H.E.A.R.T

I know this was a very different holiday for everyone and some of us probably had some difficult moments to deal with. That being said it was a beautiful scene outside everyone's windows on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Mother nature really hooked us up with an awesome snow storm just in time. The beauty of the snow helped wash away some of the harshness this year has brought to so many of us.

For a lot of us this is the time of year we start to look back upon the past year and reflect on what life was all about. We also take this time to really look ahead to the future and think about what we want to accomplish and the goals we want to achieve for the upcoming year. I imagine after this past year a lot of us will spend a lot more time thinking towards the future and what we want to do with the year ahead. We spend a lot of time talking about and writing down goals, but our goals also need to have a purpose to them. So while you are thinking about the goals you have in mind, also spend the time to think about the purpose and the why for these goals. It is awesome to have goals, but a goal is just a desire if there is no purpose backing it up. Your purpose is the fuel that drives the creation of your goals and the actions needed to achieve your goals.

When you spend your time thinking of the goals you want to accomplish in 2021, think of the acronym H.E.A.R.T.

H is for Healthy: How can you make sure your goals support your greater well-being? Your goals should contribute to your mental, physical and emotional health.

E is for Enduring: Your goals should inspire and sustain you during difficult times when you want to quit.
A is for Alluring: You shouldn't always have to push yourself to work on your goals. They should be so exciting, enticing and engaging that you're pulled toward them.

R is for Relevant: Don't set a goal without knowing why you're setting it. Ideally, your goal should relate to a challenge you're having, your life,s purpose or your core values.

T is for Truth: Don't set a goal just because your neighbor is doing it or your friends or family expects of you. Make sure your goal is something you want, something that remains true to you. If your goal isn't true to you. you're far more likely to procrastinate and sabotage yourself.

I hope this acronym will help guide you a little better through this process of figuring out your goals and the purpose behind them. As always your comments and thoughts are always welcome.

Criticism and Advice

" Don't take criticism from someone you would never take advice from" Too often we let people or institutions dictate to us how we should feel or how we should think or most importantly how and what we should learn. We take their criticism to heart too much and end up letting this criticism or their so called advice influence our lives way too much. Instead of realizing the source of this criticism, we only pay attention to the words and the feelings and emotions that their words generate within us. There is a saying that states "We are the average of your five closest friends''. So if you think about it, these are the people we turn to in a time of need. We listen to them because we know that we can trust their honesty and we have the utmost trust in the relationships that we have built over the years. So this being said why would we want to seek out advice or validation from people or institutions that are not part of this group. The answer is we shouldn't, but sometimes it is hard not to when you seem to be bombarded from all sides due to the amount of social media and so called influencers. Do yourself a favor and turn off and tune out these people. We all know who has our best interests at heart and who will speak the truth to us. Ignore all the senseless noise that surrounds you and focus on the pure and clean noise that comes from the people that love you the most. They have the one thing that no one else has for you, that is their unconditional love for you.

Thanks and as always your comments and thoughts are always welcome.

Encouraging Failure

"You are not failing, you are trying something new and you are learning". I am getting very deep into a book called "Limitless" by the author Jim Kwik. The book is about the power of the brain and how to unlock the power of your brain or better yet, how to unlearn the way we have been taught to learn the majority of our lives. We have always been taught that you must get all the answers right on a test or on your home work and whatever answers you did not get right was considered a failure on your part. We have always been taught to concentrate on what you got right and anything else was failure. This leads to a very negative mindset that we have been taught since we were able to recognize our abilities to learn. It has caused us to avoid the things we are not good at and to fear failing with inside ourselves and amongst others. But what if we had been taught this whole time that you were not failing in the traditional sense, but that you were learning something new and that failure was an expectation along the way and actually encouraged. Think about how liberating it would be to know that if I fail that it is ok. That I am learning from the mistakes along the way towards my success. Just imagine if we all would think along these lines and teach our children this type of mindset towards learning. I would imagine a more positive and vibrant way of looking at life and all that it potentially has to offer. We would rid ourselves of a closed mindset that says "this is how it is and can't and will not change no matter what i do" to an open mindset that sees nothing but possibilities. Some people will say BS to this thought process and that I am talking about a utopia that does not and will never exist, well I say BS to you. It all starts with just one person and that person is you. So what say you?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and as always your comments and thoughts are always welcome.

