Where are your priorities?

This is the third installment of the series. Last week I touched on goal planning.

Where do you begin?

Like the post title infers, it’s time to get out a writing implement and some paper.

Make a list of what’s really important to you.

Detail it as complete as possible.

Then write down why each of these items are important.

The next step is to put first things first by prioritizing each of the items. Write a ’1′ next to all of the highest priority items. Put a ’2′ next to the high, but not as important items, and so on.

You made a list. Now check it twice.

By putting together this prioritized list, you’ve determined items that absolutely cannot be skipped or moved, e.g. sleep, work, family time, etc.

You’ve also identified activities that just aren’t that important. These can easily be postponed, or avoided all together, e.g. playing video games.

Often we set goals in haste. This is especially true with resolutions made for the New Year.

At this point you haven’t set a single goal yet. What you have done is found that you have the ability to find time to work on whatever goal(s) that you decide upon.

One of the main excuses that I have heard many times when people stop coming to the gym is because they don’t have the time.

Lack of scheduling and prioritization are at fault.

It’s almost harvest time.

Now is the time to start thinking about what it is that you really want. What is really going to add value to your life?

Sometimes I think about going back to school. At this point in my life I don’t believe that it would really add usefulness. An advanced degree in my field wouldn’t make me any more valuable.

But dropping a few more pounds of fat may help me to get off of my blood pressure medication, and perhaps live a little longer. That would allow me to spend more time with Becca and the kids. That’s value added!

That’s what we’ll explore more next week – what changes are really going to make you happy, and how to turn those into goals/resolutions.

Photo: Nick Cowie

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You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.

Is your route mapped out?

Last time that we chatted I mentioned how many (ok, most) people come out of the holiday season ready to make New Year’s Resolutions. This time we’re going to dig a little deeper.

According to Serge Prengel, 40-45% of Americans make resolutions.

I’d be willing to bet that 75% of those resolutions had to do with losing weight or getting in shape.

If you think about it, that makes perfect sense – the end of November, all the way through the end of December is mostly spent eating yummy foods at parties.

Oh, and the leftovers. Those glorious leftovers. See, it’s not enough that we binge at a holiday gathering.

One day of throwing caution to the wind for a party may not kill you. But then we continue to munch on the leftovers for the days that follow.

And let us not forget about those libations that we drink at said parties. Alcohol, especially mixed drinks, aren’t exactly good for the old waist line.

With the ground work laid, is it any wonder that we feel horrible about ourselves come New Year’s Eve?

Goals, and stuff.

Here’s the awesome thing about goals – you can change them. For that matter, when you assess and reassess your goals, you can completely do a 180º turn.

Taking time at the beginning of the year to think about the changes that you want to make is an awesome idea.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

The reason that so many New Year’s resolutions go the way of the Dodo bird is that they aren’t thought through.

You have to consider a few things:

• Why do you want to make the change?
• What are you willing to give up in order to make the change?
• Will this change affect others, either positively or negatively?
• Is this going to be short or long term, both in the journey to change, and in the affect?

Next time week we’ll take this information and formulate a game plan.

Photo: Roger Kirby

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 Get your resolution on!

Keep your eye on the prize

A funny thing happens every year at this time.

You may start seeing it before Christmas, but it really becomes prevalent in the days coming up to the New Year.

Of course I’m talking about the ads for every gym in the area, and diet plan known to man.

I don’t fault businesses for trying to make a buck. The beginning of the year is typically how they cover their nut for the year. And I’m nothing if not a squirrel trying to get a nut.

It all comes down to those dreaded resolutions.

You know the ones.

After stuffing our faces (guilty) beginning at Halloween, and working forward, it’s not uncommon to have put on a few “winter” pounds.

Resolutions go beyond that.

It’s a time for new beginnings. You can wipe the slate clean, and start again.

The most common that I hear are to get in shape (like round isn’t a shape), to stop smoking, and to stop (or cut back) drinking/partying.

All good goals. How are you going to go about it though? It’s one thing to “begin again”, but are you going to set yourself up for failure or success?

Over the next few weeks we’re going to dig into this some more.

For now, think about what you want to change, and why.

Photo: Rafael Rezende

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Are you putting in the time?

Are you a player?

