Peak on purpose

People know Usain Bolt for speed.

For records.
For finishes that looked effortless.

What they miss
is how carefully he saved himself.

At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics,
he was no longer chasing recognition.

He was defending legacy.

Every race was a target.
Every step, watched.

At that level, talent is not enough.

You need restraint.

In the years before Rio,
he raced less than his rivals.

Skipped small meets.
Ignored noise.
Chose rest over exposure.

It looked like laziness.

It was strategy.

Speed is fragile.
So is confidence.

Spend them carelessly, and they disappear.

Bolt didn’t.

He arrived in Rio fresh.

Loose.
Calm.
Unhurried.

And when the gun fired,
he delivered again.

Gold in the 100 meters.
Gold in the 200 meters.
Gold in the 4×100 relay.

Three more.
That made it the “Triple-Triple.”

Three gold medals
in three straight Olympics.

Beijing in 2008.
London in 2012.
Now, Rio in 2016.

Nine Olympic golds across a decade.

That is not intensity.
That is sustainability.

The Triple-Triple was not built on hype.

It was built on restraint.

On knowing when to push.
When to stop.
When to disappear.

Bolt won in Rio
not because he worked the hardest that year,

but because he had protected himself for years.

He treated energy like capital.

Invested carefully.
Spent selectively.

And when it mattered, he was rich.

Greatness is not about being on all the time.

It is about being unstoppable when it counts.

Weight of a ballot

Social media is where people express themselves.

How they make sense of what is happening around them.

Lately, people have been expressing louder than ever.

This coming election is proof.

Opinions are everywhere.

Arguments are constant.

Noise is easy.

But behind all of it

is something quiet and powerful:

A ballot.

Somewhere out there is a child

who will live with the choices we make today.

The roads we build.

The floodgates we maintain.

The schools we fund.

The justice we uphold.

All of it is shaped

by the names we shade

on a small piece of paper.

So who do we vote for?

Not the loudest voice.

Not the most entertaining politician.

Not the spouse or child of an incumbent.

Not the one who promises “radical change.”

The right candidate is qualified.

The right candidate has a clear platform

that serves the greater good.

The right candidate has a record of integrity.

Still difficult?

Then make it simple.

Vote your conscience.

Vote your values.

Vote with the future in mind.

Vote for your children.

Small industry, big eyes

The industry is small. Do something bad, and you get blacklisted.

But what happens when you do something good? As in very good?
You get poached.

I’m now on my third company in the same industry.
With the second and my current one, I didn’t even apply for. They found me.

Maybe they saw my LinkedIn profile.
Or maybe it was through competitive scanning.

Probably the latter, since I wasn’t even updating my LinkedIn. Too busy with weekday work, grad school, part-time teaching, weekend church service, and family life. Not to mention trying to be a romantic boyfriend. 

If it really was the latter, then up to this day, I still don’t know who gave a good word about me.
But to whoever did, thank you!

The lesson? Don’t just be good. Be very good.

Because people are watching. And when your work speaks for you, opportunities will follow.

Very good work never goes unrewarded.