Day 367!

Today marks the first day of year 2 of this blog! Thank you all for reading and for all of your support and comments to this point! That said, I just got done publishing the last three make-up-days of blogs. Why had I been putting it off? I don't know. What I do know is that I've made a commitment to write these for myself and for all of you who benefit from my thoughts now and again, and I don't plan to let you down. I am, however, considering making this a weekly blog soon. As my business as a trainer has been ramping up, I have dedicated more time to helping people one on one. Also, I realize that some of my blogs may have felt a bit "watered-down" content-wise. I may seek to create a weekly blog to recap events, thoughts, and concepts, and add-in a few random and special ones here and there. I will look to do this soon as I have officially achieved the one-year mark for this daily blog! I enjoy getting my thoughts out and inspiring all of you who read this to make improvements in your lives and possibly helping you touch the lives of the people you care about indirectly. Please comment below with any feedback regarding my blog, suggestions, and/or your thoughts about the frequency change. After all, it's because of you I stay motivated, and because of the support I get that I am able to succeed. Thank you all so much, and have a great day! As always, thanks for reading!

Don't Call In!

"I want to tell you, " my client started, "I was going to call in and cancel this morning's session. Then I thought, 'If I cancel today, I'll most likely see myself not coming back.'" Wow. Yesterday one of my newer clients told me this after admitting she felt like she had a slight cold. I applauded her for still coming in, and she not only completed the workout, she actually improved her numbers! She was so happy she made the decision to come in and do her best, and you will too!

Often, especially concerning fitness, we may feel like "calling in" and skipping workouts. Do you ever feel better that you did? Unless you are injured or severely ill, you should show up and give it your best. This is the simplest thing to accomplish on a given day, but usually it is the hardest thing for people to do. Why? Sometimes it's laziness, and sometimes although we think we've committed, we've really just entertained the idea of getting in shape or doing something well. When you truly commit to something, you will not let anyone or anything stop you from performing the activities necessary to reach your goal. Think about this in other areas of your life: Do you call in to work for non-legitimate reasons? Do you call and cancel social engagements with friends because you "don't feel like it"? Ok, every once and a while we value that "me" time, but if you are a successful person you don't have any reason to do this. I'll admit, sometimes my head isn't always 100% "in the game" but I've learned that if you just "show up" and start [your workout] you'll usually surprise the heck out of yourself and often you will improve! Plus, you'll feel so much better about following through with your commitment. This same principle will carry over into your career and social life, and in turn, you will become a highly motivated, responsible, and effective individual. It starts with today. Tomorrow it will be about tomorrow, and so on. Don't call in today, get your workout in, and follow through! Tomorrow do the same! Have a great day, everyone, and thanks for reading!

One Week Left

One week left. The Chicago Marathon is on Sunday, 10-10-10. Two years ago when I was 225 lbs, a half-pack/day smoker and Mr. Unhealthy, if you would have told me I'd be running in a marathon as a personal trainer, I would have laughed you out of my house. This is huge. It is the culmination of my running efforts this season, which by the way, is the first season I ever really ran for sport or fun. Beyond any and all changes I've made physically, truly the changes that have happened internally have been much more profound. Fitness and health is way more about attitude, motivation, and perseverance than anything else. And by committing to something as meaningful as health, I have really been able to apply the same principles of discipline and hard work into other aspects of my life, and taken it further. I have found my self infecting people with the "health bug" that I have. It's quite contagious! It seems in the midst of the economic chaos, disasters, family issues, and everything under the sun, people have found solace in fitness and nutrition, and that's a great thing! Once we get ourselves on the right track with our body, we will no doubt be on the right track mentally, and better equipped to handle whatever life will throw at us next. In the middle of so much difficulty I have experienced personally, I am grateful to God for the opportunities that have opened up. Recognize that it is not about simply wishing things were better. Confront your difficulties/obstacles and make concise decisions on how to handle them, and you will be surprised at the great things that will happen as a result. For me, changing my health has not only meant changing my life, but it has also meant that people I love and care about have had their lives changed for the better as well. My whole family has gotten healthier and more health conscious as a bi-product of my own health revolution, and now I am making a living helping others do the same. Please say a prayer and/or join me at the finish line this Sunday in person or in spirit. I appreciate the support I have received, and I thank you all for being part of my success! Thanks everyone, and thanks for reading!

