So much of life is a process. We work diligently to accomplish tasks, and once accomplish them, we set our minds to new tasks.

Ever forward. Never stopping. There is always a new challenge facing us – a new goal, something different that we need to achieve.

And achieve we must.

When we stop looking to grow, to improve, to achieve… I believe we start to die. Once we give up looking ahead, there is nothing ahead to look forward to.

Yes, as life changes, as we age, some of the goals must change. We cannot always do what we once did, but that does not mean that we can’t reach for new goals or different goals. Part of life is to ever look forward.

In 16 weeks from today, I’ll be in New York City running the NYC Marathon. This will be my 25th marathon and my 10th New York.

In many ways it is amazing that the first Sunday in November is only 16 weeks away. It seems that summer just started…

Over the next 16 weeks, I will run hundreds of miles to prepare for the big race. I’ll struggle. I’ll battle. I’ll fight the hills and the heat, and later the cold, as I force my body to get stronger and stronger. I’m always daunted by the magnitude of what the next sixteen weeks hold in store for me. In many ways its overwhelming. I will have to cover ten mile runs and fifteen mile runs, and twenty mile runs. I’ll push my body past exhaustion and try to find ways to keep moving. I’ll want to quit. Sometimes I will. Each time I find myself walking, I’ll think that I failed in some way, but I’ll also know, even as I walk, even as I struggle, that I am getting stronger and better prepared for the brutal nature of the 26.2 mile journey through the big city.

I don’t always love the race. I don’t always love the struggle, but I can’t fathom not having something larger than me, something grand and grandiose that I need to look forward to.

But, the marathon is not my only goal – far from it. I’ll need to have, in some regards, a singularity of purpose to be able to focus on getting ready for the big race, but, that’s not the only thing I’ll be working towards and focusing on over the next four months. Life isn’t composed on just one thing.

A few weeks ago, I started my grandest writing project yet… a book about the Battle of Gettysburg in a way that no one ever before has told that story. I have been planning to write this manuscript for well over a decade, but I needed time, and lots of it, so the writing process for this book had to wait until I was retired. Now, I finally have the time to invest in that project.

I am reading a ton about Gettysburg; book after book after book. I have studied the battle in detail for a long time, I walked the battlefield many times over, but in order to be able to write the best book possible, I’m reading and studying a whole lot more. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working in the research center at the battlefield to begin this intensive process. This won’t be easy, but I not daunted by the challenge.

Also, in just over a month, the new college semester will begin. I’ll need to prepare for my class so that I can deliver the best possible educational experience for my students. I always want my students to reflect back on a positive and valuable learning experience. That’s always my goal – to be the best.

I have a host of speaking engagements, podcasts, and the like lined up for the coming weeks and months. I love sharing my passion for excellence with others. I love to inspire people help them realize that they can achieve greater things than they ever before imagined.

Of course, I’m still playing baseball. At 55-years-old, I am pitching better than I ever have in my life. We’re winning games and having a lot fun.

Laurie, now also retired, and I are finding the time to finally have some time together to do what we want. That’s been a long time coming and those times just might be the most important and the most precious. It’s important to spend our days with the people we love.

This year I have undertaken the task of reading the entire Bible. Tomorrow I’ll complete the Book of Ecclesiastes. I’m following an on-line program that maps out, page-by-page how much a person had to read each day in order to complete the Bible in a year. I’m enjoying this process and learning a lot. This task is also affirming a lot. As I move on each day, I also realize that there is a great deal more to learn. A while back I made the decision that I will follow a reading program like this every year. I figure that each year I’ll gain a little more understanding from the passages I read. I never read the entire Bible before. I’m now looking forward, year-by-year, to reading it again and again and again.

This is how I want to always live my life.

Ever forward.

It’s never easy, but I don’t want it to be.

By reaching and striving and growing, we find the ways to be our best selves.

I look forward to working to accomplish these, and so many other, goals. I also look forward to discovering new passions, new ideas, and finding new and different things to reach for.

Ever forward. (It’s the only way I know.)