In a now famous YouTube clip Admiral McRaven addressed The University of Texas at Austin graduating class of 2014. While the Special Forces Commander shares moments from his career in the military, the main emphasis of his address is not about his maneuvers as a Seal Team leader. Instead, he described the benefit of starting each day by… making his bed. Admiral McRaven explained:

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.

Who would have guessed a university commencement speech would focus on something so, well, elementary. But the message rings true. Progress on small goals builds momentum. With that momentum, you can do one more task. And then another.

This video connected with me because knocking out goals is my “drug”.

While I never viewed my approach to each day through the lens of making my bed (and maybe my Mom would argue I haven’t always been so diligent about my morning chores), adding checks to my checklist has been my addition ever since at least my teen years. I love doing just one…more…thing. While I haven’t always been so task-oriented, by the time I grew into a young adult I adopted a practice of making and doing lists of projects daily. Ever since I discovered the secret joy of completing small and big tasks daily I haven’t put the practice down.

This is what I learned through the process.

Document Your Goals

Whether you list them in a phone, on post-its, or a journal, write down where aiming. And then DO IT!

Whether these are small tasks done around the house, or big multi-month projects, write down what you want to achieve with as much detail as possible. I used to write objectives on yellow post-it notes and paste them above my desk. Now I mostly use my phone’s notes app. Examples of goals from my past to-do lists include:

SMALL: Build a live-edge wood table
MEDIUM: Professionalize my filmmaking by making movies only with licensed music and professional titles and animations
BIG: Find and buy a house I can afford and improve it with my Dad

The benefit of writing down your goals not only allows you to get clarity on what you want to achieve, and maybe allow you to reorder your list based on your resources and time, it also holds you accountable. And this is the secret sauce. Like many business books and career coaching texts describe, when setting goals they should be S.M.A.R.T.—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (whenever possible). Plus, if you don’t write your goals down you don’t get the joy of crossing them off once you’ve finished the task, or climbed the hill.

Start Small

This take-away mirrors the advice shared by Admiral McRaven. Start your day with a simple task and work to complete it. This could include participating in a morning strength and conditioning routine, packing your lunch for your workday or calling your family to check in on your morning commute. By completing a small task, you can build momentum in your day and week and maybe month to do another task, and then another.

While I initially hated the intensity of hot yoga, I took on the weekly sweaty, stretchy practice for a full year because I realized that when I was done the class at 7:05AM, I was both massively energized for my day and had already ticked off my “workout” to-do—and yet the morning had just started. Nailed it! This elation combined with energy from my morning coffee meant that after a quick shower I was ready to throw myself at subsequent tasks on my to-do list. Procrastination is impossible when anyone reaches this motivated state and the flywheel of “doing” is in motion. (Plus, caffeine and pop music helps.)

Celebrate Wins

I try to make it a point to give credit where credit is due. That means not only thanking those who help me knock out tasks small and large, but also celebrating my own efforts. By taking a moment to mentally say “good job bother!”, I’m reminded of what got me across the finish line. My motivation, planning and grit. This celebration can come in many forms.

While the 100-mile distance is not always my favorite trail running challenge, I do like how these events celebrate a finish by gifting a belt buckle. These much-prized tokens can then be worn post-run—reminding yourself of how grit got you to the finish. This award is made of steel, copper or aluminum and has no mystical powers, but it does remind wearers of how they set and accomplished a goal. That in itself is powerful… and maybe magical. I love wearing my buckles, even if I wasn’t always chipper and 100% happy when I earned each of them.

If you’re not into shiny jewelry, I know friends who celebrate with ice cream dessert, a weekend vacation or beers with friends. However you reveal, use that prize as a motivator to get your project, classwork, or whatever you’re plugging away at done.

So this is a natural time to reflect and use my own advice. What are MY goals for the New Year?

I’m focused on investing in my education by reading 15 books and attending two conferences, in my health by taking up weekly indoor cycling classes, and by running ten ultramarathon including at least one 100K and one 100-mile race. Financially I’ve implemented a food budget that cuts back on eating out and ensures I’m keeping my finances in line. I also plan to pay down a sizable chunk of my student loans, and to expand my emergency fund. Creatively I plan to produce at least four short movies including one about my dog Luna titled Why He Runs, and one about Dick Kresser’s Tour du Volcanoes expedition (more to come there). I’d also like to travel to two international destinations this year (Costa Rica and Mexico), plus a few spots in the States.

However, the year unfolds, I hope I’ll have a long list to cross off one line at time.

A classic trait that I share with my family is the drive to do “just one more thing”. Like a reverse Steve Jobs, instead of announcing one more product, prize or holiday, Ballezzas like to add one more home project, trip to the dump or mile to our training run. We love to pile on the punishment, at least that is how it must look from the outside.

