I’ve Reached a Major Milestone, But What Did I Learn From It?

For those who have been following along, I had 3 stents put in via angioplasty on January 18 of this year. On July 8, I reached a major milestone and successfully competed in the shot put and discus at the annual Nutmeg State Games. Even crazier, I was a medalist for my age group in both events. My son, who made his middle school track team in those events this year and was my inspiration to end my 36-year track and field retirement, was also a medalist in both events in his age group.

I learned a lot of lessons during this 6 month journey, and those lessons are life-, family-, and work-related. And when I look back, I realize that I made a lot of mistakes over my 54 years on this planet. In some cases, I’m downright embarrassed. In other cases, I’d love to make amends.

But instead of droning on, I will share what I’ve learned from reaching this major milestone, and how it relates to life in general.

It’s Only a Game, So Have Some Fun

This is a lesson I’ve known about for a long time now but didn’t see it in myself when I was in my 30s and 40s. I was one of those never-won-anything-in-youth-sports slow-pitch softball a-holes who felt that the game was his entire persona. I didn’t realize how much my win-at-all-costs attitude and limited athletic ability made me a walking clown show to my teammates, co-workers, and more. While there were times when I thought I was being a great teammate, and I always thought that I was having fun, the fact of the matter is that I was insufferable. More on that in a future post.

Being Coachable Matters

Maybe it’s the timing, too. My son is not a natural athlete but tries his hardest in everything he does. That’s why coaches love working with him. He’s coachable. When I was his age, I thought I knew everything there was about baseball, football, and whatever sport I was playing. In the workplace, I thought I knew everything about being a journalist, and I never took direction. While I was able to coach Will well enough in the preseason for him to make his school track team, he reminded me that my methods were “old school and outdated.” I laughed, but I also found a coach for the two of us and was receptive to learning.

Do The Research

This one ties in to being coachable. You need to be receptive to learning new things if you’re going to get ahead. I’ve been with my current company for four years now, and my journey has grown because I want to learn new things. While I’ve learned how to use new dashboards and technologies, I’ve learned a lot about them via YouTube and different business articles. That’s actually how I also got a better grasp on doing the shot put and discus, even though it’s not a complete replacement for 1-on-1 training.

Find Your Circle

The track and field community, at least in Connecticut, is large but underground. While I knew the Nutmeg State Games existed, I never knew about the Connecticut Master’s Games (which is run by the same non-profit group, and I was not cleared by my cardiologist to compete in). I also didn’t realize that I could find regional track meets to compete in by searching regional USATF websites. There’s a circle out there for everyone regardless of your interest or business. Sometimes, it’s harder to find.

Be Flexible, But Don’t Give Up

Every project has some bumps and hiccups that prevent you from being ready on time. If you’re launching at an event, you have less wiggle-room and will hopefully prepare a few weeks early just in case. My goal was originally to be ready to throw at the Connecticut Master's Games in late May, even though I was only getting cleared by my doctor a week earlier (and missed the registration deadline). Fortunately I had the mechanics down, mostly, by early June, because I developed bronchitis from the wildfire smoke and had to shut it down for a bit. Had I decided to skip the Nutmeg State Games, I'm certain that I would have never reached this major milestone.