"Don't limit your challenges, challenge your limits."

The Challenges

As part of my year in the Apogee program, and moving forward beyond Apogee, I am starting and completing certain challenges that will grow and strengthen me in different things. Below are a list of challenges I have completed with some of my favorite and hardest challenges explained. Some have been more difficult than others but all of them are teaching me and growing me.

Household Rules/Core Values

This was one of my favorites. It made me think about the ways and attitudes that me and my family encourage each other. It made us all think deeply about the family we are and what we hope to become.

Operation C.E.O./ L.E.O.

These were difficult but very fun, as they challenged me to email and communicate with people that I had never met. I learned valuable lessons about the importance of leadership and communication both in the law enforcement and in business. I was lucky to be able to interview Mr. Sean Strawbridge, who was CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi. At the time he was overseeing the largest port in the United States (by revenue tonnage). I also really enjoyed getting to know law enforcement officers working around my community in different roles.

Board of Directors/ Alter Ego

This one challenged me to think about important role models and individuals that we looked up to and challenge myself to follow their examples and "consult" with them by looking at challenges through their eyes. A good example is using how Andrew Tackett handles victory and defeat in his BJJ competitions and applying that to how I train, compete, and deal with things in my day to day life.

Man Skills

For this one I had a list of certain skills that a man should know how to do, learning to tie various knots, sew, iron pants, and become C.P.R. certified. Changing a tire almost caused me to have to get stitches! The tire iron slipped off the lug nut and hit me right under my nose, causing a pretty good bleed. The scenario had me alone so I had to patch myself up and finish getting the tire swapped out.

Challenges completed:

Regular workouts - a consistent weekly workout routine with benchmarking and improvement over time.
Yes Sir/No Sir - a month of consistent Sirs or Mams with all people that I interacted. This created a great habit.
Digital Portfolio - creating/editing this website.
Plan Ahead - creating safety plans for 3 locations that I am at the most.
Get to Work - think about and obtain an apprenticeship in an area of interest
Stand up and Speak - Prepare and present a speech to a local organization on "Why I want to be a leader?"
Paperclip Flip - Trade up starting with a paperclip and see how far I could get.
Philanthropy Undercover - without getting caught, do something nice for people or strangers around me.
Kim's Game - learn and practice playing Kim's Game
Garbage In and Garbage Out - track and monitor food consumption for a month
Hospice or Shelter - serve at a local shelter or hospice facility.
Old School - No Video Games/No Computer and 30 minute limit on phone for 30 days.
Big Brother - Mentor, work with, and play with someone younger than myself
Hard 90 - 90 days straight of working out, sticking to a diet plan, and reading