For me I operate like a flywheel. While it sometimes takes me a little bit of time to get going in the morning (via coffee or a run), once I start knocking off items on my to-do list I feel unbeatable. Shopped for food. ✅Nailed it! Next up: mow the lawn. ✅Accomplished. Now I should edit that video. ✅Finished! Ok, now time for that movie and then beers with friends. Done and done ✅✅.

Big Goals, Challenges & Accomplishments

More often than not, doing more doesn’t tire me out. It motivates and energizes me. I want to do all the things. That probably explains a lot about how 2019 played out. I had high hopes for my family, my work, my finances, my home, my learning, my art and my fitness. Instead of tackling one or two of these priorities, at times it felt like I was surging forward on all fronts. I pictured William Wallace from Braveheart in my head barked “charge” as I threw myself at my obligations.

And I loved it.

Repeat Running Adventures

After a decade of trail running I knew that in 2019 I wanted to explore a mix of the races I love from the Northwest with a few of new adventures. The repeats included Yakima Skyline 50K and Beacon Rock 50K. Both were fantastic as usual, even if I wasn’t as trained as I was in previous years.

I also returned to the Oregon Coast 30/50K, but this time choose the 30k version so I could share the course with my Aunt Ellyn. I earned a rewarding finish of 3:35:59, capturing 23rd. Ellyn successfully completed the rooty, technical course in just over six hours—her first trail race at the age of 62. Amazing!

New (Brutal) Races

My new running adventures in 2019 included Miwok 100K, The Rut 50K and The Bear 100. The first two were challenging but I managed the courses fairly well—using a mix of patience, Kanye West tunes and food to make up for the skipped training runs and the few extra pounds I carried around my waist. I am proud of the short movies I made for each. I feel they represent the growth I’ve developed in my storytelling, and also the improvements in the tech available to capture these events on the go. (Go, DJI Osmo Pocket, Go!)

2019 Miwok 100K

2019 The Rut 50K

The Bear 100

This was the only race that I failed to finish last year, and I’d say for good reason. The Bear 100 is a big challenge even when the weather is pleasant, but this year it was nicknamed “Bi-polar” for being half pleasant, and then half frozen. I think my Instagram post summed up the experience well:

#Bear100 wasn’t my “A” race this year, but I did want to test myself once more before the winter came. Toeing the line I was neither untrained or fully prepared. I just planned for a long haul. While the first 40 miles went great (I was even planning on a sub-30 hour finish), the weather turned around 8PM in a big way. Waves of storm cells rolled in and burst with heavy rain, hail, cold wind and a little lightening. This happened over and over at night, and converted to more steady rain in the early morning. While it was unpleasant enduring the freezing temperatures, the real beast was the mud.
Feet of slippery, sticky mud now lined the course. Not in spots you could avoid but in distances of tens of miles: chock full of slippery mud. My biggest worry was slipping and breaking an arm or injuring a knee. Each step was literally that brutal. Without a trekking pole, I don’t know how anyone could make it ten feet. I battled this for hours but eventually decided that a happy day was more important than a belt buckle.
So, after going over my feelings, I decided to end my race at mile 75. It was still cold, rainy and unpleasant for hours afterwards. I latter heard that the remaining 25 miles of the course were just as terrible as the previous 30. Brutal. Congrats to the amazing athletes who braved the storm and made it all the way to Idaho. Thanks also to the race organizers and volunteers for hosting a stunningly hard race to host: 100 miles of trail marking, aid stations, etc. I would recommend this race 💯, however maybe aim for a rain-free year?

A Goal Realized: House Remodel with My Family

While living in a townhouse three years ago I decided that I wanted to not only become a homeowner, but to buy a house I could at least partially remodel with my Dad. I enjoy working on projects with him and this potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience seemed like a rewarding project we could share. Over the coming years I toured countless houses to no success—finding either properties all out of my price range or listings that simply were too dumpy.

Finally in June 2018, my girlfriend Emily and I landed a fantastic house in the Central District of Tacoma. #RainierBasecamp has been home ever since. In year one my Dad, brother Mike and his wife, Emily, visited to do phase one of house projects. This was giant success in a remarkably short period of time. We did electrical projects all around the house, capped the chimney, covered the furnace and a bunch of other work.

This year my family returned and we undertook an ever big home remodel. This included knocking down a wall to merge an office and a small bedroom into a single room. We replaced walls, ceiling, insulation, lighting and updated four windows and a sliding glass door with a french door.

After my family left, Emily I then spent the next six weeks finishing the remodel: installing flooring and trim, painting and fixing up all the final bits. Working on this remodel was one of the things I’m most proud of. It required strong budgeting skills to say and strategically use the limited funds I could save. We had to be creative in how we transformed two rooms into one and framed out a new closet. We had to be strong project manages to ensure all the deliveries showed up in time and in the right order. And finally, we just had to get the word DONE. This means my girlfriend and I had to use nearly every waking hour that wasn’t committed to our day jobs, existing race schedule and travel to hammer, move, cut, measure and paint our way to a completed master bedroom.

