Pretty Colors – F3 First State

DATE: 02/25/20

QIC: Chappie

Eleven PAX posted at CHOP this Gloom for a beatdown hosted by YHC himself. Some wonder was expressed over where the other (potentially) 12+ PAX were at on such a perfect day, and for the first beatdown of F3 First State workout week.

YHC has been trying not to be a “numbers watcher” but, hey, you’ve gotta understand there’s been just a little invested in the past 3.5 years to put a shovel-flag in the ground here in the First State and get this mustard seed growing. So, yeah, there’s this tendency (because of ownership) to watch the numbers and want to see both F3 PAX and more and more FNG’s welcomed into the fold. Put it this way, if you’d been the one to put the first shovel-flag in the ground in the First State, you’d very likely want to see all the guys out, all the time; you’d want to see every man consistently win over the fartsack in order to sharpen others and make F3FirstState the best it can be. That’s a pretty high expectation, yet YHC is aware of reality too. Nonetheless, he merely wants to see that ownership spread [ownership in a healthy way…as in responsibility]. Still, we had 11 who broke the grip of the fartsack this morning, and it was the perfect number for a beatdown in honor of Faye Marie Swetlik.

YHC saw the post last night calling PAX across the F3Nation to wear the brightest colors we had to our workouts on Tuesday, Feb 25th. Known for wearing our dark colors, the bright colors instead were worn to honor Faye, a 6-yr-old girl who loved pink and purple and brought sunshine into the lives of all those around her. You likely saw on the news that Faye was recently abducted from her front yard in Cayce, SC. Sadly, she was found deceased 4 days later near her home.

YHC used to land-survey all over the community of Cayce, but F3 PAX from AO’s in that area have both family and friends familiar with the family—some of their 2.0’s went to school with Faye.

Wearing bright colors was a small thing for our PAX to do this morning, but it was at least one way for us to stand in a shield-lock with F3 brothers, the Swetlik family, the community of Cayce, and all those, especially LEOS, who spent countless hours searching for 6-yr-old Faye. Our hearts go out to everyone effected by this tragedy. YHC appreciates all the PAX who read the post last nite and came dressed for success at today’s workout…

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH – 10 IC
Imperial Walkers – 10 IC
The Motivator – 10’s Single Count IC (YHC still has to figure out how to properly end this heart-pumper)
Crab Flippers – 10 IC (A legit local favorite, cousin to the Cherry Picker)
Hillbilly Walker – 10 IC
Windmill – 10 IC

Patriot Run to “Merlot Hill” (a.k.a. the end of Behringer Street by the park, so named after a PAX by the same name. And, yes, you know why!)

THE THANG:

YHC introduced the conspicuously placed Restrictor Plates (20lb sandbags) lying in the shade beside the power pole.

The Workout: 11’s on the hill.

Merkins at bottom and top. The sandbags? Only rule was that you could never pass one up (unless you had just carried it either to the top or bottom) 11 PAX, 2 bags…no problem. Everyone got their fair share of carries by the time this series was completed. No one slowed! No one quit! No one passed up opportunities to carry an extra 20 lbs!
110 Merkins total + Racing hearts = Great cardio
And…no one splashed!

PAX Circled Up for 3rdF:

The leadership strategy of subordinating your ego.

A few verses I want to share as an underlying foundation for today’s 3rdF:

▪1 Pet. 5:5-6 say, “You younger men, likewise, he subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one-another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives GRACE to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”

▪Critical Quote: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.

▪Rom. 12:3 “For through the GRACE given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought...”

I’m reading Jocko’s book LEADERSHIP STRATEGY AND TACTICS. In one portion he talks about Subordinating Your Ego. As men we tend to think AND practice otherwise, but subordinating your ego IS a leadership strategy!

Jocko tells of meeting with senior executives from a young and very successful company. He was impressed with all of them! The COO, the CFO, the CTO were all solid! Then he tells of meeting the CEO. The guy had been an NCAA athlete. A 6’5″ beast! He’d earned his MBA at an Ivy League school. Was already running a hundred-million-dollar company in his mid 30’s! Was physically impressive, and had a massive ego to match. His attitudes and the look on his face screamed “I’m better than you are!”

Jocko said there was immediate tension because of the guy’s enormous ego. But after realizing that ALL of the CEO’s senior executives and midlevel managers liked and respected the man, Jocko assumed “He’s got them all fooled!”

At several of the company’s training sessions, Jocko observed the man’s self-important, ego-driven attitudes. He wondered, “what the heck is wrong with this guy?”

As he pondered why fellow executives weren’t bothered by the CEO’s conceit and self-importance, Jocko began to think, “Wait, is it possible the problem is me? Could it be my ego causing this problem? Was there a chance that my ego was intimidated by all this and that I was the one who was acting like an idiot?” His conclusion: “Of course—Our two massive egos were bumping into each other and causing friction.”

At one break Jocko asked the man to step out in the hallway, out of earshot from the other team members, where they could talk. He gave him a quick assessment: “Your leaders are solid. Your company has great morale. Everyone understands the mission here. But the most impressive thing I’ve seen here is you….” He spoke of several more items about the CEO that brought Jocko to the point of telling him he was impressed and that he had nothing but respect for the CEO. RESULT: They talked of their deep respect for one another and both laughed as the tension between their two egos disappeared.

Jocko wrote: “The problem was solved. How? Simple. As soon as I was able to detach and recognize that this was a clash of egos, all I had to do was humble myself for a minute; I had to subordinate my own ego to allow the tension to break. Once I did that, the problem was solved.” “Subordinating your ego is actually the ultimate form of self-confidence. That level of confidence earns respect.” He said, “To put your ego in check, to subordinate your ego, you must have incredible confidence. If you find you cannot put your ego in check because you’re afraid it might make you look weak, then guess what? YOU ARE WEAK. Don’t be weak.

Subordinate your ego. Build relationships. Win the long game” (Adapted from Leadership Strategy and Tactics 72-78) …a great read, get it!

▪Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

I love that: Don’t be weak! Subordinate your ego, its what HIM do!

Patriot Run back to the CHOP AO: Shovelflag + two 20lb sandbags. YHC said next time we’re taking the backstreets. Moseying back up Union was a bit of a clusterbanger (Rush hour in Milton!)

Short round of Mary complements of Leatherman, Beeker, & Fireplex (Flutterkicks, LBC’s, and Crabjacks respectively)

COT/BOM:

Announcements:

Saturday, March 7 workout moved to Crossroad Community Church @ 6 a.m., instead of the usual 7, followed by breakfast and Operation Timothy Men’s Conference at the church. (See Quattro for details)
Lucky Rucker, March rucking challenge by @ruckingchallenges. Whoever is a HC and wants to roll the dice for accountability, stick around because YHC has the BIG dice available…see results below
Sunday, March 15 @ 3:17 p.m. Annual Shamruck Family Ruck. Park in Big Lots parking lot in Milford. 1 mile around industrial park loop to McDonald’s for Shamrock Shakes, 1 mile return. Bring the M, the 2.0’s, and friends and family. Bring the wagons and strollers! Recommended weight: Over 150lbs, you carry 30lb ruck; under 150, you carry 20lb ruck. The weight, however, is not important—the 2nd F is!