JAKOB'S JOURNAL

Poem: “A diddle of first-time fathers”

November 3rd, 2020

I wrote this poem for my beautiful girls — Jamie Rose, my wife, and our precious daughter, Jara Rose, on October 27th, 2020, just a few days after Jamie delivered her at Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, NC.
— Jakob

A diddle of first time fathers
By: Jakob Gollon

These girls, these girls.
In their collusion and thievery, 
Plotting constantly, steady as the dawn's break,
To steal my heart, 
Will surely be
the death of me. 

Twice over and more,
I've all I need, even in my greed. 
From the peaks
To the sea, 
We've joy abound,
And love galore,
I love you more, I love you more. 

My heart is full.

Retaining and Developing Excellence

May 8th, 2020

“Clear and accurate adherence to the truth is a habit I must continue to practice, after all, if I wish to retain my excellence. Because you don’t get it once, and keep it for good.”
Caelan Huntress — (link to his blog where I read this, here.)

How we decide to approach a thing, no matter how small or insignificant it feels, will contribute to our personal development, and it will refine our autonomic behaviors and responses to other, similar stimuli. If “it” is a difficult task, or some mundane work that we’d rather not do, but we certainly know that “it” will lead to a desirable outcome, we ought to train ourselves to appreciate and thrive, wholesomely, in that environment. If we do not, we risk never being able to accomplish anything meaningful.

After all, nothing worthwhile has ever come without a purposeful initiative, and hours of thought and effort, that will be less exciting than what the desired outcome is.

Will we approach things with vigor, energy, gratitude and excellence?
If so, we’ll train ourselves to consistently approach things in this way.

Will we approach things with frustration, sloth, anger, and discontent?
If so, we’ll train ourselves to consistently approach things in this way, also.
The expert inside

April 25th, 2020

We don’t need a logical justification for everything.

Our world was built on failures (and then learning from them). That feeling we get in our gut that something is worth doing (or worth avoiding) is worth paying attention to.

Even if our gut guides us wrong once in a while, it’s great exercise. A gut that gives excellent advice is a handy asset. Listen up.
Four white walls, no windows.

April 24th, 2020

This is a fun question/metaphor that my best friends and I toy around with a lot.

If you were locked in an empty room, with four white walls (and ceiling and floor), no windows, no objects, nothing, except one other person, for an entire day...

Who would you choose to have in there with you?

Which people in our lives are the ones that we know we could spend that time with and never have a dull moment throughout?

If you were not allowed to choose, who would you hate to have to sit there with?

* This yields some awesome answers. Share them with me if you feel comfortable enough to do so!
Huddle Up

April 23rd, 2020

The pressure is mounting.
The game’s on the line.
Everyone is tight. Chaos is the norm in a heated athletic event.

The crowd can be deafening.
How do we counter that?
What do teams do?
They huddle up.

The closer we, as teammates, can get, the easier it is to block out the noise, and communicate effectively with our team. We should huddle up more often, even if it’s casual, and even if it means doing so online. Huddles solve many problems proactively. We don’t quite know what the huddles of 2020 should look like with COVID-19 still spreading, but I’m assuming the need for clearer communication isn’t going anywhere.

Huddle often, speak clearly, lead benevolently.

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Poem: “A diddle of first-time fathers”

Retaining and Developing Excellence

The expert inside

Four white walls, no windows.

Huddle Up