Before and After: Wall and Closet Removed to combine an office and small bedroom into one new room with new floors, walls, ceiling, heating, windows and more. We also replaced a sliding door with a new french door, and swapped out two windows upstairs. Oh year, we also redid a patio walkway and ran 220v and 100v power to the rear pad and added a car charger for my Nissan Leaf. Whew!

In-Vitro Fertilization Rounds 1, 2 & 3

Emily and I had talked about going through IVF treatments for over a year. While our relationship was still young, we wanted to secure the opportunity to have children. Due to a medical condition called Fragile X, we needed to screen embryos before having a baby (as compared to doing things the ‘ol natural way’), so in June we started the process. This included genetic testing, hormone injections and egg retrieval. In total, we went through three rounds at Seattle Reproductive Medicine under the fantastic care of Dr. Dudley. To our joy, we successfully retrieved, tested and froze embryos for future use.

While I was obviously involved with the process, the real work was done by Emily who had to take hormone injections and dramatically reduced her physical activity for over three months. We powered through and completed the third round in early August—just in time for my parents’ visit when we did the heavy work on the home. IVF was a big financial, emotional and physical challenge, but by being patient and taking things one step at a time we made it through the process.

Its Electric (Car) Boogie, Woogie Woogie

I don’t believe that physical things truly drive happiness or should be overly celebrated. In the eloquent words of Sir Mr. Durden

The things you own, end up owning you.

Stuff at the end of the day is just stuff, and the flood of consumerism can drown most anyone. That withstanding, there is a practical value of many things, like a home or transportation.

Over the past decade I’ve relished the concept of moving from a gas-powered to an electric car. After looking at prices for used electric cars for months on end, I finally made the move. I bought a 2018 Nissan Leaf this past February and sold my 2009 Subaru Forrester.

This was the very first car I bought in a dealership (compared to over craigslist…in a dark parking lot…in cash), and at only 90 miles on the odometer, it was effectively a brand new set of wheels. I’ve since logged over 13,000 miles on the Leaf commuting to work, around town and even taking it to local mountains and trailheads.

The total cost of fueling my car over the past ten months: about $190 in home charging costs, and probably another $50 total in DC charging out in the region. If I had driven those same miles in my old Subaru Forester I would have paid at least $1,700 in fuel, meaning this year alone I saved over almost $1,500. And that’s not counting the savings on car maintenance and oil changes that I didn’t have to do. If you’re thinking of buying an electric car, just do it. They are amazing, and work remarkably well if you have a place to charge at home, even for a trail running, outdoorsy person like me. Read my post here on how to shop for and buy an electric car.

Film screening at Seven Hills Running Shop

Creative Leaps and Hurdles

My original plan for 2019 was for it to be ‘The Year of Creative’. My plan was to focus in 2019 on my art: growing as an artist, producing a few big projects and refining my filmmaking. I only sorta did this.

Early in 2019 I finally finished and released Drakensberg Grand Traverse, a 20-minute film telling the epic crossing of the Drakensberg in Lesotho by Ras of Team Ultrapedestrian. We screened it at the always-loved Seven Hills Running Shop to friends and local runners. I was elated to see that project across the finish line and to make Ras proud.

Other favorite video projects from the year (and described above) include:

I am also proud of my blog posts:

Speaking Events:

2019 Books:

While each of these titles offering something rewarding, my favorite was David Goggin’s autobiography sharing how he became a Navy Seal, and the motivations he uses to continue to heal and grow. Important shoutouts to The Dirtbag’s Guide and Thirst, both written by local Washingtonians and friends.

So those are a bunch of leaps right? What’s the hurdle you ask? Time. I haven’t been systematic at making time to plan, produce and release bigger projects and feel a little like I’m just doing the same ‘ol type of running movies. Maybe 2020 is when I can dream a little bigger and follow it up with a systematic approach to making time? Fingers crossed.

2020 Outlook

So that was a glimpse at some areas of my year. Yes, I could have run more, drank less and found more time to be zen. However, I’m pretty happy with how I spent my year. I accomplished a bunch of financial, artistic, athletic and personal goals.. but there is always more.

What does 2020 look like?

I think I can take the lessons learned and apply them to the new year. I’ll eat healthier. I’ll stay away from any additional house remodels. Financially, I’m maintain a strick budget for food (shopping and eating out). Professionally I’ll lean further into my new role as a Brand Strategist at BECU. Athletically, I’ll try to set and maintain a weekly mileage goal, and to try a few new races. I’m currently registered for Devil’s Gulch 50-Miler in July 2019 and Bear 100 in September, with plans to add in a few more races and self-supported adventures before and after both.

I’d also like to travel internationally again next year. With all the running and house work in 2019, I remained domestic. I’d like to find time for at least one tour abroad in the new year. Maybe Costa Rica? SE Asia? Or back to Europe? We will see.

Thanks to everyone who was part of my 2019. Let’s do more in the New Year!