Have you ever met somebody that was just so darn good at something that they made it look easy?

You know the person I’m talking about – it’s like they don’t even have to try.

It all comes so easy.

How far can that raw, natural talent take them in comparison to somebody that may not be as gifted, but always goes the extra mile?

Air Jordan

Let’s take a look at Michael Jordan. I’m sure that you’ve heard the misrepresented story how “His Airness” was cut from his high school basketball team, only to go on to be arguably the greatest basketball player ever.

Actually he just didn’t make the varsity team as a sophomore, and went on to have a fantastic season on the junior varsity team.

Jordan was talented, for sure, but not enough to make up for his “short” stature early on in high school.

Over the next year he grew, and trained like nobody’s business, and the rest is history.

While he had natural talent, and gifted with the size needed, Mr. Jordan worked like nobody else. This carried on through college, and into a long NBA career.

Even when he tried his hand at baseball, he wasn’t handed anything because of who he was. He had to try-out and earn his position. He actually did pretty well. All through persistence, and hard work.

Working hard, or hardly working?

When you sit down at the table for a meal, or strap up for an intense workout at the gym, put in the work.

The information on what to do is easy to find. Just read PhitZone.

The hard part is putting into the effort.

That attitude doesn’t stop when you’re pounded out the last rep.

Are you going the extra mile in your relationships?

What about at work?

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work.

This philosophy applies across the board, in all aspects of your life. All you have to do is work harder than you did the day before.

Photo: Jennifer Marr

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I have a fever

We could all use a little more cowbell.

And the only cure is more cowbell.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go find a clip of the SNL skit.

How exactly does it apply to me, you, or anybody else when it comes to fitness?

Follow me, and I’ll show you the way.

I was recently reading this blog post, and the topic was brought up.

It doesn’t matter how stylish you are, or even if you look like a doofus, just go get to work.

Spotting the cowbell player

One of my favorite pass times is people watching. There are so many people in the world, but when you break us all down, we tend to fall into categories.

The gym is an awesome place to people watch.

There are the lazy people that just like to say that they went to the gym. These gals like to come in, pick up the 5 lbs. dumbbells, and do some mild resistance work.

There’s usually the gym rat. These are people that may very well have a cot hidden in the janitor’s closet. This guy spends a lot of time doing curls for the girls, and typically hog the squat rack for no apparent reason.

Who can forget about those people that think that the health club is a night club? You’ve seen ‘em – decked out in the latest workout gear, company logo’s (alays matching) from Nike, Addidas, etc. Of course the shoes always match the outfit. For some reason they think that they are at a social club, and the juice bar is a pick-up spot.

In most gyms around the world, you’ll find a rare breed. This is the man or woman that doesn’t give a crap what they’re wearing. Aside from the occasional pleasontry, they aren’t there to talk.

These people are there to work.

Focus, a plan (usually on a clipboard), and sweat are what you’ll see when you look at one of these people.

These are the cowbell players.

They’re going to get their workout in, with full intensity. No distractions. Just get in, and get the job done.

Play that funky cowbell

I urge you. I beg of you. If you have any will to make progress in the gym, dig deep for your cowbell and drumstick.

It doesn’t matter if you’re doing Pilates or deadlifting a small tractor, give it your all. Keep focused on your goals, or on what you’re doing.

At some point, you may lose the beat. Listen for the drummer and the backbeat, and get right back in the song!

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Inspire, rather than Conspire

Leaders inspire their followers.

You learn a lot about yourself, and other people when you play the role of coach.

That was something that I found a couple years ago when I was asked to coach our daughter’s soccer teams.

I knew what I wanted to do – What drills I wanted to run, the skills that I wanted to teach, and the game strategy that I wanted to teach.

Directing fifteen 12 year old girls is much like herding cats; difficult at best.

Turns out, each one of the girls had their own personality. This wasn’t mentioned in the brochure!

I figured somethings out pretty quick. Having fun is always first and foremost. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you won’t like it. In this case, they won’t like it.

Next I learned was that there are essentially two types of people. There are those that inspire. And there are those that conspire.

Inspirations

On our team there were approximately 75% of the girls that either had the skills to play the game well, or just had the heart to get out there and play.

