Believe it or not, you’ve only got six months left in 2010. To be sure, BP will make the highlight reel — but this blog post is not about world events or stuff out there, it’s about you.
Now, when you read that you had six months left, did a little voice inside say, “I’ve got six months until my next New Year’s resolution”?
What happened to this year’s? Did you finish already? My guess is, probably not. If that’s the case, you just broke a promise to yourself. Do you find yourself breaking promises to yourself often? “I won’t eat that extra slice of chocolate cake.” “I’m going to lose 10 pounds.”
Do you find you keep making those statements to yourself over and over again? Here’s the deal: You need to stop making New Year’s resolutions. Stop it. Any promise worth keeping — to yourself, no less — is worth making and acting on NOW.
Notice I also wrote “acting on.” A promise is worthless unless you take drastic and immediate action. Maybe you throw out all your cake recipes or draw up a daily fitness schedule. The fact is, unless you’re willing to make a change, you will continue the cycle of broken promises.
Gamers who spend their days in front of a computer have the lung capacity and cardiovascular fitness of 60-year-old chain smokers — Gamers in their 20s!
Now, you don’t have to be a gamer to be in rough shape. You can have any job that involves sitting in front of a computer for hours on end. Know anybody like that??
The key to lifelong health is to make sure you exercise every day. You heard me. Every. single. day.
Since my 13th birthday, I’ve been lifting weights. My parents bought me a Weider weight set that came with an instruction booklet from the 1970s full of pictures of juiced-up Venice Beach bodybuilders. I worked at it and eventually graduated to the gym. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t look like the guys in the booklet — I still don’t — but I gave it my all. I even use some of those same weights in my apartment when I don’t have time to hit the gym.
The reason I’ve stuck with it for so long is because I created a positive association to getting in shape. The motivation of being fit, looking fit and feeling like a million bucks was enough to keep me going. It kept me working through the pain.
How many of you break a sweat and then call it quits? Or, how many of you work out for a good two weeks and then skip the gym for two months??
Find the exercise that works for you and do it every day. Your quality of life will improve in the long term, and you’ll feel great in the short term. What are you waiting for? Get off your butts and start today!
I just finished a back and legs + abs workout with P90X. I soaked my blue t-shirt all the way through. It’s an amazing workout; I’m only on week two, but I highly recommend it.
What pumps you up? For many people, it’s physical. It’s a hockey game (Olympics, anyone?), a jog by the beach or even a yoga session (I just tried yoga. That stuff is hard). But sometimes it’s mental or comes from a sense of accomplishment: finishing a killer proposal or putting the final touches on a wrap report from a stellar campaign for a client.
Whatever it is, you need it. If you’re not getting pumped, you’re missing out on life. Here are my tips to make sure you’re getting a pump, whether it’s physical — like a killer P90X workout — or mental — like job satisfaction.
Mix it up
One of the best tools I’ve learned is to switch out and change what you’re doing. If you’re in a routine, that’s fine, but getting too far into the groove breeds complacency and doesn’t give you a chance to grow. The principle of training for either muscle mass or physical endurance is to mix it up in your workouts. That means not sitting and doing the same 10 – 15 reps with the same weight for the same exercise or living 30 minutes at a time on the treadmill. The same goes for work — approach something a little differently, even if it means just standing up every time you answer the phone. Try a couple things on your own and don’t tell anybody. See if they notice an improvement.
Grab a partner
Training at the gym, I’m like the lone hardboiled cop who lost his partner in a gun battle — I always go alone. It’s that kind of thinking that got me into a groove for so long. I stagnated. Then, I came across a DVD training series and thought, “what can a video teach me? I’ve been working out for 14 years. I’m fit.” The DVD provided a training partner. Granted, I have to push PLAY, but the trainer is always there to push harder. Let me tell you, I haven’t had such intense workouts in years.
In business, you still always have to push PLAY yourself. No one will do it for you, but only when you’re motivated to try will people want to step up and see you do better. Only good things can come when you’ve got a partner there to push you — someone who isn’t afraid to tell you where you went wrong or how to improve. I know, I know, it can take some getting used to, but when you’ve got someone like that, it puts you off balance and forces you to get better.
Form is everything
Having done martial arts for a number of years (and now trying yoga), I know that form is very important for success. Your abs will be screaming and your arms will feel like they’re going to drop off, but you’ve got to keep calm and go slow. At work, it’s easy to breeze through something you think you’ve mastered, but if you’ve got the right partner, he or she will be bound to point out the corners you’re cutting. So, pause if you need to. Take a moment to asses, then continue. You’ll catch the details. And as they say, ladies and gents, that is where the devil is.
My shirt is drying — not quite there yet — but I’ve got a fresh one ready, because tomorrow I’m going to try to get up at 5:45 in the morning for a Kenpo session.
Believe it or not, you’ve only got six months left in 2010. To be sure, BP will make the highlight reel — but this blog post is not about world events or stuff out there, it’s about you.
Hi, I'm Michael (of Vancouver, B.C.). Welcome to my blog. Read more