Work Life Play With Aaron Mchugh

I called my friend Gill at 10 am this morning. “Gill I’m calling you back. What’s up?” “We’re going to climb Pikes Peak today. You should join us Aaron.” Pause; remind myself that the lists of excuses for saying “No” are not that important or urgent or necessary. “YES. I’ll be there in an hour”. Movies are extremely helpful in telling parable stories through the lives of someone else. The two movies that reframed my beliefs about risking saying “YES” more often are The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Yes Man. These are must see films if you think you might be prone to using the words like, No Ahhh, I really need to…. Well it’s been a long time since I…. You know my (person) really was expecting me to… Keep me in mind for next time…. Give me a heads up next time and I’ll be able to plan better.

Think differently Business travel does not have to be a drag. Remove resignation from your list of excuses. You can fulfill your work obligations and HAVE A GOOD TIME ALSO. Come prepared adventure clothes running/walking/hiking shoes Petzl headlamp -my favorite Tikkina (cheap, light, easy) light jacket (check out Patagonia's Houdini) Gear every Road Warrior should carry

Unfortunately, I experience anxiety. I used to resent the feelings of anxiousness, worry and discomfort. I can't say, I like feeling anxious. However, I've learned to embrace anxiety as a necessary, although sometimes irrational, indicator of perceptions, beliefs and risk. I've learned is that anxiety is always trying to alert me. Like the Tsunami warning sirens broadcasting the early warning detection of pending harm, anxiety is trying to educate us about a perceived threat. As I mature, I am learning to embrace the feeling of anxiety as a early warning detection system. 

Your Good Amount of Weird [Episode #64] Everybody is weird in a good way. Your weird is your superpower. Embrace your weird. Love your weird. Foster your weird. Practice being weird. A friend of ours told me a story about her son coming home from school sharing his acrostic (the thing you make where each letter in your name has a word associated with it). His name had a “G” in it and after wrestling with the perfect word to describe himself by only selecting words that start with a “G” he told his mom he wrote A good amount of weird. Amen brother. I've only recently embraced the belief that my weird is rare and good. I’m not talking about the kind of weird that means you collect toenail clippings from when you were in the third grade. I’m talking about the kind of weird that makes you have powers like a super hero.

My wife Leith McHugh was interviewed last week on Rob Bell’s Robcast Episode 99 | Leith McHugh on Rebooting Your Life. You will want to listen to this powerful interview. I put together a summary of the nine key areas that were part of our Life Reboot. In this podcast, I walk through each of these key Reboot categories and how to evaluate your own need for a Life Reboot.

This podcast was recorded while backpacking the Colorado Trail at 10,000 feet on Kenosha Pass. I captured a few ideas, a few trail sounds and invite you into our three day 28 mile adventure.  All the Roots Grow Deeper When It's Dry  

You don’t need a destination. You don’t need a lot of money. You don’t need to spend a lot of time planning. You just need to stuff your kids in the car, point in a direction and start driving. Our modern life is too full. Life is too full of responsibilities, objectives, targets, metrics, schedules, measurement, technology, and pressure. A road trip without a detailed itinerary can help you experience more rest, play, adventure and connection with the people you love. It's almost summer. This podcast will help you get started on your summer road trip with your kids.  

Podcast highlights: Don't quit your day job. It can fund your dreams. Figure out what type of entrepreneur you want to become How to structure your life in order to have money or time to invest in your dream gig Take the 10% Entrepreneur Quiz to see if you have what it takes. Click here to start.  

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.” James Michener

Podcast Highlights with Ben Lecomte: From Tokyo to San Francisco in the name of sustainability -The LONGEST Swim Why would Ben swim across the Pacific Ocean What will he think about while he swims eight hours a day, every day for six months? How long did it take for Ben to swim the Atlantic Ocean ten years ago? What are the biggest challenges he will face to finish? How the lessons Ben learns in the ocean change how he lives on land Follow Ben's progress on Twitter Follow The Longest Swim on Instagram Follow The Longest Swim on Facebook  

  I picked John up in my 1974 VW Joy Bus and we found a semi-quiet trailhead to park and do the interview in my bus. Friends, I want you to go see this one night movie event in nationwide theaters on Thursday, May 19th. John Eldredge and his sons have made an adventure film that I'm stoked about you experiencing. It's titled, A Story Worth Living (CLICK HERE to view the Trailer). Ransomed Heart has secured theaters across the country to view this film, so you can be assured that there is a theater near you (CLICK HERE to find a theater near you).

