Laziness For Productivity

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I held my second annual family Thanksgiving, and it was great! I got to spend time with family and friends, and of course, there was great football on, too! If you're human, you most likely indulged in some extra calories this Thanksgiving, which is okay. What I have come to realize and explain is that on holidays or special events, it won't kill you to eat/drink a bit more or a little unhealthier than usual, however, the problem is that many of us have too much of a nonshalant attitude the remainder of the year, which is not only not good, but actually a detriment to your health. Trust me, when your nutrition is balanced and under control, you will feel and look better, no matter what your exercise program/schedule looks like. Tony Horton says, "Abs are made in the kitchen." Well said.

Anyways, I don't really want to discuss the Holidays, but I want to discuss recovering from them. On Friday, I had an appointment with a regular client which got me in the gym. I did get a great workout in, and then I went home for the day. I originally planned to get some cleaning and errands accomplished, but ended up cuddling in bed and was really not much more productive then a rock on the street. Saturday, however, was a much different story. I skipped yoga in the morning but replaced it with cleaning off the desk in my office--there is much more to do but after a filled garbage bag and some movement, I can now utilize my desk once again. I paid some bills, went to work for a client appointment, drove up to Evanston for a specific product for my wife, made a couple other stops including the bank, Home Depot, and Target, went back home, raked the yard, and I finished up my productive day by making a salad and using the remnants of the Turkey carcasses to create a delicious soup for dinner.

Do you ever feel unproductive or lazy? Well, if so, sometimes you do need to take that day. What you should do mentally, however, is plan the next day to jump-start a series of productive days, weeks, etc. You will feel charged and ready to go, and I suggest making a list of tasks. There is a great feeling of accomplishment when you look on that list later and see you have crossed off most or all of the items you set out to do. Another tip--if there is a project or task that you have been putting off but it is important, do that first, and everything else will seem much easier. Please post your thoughts and experiences with laziness and/or productivity for us to learn from. Have a great week, everyone, and thanks for reading!

Thanks Be To God

"Bang!" That was the sound of a large, heavy, vertically sliding partitioning door slamming closed on top of the guitar that belonged to Pastor Sherrie's husband and our church band leader, Tim. The look on his face said it all, and Pastor Sherrie appropriately said, "Thank God no one was hurt." Tim's guitar was smashed and he looked crushed. He kept his composure well, and later in the service, he announced that he was thankful to have had the guitar and that it was the best musical instrument he's ever owned.

Think of a time you've lost, broken, or have had a personal possession destroyed. How did you feel? How did you react? Odds are you were devastated, angry, and very upset. Did you take out your frustration on someone else? Or did you react with a positive attitude like Tim? Think about it. None of us can predict or prepare for anything 100% of the time. But all of us have the choice on how to conduct ourselves as well as the choice of our own attitudes. No matter how bad things get, we must try to remain thankful for what we have and the blessings that we have instead of being upset or expressing self-pity over what we don't have or what we've lost. There are people in life that may be in a more fortunate circumstance than us, but there are certainly more that have less favorable lives and in situations they have no control over. We must pray for those less fortunate and be thankful for what we are blessed to have, whatever that may be. Like Zig Ziglar says, "It's your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude." Well said, Zig. Especially this week and through the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday season, let's try to be more positive about our situations and attitudes, and let's take time to Thank God for what we have and be appreciative for the important people we love and care for. Have a great week everyone! Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading!

Step Up

As we quickly approach Thanksgiving, it is relevant to think about and be thankful for the things that we have instead of complaining about or wishing for the things we don't. The obstacles in life are tough for everyone. We all have different careers, family lives, body types, religious beliefs, etc, but we can all agree that even during "good times" there are tough obstacles. Actually, since "good" is a relative term anyway, we must experience adversity in order to truly appreciate our accomplishments and the opportunities that present themselves.

This past weekend, one of my clients had the opportunity to do the event, "Skyrise Chicago," where participants climb all of the flights of stairs in the Willis Tower. 2,109 steps in 103 floors to be exact. What is special about this opportunity is that my client has two prosthetic legs below the knee. Wow! In mock trials we did on the stairmill over the past two weeks, I realized that not only would my client finish the event, but he would finish with a better time than a lot of "normies" (his term for us who have all of our limbs). Certainly, my client could have had plenty to complain about over the years, allowing himself to be treated specially because of his disability. But rather than that, he overcame this and actually worked in Orthopedics for many years, the same field that had helped him to walk again. Hats off to him, and we can all use this as a lesson for the week and during this Thanksgiving and Holiday Season. Let's step up to our challenges and give thanks and praise for what we have: health, family, intelligence, opportunity...you fill in the rest here. Have a great week, everyone, and thanks for reading!

Guest Blog: Making A Positive Difference

Below is copy from an email I got today from one of my clients. She has been responding well to training, and above all, trying to maintain a positive attitude. Please think about the relationships in your life and relate to this message. Very powerful, and I'm glad people are catching on! Thanks, "C", for your inspiring message!

Hi Mike,

I read your blog tonight from Nov. 7th and was thinking... I encourage you to keep thinking positively. As a physician, I have relationships with a lot of people (doctor-patient, teacher-student, peer-peer, nurse-doctor, etc), and it can be really difficult when you invest so much of yourself into another person and then the relationship ends. In my case that is the doctor-patient relationship, and in your case the trainer-trainee relationship. It is, in some ways, both a positive and negative to the job. But no matter what happens at the end, I always tell myself that I did the best that I could, and that I made a difference in this person's life because I did the best that I could. Anyhow, there is a great line in Antoine de Saint Exupery's book The Little Prince. At one point, the fox tells the Little Prince (translated from French), "you are responsible for those with whom you create a relationship with." Most of us feel this in general, but those of us charged with healing, teaching, or "service" towards another person feel this even more (or at least I think so). �

Thanks,

"C"

I hope you felt that! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!

Goodbyes

This week was long for me, as it probably was for many others including many of you reading. I am at the point as a personal trainer where I am building strong relationships with my regular clients, and many of them are entering progressive stages of training and they are seeing and feeling results. This is what determines my success, but more than anything, it makes me feel great to be a part of life improvement! Anyway, one of my favorite clients who recently started training three times a week emailed me to inform me of some bad news. She had decided to take a job offer in her home country in Central America and would no longer be training or coming to the gym. This was sudden, and I was truly saddened that we wouldn't be working together. I felt that we had come a long way and were making real progress. Not only that, but obviously that's 3 sessions a week less which is a setback for my business as well.

I wished her the best, but I can't help but feel kind of like I was dumped. A week ago another client had finished her training as well, which I knew about ahead of time, but it was still a bit tough mentally. I can't help it, I guess. I am investing myself into my clients as much so or even more than they are committing themselves. Another thing that ties in is my own training. People often ask me about my own training. I feel that I have to hold myself to a higher standard of fitness. This way, I cannot ask or expect a client to do anything more demanding than what I put myself through. And, yes, this does include issues and obstacles that come up. Anyway, what I will do is to remember the relationships I have made, the impacts I have had on my clients, and I will always learn from these experiences and build on them into the future. I urge you all to do the same in your professional and personal lives. Each day is a new learning experience, and life gives us a blend of difficulties and opportunities. We must take advantage of the learning and opportunities in the midst of the difficulties and obstacles. Growth is the result. So every goodbye is potentially a new hello! Stay positive, have a great week, and thanks for reading!