Complete Your Task

Today was a busy day. I had two great training sessions, a 3-hour class, did my weekly shopping and errands, and even did some interval training on my new Schwinn Spin Bike(thanks Marc and Tania!). Then I carted Jasmine off to Aurora for a bachelorette party, and I decided to spend a few hours visiting my buddy down in Plainfield and to get my car worked on(thanks Scotty!). Among other issues, I knew my brakes haven't been touched in almost 3 years. Though I use a lot of downshifting with my braking, I had a feeling it was about that time. And through a friendly barter agreement, I'll be helping Scotty train at home in return for his auto consulting and repair work. So Scotty began with the brakes since it was definitely the activity that would take the longest. Wow did it ever...the rotors were basically fused to the piece they were mounted to, so it was a painstaking effort to get each one off. Scotty even had to drill through 2 screws on each hub, and that wasn't exactly a quick thing. After a few hours and a couple brews with some of his friends, we were on the fourth and final wheel.

His buddy brought a tool that he said could help out with the removal of the two problem screws, so we decided to give it a shot. Sadly, during the attempt, the bit to this tool actually broke off in the screw hole. Scotty tried several times to drill through it, but he couldn't budge the hardened steel piece. We then tried everything else to see if it would still loosen up. No dice. He worked and worked to get it off, but it didn't seem like it was going to happen. We even recognized the fact we tried a special tool as a "shortcut" and it turned out to extend the time it would have taken. I am usually all about fighting through, but it had been a while, and not only did I not want Scotty to kill himself over it, but I was going to have to get home soon, too. He told me he wanted to try one last thing. He found a small mini-grinder tool, plugged it in, and got to work. The sparks flew, and let me tell you--this grinder was tiny. He worked and worked, and after a while, he actually was able to get this thing loose! He did it! He told me that he "wasn't going to let me leave unless he know the job was done right." (may have paraphrased there, Scotty) Immediately I recognized that he was right and he was actually playing out the classic analogy.

Folks, we all have times that we feel we've tried everything or simply found yourself exhausted while trying to complete something. How many times have you quit? How many times have you finished? How did you feel? We need to fight through and do ourselves right by staying on task and completing it. Please share a time in the comments when you did this and it payed off. Thanks for reading!

Breaking It Down

My brother has been living with us this past week and will be for a while. He just started a career in the logistics field, and has been learning the game through his employer. He was explaining that he is learning to think differently about things. "Take this Cholula bottle..." He went on to explain the fundamentals and economics of shipping raw materials to centralized locations where products are then manufactured and/or assembled. "This cap is from wood, the bottle is glass, the label is paper and ink..." So he now sees a product and is continually thinking of it in terms of the materials and substances that make up that finished product. From there, he can figure out what has to happen, and this thinking is giving him a better idea of his market and how all of it comes together. The interesting thing is that I have been taking classes through Equinox to further my understanding and knowledge of the body, exercise, movement, and how it relates to personal training. In the same way, I am thinking a bit differently. "How does the client move? How should he/she move? What movements and abilities are necessary to this individual in life and in the sport(s) he/she plays? When I know some of these answers and a bit more, I can take the finished movement and even complex exercises and break them down into individual and simple movements. From there, we can progress exercises until the goal is achieved. Ultimately, my brother and I are both taking finished products/results and breaking them down more simply and working from there. It's very interesting to see the parallels that we are working in, even though these two fields couldn't be more different.

In your job and daily activities, what are your goals and what do you need to happen to be successful. Take the end result or your goal and break it down backwards and see if you can't simplify things a bit. People often get overwhelmed in a variety of ventures simply because their minds are clouded with complexities. Clear your mind and thoughts by breaking these complexities down into their simple parts, work on those parts and put them together. This may take a short or long period of time, but you will have a better understanding and most likely will come out better skilled than if you just tried to complete the complex version of whatever you are doing. Please share a unique example of when you did this, how your thinking has changed, or even what your action will be from here to help you reach your goal. We could all use more perspective. Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading! Happy Friday!