Cedar Wright Work Life Play Highlights: Cedar's latest film, The Fledglings about paragliding from the summit of 18,490' Pico de Orizaba the third highest mountain in North America. Ask yourself, What can I not help but do in life? Go do that. Discover what drives you? What are you passionate about? It doesn't matter if can make money in the beginning. Cedar lived on less than $5,000.00 per year for a decade before he became the famous climber.  

Rob Bell is a brother from another mother. I love this man. I've listened to Rob's voice in my earbuds since early 2000's. When he was a pastor in Grand Rapids Michigan at Mars Hills Church, I would download his weekly sermons and listen to them on my Sunday long runs. Last January, Leith and I went to Rob's Business edition two-day event in Laguna Beach. Last month we spent the day with him and 99 others in Denver at his How to Be Here Experience. In this podcast interview, Rob Bell and I talk about his new book, How to Be Here. 

How I Burned Out and Came Back [Episode #54] If you've ever burned out, flirted with the idea of burn out or could envision that burn out is in your future, you'll identify with my story. Burn out isn't something most people want to admit happened to them. In a society where superhuman is rewarded and even expected, saying "I can't anymore" isn't what makes the cover of many headlines. Unless of course, a burn out produces drama and carnage. Those stories create lots of buzz. In my case, I absolutely burned out and my world approached full blown Chernobyl meltdown status. One year later, I think I have a better view into the elements, lifestyle and choices that led to my burn out. I also feel I'm very clear on what I can do differently to live in the green zone and avoid another burn out in my future  

This adventure log is another from the Chasing Adventure series that I recorded while traveling to Southern California and a Work Life Play trip. I recorded this one from Joshua Tree National Park. The band U2 made this iconic place famous for their album titled Joshua Tree. It was a disappointing fact that the National Park reported that the album cover photo wasn’t actually taken inside Joshua Tree National Park. Instead, it was captured a hundred miles away somewhere in the desert. Regardless, we rocked Where the Streets Have No Name as we drove through the parks gate.

It's easy to ignore the things in our life that become normal or over time loose their original zeal. It's easy to dream our life away wishing we were somewhere other than where we are. In this Chasing Adventure episode from my week long trip to southern California, my friend Jake and I spent an evening on Stand Up Paddle boards. After we watched the sunset and then the full moon rise over the bay, we recorded our conversation about this story, Be Where You Are.

Los Angeles, CA isn’t immediately the community that comes to mind when I envision a backyard fine dining experience amongst new friends. On my recent Chasing Adventure trip to California, I purposed to orbit my decisions around people, adventure and a loose schedule. My son and I found ourselves in a story we didn’t anticipate. We didn’t realize that we were being invited into real connections with real people, not just a meal.

Picking up surfing isn't easy. Especially when you live a thousand miles away from the ocean. It's humbling being the novice. It's humbling not knowing what to do or how to do it. I think it is even more difficult as an adult man. Most men I know don't try things that they are not good at. In this episode, I talk about my experiences of learning to surf and stumbling forward.  

During this episode, I talk about going out with my friend Curious Gabe as we parked near the beach for thirty-minutes and chased adventure. It was simple. It was quick and it was just what we needed. There was no planning needed. There was no big story that surfaced. This type of excursion is available to each of us. What are we waiting for? I've spent too much of my life holding back. I want to extend for the full length of fun, let's not hold back but go for it.

Adventure Log #2 from my Chasing Adventure trip to SoCal. In this episode, I talk about the easy temptation to reach for my wallet and solve problems of discomfort. Instead, I choose to sit in the discomfort and see what unfolded as I chased adventure, work and relationships.