bettering yourself
21/01/2016
It’s the time of year for the ra ra. Same old, same old goal setting blah blah! If that is how you see it, I want you to stop what you are doing and go to take a good hard and long look at yourself in the mirror. If you can maintain the wonder of a child you will live an awesome life. Do you want an awesome life? Come on, don’t be an oxygen thief! There’s not that much room on the planet. Participate, contribute and understand that unless you can play the violin like fiddler on the roof and impact people’s emotions, sing like an opera singer in a concert hall, swing a racket like Roger Federer, make chess moves like the Bobby Fischer, make business moves like Warren Buffett, present like Steve Jobs did, act like Robert Deniro…….and so many other things that I can’t even think of, then you have no business being cynical about setting goals and shooting for stuff because the job will never be done. I don’t know about you, but that makes this life exciting and motivating. It is the process that matters too – engagement in the activity and just plain old ‘taking action’. The best people I like to hang out with are always creating, thinking, doing, laughing, planning and aiming for new things. Now, if you have stared in that mirror long enough and thought about all the things worth chasing or trying, then there is no time to be bored, cynical or tired. Get to it! Shimmering eyes, […]
08/07/2015
We make a living by what we get. We make a life from what we give. – Winston Churchill. I believe the best thing you can ‘give’ is a great example. I am thinking specifically here about family and health. In health and fitness, it is all about a getting into a consistent routine. When you can display this in your own life, you will start to see it multiply around you. Your kids will model what you do. Have you ever heard the saying “I can’t hear your words because your actions are screaming so loudly”? If you are wondering why your kids aren’t getting outside to play whilst all you ever do is crack a beer and slouch down on the couch, then maybe it is time to think what kind of picture you are giving them of life. Perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed and all you ever do is give. Well, the idea that charity starts at home is well worth considering. When was the last time you gave something to yourself? When did you last carve out some ‘you time’? I have mentioned this concept before. You are no good to anyone if you are feeling this way. You need to factor in some ‘energy up’ time. Let’s also not forget recovery and recuperation. It is a salient point that the most gains in fitness happen when you are NOT doing anything. But of course you have to do the ‘something’ first! So harking back to the wise words of Winston… You can make your own […]
28/04/2015
Helping others? I guess it is something any advanced thinking and self actualised person wants to do. It is also a reason for why I see many of our members fail in their fitness, health and lifestyle improvement programs. Let me explain. I can talk only for men in this situation so please bear with me. It is in our nature, rightly or wrongly, to take on responsibility to ‘provide’, and often self sacrifice is worn as a badge of honour. Whilst this is very noble in a lot of ways it can also be misguided. As men we don’t verbalise so well so we often internalise the struggle. You know, the ‘strong silent type’. This is a huge mistake and often does not give our partners the respect they deserve in allowing them to join in and help us deal with this thing called ‘life’. We also deny them chance of offering the support that is intrinsically part of being a team and for us to get the help we often need. My experience on this planet has taught me that women, as a general rule (geez you have got to be careful these days!) are great at nurturing and want us to communicate more. So we should do that and it is a win win!! The main point here is that men need to invest in themselves when it comes to health before thinking about helping anybody else, because we are no use when we are sick and unhealthy. I have written about the concept before. It is […]