Snow!

I have to admit it is pretty cool seeing snowflakes this morning. I know a lot of you won't agree with me on this one, but I love the beginning of winter. After the middle of January it can go away, lol.

I wanted to share an article that was sent to me. It is about a study that was done that is concentrated on the effects that gyms have on the spread of COVID-19. It turns out that gyms have an extremely small impact on the spread of COVID-19. I know this is only one study and like all studies that are done there could be some bias from the fitness industry. The point though is to show how important the physical and mental health of our society is. It is also meant to help prove that most gyms and fitness centers take their members' health extremely seriously. I personally do not know of a gym owner that has not gone above and beyond to make sure their gyms are as clean and as safe as possible for their members to attend. It goes without saying our main focus as gym owners is about you and your overall well being. Most of us got into this business because of the passion we have to help others find a better way to lead a healthier life. As a gym owner, when I get to witness someone making huge positive changes to their life in part due to my coaching, It doesn't get much better than that. I hope this article will help clear up some possible misnomers for you all and provide some ease of mind.

We are in the beginning of what will probably prove to be one of the strangest holiday seasons most of us will have ever experienced. That being said there are a lot of people that truly need our help. Big Tree Fitness will be starting our non perishable food drive for the local Akron / Canton Food Bank. This year more than ever the food bank really needs our help. So starting today we will be collecting food to give to the food bank. The more the better, so when you hit the grocery store each time, if you could grab a couple extra can goods that can be donated would be great. Last year we donated 189 lbs of food. I would love to see us crush that number this year just like we did with our recent Veteran's Day Burpee Challenge. Your help will be greatly appreciated by many folks.

https://www.ihrsa.org/about/media-center/press-releases/ihrsa-to-governors-gyms-arent-responsible-for-spread/

Dealing with Shutdowns

Everything seems to be heating around here again. With having the possibility of another shutdown hanging over heads now life seems to be getting a little out of control again. That being said there is truly a lot to be concerned about and we all need to pay attention and be smart about how we go through in our daily lives. It is easy to get fatigued over hearing the same news cycle over and over again day in and day. This can cause us to start to let our guards down, well this is not the time to let our guards down.

During the first shut down there was a huge price to pay physically and psychologically for most of us. The idea of having our routines and way of life turned upside down was very stressful and harmful physically, emotionally and mentally for most of us. I personally do not want to go through those feelings again. So here is what I am doing to try to help myself, family and friends.

1- Wear my mask - For those of you who know me and know how I feel about the mask. I am not a fan of them for numerous reasons, but that being said I view the need to help others more important than how I feel about wearing a mask and NO this has nothing to do with my so called personal freedoms that some people seem to find the need to hide behind. Just wear your mask please!!

2- Limit my travels - I have been doing this since this past spring. What I have done is limit myself from going to places that would be considered out of the ordinary to me. It has to be something I view as extremely important to me or to someone else close to me.

3- Limit my exposure to people I do not know

4- Workout everyday - Your physical health and how you take care of yourself is key not only physically, but mentally as well. When you are feeling physically strong, it will have a direct correlation to how you feel mentally and emotionally.

5- Watch what I fuel my body with - Eating healthy and working out are also key to a well balanced immune system. During the shutdown alcohol sales went through the roof countrywide and the average person put anywhere between 10 to 15 pounds on their bodies. This is a sure fire way to destroy your immune system. Your immune system is your NUMBER 1 protector for your body. Please do not do things that will sabotage your immune system. This is your body's safeguard.

6- Get outside - This one I found to be the most important for me personally. Getting outside allows me to take my workout to the outdoors into the woods and either trail run, mountain bike or just hike. The fresh air helps the body restore itself. The fresh oxygen helps our brains to think more clearly and allows us to calm our thought processes down. Mother nature has her own ways of making us stronger inside and out physically, mentally and emotionally. When you are feeling depressed or overwhelmed with everything, take a walk and breath in through the nose. Take big deep breaths and take notice how much better you start to feel on all levels.

