Embracing the Grimy Path to Success (10-8-25)

This week we are going to kick off some reflections from my recent obstacle course race at Midwest OCR. Our first topic is embracing the grimy path to success.

Here is the picture of me after my most recent obstacle course race. I’m smiling, striking a pose, looking strong, and proudly wearing my medal. This picture makes it look like I smoothly and effortlessly navigated the race in a perfect fashion. None of that is true. My race was ugly. You don’t see how I failed quite a few obstacles. You don’t see me red faced and feeling like I was dying on some of those hills. You don’t see the time I tripped and slid down a hill into a knee-deep mud bog that swallowed my legs and almost took my shoes. You don’t see the bruises I picked up along the way. Now that you know those things, does this make me any less successful? For me, just because it might have been a little ugly doesn’t take away from the fact that I was ultimately successful.

Let’s make some connections. Have you ever looked at a successful person and said, “Whoa! They have it all figured out. They just make success look so smooth and effortless. They must be perfect”? I know I have. Then the next thing I did was start comparing myself to them, which led to self-doubt. I would feel like a failure if everything I did wasn’t effortless and smooth. As I’ve got older, I’ve realized that success doesn’t come from things being flawless. Success is the result of continuing to persevere, especially when things are grimy and ugly.

The challenge: Will you embrace that success doesn’t have to be pristine? Will you embrace that the path to success is often grimy and ugly?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lies of P and Scoping out a Situation Before Taking Action (2-28-24)

Last week was about Lies of P and expecting difficulties. This week is about boss fights and the importance of understanding the situation before sprinting forward.

I had made it through the first few bosses without much trouble and then I ran into Fuoco, the King’s Flame. It was a giant incinerator like puppet (robot). I went all in and was super aggressive for my first attempt. It didn’t go well. He quickly killed me. After that, I switched up my approach. I started playing more cautiously and slowly for a few rounds. My kids saw this, thought it was weird, and asked why I wasn’t rushing in aggressively again to win. I explained to them that I wasn’t trying to win the fight right now. Right now, I was trying to better understand what I was up against. I was spending time learning his moves and finding his weak spots. I knew that after I had a better understanding of the fight, I would be able to be successful. Sure enough, when I finally went all in, I was able to get him down to about 10% of his health before he ever hit me the first time. My kids were amazed at how I was virtually flawless in the battle. (I’m virtually flawless in life too, so they shouldn’t have been surprised 😉)

What does this have to do with anything? In the above story, I quickly failed because I didn’t know what I was up against. If I would have kept charging in super aggressively then it would have taken me a long time before I was able to win that battle. I would have kept failing over and over again, because in my rush to move fast I would not have been learning the critical things about the boss fight to be successful. Investing time in approaching the situation more slowly, so I could understand it, ultimately enabled me to move faster toward success.

Now let’s look at the parallels with work. Have you ever had a project or assignment where you just went blindly barging in full steam ahead? How did that turn out for you? I’ve done that and it never works out particularly well. When I just rush in, I often fail to understand the true problem or miss important bits of information, and both lead to failure. Throughout my career, I’ve had to learn that the most important thing I can do for any project is understand what we are trying to accomplish, why, with whom, and how the deliverable is going to be used. I’ve learned that if I invest the time to slow down to understand those things, then I will be able to be faster and more successful in the future.

The challenge: Will you be willing to take your time to understand the situation before trying to charge forward?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lifting and Different Kinds of Success (5-3-23)

Our last entry was about using proper form to help us be stronger and more efficient. This week is about lifting and different kinds of success.

A few of months ago, I wasn’t making any progress in my physical health and lifting journey. I wasn’t gaining strength. My body composition was staying the same. I didn’t feel any better. I was doing my best at the time, but not getting anywhere. I felt like an unsuccessful failure. Then, I took a step back and realized that life was throwing a lot at me right both personally and professionally. In the midst of all of that crazy, making the progress I wanted to make would have been impossible. I came to appreciate that while I may not have been moving forward at that exact moment, the fact that I wasn’t losing ground was a win. Despite all life was doing, it wasn’t pushing me back. It may not have been my ideal goal, but maintaining was success in those circumstances.

What does this have to do with anything? Often, we picture success as crossing the finish line in first place, and anything short of that is failure. After all, as the guru Ricky Bobby once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last!” As a result of this thinking, we often feel like if we aren’t achieving our ideal of success then we are not worthy. That’s how I felt during that month. Have you ever felt that way? In these moments, it’s important to step back and realize that victory can take many forms. Success isn’t always about winning the race. Sometimes, success is just finishing the race. Sometimes, success is finding a way to keep moving forward. Sometimes, success is not getting knocked back. Sometimes, success is finding a way to get back up after being knocked flat on your butt. Depending on what you’re doing, and the hand life is dealing you at the moment, success can look very different. We need to accept that AND accept that we are always more than enough.

The challenge: Are you giving yourself the grace to understand what success looks like in the moment?

Bonus: I woke up this morning and I’m sore and exhausted, so my lifting success today is going to be taking a rest day 😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Yoga, Success, and Balance (3-25-15)

This week is also about self-reflection, but is more focused on maintaining success. This week’s blog is inspired by a colleague, her love of yoga, and some conversations we have had.

The reason I said maintaining success in the above paragraph is that anyone can achieve success once in a while. The key is to maintain a level of success. One thing that gets in the way of this is that people often talk about success like it is a final destination. We talk about success and reaching the next level. We talk about it like one day we will finish climbing a mountain or achieve something and shout to the stars, “I have arrived!” Then, since we are in the land of success we will stroll in a lush valley and life will remain like this forever. The problem is that it doesn’t work like that. We don’t maintain success by just arriving.

Actually, maintaining success is like doing yoga. Have you ever done yoga? I’m not going to lie. When I first started seeing people do that stuff, I thought, “How hard can doing stretches be? Look at those people just standing still in tree pose or whatever. That’s can’t be hard.” And then I tried it and now I consider surviving the workout a major accomplishment. I soon discovered that when you do a yoga pose you are not standing still. You are not stagnant. Instead, your body is constantly recalibrating in both large and small ways. I understand that being good at yoga requires a combination of strength, flexibility, and control. The result of exercising strength, flexibility, and control is balance. Balance is not a stagnant state of being. Balance is a state of constant movement and change. Likewise, maintaining success is not a stagnant state of being. Maintaining success is about consistently making adjustments.

Take a look in the mirror. Are you consistently making those adjustments?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry