Category Archives: Mindset
“An Unconventional Sign Of Strength And Power”
The other day on Twitter I saw the following statement – “An unconventional sign of strength and power: Not being easily offended.”
Then today, I found this picture on Pinterest:
This one made me laugh…maybe cause it’s true!?! 😛
Are You A True Champion? How Shaun White Impressed Me With His Loss
I think champions are defined not by how often they win, but by how they go out and compete and how they handle failure.
Do they play to win no matter the situation? Do they blame everything but themselves when they lose? And do they bounce back after failure?
Last night, I saw the champion in Shaun White and thought to myself, “No wonder this guy has been at the top and so dominant for so long.”
Perception is everything
January is a time for many of starting over. Of New Years Resolutions, dreams and goals.
But it is also a month filled with unfinished goals. Unfinished goals because people’s motivation dwindles and their positive mindset falters.
Even when we’ve done the best planning possible, life can still get in the way.
And when life gets in the way the only thing that can keep us on track is our mindset.
Because let’s face it, there are going to be bumps in the road.
There are going to be setbacks.
But we can keep moving forward if we have the right attitude and can pick ourselves back up after a fall and get right back on track.
It truly is all about attitude.
And trust me…I know it’s hard.
January is one of the most stressful months for me. Right now I’m to the point of being completely and utterly overwhelmed.
Part of me wants to throw up my hands and watch chick flicks all day on the couch cuddled by Coconut eating ice cream and Reeses Pieces.
But the other part of me, the larger part of me, LOVES EVERY SECOND OF IT.
Because it is all in how I perceive things.
I can see things as overwhelming and stressful.
Or I can see it as a chance to help more people and make a huge difference.
No, 100% of the time I won’t see things in a positive light. But 70, 80, even 90% of the time I will.
And that is what it is all about – having a positive mindset. It’s about setting your mind to a goal and not letting life interfere or things get out of your control so that you don’t get frustrated and veer off course….At least not for long.
We decide how we perceive things.
Yup…It is your choice to be happy or sad regardless of the situation.
So when you are planning to achieve your goal, you’ve got to include MINDSET into your plan.
You’ve got to decide to be excited by the challenges and opportunities your new diet and exercise program have in store for you.
You’ve got to decide to not dwell on the failures and setbacks.
You’ve got to decide to give yourself a quick break when you get down and then get right back on track if slip ups do occur.
You have control over your attitude.
Stay positive and keep moving forward toward your goals!
The SECRET To Success – CONSISTENCY and TRACKING
Everyone thinks there is some secret to being healthy. And there is…being able to be honest with yourself.
Being honest with yourself about how consistent you truly are at sticking to your diet and exercise program.
I know I harp on CONSISTENCY and TRACKING as being the keys to success ALL THE TIME but they truly are.
There are a bazillion different diets and exercise routines that can work for people.
And honestly the problem isn’t generally the diet…It is the person.
Often when people fail it isn’t because the diet was bad, it is that they don’t truly stick to it – they aren’t CONSISTENT in eating clean.
We all know that one cheat meal isn’t going to make a huge difference yet we expect one clean meal to create huge changes.
But one meal isn’t going to change things. Habits change things. Doing the right thing day in and day out changes things.
That doesn’t mean you have to be perfect every day. It just means that you consistently actually have to STICK to your healthy habits.
All you have to do is be good 80% of the time.
Often people confuse CONSISTENCY with PERFECTION, but they are nowhere near one in the same.
Stop making excuses as to why your diet isn’t working and take a look at whether or not you are actually sticking with the program.
I can’t stress enough the importance of tracking your progress and your diet and exercise program. When we track, we have to be HONEST with ourselves about what we are actually doing.
We can’t ignore that “cheat,” that skipped workout. We can’t just say, “Oh I was pretty darn good yesterday” and forget about the fact that we weren’t at all consistent over the last week.
Tracking shows us the cold hard facts. It let’s us know if we are actually doing what we are supposed to be doing.
So even though keeping a food log is a pain in the ass…yup that’s right…I said ASS…It may just be what you need to help you get on track to accomplish your goals.
It will show you that it may not be the diet that is failing…It may be your CONSISTENCY!
Try it this next week. Log your food in an app like Spark People or My Fitness Pal. See if you are as consistent as you believed you are.
A New Years Eve Reflection
WARNING: This post is sappy. You’ve been warned.
I think we all need to remember this heading in to this New Year!
I’ve written this blog for almost three years. And rarely a week goes by where I don’t get at least a couple of posts up because I love it so much.
I do it purely for the love.
Because I love health and fitness so much. Because I love all of you so much.
I actually got asked the other day what job I would do if money wasn’t an issue.
I didn’t even need to think about the answer.
Because I’m doing it.
I live, breathe, eat, sweat health and fitness.
I live, breathe, eat, sweat seeing other people realize their own potential.
