I can’t believe it’s the 6th month I have been hiking.  This morning I was reflecting on this.

I’ve decided that while the summer photos are picturesque, the humidity here almost makes it unbearable.  I hike early in the morning, and the humidity is sky-high.  The temperatures here are in the 70’s.

It’s a good opportunity for “mobile meditation”.   I tried a few times to listen to the iPod but then I can’t hear the birds, or other oncoming traffic behind me.

If you think that hiking isn’t for you, think again.  I am amazed to see all types of people on the trail, many older than I am (and they are faster too).  It is “mind over matter”.

I decided this morning that I prefer the winter hiking.  The weather is predictable ( you know it is going to be cold) whereas spring weather could hold anything.  At one point during a hike in the spring I experienced nice weather; then in mile 4-5 it started hailing and then snow.  You can’t prepare for it.

I haven’t invested in any hiking gear; I am wondering if I should.  There is an older gentleman on the trail who has passed me twice in the same hike – should I be going faster?  So far I haven’t tracked my steps digitally – I don’t want to obsess about it.

So many times I have doubted if I could finish; at these moments, I say to myself “K” is for “Kan-do” – I am originally from Kansas.  Somehow since I have moved back east, saying this to

See you out on the trail.

So last night my team lost in the Elite Eight. So, along the lines of Seinfeld’s George Costanza, I decided to do the opposite today with my hike.

I did the hike in reverse direction of the way I normally go.  And I got to see parts of the lake I didn’t before:

I saw this nice view of the lake I hadn’t noticed before.

I noticed that even though it is Spring, the trees still do not have leaves.

This is yet another view of the lake.  It was a peaceful, calming and very enjoyable.

Looking back I am very surprised that I have kept up hiking so far in 2016.  I am happy with my stamina, endurance, and that I am no longer sore after a 4.7 mile hike.  Overall it has been a great experience for me.   If you have the chance to start hiking, I encourage it.

I don’t have one of those fitbit monitors to see how many steps I am doing – it is more a competition with myself.  I hope I can continue doing this.  Maybe George Costanza is right, doing the opposite works.

So last week I started hiking at a local park; could I continue it this week?  Certainly I was sore last week – wrong shoes, and not as in shape as I would have liked.

I went back yesterday for a 4.7 hike.

The above is how it looked at the start of the walk.  Overcast, but still really warm for January here.

Since I was more familiar with the trail I could look to the sides and not just on the trail.  Some things struck me:

• No trash on this trail – this is good
• Politeness of everyone, saying hello or good morning

The trail goes around Burke Lake, and the above is a view of the lake.  It is very peaceful.

There is a dam on one side of the lake (towards the end of the trail) – yesterday was a little foggy, as you can see from the above.

Above is the finish line.  Success!  It almost feels like early Fall with the leaves out.

I almost didn’t go hiking today as we had heavy rain last night.  But could I let the puddles stop me?

The answer is no…and you can see from the above the winds causing ripples on the lake.

The weather forecast indicates it will be colder this upcoming weekend so we’ll see if I can continue.  Overall it is a refreshing experience.

I finished reading SAP SE CEO Bill McDermott’s book Winner’s Dream

Having been a long-time SAP customer, I have always enjoyed hearing Bill McDermott speak.  Many of his speeches resonate with me personally.  I remember a few years ago he made a speech about “no excuses” and I try to follow that as well.

This book resonated with me as well, just as if he were speaking in person.  After reading it I felt he was the “Joel Osteen” of the business world. For those who don’t know Joel Osteen, he is a minister with a very positive message.

In the book, Bill McDermott shares his family tragedy of losing a young brother.  He works hard in his first job working the paper route.  He was selected at age 15 to work at a grocery store and the store manager wisely said that he would “go places”.

He talks about how much he learned from his own father who coached him, and learned in some games it is not important to be a star but part of the team.  What a great lesson to learn.

He is optimistic, something he credits his mother with giving him.  Similar to Bill McDermott, my mother died young as well of cancer, and he shares how his mother encouraged him to work even while she was in the ICU.  I credit him for the courage to share personal details.

There are so many parts of this book I could relate to – how he traveled through the ranks of Xerox, selling copiers, and motivating his sales force.  A talent he has is the ability to read what is important to the person – and the motto “feel felt found”.  I enjoyed reading about the convention where he brought everyone in from his unit to motivate them to reach a goal.

Also at Xerox, he talks about bringing the Puerto Rico office from the bottom to the top.  He found a way to relate to the work force, using Berlitz lessons to learn how to speak Spanish.  I read earlier he is learning how to speak German and I have no doubt he will after reading this book.

He brings this empathy to SAP with the “customer first” attitude.  He talks about his start at SAP, meeting Hasso Plattner for the first time (and Hasso’s dog Claude).  I felt like I was right with him during the company acquisitions, being co-CEO, and a day in the life while he is at SAPPHIRE.

Some lessons I will try to take away from the book;

1) Have empathy

2) If you have a problem, bring it to your boss/team, but also come with a proposed solution

3) Customer first – even as an SAP customer myself, I have customers to serve

He even includes social media – see an excerpt from the book below:

Two kids from Amityville, Long Island living our winning dreams. Thanks to @HowardU for an amazing day on campus. pic.twitter.com/nNfTsybwjg

— Bill McDermott (@BillRMcDermott) October 1, 2013

I encourage you to check out his book today.