40 FORWARD BY G DIESEL

I’m haunted by a specific thought. It makes me anxious and puts me on edge. It keeps me up at night.

I’m not doing enough.

Furthermore, I realize there is no way to cure this condition. It is a status that cannot be achieved. Taking solace that I have done enough… More than is what required. Given all that I have. It seems like a figment of fantasy. There’s always another gear. Deeper that I can dig.

Like having too much money. Or being too big… For a dude like me, could such a thing even be possible? Imagine that. These are not “problems” to which I can relate.

Strapped with the knowledge that I never feel like I’m doing enough, as I was careening towards my fortieth year on God’s green experiment, I had a revelation. Perhaps I could turn this existential crisis, into a crusade. One that could help me get a grip on my neurosis, and maybe, in the process, allow me to push the ball downfield, inching closer to a better version of myself… The ideal me who “does enough”.

And so, #40Daysx40Nights was born. Putting together a laundry list of all the ways I could improve myself, short term goals leading to long-term dreams, my relationships, overlooked tasks, time management, my training, my nutrition, tending to my own personal inspiration and education. Seizing control over the chaos of everyday life, and in that process, becoming a better father, husband, friend, artist, athlete and businessman. And even a better human being.

How could I advance and grow the brand? How could I enrich the lives of my family? How could I get in the best shape of my life, refining my training and nutrition? How could I inspire myself to reach new heights and in the process, inspire others to do the same? These were the obvious questions. The answers lived inside of me.

We all know we could do better, we all know we should be more. We all hear to varying decibels hear that voice in our head. For forty days and forty nights, we will respond as we should. With sincerity. With humility. With purpose. With the understanding that within each of us is the capacity to be great. Literally capable of anything. With the great caveat my father engrained in my soul as a young man… Anything I put my mind to is possible, IF I am willing to pay our dues. IF I am ready to do the work so few are willing to do.

We find ourselves at a critical crossroads in human history. Trying and tumultuous times. From a pandemic to civil unrest, we are struggling to keep our footing and to find our way back to the light. But excellence, as we know, is a habit. Decency and dignity, are ways of life. Righteousness and honor, part of a code. And for forty days and forty nights, 960 determined hours, we will dedicate ourselves, to being the beacons shining bright, leading the way to those lost at sea. By example.

As always, the most critical aspect of this change will be the least glamorous. You won’t find it bedazzled on a t-shirt or on a Broadway billboard in blinking bright lights. Consistency.

Can you find it within to return daily to the wrench work your dream demands? The quiet efforts. Day after day. With no accolades or acclaim. In the shadows, when no one is watching. Cultivate your consistency, making the difficult and inconvenient routine, and over time, you will far exceed what you once accepted as limitations. Consistency is where mojo becomes momentum. And you become unstoppable. Consistency is KING.

They say that a very small percentage of the population document their goals, putting their pen to paper. And the rest of the world works for them. The reason is that once your objective has been committed to writing and exists in the physical world, it is that much closer to coming to fruition. When we make a list, we make it happen.

On the eve of #40Daysx40Nights, I am counting my blessings and contemplating my dreams. There is work to be done. Like always. And though I’ll never do enough to quiet that voice in my head, I am committed to doing more and doing it better than before. Laying the hammer down with consistency, for forty days and forty nights, and emerging out the other end a few steps closer to the man I know I can be.