I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve listened to someone tell me, "I need a really good program that I can follow that will help get rid of this/these ___________________". (Fill in the blank with the word “gut”, “butt”, “hips”, “love-handles”, you get the idea...).
Here is my usual unemotional and deadpan reply: “Look, I can create the finest exercise program for you known to man, but in exchange I will require from you several things to complement and fully complete the effectiveness of that program...
Their usual, pre-scripted response is, “Like what?”; to which I dryly reply:
1.) Hard work - I need you to come in prepared to work hard and not waste your time or hard earned money while you are training with me. It will require you to push and pull to the fullest of your God given ability – at EACH and EVERY training session. Here’s the cold hard truth: If you’ve been fat for 3 years, it will, more than likely, take close to half that time to change your physique (16 months). Sounds like a long time, don’t it? Deal with it. However, effort, consistency and #2 will magically cut that time in half.
2.) Discipline – Please completely come to terms with and understand that in order to change your body (you know – the one you’ve been unhappy with for 5-10 years) you simply MUST follow certain behavioral modifications that will aid you in obtaining and achieving your goal of fat loss. This means ALWAYS thinking about making better choices at meal times and not feeding me a line of B.S. with respect to 'how little you ate.' We’re both adults and we both know the reason your progress has stifled is because you have repeatedly stuffed your face.
3.) Stop Whining - Yes, you! I need you to recognize that even though you may be 20-45 pounds overweight, THIS IS STILL THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY! You should be content in the knowledge that you are in a position where you can still do something about it. Believe it or not, as I write this, there are people out there who are looking for a box to sleep in tonight or picking food scraps out of the McDonald's dumpster you just came from. In fact, I’d wager that your garbage disposal ate better than ¾ of the population of the earth today. Remember, happiness is not having what you want; happiness is wanting what you have.
4.) Unlearn everything you read, heard, or have tried – I have been at this for over thirty years. Think about that for a moment. This is the only means for my income. Would I jeopardize your progress, or my reputation, by delivering advice that would get you anything but the complete success you desire? Let’s agree on this: you are in need of a new diet & exercise program because everything you have tried or believed in has failed. My guess is it has failed because you screwed up on numbers #1, #2, #3. You need solutions; I have answers. If you will follow the success formula I’ll provide, you WILL achieve the success you want...I guarantee it.
5.) Hard work - oh yeah, I’ve mentioned that already. Please, do not be intimidated by sweat: do feel free to skip your favorite treat and, by all means, feel free to park your Lexus further away from the entrance. If you think whatever you’re contemplating may in any way enhance your fat loss efforts, you have my full permission to “give it a go.” We’ll talk about it later.
God bless,
SP
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
After the Sandman cometh,
the Street Sweeper follows closely behind...
Me on the phone: “So John, I’ve explained my prices and policies, answered your questions and from what I can tell, it sounds like a good deal for you. Are you ready to make a commitment and come see me at the gym tomorrow?”
And this prospective client utters the phrase that every person who relies on clients for business hates to hear: “Let me sleep on it.”
What exactly is it about the process of sleep that makes people say, “Things will look different in the morning?” What magical quality is contained in sleep and its ability to create such a difference in our overall outlook with respect to the occurrences of life?
"To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub."
Sleep helps us to deal with our world which is filled with an abundance of sights, sounds, questions, tribulations, prospects, emotions, distractions and stimuli of every sort. Sleep is the “street sweeper” of the mind; the “defragmenter” for you computer geeks. In effect it is what helps to keep us sane in this rapidly increasing age of information.
In essence, sleep is God’s gift to assist us in eradicating the “noise” of the day from the complexity of our over-stimulated minds.
It can also act as a double-edged sword...in effect.
Many people, in my humble opinion, have allowed this “gift of God” to affect the discipline of their training, eating habits and a whole host of other conditions. Please let me explain.
Say we have a desire to achieve a targeted goal with respect to fat loss. As an example, we want to lose 25 pounds and fit into a size 6. According to the “game-plan” the fitness pro has laid out for you, you can expect to see results conducive to your goal in about 12 weeks. For 8 weeks, you make great progress. Then something happens...
You go to sleep one night and awaken with this thought; “It’s just one day. It won’t matter that much. I’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow.” And then that night, when you go to bed, your last thought is, “Things will look different in the morning.”
If you have a past record of disciplining yourself toward success patterns, you will probably make the necessary adjustments to get back on track. But sleep has a way of train-wrecking those of us who are somewhat lackadaisical in our efforts and consistency.
Here’s the key to success in circumventing the Street Sweeper:
1. Find a specific goal that inspires you.
2. Understand completely EXACTLY why you want it.
3. Know the specific time frame (date) you plan to achieve it.
4. Write it down and read it aloud a minimum of twice per day.
5. Come to terms with the cost of obtaining this goal.
6. Pay the price.
If you will follow this simple plan for any and every goal you want to obtain, no amount of “street sweeping” will be able to deter you from its achievement.
God bless,
Me on the phone: “So John, I’ve explained my prices and policies, answered your questions and from what I can tell, it sounds like a good deal for you. Are you ready to make a commitment and come see me at the gym tomorrow?”
