Being Constructive

Do you know of Randy Pausch? Pausch was professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

A recent Prime Time episode depicted the last part of his life, the “last lecture” he delivered at the university giving the viewer and inside look at Randy’s mindset on life.

In his book “The Last Lecture”, he talks about his days in pee wee football. He had a very intense coach who was riding him pretty hard one day. Randy was upset and felt belittled over the whole experience by the end of practice

The one of the assistants told him this: “Coach Graham rode you pretty hard today didn’t he?….that’s a good thing….When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.”

Pausch goes on to comment; “When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.”

Reminds me of my athletes and /or weight loss clients.

I am always trying to build on success with their programs, but nonetheless still “stay on their case” about trying to improve on a daily basis. I would not say anything if I did not care.

Same with my family. Saying nothing would me I did not care, whether about sports, school or simply being better at life itself.

A similar situation just happened in reverse for me with my great friend and business partner. Apparently, I answer my phone too frequently, especially when we are in business planning mode and need less distractions, not more.

She let me know all about it as I hung up the phone for the third time in a 20 minute span.

I went right back at her by justifying the need to answer with…The calls were “important for the business”. She was just upset about something else with her family and decided to take her frustration out on me, I reasoned.

Could I have returned them at a better time?

Yep.

Would I be disappointed if she didn’t call me out and expect the best for me and our business? Yep.

Parents, Coaches, mentors and accountability partners are all important to help us reach our potential.

Next time you get a “nudge of constructive criticism” from someone know that it is a good thing…not a bad one.

For more on Randy Pausch go to www.thelastlecture.com.

Thanks for playing!

John

Good Change

The world changes all around us. Seasons change, people change; it is an inevitable part of life.

This last year has been very busy for my family…we are going through many changes personally and professionally.

Everyone deals with change differently. Some embrace it and desire it, others hate change.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing…this change?

My dictionary defines change this way: To cause to be different; alter…another word used in another part of the definition is to transform.

I like the word transform when speaking of change. To me, you are either changing or you are dying. Hopefully a person changes in a positive manner, i.e. improves themselves.

I think the fear of the unknown is why people so not like change. The unfamiliar is too often uncomfortable. This is until we get familiar or comfortable with the new situation, and then everything is ok again.

This learning /adjusting process is where the problem lies with change.

As I talk about in my book, Hip To Be Fit, a lot of our values are learned at an early age from parents and friends. We have thoughts engrained that are hard to “let go.”

To think differently would mean we would have to change and that would be uncomfortable. We would have to think and reason outside of what we have been taught and that would take some work…maybe even a little research.

It would be more comfortable just to let someone else tell us how to think and then we would have less to worry about…less responsibility.

There is a wealth of sources for information these days and everywhere you look ( including on blogs) you can find an opinion for yourself on just about any and every topic. It is easy to let someone influence your thinking and opinions.

When I first started college I allowed others opinions (professors, other students) to influence my thinking. My confidence was low as a young man in a new environment.

It was very troubling and uncomfortable.

As soon as I became more comfortable with being uncomfortable, things began to change.

I realized my thoughts were my own and that was ok…even if they were different.

I stopped fearing failure. I began looking at “failures” as learning experiences and moved forward with more confidence.

I still try and do this today. I talk about it often with my own children.

It is a process. This process involves change.

And I like it.

Whether it is a job, a relationship, an exercise /weight loss program or a political viewpoint; search out a different way of doing or looking at it today.

If you want different (or better) results, change your stimulus (or thoughts).

I will leave you with four points my mentors have taught me in the past that have made a huge difference in my life.

1. Always ask questions.

2. Never be afraid to fail.

3. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

And last but, maybe most important, and, by the way, involves the first 3…

4.  Look for ways to improve.

(This involves change!)

Thanks for Playing!