Hard work and leadership marked their presence on the team. They were as much help inspiring their team mates as myself and assistant coach were.

Conspirators

OK, “Conspirators” may be a wee bit harsh.

These were the kids that just didn’t want to put in the work.

I kid you not, there was one girl that just flat out didn’t want to be there. How do you foster fun and skill with somebody like that?

Balancing Act

Now it’s time to look around. First in the mirror. Do you strive to be in Inspirer? Have you ever been the Conspirer?

At work, do you see the people that fit theses roles? How about in your daily life?

You don’t have to be the captain of the team to be an inspiration. Even when we are followers, we can lead by example.

Photo: Debbie Wogen

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Change as the situation requires

Chameleon are famous for adapting to surroundings.

Life. She’s going to throw you curve balls. You’ll be going along. Everything’s great. Then BLAM!!! You’re forced to deal with something new. Something different.

How you adapt, and handle that diversity shows what you’re made of.

It doesn’t have to be anything as serious as a death, or loss of a job (although we could easily talk about that in our current economy).

This can be as simple as somebody forgot to pick up butter at the grocery store, and you really needed it to make dinner.

Are you going to throw a fit? Maybe jump in the car, and head to the store? You could find something else to make, or consider it an excuse to head to your favorite taco bar.

“You’re Marines now. You adapt. You overcome. You improvise. Let’s move.” Gunny Highway – Heartbreak Ridge

On a number of occasions I’ve gone to the gym, workout plan in hand. Of course all of the equipment that I needed to use for my plan is all being used.

In the old days, I’d have packed up, and came back later. Now, I’d just do other equivalent exercises.

The last time that I went to a public gym was when we went to Vegas. We stayed at the Luxor, which actually has free weights in their gym, including a squat rack (Score!). I had a little wardrobe malfunction, and had to bail.

Instead bailing on the workout, I went back to the room, changed, and did a bodyweight workout followed by LOTS of walking.

Even the way that you train can require you to make adjustments. Chris at Zen Fitness says, “I believe movement and activity is always good but sometimes we need to take it easy with things like weight lifting, running, and other intense exercise.” When you’re feeling exhausted from a workout, it’s time to adjust and back off.

When life gives you lemons, do you sit and pout? Or are you the kind of person that grabs the vodka to make lemon drops? I’m more of a lemonade kind of guy, but hey, whatever floats your boat. I’m not judging.

Photo by Baynham Goredema

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Get motivated!

Is this motivation--what do you think?

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Lawrence J. Peter

I was recently kicking around one of my fave blogs, Project Swole, which is run by my bud Steve. I found a post that I thought would be fun to revisit. It’s titled Make Your Own Motivation.

We all struggle in our day to day lives. Maybe not with the exact same things, as some are blessed differently than others. You may be surprised to learn that what you struggle with isn’t all that different than the next guy.

Seems that I’m always wrestling with having money to pay the bills, work, time with my family, etc. (not in that order).

Setting priorities is a great way to start. This can be as simple as jotting down your top 5 short term goals and taping them to the fridge. To-do list are a popular form of doing this on a day-to-day basis.

It never fails–I will put off sleep in order to do something. It doesn’t have to be anything important either, such as watching a t.v. show that I’ve seen before. Then the next day I’m wiped out, and think to myself, “Self, what the heck were you thinking?”. To which I reply, “I dunno.”

Exercise and diet are two other common areas that many of us put at the bottom of the list. I’ve been guilty of that on many occasions. The sad part is, I know that it’s going to make me feel like crap.

Break it down

Steve has a couple of great suggestions that I want to share.

• Get a lifting partner. Bottom line, accountability. You’re so much less likely to bail on the gym if somebody is expecting you to be there.
• Tell others about your plan. Accountability rears it’s head again. I know that if I have to answer to somebody, the chances that I’m going to flake are much less likely.
• Health first. *Spoiler Alert!* None of us are going to live forever. I know that may shock a few people, but it’s true. That being said, take care of yourself so that you can take care of your loved ones, and anybody that may rely on you. That includes work.
• Being strong is a good thing. You just never know when being in good physical condition may come in very handy. Steve uses the example of something falling on you or a loved one, and you being able to lift it off. Or how about being attacked? If you’re all fluffy, you’ll have a hard time defending yourself. Here’s a secret–when you’re in good shape, you will have a confidence about you. Would-be attackers don’t like confidence in their prey, and will often chose another target.
• Music may soothe the savage beast, but it can also turn you into one. Training while listening to soft jazz will not coax you into lifting a heavier weight. Something that causes a guteral response, like good rock music, will get your juices flowing. Who knows, you may just get a new personal record with the right song.