These suggestions are not going to solve everything, but I know for a fact they work and they help you and everyone around you. Keep your heads up and work on staying positive.

What Drives You?

Happy Veteran's Day and Happy Burpee Challenge Day. Yes today is our burpee challenge to raise money for the Courage Foundation to help veterans who suffer with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is our second year doing the burpee challenge. Each year I dedicate the day to do 1000 burpees. This year it will be 1100 burpee's due to a friend's challenge donation. When I was advertising our gym challenge and what I planned on doing for the day a common statement was "You are nuts" or "Why would you do a 1000 burpee's" or "Go right ahead, that's all you". These statements and a few others got me thinking about mindset and attitude.

When you think about it life is about struggle. Let's be honest and realize that living life is not easy and it is not supposed to be. Because of this the vast majority of us make as many daily decisions and daily rituals as possible to make life as easy as possible. We do this obviously to avoid the discomfort and the challenges that life throws at us on a daily basis, but what we really need to do is have a different mindset. We should be embracing the struggle. We should view the struggles of life as a privilege to be a part of. Constantly trying to make life easier takes away from the fullness that life has to offer each and every one of us. When we choose to embrace the struggles and obstacles greatness happens. We grow. We become stronger. We create an unbreakable resiliency that we get to carry with us each day. You start to realize that you are becoming unbreakable. Embrace life with all it's scars, scrapes, bumps and bruises and most of all, all its glory. Yes life is glorious and as it says on the tattoo on the side of my leg "Death is the price we pay for life, make it worth it".

As always your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

Foodlosophy

I want to share a PDF file that I downloaded from someone I follow on social media. His name is Derek Weida. Some of you may already follow Derek and already know what Derek is all about. thoughts of you who don't. Derek is an adaptive athlete that has competed in The Crossfit Games and transformed himself into a powerlifter and back to a CrossFit athlete all while having only one leg. Derek suffered a devastating gunshot wound through his knee while performing a night time house raid in Iraq while he was serving in the Army when he was 21 years old. He subsequently lost his right leg from the thigh down. Derek has obviously gone through a lot to get to where he is at today and has rebounded from some very dark places in his life to become a world class athlete. In this PDF he shares his philosophy on food and the ugly word "DIET " that goes along with it. To give you all a fair warning Derek is very open and honest and sometimes doesn't care about having a filter on what he has to say, so if you choose to read this PDF which I hope you all will please keep his back story in mind while you read.

If any of you would like to have further conversation on the content in this PDF, I would be happy to talk.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hMwYF-KpEi9fPMwooFR8Ds4rCkmeJVKL/view?usp=sharing

2020, AmIRite?!

Well we are still all here, the sun still came up and it is supposed to be a beautiful day outside. On Monday I wrote an email titled "What Don't I See". In one of the responses to the email I was given the attached below. It is a page from an Interpersonal Effective Workbook. The questions on this page are spot on when it comes to asking the question "What Don't I See". The questions on this page are extremely relevant to today's social and political climate. Let's face the facts here, 2020 has brought out some of the best and some of the worst in a lot of people. 2020 has been the most polarizing year in my life time and it has caused a great deal of damage to the point that the art of having a conversation with someone differing viewpoints has become impossible for a lot of people. When you think about it, that's about as bad and as sad as it can get.

But it doesn't have to stay like this and the questions on this worksheet can help provide the insight needed to ask the tough questions that we all need to ask ourselves. If you are not willing to ask some of these questions of yourself then things will never change. We are all talking about how we need to really change, but yet we aren't willing to listen to why the different types of change are important. You look past your own biases in order to see the fear that others have that you may not. I truly believe that this is the only way we will have a chance to close the division that we all feel. Yes it is going to be hard and no we are not always going to see eye to eye, but in order for something great to happen, great effort needs to be put forth. Please choose to be great. We need it now more than ever before.

Thanks and as always your thoughts and comments are welcome.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19uZsSJwaXu05GXpbnvGaGc3MNU3uEMO7/view?usp=sharing

What Don't You See?