Every day I want to share my passion with everyone I meet (Seriously, never get into a random conversation with me if you don’t want me to go on some health and fitness tangent because it will happen…Poor lady at the coffee shop who just said “Hello……”)
Every day, I hope to inspire, to educate, to help others grow to be stronger, fitter, healthier, MORE EMPOWERED than they could ever imagine.
And when I say all this, I’m by no means saying I’m selfless.
Far from it.
I’m just saying this is my passion.
And I get a lot in return.
While I help my clients, each of them teaches me something new. Each of them inspires me in return. Each of them touches and changes me. Each of them makes me better and stronger.
You’ve all touched me and taught me so much in 2013.
I only hope I’ve done the same.
We all now face a new year with infinite possibilities. We have the chance to learn, to grow, to inspire.
What are you going to do with your New Year?
P.S. Check back tomorrow for a chance to have me help you get started on your New Years Resolutions for FREE! Oh yea! Working with the Man Biceps! 😛 Ok…Sappiness is now complete.
Goal Setting For The New Year
Around this time everyone begins setting goals for the New Year.
Unfortunately, 90% of those goals never get accomplished.
Don’t let this be you!
And it isn’t because they aren’t meaningful. It isn’t because people don’t want to accomplish them. It isn’t because they aren’t doable.
It is because the goals aren’t clear, aren’t measurable aren’t WELL PLANNED.
The goals that never get accomplished are vague. Like I want to be healthier.
I want to be healthier. That is your goal!?!
Way to set yourself up for failure.
I mean…What is your definition of healthier? How are you going to measure that? What specific things are you going to do to get there? How will you even know if you’ve gotten there?
Heck…Why do you even want to be healthier? Because you are supposed to be healthier? Because you are supposed to WANT to be healthier?
And I’m not saying that being healthier can’t be what you truly want, your overall goal. I’m just saying that if you want to move toward being healthier, you must have specific things to accomplish, things you can measure.
You have to understand WHY you truly want it and what it means to you.
You need to be able to see and measure your progress.
So here are some great tips to help you take that vague goal and turn it into something meaningful that you will actually accomplish this next year!
Goal Setting Tips:
- Focus on one thing at a time
- 10 tips to help you break bad habits
- How to set SMART goals
- Track your progress
- Know the WHY behind your goal
What are your goals for the New Year? What moves would you like to master?
Stop Comparing and Focus On Yourself
I hear all the time “I’m not as in shape as (insert person’s name here) so I’m probably not in-shape enough yet to train.”
I also hear all the time, “I’ve been here as long as (insert person’s name here). Why can they lifting more than me?”
STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS PEOPLE!
No one is ever in the exact same place as another person or starts at the same point; therefore, you can never compare yourself to another person and their accomplishments.
We all come into the gym, we all start working out, at different starting spots – at different places in our fitness journey.
And no one place is the RIGHT place to begin.
No matter what your level, it is a good time to get started on your journey to a better, fitter, healthier lifestyle.
But what better, fitter or healthier will mean to you, won’t be the exact same thing it means to someone else.
When you start, you can’t look at someone else and compare yourself to them. You can’t compare your progress to theirs or even their current accomplishments to yours.
We each start at different points and are going to have different journeys to success.
Everyone progresses in different ways. And it doesn’t really matter where you are in comparison to anyone else.
All that TRULY MATTERS is that you are making progress toward your OWN individual goals.
So stop thinking about how you compare to someone else and start thinking about how your current situation compares to where you started.
Have you made progress from your starting point to your goals?
Have you learned? Have you grown from where YOU started?
That is what matters.
I mean…Do you truly care if you are better than someone else if it means you haven’t gotten any closer to your dreams?
I don’t….
If you want something to compare yourself to, compare it to where YOU started. Track your goals. Track your progress. Work to make yourself better in comparison to where you started and where you want to be!
Fitspo, Eternal Optimism and Reaching Your Goals
The other day I encountered the fitspo below.
I had mixed reactions to it.
One reaction was, “Yea f@#! all those people who don’t believe!”
Another other was, “Yea but that is crappy external motivation. You have to do it for you.”
And a third was, “How long does that motivation truly last? I mean it doesn’t help you find your internal motivation and confidence…”
While beating the odds and defying others expectations can fire us up, it isn’t truly lasting motivation.
It isn’t motivation we can count on.
Because even though it motivates, criticism isn’t positive.
It plants a negative seed in our mind. It plants doubts and fears even if it drives us to prove them wrong.
And in times of doubt, those seeds will grow, potentially causing us to fail.
True success depends on us being positive because plateaus and hiccups and even failures are going to happen. Wanting to defy someone else’s doubts isn’t going to keep you going when the going gets rough.
Because wanting to defy someone else’s doubts is almost like admitting you have them too. When reaching your goal means believing in yourself, knowing you can do it, even when setbacks occur.
I heard a quote awhile back about how successful entrepreneurs must be eternal optimists.
The same could be said, in my opinion, about anyone who is successful at reaching their goals.
This eternal optimism is a key trait that helps them to persevere as the inevitable complications appear when they start to build their vision into a reality. – Marcos Galperin
External optimism.
