As we’re working on teaching my son how to speak, I thought it would be appropriate to do a little get to know me using the ABC’s. For those who don’t know much or those who want to see what I have to say, please enjoy.

A is for Analogy. I love analogies and shared language. I’m still working on finding the ultimate analogy to help everyone understand who I am, but hopefully this post helps with that.

B is for Balance. One of the most important things to me is to have balance in life. I’ve learned through the years that burnout, depression, obsession, and more are typically signs of a life out of balance.

C is for Curious. I love reading. Mostly non-fiction and one of the biggest tips I’ve ever learned is to read to answer a question. When you have curiosity you approach things in a way that wants to grow and learn. When you approach things from the mindset that you already know everything, you tend to come away disappointed.

D is for Dad. My son Theo has changed my life in a variety of ways, but the most obvious is that he made me a dad. My priorities, my time, my purpose has all changed in the past few years and will continue to shift as he gets older. But it’s not something that I’ve got to do, but rather it’s something I get to do. And I hope I get to keep doing things with him for a really long time.

E is for Expertise. Expertise is one of my favorite topics to research. There is something about learning from people who are really good at what they are. In fact three of the questions that have been a guiding principle for my life are based around the idea of emulating experts. Those 3 questions are: What am I currently doing? What are experts doing? How can I align what I’m doing with what experts are doing?

F is for Five Wing Six. The Enneagram is a personality system that helps create shared language for people to express some of the complex and unique aspects of their personality. Obviously no one test is 100% accurate or 100% descriptive but I appreciate the vast amount of relational descriptions used by the Enneagram.

G is for Grace. The thing that I’m most appreciative and most undeserving of in my life. I understand that I’m not perfect and I thank God for His grace. I also understand that others aren’t perfect and try my best to extend grace to them and myself.

H is for Husband. My wife Anna means a lot to me. Not just in the you’re supposed to say that about your wife, but because our lives had been intertwined before we had ever met. The more we’ve spent time together the more we’ve discovered just how amazingly our lives were designed to balance and overlap with each other.

I is for Intentional. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the past 5-10 years is to be intentional with my time and my energy. I’ve rarely felt bad about decisions or choices that highlight things that preserve my energy or time. Anna and I were very intentional about our dating life and designed that dating pattern around the idea of making sure we were answering questions that would help us know whether we could spend the rest of our lives together.

J is for Journey. Life is a process. Some days are much harder than others. You can either learn to enjoy that process and the journey along the way, or you can wait until you get to the final destination and wonder where it all went.

K is for Kipling. Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book has a quote that says, “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” This is one of my favorite quotes of all time and also was tied to one of my favorite memories in high school.

L is for Life Coach. I’m a certified life coach and have worked with clients on a number of topics including:

• Time Blocking & Time Management Skills
• Goal Setting
• Finding Personalized Best Energy Levels
• Setting Priorities and Boundaries
• Productivity
• Self-Talk & Emotional Control
• Communication Skills
• Simplifying choices and taking action
• Looking at various aspects of personality and relationship psychology

M is for Master’s Degree in Psychological Aspects of Sport and Exercise. I’m thankful to my parents for the opportunity to study psychology at a graduate level. When I say I’ve done research on experts, a large part of it happened here. I’ve seen amazing breakthroughs, personal triumphs, and heartbreaking defeats through sports and through it all I’ve found that it’s really just a great microcosm of the rest of life.

N is for Nothing. Job’s response to God. In the book of Job, we’re reminded that compared with God we are nothing. Some might take that as a discouraging thought, but for me it provides perspective to be humble. No matter how good you are you’re not perfect and no matter how bad you are you’re worth saving.

O is for One Rule. In our house we have one rule: Love. Love God, Love Ourselves, and Love Others.

P is for Patience. On our first date Anna and I discussed 1st Corinthians 13. As a house warming present my mother gave us a wall hanging that captures this verse. So yes, patience is a big deal in our house.

Q is for Quality Time. Of my love languages Quality Time is far and away the most important.

R is for Relationships. Jim Rohn said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This quote as well as many hundreds of others on relationships highlight the importance to me of surrounding myself with the right people. I’m blessed to say that I have a great group of family and friends to go through life with and to hold me accountable, to teach me, to do things with, but most importantly to love and be loved by me.

S is for StrengthsFinder. My top 5 strenghts are Learner, Individualization, Relator, Strategic, and Arranger. Hopefully you see those strengths in my writing and in getting to know me.

T is for Time. This link is to one of the articles that I feel has best represented some of my thoughts on time. Time is the most precious resource that we have, so choosing how you want to spend it and who you want to spend it with is such an important thing. I think part of the reason that quality time is so important to me is that the idea of someone else giving me their most precious resource means that I’m worthy. Thank you for taking the time to read this article.

U is for Unique. I’ve been hit by a parked car. I don’t know many other people that can make that claim. The story while potentially dramatic is a bit long for this article, so you’ll just have to ask me about it individually if you want to know.

V is for Vulnerability. One of the things that I’ve become increasingly aware of as I’ve gotten older is the importance of vulnerability. I know that in the past I’ve struggled to be a great friend to some people because I’ve failed to be vulnerable. With others I’ve been too vulnerable. Finding that balance is what has provided me with some of the best relationships in my life.

W is for Wonder. While I would make a comment about Sesame Street using the phrase “I Wonder” being a constant in our house, wonder is a way in which God speaks to me. There is just something about seeing a pattern of certain things that makes you take a step back and say, “Wow.” One of my favorite quotes comes from Voltaire which says, “God is a comedian playing to an audience to afraid to laugh.” I love the idea of God having a sense of humor and I am constantly searching for those little inside jokes that I think He leaves for me in my daily life. I hope you’re able to find humor in your world too.

X is for X-Men. Growing up I always wanted super powers for some reason. And watching the X-Men is one of my favorite past times. One of the things I never really understood until college though was that the X-Men are some of the few superheroes that A. Spent time in community and B. Also spent time learning their craft. To me that made them even cooler.

Y is for You. I am honored that you’ve made it this far and I appreciate the time and effort that you’ve spent reading this. I’m hopeful that this has added some value to your day and that you know me a little better now. Hopefully we can continue to grow this relationship together.

Z is for Zone. Zone is a word that actually comes up in a lot of my readings: Comfort zone, Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning, being in “the zone”, the blue zone. Zones are a great descriptor of knowing if you’re in or not in the right spot. I’m hoping this article has found you in the right zone.

Now you know my ABCs, next time won’t you share with me? Please leave a comment on the thing you enjoyed the most, a question you have on the list above, or the letter and word that would most describe you.