Bring it in

Whatever the reason, everybody needs to find their motivation. For myself, it’s all about my family. My wife and daughters are everything to me. I want to do everything that I can to be here for them as much as possible.

I have a day job, which I really enjoy. I have responsibilities there. We also own a business. I have goals that I want to achieve.

Without putting my priorities in order and proper perspective, I’d fail. I just can’t let that happen.

What do you do to keep your priorities straight?

Photo: Christopher Bruno

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You don’t have to be Niki Taylor to look like a supermodel.

Look your best-Don't kill yourself to do it.

With two teenage girls in the house, fashion and body image is a huge deal. Both girls are infatuated with fashion, fashion magazines, and the television shows. It’s enough to drive me nuts. (Love you, girls!)

The Real Life Fitness question of the day is how healthy is it for young girls to soak this stuff up? I’ve watched two videos over the past month that have shaken our foundation.

Both of these videos have to do with the Photoshop pictures used in pretty much all magazines.

As you see in the video below, it’s scary what the magazine publishers allow in their products. It’s misleading.

The end of the video is absolutely perfect. Here you have a beautiful woman, who is a serious exerciser. Honestly, what could she possibly do, and to what extreme would she have to go in order to look like the photochopped pic? It’s just flat out not right, and not healthy.

Screw that! Real Life Fitness is not be about obtaining perfection. Do the best that you can with the tools and time that you have.

Of course we want to look the best that we can. Go for it. Don’t kill yourself in the process.

Work your ass off. Eat good food.

If you’re not enjoying your life, what are you busting tail for?

Photo: Ali Farid

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Improvise-Adapt-Overcome

Adapting to our environment to overcome

In March, 2010 Becca and I took a vacation trip to one of our favorite spots–Vegas, baby!

We spent four days there, relaxing, and just having a great time. By the way, the Luxor has a full gym, complete with free weights.

It happened that we were there during the first week of the NCAA basketball tournament. The town was packed with sports junkies.

Consequently, when we left, all flights were booked solid. And of course all of the airlines overbook flights, for whatever reason.

There were two people that needed to get home, one lady specifically that needed to get back to her daughter.

Time wasn‘t a factor for us, so we decided to give up our seats. The drawback, there were NO flights that we could catch for TWO days. It was that crazy. So, we rented a car (another story all together), and drove back to San Antonio in twenty-four hours, non-stop.

Aside from doing something nice for somebody else, we were able to improvise, and come up with a solution to the problem.

By finding a rental car, we adapted to the situation.

We found ourselves in a situation. By looking at a few key points, we came out great on the other side.

• What seems to be the problem?
• What do I need to do in order to solve the problem?
• Put your plan into action

Between the two of us, we drove straight through, stopping only for gas, food, and restroom breaks. The drive was smooth, and everything worked out-we overcame the situation.

Recipe for a championship

Baker at Man Vs. Debt laid it out perfectly in his breakdown of the Green Bay Packers road to a Super Bowl Championship win.

It wasn’t an easy road for the Packers. They didn’t start off well. Their fire wasn’t really lit until their bye week. The Packers were hit with a few key injuries to key players.

At the end of the season they had to beat the Giants, and a very tough Bears team. Then battle with the Eagles, and the top-seeded Falcons.

Then in the playoffs, the Packers had to go back to Chicago to meet the Bears again. And if that wasn’t enough, they had to finish it all off against the AFC’s toughest, the Pittsburgh Steelers in the pressure cooker that was Super Bowl XLV.

At the end of their trials, they emerged victorious, holding the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy.

What it all means

The Green Bay Packers were not the team to beat in 2010. They were able to put their troubles behind them, spin out of the backfield, and overcome all of the odds.

Have you had to adapt, improvise, and overcome in your life?

Photo: Bryan Wintersteen

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