This is a question I believe we should be asking ourselves on a daily basis. This is a question that if we took seriously and really asked ourselves we would find out a lot more. Whenever you are trying to figure the answer to a complex or emotional question and you think you have the answer, the next best question to ask yourself is "What Don't I See". A lot of people won't ask this question of themselves, because quite honestly they fear the answer. The fear of finding out something they don't want to face. The fear of how uncomfortable the answer might make them. We are all guilty of this at points and times in our lives.

Considering everything that is going on in the world these days and the fact that tomorrow could be one of the most important days in the lives of anyone 18 and over. This could be one of the most important questions you ask yourself this year. If 2020 has proven anything, it has proven that we don't see the whole answer. We have found out this year beyond a shadow of a doubt that life is profoundly unpredictable and that we have no real control over what life gives us each day. The only controls we have is how we react and how we choose to deal with our reactions. Asking ourselves "What Don't I See" is an amazing way to learn from our reactions and most importantly to our own biases. We all have biases and the more we are willing to look past and through our biases the greater chance we have to learn and learning is the greatest power that we possess.

Thanks for reading and as always your thoughts and comments are welcome.

How do you earn respect?

“A country is considered the more civilised the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak and a powerful one too powerful.”― Primo Levi in If This Is a Man

I like to start my week off with a stoic quote. Balance is the key to everything. Everyone and I mean everyone deserves to have a clear path on which to travel. We are all going to have obstacles throughout our lives, but know one should have obstacles put in their way by a more powerful entity in order to maintain the status quo or to maintain their power. Life should be about respect and about the way you EARN your respect. Respect does not equal power. A person who has earned her or his respect doesn't promote themselves through the respect they have earned. They choose instead to earn their respect every day because they also respect the process of earning their respect. They earn it through a genuine caringness for the people and the world around them. They choose to live their lives through an ethos that is based in authenticity and a respect for all, not just some. 

As always your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

On Courage

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”— Maya Angelou

I love this quote. When I was reading it last night before I went to bed iot really struck me how true this quote is. Often we forget how many different levels and forms of courage we go through throughout our lives. We forget the small forms of courage we go through each and every day. I think the act of living life in general is an act of courage. It takes courage to stand up for your belief systems. It takes courage to agree to disagree. It takes courage to stop and listen to someone whose beliefs are different. It takes courage to open your heart and open your mind. It takes courage to have the will to walk away. It takes courage to be selfless. It takes courage to be selfish when needed. It takes courage to look into someone else's eyes when it hurts to do so. It takes courage to face your feelings honestly. It takes courage to face pain both physically and emotionally. Courage is the linchpin that we must face and carry through life in order to grow and become the better version of ourselves that we are all capable of being. This better version of ourselves is a lifelong journey that never ends. It requires courage from within in order to make this lifelong journey possible. I am lucky that I get to see many of you showing this type of courage on a daily basis when you are here at the gym. You are all proving to be good teachers. Thank You.

As always your comments and thoughts are welcome.

Living your life

I hope you all have had a great week so far and are looking forward to a great weekend. I had a link to an article passed on to me by my wife that I would like to share with you all. It might help some of you understand what you are going through. It might help some of you to have a better understanding of what other people are going through. Maybe it will actually do both for you, but it is worth the read.

https://elemental.medium.com/your-surge-capacity-is-depleted-it-s-why-you-feel-awful-de285d542f4c

As always your comments and thoughts are welcome.

On Perfection

Nobody is perfect. Perfect people aren't authentic. Authentic people aren't perfect. Be yourself, be authentic. ; From "The Happiness Handbook" By Fergus Connolly.

Too often we see people portraying themselves as having it all together and having it all figured out. That is a bunch of BS!!!! There are only a few people in this world that can fit into that category and even they will tell you that they will never have it all figured out. They will always live life with a white belt attitude, meaning they are always learning. In order to be authentic, you have to be willing to come at life with all your scars and warts, not just the good stuff that people see on the outside. But so often that is not what we see and what we are taught. We are taught to put on the good face on everything. We have social media telling girls what they need to look and dress like to fit the mold. We see the perceived super successful business CEO that looks like he or she has it all, but don't realize they have no clue on what it truly feels like to love or be loved. We are made to see mirages everyday and these mirages are meant to influence our lives, but what they really do is erode our own authenticity. Instead embrace the real you and embrace the process of learning who the real you is. Look at your warts and scars and realize they are part of what makes up you. Admit that you have faults and that you are on a journey to learn from them to become a better human. But most importantly remember what Oscar Wilde said 

"Be Yourself; Everyone Else is Already Taken." 

