Recently, I had the opportunity to travel with five student representatives of the UNC Pembroke Student Government Association to the Conference on Student Government Association, or COSGA, on the campus of Texas A&M University. The conference focused largely on the idea of "Moving from Passion to Action" - taking initial ideas and moving them to an end product, all the while maintaining enthusiasm for the project at hand. The students participated in various educational sessions and I followed more of the Advisor Track of the conference, in which I also participated as a presenter. Let's rewind before moving forward... 

Leading up to the trip, I had the chance to submit a proposal to be one of the Advisor Track presenters during the conference. It was two weeks prior to the conference when I found out that my proposal had been accepted. I was set to give my first professional presentation on my own. Such a great feeling, but then reality set in - how would this actually look? The proposal itself was fine, but how was I going to set this up in terms of a presentation? How could I make this something palatable for fellow advisors?

The answer came simply and quickly - make it fun. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here. The presentation should be fun, with visual content that lines up with the presentation notes, and be easy to recall in almost any scenario. Oh, and very few bullets - if any.

Ultimately, the final result (which you can find at the end of this post) was born. It was a great deal of fun to put together and even more fun to present. Many of those who attended the presentation shared the same initial question of "how on earth is he going to connect Angry Birds and leadership in student organizations?" and very confused looks from the start. However, once the presentation began, it became much clearer. Leadership lessons need not always be some profound statements or theory. They can just as easily come from day-to-day experiences or even a video game, proving that inspiration can come from just about anywhere!

How do you share leadership lessons with your students? 

Over the last 10 years, I've been proud to be a part of an organization that has enhanced my love of music and band and has allowed me to connect with some incredible people. Members in this organization have been there for me as listening posts, support structures, brothers in music, and friends. This organization I am referencing is Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity. 

As a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, I've had the privilege to know and engage with some of the true leaders of the organization from across the nation, who have inspired me to take action and serve. Additionally, I've been fortunate to serve my home chapter as an officer multiple times and went on to serve at the National Headquarters in two separate positions. Now, as the Kappa Kappa Psi National Convention approaches this coming summer, I find myself called again to serve. With that said, today I am proud and excited to announce my candidacy for the position of Kappa Kappa Psi National Vice President for Programs for the 2013-2015 biennium. 

This is just the first step of what I hope is a great experience and opportunity to give back to an organization that has given me more than I could ever have imagined. Check back over on the on the Vote Preston for Programs page for updates and additional material and information regarding my candidacy for this position, including a description of the position and my platform.

Let me be clear from the onset – never in my life have I ever been overly concerned with the idea of wellness. Sure, I’ve focused here and there on losing some weight, got back into running, and even ate a few carrots rather than a few cookies. However, I have never put a significant amount of effort into my own personal wellness. 

Now that I am in the field of student affairs (and have been for a few years), I find myself often wanting to make healthier choices when it comes to my personal well-being. I find myself encouraging students (and often other colleagues) to do the same. Ed Cabellon hit the nail on the head – asking how can we serve our students when we are not well? Truth is, we probably can, but not nearly to the capacity we could if were well…not even close.

So, as part of my #oneword2013 to commit this year, I am throwing down the gauntlet and making a solid commitment to my personal health. My two big focal points? Smarter food choices and giving myself the kick in the rear I’ve been needing to put the running shoes back on.

Nutrition
With the new year comes a new outlook toward my dietary habits, which – to be honest – have been kind of hit or miss as of late. However, I have noticed that I haven’t been eating out nearly as much over the last few months. It also helps to know that that I haven’t been going overboard with sweets and snacks. All that aside though, I still have some work to do when it comes to how/what I eat. So, a few bullets of my commitment to nutrition in 2013 look something like this:

• Logging what I eat/drink using the Lose It! app

I began using Lose It! at some point in the early fall last year with not much success initially. However, I re-discovered it later and it proved to be pretty useful. It not only tracks meals and snacks throughout the day, but it lets you set a specific weight loss goal and track calorie intake/output so you can reach that goal. I will say that last year I did lose a good 10 lbs, which was tracked using this app. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I gained it all back over the holidays…ugh.