John

Squeezing in a workout

Anything that is important to us is worth making time for.  Whether it be family, friends, work or exercise.  I am constantly reminded by clients of how hard exercise is to fit into their day.

I am a fan of circuits.

What is a circuit?  Circuits have become popular over the last few years in the strength and conditioning world.  They have been around for decades.  The benefit is to do intense exercise in a short amount of time.  Thus the popularity in mainstream fitness is their ability to fit exercise into a busy schedule.

How do they work?  Circuits can take many forms.  In a nutshell, group of exercises done one after another with little to no rest between exercises.  The Hip To Be Fit am and pm routine (www.hiptobefit.com) is set up in a circuit.

For example, instead of doing two or three sets of the squat to press exercise, you would do squat to press, squat turn and press, push ups and rows one after the other. This is done with little to no rest between exercises. You can also add cardio such as stationary bike, elliptical, rowing machine or just plane jumping jacks with each round.

If you are going to do more than one set you would repeat the circuit (all four exercises and cardio exercise), after a one to two minute break.

Circuits are good for strength, strength endurance, balance, Proprioception and tailored the correct way…cardiovascular enhancement.   They are a great way to get several exercises in during a single workout session.  For those of you concerned about getting exercise into an already overwhelming schedule they are a great “tweak”  to your exercise program.

For more information on circuits, their benefits or those involved in the Hip To Be Fit program go to www.hiptobefit.com

Thanks For Playing!

John

On The Right Path

One of the secrets for goal free living according to Stephen Shapiro is to trust that you are never lost.  He writes, “There are no right or wrong decisions is life, just decisions.  And there are no failures in life, only opportunities for growth.  Taking a detour is not bad.  Every seemingly wrong turn is a chance to learn and have new experiences.”

I use to bring this up often when I worked with the women’s basketball team at Ohio University.  I would ask the girls “what if you never made a wrong decision?” This took fear out of the equation and made them play more relaxed. This brought a whole new insight to how they played the game.

Clients have tried different types of weight loss or fitness programs to reach their goals faster.  Many of these programs have failed.  This does not mean that they can not take something away from the experience.

At the very least they now know what doesn’t work.

What decisions have you made recently concerning your health and fitness?  Are you doing something daily to reach your fitness goals?

Sometimes it is just a matter of taking action.  As mentioned above, it is just a decision.  If it turns out to be a detour then it was an opportunity for growth.

My most successful clients are decision makers.  In other words, they take action.

I am not saying you should blindly go into any type of exercise routine.  Find one that makes sense for your lifestyle and goals and simply make a decision to do it.

It may be a road less traveled, but in the long run, you will be heading somewhere.

If your health is important to you, then it will be an easy decision to make.  You can always decide if it was a “right” one or “good” one after you’ve taken the first step.

Good luck on your fitness path.  Make your decision today…and know there are only right paths if you truly know where you are going.

Thanks for playing!

John

Exercising in the Snow!

Who says you cant exercise when there is snow on the ground?  I’m actually not talking about “being” in the snow.  Last night with 4 plus inches of snow on the ground and no end to the white stuff in sight, I decided to do a quick circuit in the comforts of my living room.  Yes, the National championship game was on tv, and a comfortable 71 degrees in the room.  Let it snow…let it snow…let it snow!

As you will see me mention often the circuit had the following characteristics:

• a squat movement-in this case lunges forward, side and rotational
• a push movement-pushup rotation exercise
• a pull movement-one arm rows
• a rotation movement-med ball twists

And as a bonus measure, I did multiple plane jumping jacks at the end of each round of the circuit.

Here’s how it looked.  10 reps each of the above exercises, one after the other without rest, followed by 1 minute of a chosen jumping jack.  I then rested for 45 seconds to 1 minute and repeated 4 rounds.  Then on to 3 plane flexibility exercises and in just under 30 minutes I got in daily exercise and watched the game at the same time.

…Who said you can’t exercise in the snow?

Thanks for playing!

JP

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