T.H.U.R.S #14

Hola and welcome to The Summit, my biweekly newsletter where I share my unfiltered thoughts on navigating the peaks and valleys of adulthood.

My mission is to question everything, grow every day and have fun along the way. The Summit’s mission is to invite you to do the same.

Today: T.H.U.R.S. #14

Thoughts:

• Something light:

Well, isn’t that true.

Not sure where I first saw this (I wrote it down in my ‘ideas bank’ months ago) but it is another little reminder that I love.

To give a personal example, I am a sucker for burning the candle at both ends. I am a huge yes man, and I tend to book myself up A LOT. On a standard day, I might say yes to three different plans, work, and try fit in a gym sesh, all after being out past midnight the night before (this tends to happen in Banff iykyk).

Although I love this lifestyle and argue that I can keep up with it all, I am usually late, tired and not fully present in each activity. Maybe I am just getting old, but it is safe to say it is catching up with me.

And the funny thing is, that this happens all the time… I go so hard, get burnt, try to change my ways, only to fall back into the same swing of things a few weeks later. So, when I read that quote, I thought, learn the lesson you dummy, take it easy 😅.

But that is just one basic example. Can you think of a friend who somehow keeps having the same problem pop up all the time…?

• 👷 Can’t keep a job

• 🤬 Is always arguing with family

• 🤕 Keeps getting injured 👀

• 🤪 Is always dating whackos

Until we take a minute to reflect, we probably won’t realise we are the problem. Remember, if nothing changes, nothing changes.

• Something heavy:

This guy is always spitting bars.

It all comes back to a glass of milk. Half full or half empty? Your choice.

Highlights:

My favourite thing I learnt this week: The benefits of separating work and performance from emotions

Back on the Kobe train, I want to talk about the Black Mamba 🐍.

{What is the Black Mamba?}

I always knew this was Kobe’s nickname, but I didn’t realise that it was quite literally his alter ego (a cold-blooded alter ego I should add). If you don’t already know, Kobe went through some dark periods in his career - facing trials and losing family and friends. But amongst all of this, he still had a job to do - enter the Black Mamba.

On any particular day, he could have just had a huge and heavy argument with loved ones or been publicly humiliated, but he still had to play in front of thousands of people at 7pm. How could he ever perform in such a poor state of mind? By taking on the personality of one of Africa’s most dangerous snakes and an assassin from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, The Black Mamba. In an interview Kobe explained: 

I also listened to something similar on a recent episode of Modern Wisdom with Alex Hormozi:  

Sometimes you have to be able to tap into something/someone different when it’s time to perform. It clearly worked for Kobe. I wonder if it could work for me or you? 

Uplift:

Something uplifting that I stumbled across and want to share: TikToks lol.

I apologise to the people that are over my TikToks, but I have been enjoying putting them together recently as a bit of fun… so here are two I made this week 🫣:

@gabriboo992

More fun in the mountains 😎

Summary of my spontaneous 50km around the track a couple months ago:

@gabriboo992

Spontaneous 50k around the track 🤓 Nedd is wild

Reflect:

A question I asked myself this week:

I believe that we can all learn from one another. Whether it is learning to be as curious as a child or as adventurous as a climber. And following this belief, there must be something that we can teach too… so, I asked myself:

❓️What can I teach?

💁‍♂️Apparently, I can teach math and physics to highschoolers (I tutor btw 🤓); but I also think I could teach 20-year-old Gabe (1 year ago) A LOT!

💁‍♂️And, there a probably a bunch of 20-year-old Gabes out there asking all the same questions I was… maybe there is something in that space waiting for me?

I am just spit balling here, but thought I would share to provoke the same thoughts in your mind… what could you teach? Don’t be humble 🙃.

Summit:

A challenge I set myself: dealing with Qantas again 🙄.

If you’re new and haven’t already, you should totally check out my ‘how to’ Qantas Points guides (part one and part two), where I essentially step you through what I did to accumulate a heap of Qantas Points and fly CHEAP ✌️.

However, it is not all sunshine and rainbows because dealing with Qantas can be a PAIN - especially when you have a complicated itinerary.

To rant for no reason: I spent two hours on the phone with Qantas last night, and was about to pay and finalise my changes when the call dropped out 😑. I called back immediately and asked to be connected with the previous representative. Do you think they could find them… NOPE. Back to square one.

No mountains this week, only painful booking systems. Although I did go to a pretty lake:

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