Writin' Forty

There’s a phrase that I think Bill Parcells said about his team at the time: “You are what your record says you are.” In my head and heart I feel like I’m a good leader. I feel that any opportunity I’ve had to be placed in charge of people and run a team that I took care of each of my people as best as I could, the team advanced its goals, and at the end of my time in charge I left things better than I found them. I feel like I’m a good leader. I’m not sure if my record reflects that, though. This is the conflict I go through a decent amount of the time. Objectively speaking, I think a lot of people wouldn’t mind being in the position that I am in life. I personally feel like I haven’t come close to living up to the potential I have or once had. I feel like if I were a good leader, someone in the Air Force would have seen that at some point and would have fought for me to advance further in my career. I wouldn’t have had to exit at 15 years.  My record, apparently, says I

I wrote a piece, kind of like an audition, for a jiu-jitsu brand who is looking for a writer. This is what I submitted: Sunday rolls hav e become a tradition in  Denver, North Carolina.  Y es, I assure you it exists. It was started by a blue belt named Jeff Boone (of the BJJ Campaign Podcast) as an opportunity to train an extra day. It’s become a training ground mostly for the junior belts of the Fight to  Win   (run by Steve Hall)  schools and Jeff, being a social person, uses his network to bring a few more people to the fold. It’s become an important part of my development. This Sunday I finished my rolls with a white belt named Skip. I’m a  240lb blue bel t. Skip  a 150lb white belt about a month in . I let him work his offense,  I didn’t go overly aggressive, and I told  him to breathe towards the end as he  almost tapped  due to not being able to catch his breath.  Afterward, h e sounded a little defeated  and asked me if he was improving any. While I’m hesitant to