Life Lessons from the Road – Todd and Rena

“Always be learning.”

We left Orlando and headed to St. Augustine where our good friends Todd and Rena live.  If you’ve never been, it’s a great little town with the BEST pizza

place in the world – at least in our humble opinion it is but Pizza Time is also rated as having the 2nd best pizza in the country.  In short, it’s definitely worth the trip!

I’ve known Todd a few years now as we both work on the CrossFit seminar staff. We have traveled the country together and spent many weekends goofing around, working out, and coaching fitness.

One thing that I’ve always been impressed by with Todd is his desire to learn and practice new things. Not just in the CrossFit sense of playing new sports but actually learning new hobbies. Todd’s latest hobby or interest is coffee. His kitchen is loaded with every coffee gadget imaginable, from a hand grinder to a scale for his pour overs, he has it all.

I love coffee, I literally need it to function, but I’ve never taken the time to truly appreciate it or understand how that dark, warm Ethiopian blend I guzzle at Starbucks made it’s way across the waters from bush, to bean, to the bags of grounds stacked neatly on the supermarket shelves.  I’ve never tested different ways of brewing it and honestly if it were possible (or effective), I’d probably just inject it into my blood. But Todd is driven by curiosity and a purpose to understand the things he loves.

This wasn’t the only area of life that Todd was chasing knowledge and self-improvement. Education is  obviously a priority for Todd in his career with fitness, as he’s always reading and researching to ensure that he delivers sound and current advice to his members at Driv Fitness. But his thirst for knowledge extends to many other areas of interest too.  In his prior life Todd was in the finance industry. Every time we’re scheduled to work a weekend together I look forward to the wealth of information I know Todd will divulge to me on investing, the best financial podcasts to listen to, books to read, and so much more.

You don’t have to be as devoted as Todd is to learning the ins-and-outs of the things you love, but I think an  important take-away to enjoying life is to always be chasing knowledge and self-betterment. Start with learning about the things that bring you joy and it will never feel like a chore. Keep that brain working no different than training your muscles.

Thank you Todd & Rena for allowing us a glimpse inside your inspiring world!