Believing, hoping, KNOWING, you can and you will make yourself and your world a better place.
Knowing you will do what it takes to reach your goal.
Knowing that even when life/people/whatever get you down, you are going to get right back up and persevere.
Success isn’t about not getting knocked down. It is about getting back up and never giving up.
People may make fun of you for your external optimism. People may put you down and tell you that you can’t. People may doubt because they never had the positivity and drive to do it themselves.
But it doesn’t matter what other people think. It doesn’t matter if you prove them right or wrong.
It only matters that you BELIEVE you can be better…That you want to be better. And that you never give up on your goal.
And when I say this, I say this as a person who knows it isn’t easy to pull yourself back up. As a person who has fallen more times than I can count. As a person who has always gotten back up no matter how bruised, bloodied and destroyed I am.
Because even though I may be bruised and battered. Even though my self-confidence and attitude may seem like they are in the gutter….I always believe I can make things better.
Somewhere deep down inside there is always that burning flame, that drive, to make myself and my world a better place.
And while I may mope around for a day after a big blow, after I feel my world seems to be collapsing around me, there is always that glimmer of hope.
A glimmer of hope shining not from without, but from within.
That external optimism, that eternal belief that you CAN, which simply makes failures a learning experience NOT the end to your goals and dreams.
Be thankful this week for all those failures. For all those times you managed to pull yourself back up.
Be thankful for all those bad times because those bad times showed you how strong you could be. Those bad times that showed you that somewhere, deep down, you really do believe in yourself to be able to get back up.
Be thankful this week and remember that you are your own best fitspo not some stupid picture telling you to prove someone else wrong.
Because let’s face it….
Reaching Your Goals – Focus on one thing at a time
I’ve frequently talked about the story of the tortoise and the hare – about how small steady changes over time lead to great, LASTING results.
About how sometimes, if you go all in, you end up feeling too deprived, which leads to failure and you possibly even ending up worse off than when you started.
BUT going slow and steady isn’t always easy and it doesn’t always mean moving forward.
Sometimes it means admitting you just can’t handle more than one change at that time even if that means your progress stalls for a bit.
I’ve actually had this discussion with a number of clients recently. They are busy, stressed and want to make changes, but mentally just can’t handle more on their plate.
That’s when you just have to give yourself a break and pick one thing to focus on.
Sleep deprived? Diet not where you would like it to be? Can’t seem to get in a rhythm with your workout routine?
Pick one and focus on it and leave the other problems for another day….Even if it isn’t the biggest or most “important” change you need to make, it is a change!
Sleeping more may not seemingly give you as quick or as direct a result as say dieting would in progressing toward your weight loss goal, but it will eventually move you forward.
It is a step in the right direction, no matter how slow the direct results may be.
And that step, even if it is small, will create forward momentum.
Forward momentum because you know you did something toward your goal. Forward momentum because you gave yourself some breathing room and only one thing to focus on. Forward momentum because you took the stress away of having to do everything all at once.
Forward momentum because one change spurs more change and often gives you the energy you need to keep moving forward.
There is nothing wrong with admitting you can’t do everything at once.
Most of us can’t even though most of us want to.
Give yourself a chance at success. Be patient and don’t rush your goals.
Focus on one thing at a time!!
A healthy lifestyle is 24/7
While I understand the point of this fitspo…To inspire you to believe that you do actually have the TIME…It bothers me because becoming healthier, fitter, happier takes more than one hour a day a few times a week.
Being healthy and feeling good is a lifestyle…AKA it is a 24/7 deal.
It does take lots of time to be healthy. It ISN’T easy to fit in working out and cooking and being active with a busy schedule especially if you are stressed.
It also isn’t easy to stay dedicated day in and day out when results are slow to build. We all want to see instant progress, which is why the first question many people ask me when they are considering joining is….
“How long will it take me to reach my goals?”
I often ask them…”How hard are you willing to work? How much time are you planning to dedicate to making changes?”
Their minds always first go to how many times a week they can come in to train.
And I would love to tell them that their few training sessions with me each week are enough.
But that simply isn’t the case.
If you want results from all of the hard work you put in at the gym, you need to make smart, healthy choices the other 23 hours of the day.
Especially if you want those results quickly.
Quick results mean lots of time and energy spent CONSISTENTLY day in and day out to reach your goal.
Most people know this. Most people know that they can’t out exercise a bad diet.
Yet all too many people try to. And then they still expect to lose weight/get stronger/feel better/be healthier after really only committing to their goals the three hours a week they come to the gym!
So all I’m saying is, if you want results, you have to commit to your goals all day, every day. That doesn’t mean a little slip up or a cheat day is going to make you fail.
It just means that reaching your goals is a lot of hard work…AND VERY TIME CONSUMING.
Don’t delude yourself. It is.
But if you truly want something, isn’t it worth dedicating the time to get it?
Remember a workout may be 4% of your day, but your dreams, your goals, deserve your attention 24/7!
Man Bicep 