And this prospective client utters the phrase that every person who relies on clients for business hates to hear: “Let me sleep on it.”
What exactly is it about the process of sleep that makes people say, “Things will look different in the morning?” What magical quality is contained in sleep and its ability to create such a difference in our overall outlook with respect to the occurrences of life?
"To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub."
Soliloquy from Hamlet, by Shakespeare
Sleep helps us to deal with our world which is filled with an abundance of sights, sounds, questions, tribulations, prospects, emotions, distractions and stimuli of every sort. Sleep is the “street sweeper” of the mind; the “defragmenter” for you computer geeks. In effect it is what helps to keep us sane in this rapidly increasing age of information.
In essence, sleep is God’s gift to assist us in eradicating the “noise” of the day from the complexity of our over-stimulated minds.
It can also act as a double-edged sword...in effect.
Many people, in my humble opinion, have allowed this “gift of God” to affect the discipline of their training, eating habits and a whole host of other conditions. Please let me explain.
Say we have a desire to achieve a targeted goal with respect to fat loss. As an example, we want to lose 25 pounds and fit into a size 6. According to the “game-plan” the fitness pro has laid out for you, you can expect to see results conducive to your goal in about 12 weeks. For 8 weeks, you make great progress. Then something happens...
You go to sleep one night and awaken with this thought; “It’s just one day. It won’t matter that much. I’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow.” And then that night, when you go to bed, your last thought is, “Things will look different in the morning.”
If you have a past record of disciplining yourself toward success patterns, you will probably make the necessary adjustments to get back on track. But sleep has a way of train-wrecking those of us who are somewhat lackadaisical in our efforts and consistency.
Here’s the key to success in circumventing the Street Sweeper:
1. Find a specific goal that inspires you.
2. Understand completely EXACTLY why you want it.
3. Know the specific time frame (date) you plan to achieve it.
4. Write it down and read it aloud a minimum of twice per day.
5. Come to terms with the cost of obtaining this goal.
6. Pay the price.
If you will follow this simple plan for any and every goal you want to obtain, no amount of “street sweeping” will be able to deter you from its achievement.
God bless,
Steve
P.S. If you need more information on the specifics of goal achievement, please e-mail me here.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
I'll bet you didn't see this one coming...
This just in...the world does not completely stink and there is hope for us yet...maybe.
Here's the scenario: College softball player hits her first home run, not for the season, EVER! She collapses after rounding first from a torn ligament and is in danger of having her homer negated because she can't make the trip around the bases.
What would happen if two college teammates simply assisted her in getting around the bases so she could receive the joy that only a home run hit can bring?
What would you think if the players who carried her around the bases were on the opposing team? And in doing so lost the game by three runs (the number scored because of the homer) and their shot at the championship?
That’s when it hit me, the selflessness of the act. That's when the floodgates opened and I cried.
Yeah, I know, I’m a big baby. I also cry at Mastercard commercials.
I haven't always been this way. However, now that I’m an "adult" I am seemingly more emotionally impacted by those things to which I was once so callously oblivious.
This was Sara Tulchosky’s first home run...ever. And the young women who helped her didn’t even realize it. All they knew was that a home run was hit, and the batter couldn't make the trip due to injury. It was understood that if her teammates assisted her, the run would not count. They also found out that a pinch runner would turn the beautiful arc of the champion into simply a base hit single.
So the opposing shortstop and second basemen did the only thing they could to assist a fallen champion: they carried her.
In doing so they lost the game and eliminated themselves from the tournament.
Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't the everything; it's the only thing." I wonder what he would have said in this instance?
It seems to me that doing the right thing may mean you lose the game...but it never means losing.
God bless,
Steve
Here's the scenario: College softball player hits her first home run, not for the season, EVER! She collapses after rounding first from a torn ligament and is in danger of having her homer negated because she can't make the trip around the bases.
What would happen if two college teammates simply assisted her in getting around the bases so she could receive the joy that only a home run hit can bring?
What would you think if the players who carried her around the bases were on the opposing team? And in doing so lost the game by three runs (the number scored because of the homer) and their shot at the championship?
That’s when it hit me, the selflessness of the act. That's when the floodgates opened and I cried.
Yeah, I know, I’m a big baby. I also cry at Mastercard commercials.
I haven't always been this way. However, now that I’m an "adult" I am seemingly more emotionally impacted by those things to which I was once so callously oblivious.
This was Sara Tulchosky’s first home run...ever. And the young women who helped her didn’t even realize it. All they knew was that a home run was hit, and the batter couldn't make the trip due to injury. It was understood that if her teammates assisted her, the run would not count. They also found out that a pinch runner would turn the beautiful arc of the champion into simply a base hit single.
So the opposing shortstop and second basemen did the only thing they could to assist a fallen champion: they carried her.
In doing so they lost the game and eliminated themselves from the tournament.
Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't the everything; it's the only thing." I wonder what he would have said in this instance?
It seems to me that doing the right thing may mean you lose the game...but it never means losing.
God bless,
Steve
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