointment yesterday and besides tweeting it out I didn’t have time to do a whole lot; 90 minutes later when I checked my phone I had 11 missed calls, 14 texts and 16 emails with people raving about the article–mostly 20 and 30 somethings which means that the article hit its target audience.  It’s also cool to get some traction with a few of my recent major stances I’ve taken in public: it’s not all tech and apps in Indy, collaboration is key to building a better Indianapolis and a 20 something trying to change the (literal) shape of those in Indy can make an impact when the concept is approached from a business mindset versus a “good heart” mentality.  Though, it still takes a bit of getting used to seeing “entrepreneur” next to my name since for many people, being an NPO executive director is not in the same mentality as entrepreneur.  I hope more focus and attention does go to other “social” entrepreneurs as more _young_ people embrace non-profit and philanthropic endeavors.

And tonight, I’m going to the 2nd annual Adult Swim at the Children’s Museum.  I’m actually on their social media team for the evening, which works out well as I’m dateless and didn’t want to play 3rd wheel with another couple.  I had applied on a whim for the gig and just found out this week I got it, so I’m pretty stoked to be one of the “social media lifeguards”.  This is also known as, I get to wear an awesome hat, walk around and talk to people and mingle while using Twitter and passing out drink tickets to cool people doing cool things.  If you see me there, wave me down and sing me a song and I’ll make sure you get hooked up, deal?

Four years ago today, Zilla showed up in the driveway as a crazy puppy who quickly won his way into my heart.  He’s still crazy, still fits his full name, Godzilla, but keeping him is one of the best decisions that we made in the Hanley house.

Zee being boss of the snow pile this week

Now, I guess I’ve avoided that run long enough…I see first light rising from the east.

Have a good one,

-th