Blink and you might miss it!

Just like that its a month into 2017, makes you realize how precious time is and that it waits for nobody! I will do it now now, later, tomorrow, Monday, next week, next month, as soon as this happens or that happens and BOOM…another year has slipped by, life happened and you got swallowed in the rat race. That vacation wasn’t taken, those dreams and goals never got reached or even started, just sitting there on the ‘TO DO’ list.

Never would have thought just a little over two and a half years ago sitting at Delish Dish, a stunning little restaurant in the Hub of the Midlands, Howick South Africa, next to a complete stranger, watching a recap of a previous Toyota Warrior powered by Reebok Race I had done and being interviewing on national TV as I was or possibly still am the only person with the Warrior Race logo tattooed on my arm, would impact my life so positively.  Michael had a vision and a creative team at IKind Media that lead to the creation of That Beard Guy.

IKind Media set me up with an incredible logo, amazing website and a lot of work into creating the brand, which looking back I/we have certainly come a long way. Building a brand is not an easy task, learning about blogging, keywords, social media, hashtags, what to do and not to do. Never has there been a point where I thought I had failed anything, but rather learnt many ways on how not to go about doing things and I’m sure I will probably learn from many more mistakes along the way, just keep failing forward.

For quite a while now I have been struggling with figuring out what it is I’m trying to promote, what That Beard Guy is a how to make it my livelihood? How do I take That Beard Guy as a brand forward?

Looking at other brands and groups I follow, there is a trend and majority of them don’t sit so well with my vision. Many of the groups resort to cheesy skits or stupid comical posts that actually have no benefits and are generally at the detriment of others, majority rely on cigarettes, booze, sexual innuendos and half naked woman to be hip and happening, the whole sex sells concept. Which may have worked in my single years, but now being a married athlete to an amazing woman who has an eight year old daughter and a mother in-law who follows majority of my social media, I find myself thinking twice before sharing or posting something.

If our eight year old saw it would she approve? Would she be ashamed to tell her friends about me and who I am? Would I be setting a fine example of what a father and a gentleman should be and one day when she starts dating know what is an acceptable way for somebody to treat her? With all that I know it has to be a family friendly brand that promotes good, clean, fun, ethical and adventurous living. My website says I am a motivational speaker, I’m a trainer in fitness and can help you with nutrition, basically a life coach which brings me to my next point .

All of a sudden anybody with a positive meme, a Pintrest or Instagram account is a motivational speaker, every bearded man is now a lumberjack with a beard oil range or a hipster with Christmas decorations dangling from his beard, everybody with the internet and a fitbit is now a nutrition expert and a trainer. Now how does that set me apart from everybody else? Why would people want to connect and follow me? Why would people want to engage with me and have me as their coach? How am I different and what can I offer people that they cant already get from somewhere else while keeping it interesting and fresh that they keep coming back for more?

I’m not sure if you know this but I don’t go to a barber or hairdresser, but I do go to a chiropractor with a difference, Dr. Greg at Upright Health Muscle & Joint Care in Lakeville, Minnesota. I was expressing this dilemma I find myself in, with him, he slapped me with a cup of Starbucks and a slice of wisdom . He said to me that I’m creating legitimacy, I practice what I preach and then I go put it into action, pushing boundaries and my limits, sticking to my training and nutrition and in doing so I build more Legitimacy. Now O.C.R . (Obstacle Course Racing) is still growing and doesn’t have to much ‘street credit’, where as doing something like an Ironman is well known everywhere and would take my legitimacy to the next level and help That Beard Guy as a brand to get better recognition, not to mention a triathlon is a whole new challenge out of my comfort zone (not that racing for 24 hours straight is by any means comfortable).

Which takes me back to how That Beard Guy came to be in the first place, an athlete, the bearded beast who just loves running through the forest trails and taking life head on!

So instead of trying to focus on all this social media and get wrapped up in trying to force things, 2017 for me is going to be back to basics if you will, the good clean, fun, family friendly, athlete and the support is growing! Dr Greg and Dr Gil at Upright Health Muscle & Joint Care keep me moving and often a sound board for ideas. I signed up with a coach, Coach Bob, to help me keep on track, training with a plan and help me stay accountable for the three major events I have signed up for later in the years. The all new eight hour over night Toughest Mudder in August, Ironman Wisconsin in September and the 24 hour Worlds Toughest Mudder in November. As the year progresses there will be other O.C.R events, triathlons, half and full marathons added to this list.

The plan is taking it one day at a time getting it done and learning as I go to ultimately help others better along the way and coach from experience.

Have a Beardiful day all you Beardiful people!

Cheers

 

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