As always your thoughts and comments are welcome.

You have watches, we have time

Old African Proverb "You have watches, we have time".

This is the difference between trying to find contentment in life and actually having contentment in life. The most precious and valuable thing we can have in life is not the answer you think. It is to have disposable time to enjoy the things that we believe are the most important and valuable to us. We work so hard in our western culture to accumulate what we believe are the most valuable and in the process we lose the real disposable time to enjoy them. We substitute contentment in life for short term happiness. Our belief is to find and create as much happiness as possible, without realizing happiness is short term and impossible to stay in all the time. Life is not built on happiness, it is built on finding true and lasting contentment. Contentment allows us to find the positive in all things, even when life turns into a raging storm. Contentment allows us to find the positive growth in these times, which in turn allows us the time to find our way towards meaningful and lasting moments of happiness. Finding and living a life of contentment is not easy. It takes constant practice, patience, understanding and an inward focus on who we are. This inward focus allows us to be honest with ourselves and open to the changes we need to make within ourselves so we can find the contentment in life that we all truly desire to have.

As always your thoughts and comments are welcome.

On Gratitude

“It is said that the ancient Samurai  before they went to bed each night would pray for a fire to come each night to burn all their worldly possessions. The reason for this prayer was so when they would awake each morning they would be able to give thanks and gratitudes to their god for letting them keep all their worldly possessions for one more day”

Can you imagine saying this prayer every night with full conviction and pure honesty within your heart and soul? The ancient Samurai lived a very minimalist lifestyle. Although their possessions were very few, each of their possessions had extreme meaning to each of them. So to say a prayer that requires you to have a totally selfless mindset so you can have purposeful gratitude each and every morning that you awake is amazing. It takes a true belief and faith in your purpose for being here on this earth to allow yourself to live life with this mindset. Although this mindset is very difficult to achieve and takes years of dedication and practice, it is a mindset that we could all use. It is a mindset that would allow this world we live in to be a much better place for all. Too often we place so much value on what we don't have and what we think we need to get, that we forget to look all around us and see the abundance of what we already have in our lives to be grateful for.  

Thanks for reading and as always your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Thanks and I am truly grateful for you all

On Simplicity

"Simplicity is difficult to achieve". It is said until you can take 1000 written words and distill them into one concise paragraph you have not mastered the art of simplicity. 

All of us have heard ourselves say, "It's simple and easy to do" and we say this without a second thought. But what if we gave it a second thought? We would see that the end result was  simple, but we would also have to take notice of all the hard work that went into making it simple. When we think of an idea that we believe is a good idea with lots of value, do we say to ourselves "This is a great idea and it is so great I am going to see how hard I can make it for everyone to try to do"? Of course we don't. We usually think about how we can make our ideas simple so that as many people as possible can use them. 

This is when all the hard work goes into this beautiful idea that we think and hope will benefit all of those around us. It is then we start to realize that simplicity is difficult to achieve. We also realize the true value of this idea. We realize and embrace the need to put the hard work into our idea. We usually repeat one of the truest statements ever said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing great". It is from this mindset that we embrace the process and the work that will be required to achieve simplicity. So next time you want to say it's simple and easy to do, take a second to think about what actually went into making this awesome simple idea a reality.

Thanks for reading and as always your comments and thoughts are welcome,

Breaking it down

“f you want to have a break through you Must go through a break down”

One of my mentors Zach Even Ish says this quote to his athletes all the time.  It is a true and powerful quote. What makes this quote so dangerous is that most of the time we shy away from going through the break down because of how uncomfortable it can be to go through. We make the excuses I don't have the time, this is too hard, I plan on starting...., I don't know if that is the right thing for me, I'm not sure I can do that. You name it the excuses are out there and WE ALL have used them before. I know I have in my past. 

