Who I Am. What I Want.

I am Jacob Kendrick Earle.

I am a son. A brother. An oldest child.
An Aaronic Priesthood holder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
A Williamsburger. A scholar.
An Alaskan.
A lover of music.
A hard worker. A tyrant. (Yes. You read that right.)
I am an anxious kid at heart.
A dreamer. A traveler.
An (almost) Eagle Scout.  A future NOLS grad. A future student of SVU.
A missionary.
I am a toes kind of person. A friend.
 Im not a funny person. I'm not a planner.
I am a lost boy in a world of many, many maps.
I am a swimmer. A NASA nerd. A future SERE instructor, Pararescuman, and Combat Rescue Officer. I am a director of an outdoor school that doesn't exist. So is my best friend who lives a trillion miles away but resides close to me always. Willing to go wherever I go and have as many adventures as we can.
I am an adventurer. A do-er. A wannabe triathlete.
I am a reader. A student of geometry and trigonometry. A world history lover.
A patriot. A politicker. I like political action thrillers. War movies. And chick flicks.
I am an entrepreneur. A go getter. A "hunt and kill" personality. (According to my mother.)
I am a writer. I am passionate. I am a outdoorsman. I am a sunshine lover.
A sipper of hot chocolate on cold, crisp, starry nights in the middle of december.
I am not a socialite.
I am a speaker. I am a neo-isolationist. I can sell ketchup packets to women in white gloves. I am an American through and through.
I would rather play football with my (future) sons than watch it with them. I would rather have tea parties with my (future) daughters than send them to a friends house to do the same. I want to live life with no regrets or strings attached. I plan to have no debt whatsoever. Lets hope my (future) wife doesnt come with any attached. Might be a dealbreaker. ;) I plan to be a family man. An Alaskan. Although this kid, Hank, has been convincing me to try out the Texan thing before I go running home. I might just take him up on it.
I am a texter. Which isnt really a good thing.
I am a teacher. A coach. A guide. A mentor.
I hate the news but love it at the same time. I like libertarians and ron paul.
I try to see the good in America; in people; in the future. It's not easy.
I am starting to love animals. To see more in them. To see their spirits.
I love food. I love meat. I love eating healthy but dont do it very well. I love being strong.
I see the little things. I am a perfectionist and expect others to be the same. Its usually a weakness.
I want to find out how I do under stress. I feel like I would do well. :)
I hate drama but cannot escape it. Bring an umbrella on cloudy days.
I love powernaps and first aid kits.
I crave authenticity. But I'm not always authentic.
Ocean by John Butler is the best 11 minutes of solo guitar out there. Its a classic.
I have ten fingers and ten toes. I have two ears, a nose and lips. I have curly hair. I have piercing eyes. I stand tall and strong, ready and excited to face the world. I am Jacob Kendrick Earle.

I want to surf. swim. snorkel. scuba dive. bicycle. trek. mountain climb. race. feel the wind in my face. scream at the top of my lungs. jump off a cliff. fly. soar. flutter. fall. rise. dance. advance. smile. live.

I want to love. I want to spend my life with someone worth spending eternity with. I want to make God smile. I want to make the world a better place. I want to live and then... I want to die.

I needed this and this. And why cant we do this?

First I read this.

Then I read this.

I took a deep breath and.....

I am now back to doing mundane work that I really don't like. Darn public school and assignments. Darn accreditation. Lets all just trust each other, work our butts off, discuss ideas, and love what we do. It would make my job WAY EASIER!

Thats all folks. :)

Swimming

Ive been swimming every day this past week. Except Saturday and Sunday.

My training goes something like this:

Morning Swim MWF @ 7-8am
Evening Swim MWR @ 5:30 - 7pm
Dryland TF @ 5:30 - 7pm
Saturday Swim @ 7-9am

Add to that my healthier diet, occasional yoga when I feel like it and (soon) some weight training on MWF from 4-5pm.

I love swimming for a few reasons.

No sweat.
No smell. (except chlorine. :P)
No impact injuries. (running hurts!!)
Its a lifelong sport. (ever seen the old saggy man swimming at the local Y? He always makes me smile.)
Its great cardio work and (if you eat right) you can look like Ryan Lochte after a month or so of really consistent swimming.

Anyway. I am mostly recording this for my future self to look back on for inspiration. :)

P.S. Although Ill never get to wear these suits, I still imagine myself up there with them:

Leadership

Ive been asked many times "How do you *teach* leadership?"

I'm here to clear something up. Im not a teacher. I am a mentor and a coach. Leadership is something that must be inspired. Inspiration requires being an example. My job is to inspire these incredible students to be leaders. And thats scary when I think about it. I constantly ask myself, "Do I measure up?" Whether or not I do or don't isn't up to me to decide. Its up to the students.

Buuuut anyway, my point in writing this was to share a few words I try to recite to the students every so often. I love these words and think they embrace most everything needed for personal leadership.

Compassion. Courage. Integrity. Vision. Details. Hard Work. Success.