This first one is an essential principle. If you can wrap your head around this one, the rest is easy (well, easier, anyway). The basic premise is simple: you cannot control what happens to you. The only thing you can ever control is YOUR reaction to it. See my post on Where Do You Locate Your Control for more on this topic. Continue reading
You need to get back to the gym. You know it. I know it. The question is, why aren’t you doing it?
You know you should workout. You know you should upgrade your nutrition. You know you should do more to support an active healthy lifestyle. You know you should hire a trainer. You know you should sign up for that yoga class. But you don’t. Why not?
You are, as Tony Robbins would say, should-ing all over yourself.
Here’s a list of 7 strategies to help you get it together and turn that should into a must! Continue reading
For the past several weeks there has been a running theme interwoven throughout my blog posts. That theme has been practice, Daily Personal Practice (DPP), to be precise.
I’ve gotten several questions about the details of my own DPP since I refer to it several times in my writing. So I figured I would pull back the curtains and give you a more detailed glimpse into my Morning Routine of DPP in this post. Continue reading
One of the most oft asked questions I get from people, from both the online and offline worlds, is about their weekly workout schedule:
“How should I program my workouts?”
“How many days per week should I train?”
“Is it wrong or bad to train 2 days in a row?”
“How much rest should I have between workouts?”
“Is there one best way to program my training?” Continue reading
Are you making progress in your practice, or do you feel like you’re running in circles, making lots of motion but essentially getting nowhere?
Maybe you’ve got this whole practice thing wrong…
We all know that practice is absolutely essential to the development of any skill. But how should we practice? What qualities should our practice have to make sure it is both effective (increasing skill) and efficient (making the best use of time)? How long should we practice, how often? Continue reading
I’m here in Long Beach Island, NJ for a week of fun and sun with the family. Today, however, was cloudy and cool so instead of heading to the beach we decided to stay at the house in the morning to relax a little bit and then take in an early afternoon movie. So with my parents and 2 kids in tow, we went to see “How to Train Your Dragon 2“. Continue reading
I am an absolutely voracious reader. Usually I am reading 3-4 books at a time AND listening to a book on CD in my car. The book on CD is key. My car becomes a mobile library and I’m able to productively utilize my driving time. I do occasionally jam out to my favorite tunes while driving, sometimes you just have to roll down the windows and sing (or try to in my case) at the top of your lungs, but for the most part I really love being able to read and drive at the same time! Continue reading
I was never what you would call a natural athlete growing up. In fact, I pretty much sucked at every sport I tried – baseball, basketball, soccer, kickball, tennis… you name it, I sucked at it. To make things worse I was also ridiculously shy and introverted as a kid, so that combination, on top of having little to no athletic skill, made things even worse! Continue reading
I have to say it. Fitness ADD is running rampant. And, no I don’t mean math skills, I mean Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)! The misinformed, and some who should know better, running from program to program looking for, but never finding, the holy grail of fitness training. They never stay with a program long enough to actualize the real results inherent within it. Exercises are changed up on a daily basis to stave off boredom or keep it interesting or to never plateau or to confuse the muscles, or whatever nonsense people tell themselves. But really it’s a problem of commitment; actually sticking to a program to reap all the promised results from it. Continue reading
Do you people watch? I do. Traveling a few weekends in a row earlier this month gave me ample opportunity. The people watching was especially entertaining at the various rest stops along the highways, turnpikes, and parkways the length of the northeastern corridor from NJ up to MA, and out through PA on the way to OH.
In all my recent people watching adventures I’ve notice something pretty sad. On the whole, in general, there are many, many people out there in very poor shape. Actually, horribly pathetic shape is a more apt description. Now I know this is not a revelation to you, my dear readers, nor is it one to me either. It’s just that in crowded spots where people are traveling from all over are congregated, it becomes very noticeable.
The question I kept coming back to, as I looked around at these horribly out of shape people from all walks of life and all ages, was WHY? Why are people so enormously overweight? Why is their physical condition so screwed up? Why do they struggle for breath just standing up or sitting down? What happened along the way to get them in such a state? Surely no one started out wanting to be fat, out of shape, and de-conditioned. Surely no one wanted to feel so devoid of energy and vitality. Surely it was a slow, slow decline. Surely it was an insidious series of small errors over the course of a long, long time that brought them to this, right?
Formula for Failure
“A few errors in judgment repeated every day.” – Jim Rohn
The truth is, it does matter. The little things you do, or don’t do, on a daily basis matter very much in the long run.
The only one ultimately responsible for your health and well-being is you. Not your doctor. Not your spouse. Not your friends. Not the government. You. You alone. Make the right choices.