It is alright to feel scared of the uncomfortable feeling of going through the break down before the break through. Being scared is a strong emotional feeling that is good for us to have within ourselves. Another way to look at it is this way. "If I fear this, I must do this". Remember we do not grow because of our successes. We grow because we get comfortable with our fears. We walked with our fears. We lived with our fears. We embrace our fears. And when we do this, we cause the breakthroughs in our lives and that is where success is found. Remember the first step is always hardest and when you put your feet on the floor first thing in the morning you are practicing your first step each and every day. 

You must embrace the breakdowns in life in order to find the breakthroughs.    

Thanks for reading and as always your comments and thoughts are always welcome.

On Honesty

“I said: what about my eyes?

He said: Keep them on the road.
I said: What about my passion?

He said: Keep it burning.
I said: What about my heart?

He said: Tell me what you hold inside it?
I said: Pain and sorrow.

He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

Attributed to Rumi

This is a very powerful and honest poem. Quite often we hide and bury our wounds from the light of day so no one will see them. We do this out of fear, but not always out of fear of what others will think. Quite often we bury these wounds into the darkness because we don't want to face them ourselves. When what they really need is the light to help them heal and help ourselves heal and become whole. When we let our pain and sorrow be exposed to the light not only healing happens, but the greater you comes out into the light. The true you that is strong and vulnerable at the same time can shine through. Not only do you allow yourself to start to heal, you also show the ones closest to you that it is ok. That they can do the same. That they have the same strength and courage within themselves as well. Where darkness will always hold you back from discovering your true strength and happiness. The light will always bring you forward and allow you to witness what is truly possible from within each and every one of us. The world needs us to let the light enter.

Thank you for reading and as always your thoughts and comments are welcome,

On Consistency

Consistency is a double edged sword that we all must fight to use for good. Consistency can create an amazing amount of personal resiliency if used properly. As the saying goes, "Iron sharpens Iron". When we choose to stay on the high road of consistency we gain a greater control on our decision making and when this occurs we grow exponentially with our mental, emotional and physical strength. When we allow this type of consistency to become a driving force in our lives we create a more world centric view. Meaning we include the thoughts and needs of others and not just the people closest to us, but also the greater communities that we live with in.

But just as consistency can be a strong and powerful ally. It can also be a destructive force as well. When we consistently practice excuse making, or the I will start tomorrow conversation, we narrow our abilities. We start to lose our will power and look at other things or people for the cause of our issues. We start to let apathy dictate our life choices. We actively start to search out reasons why we should stay put. This is where ruts are started and we all know how hard it is to get out of the ruts.   

We are all better than this. We all have the ability to choose the right way to use consistency in our lives, but it takes work and commitment. It takes practicing it every day even when we don't want to or seem to lack the energy to. The consistency of excuse making is a slippery slope that is extremely difficult to recover from and I speak to this from personal experiences in my own life. There was a time when I was the king of excuse making. It got me absolutely nowhere in life and it made climbing to the high road so much more difficult. We all need to accept the challenges of life and realize that these obstacles are all just opportunities to get better. Like I say in the gym "It doesn't get any easier, you just get better at it". The same can be said for life challenges. Don't walk away from them, face them, own them, embrace them, learn from them. teach them, share them and then grow from them.

Thanks for reading and as always your comments and thoughts are welcome.

The Storm

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is for certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."   Haruki Murakami

We are always faced with the storms that life throws at us.  How we choose to navigate these storms is what defines us as human beings. We are never alone in these storms. Usually the people that are most important to us are in these storms in one way or another. We have a responsibility to navigate these storms that keeps these people safe from harm's way. We have no control over how bad or how strong each storm is. But we do have control on how we navigate these storms. Are we going to let the storm consume us to be never heard from again or are we going to stand tall in the face of the storm and guide ourselves and others through it so that we all come out stronger in the end? Each storm life throws at us is different than the storm before, but as always our choices are what determine how we emerge from each storm. I choose to stand tall and face the storm head on. Remember, what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger. Make yourself harder to kill so that the strength inside you comes out for everyone to see and draw off of so they can become stronger too.

Thanks for reading and as always your comments and thoughts are welcome.