• Cook at Home / Pack my Lunch
  

Speaking of putting on pounds through food – I grew up as a child of the fast-food nation. And while that statement sounds like a great beginning to a novel, it still remains the truth. In the past, I would eat fast-food once or twice a day – almost every day like clockwork Just thinking about that makes me want to vomit. Now, I’ll swing by McD’s or Subway every now and again at work, but not nearly as often. With Tammi here now (and for the past 4 months) we cook much more often and even though there’s only two of us, we seem to cook for four. And yes – I do cook…just not as often as Tammi. Still though, we hardly ever have a shortage of leftovers, which means I rarely ever have to go “out” for lunch.

Running
Though it sounds cliche, 2013 is my year. I have spent far too long not running consistently like I used to. I’ve run more so far this month alone than I did in all of the last three months of last year combined – and for me, that’s saying something. But I’ve fallen back in love with the one sport that I’m relatively decent at and have begun to make a habit of it again. So, again, 2013 is my year for running and I plan to commit to it by:

• Running at least 1000 miles before the end of the year
• Entering and finishing no less than 12 5k races – preferably one per month
• Participating in at least one Warrior Dash/Spartan Race event in 2013
• Entering and finishing a half-marathon in the fall
• Tracking my progress with RunKeeper and Nike+ apps

The first of those goals (1000 miles in 2013) is probably the one I am focusing on the most. In 2012, Tammi and I challenged each other to 366 miles in 366 days. Neither of us “won” because neither of us got close. I plan to not only smash through that mark this year, but blast past it completely and I’m already on my way. Tracking progress towards that goal has gotten much easier as well – utilizing the apps above and the various features within them.

Stay on Course…
Like all “good resolutions”, none of this means anything if it isn’t put into action. Being specific in my goals helps immensely, but I am also thankful to have the support of an amazing significant other, co-workers/friends, and an online student affairs wellness pledge group who have helped keep me accountable thus far. I’m already keeping track of my progress, running consistently, and already eating much better. I’m not planning to go overboard on the wellness idea, but it feels good to know that it is a significant item in my world now where it wasn’t so much in the past.


How are you planning to commit to your personal wellness this year? 

Let's start with the obvious - it's been a few days *cough* almost a year *cough* since I updated last. Funny enough, that provides a fantastic segway into this post. 2012 is behind us and now 2013 presents us all with yet another opportunity to set resolutions...and likely give up on half to all of them. Case in point, I thought 2012 was going to bring me back into the blogging fold a little more often. Oops.

Last year, I joined Mallory Bower and Becca Obergefell as well as many others in student affairs and elsewhere to set what would be my one word resolution  (#oneword2012 or #oneword365), which was focused on the idea of PUSH. This idea behind choosing push was not to push back, but to push forward. In some areas, I feel I was successful, but not nearly to the extent I could have been. This year, as cliche as it sounds, things are going to be a little (a lot) different. Reflecting back on the highs and lows of the past year, and evaluating how push impacted it, my #oneword2013 is COMMIT. 

This seems fitting not just for me, but I think for many others out there as well. We all make choices and too often, those choices lead us into projects, challenges, resolutions, etc that we just cannot finish for one reason or another. In 2012, I wanted to push myself and but came up short. Maybe it was because I didn't set a clear strategy of how to do that ahead of time. Maybe it was because I got complacent at times. Regardless, there are things to be done this year that I not only want to do, but are things I feel that I need to do.

My strategy to commit in 2013 initially focuses on four areas:

1. Professional Development
2. Running / Fitness
3. Family
4. Other* (this has potential to expand outward a lot I think...)

Over the next few days and weeks, I'll go into more detail as to what each of these areas consist of and how I plan to commit to each one and how I will push myself towards the overall end goals. I'll also explore the potential challenges associated with this goal. But today, I will end with a quote from Chris Esparza, a very energetic and inspiring individual who I met last May through my experience with the LeaderShape Institute. Chris was offering up lessons that he learned throughout the week and his lesson #4 hit home with me the strongest. He said:

LESSON 4: Stay on Course.
"There is meaning in everything we do. Stay with what lights you up."

This statement is, at least to me, very poignant. There is meaning in everything we do.  Even the most trivial, most mundane, most spontaneous, or the most planned out activity has some meaning behind it. Stay on course, commit to what you love and have fun.

I'm on a mission to commit this year- how will you commit in 2013? Feel free to share through comments and/or via email. 


P.S. - I've been trying (nay, pushing) to find an opportunity to utilize that quote for months.