Put Away Your Toys!

i dont know where this is going... sometimes stupid stuff just pisses me off... actually, not stupid stuff, but stupid lazy people...

you know the guy...

sets up camp inside the squat rack (MY squat rack, by the way)... he's got a bosu, a swiss ball, a collection of dumb-bells, a jump rope, some plates, and a 25lb. kettlebell... bar removed and laying on the floor outside the rack...

no problem... whatever dude... you can do your circus tricks...

i did my warming up and moved to another rack.

and then, dude got done... packed up his bag (which i now refer to as his "douche bag")... and left... all sweaty and obviously quite proud of himself...

and he left all of his crap inside the rack. puddle of sweat in the middle of the floor, swiss ball sitting there, bosu (upside down, of course), 6 dumb bells, various plates scattered, jump rope hanging on the hooks, kettlebell... all just there for someone else to clean up.

and i thought of what a friend of mine would say, "What an asshat..."

and then i thought, "What is this dude like in the rest of his life?" There are some truths... at least things i believe are "universal" behavioral truths...

one of these "truths" is - As we behave in one relationship, we typically behave in all our relationships.

in other words, this dude was selfish, messy, childish, entitled, arrogant in the way he treated the gym and the rest of us there... he's probably this way in his relationship to his co-workers, his job, etc. - when someone isnt watching, this dude is just a selfish and entitled ass... does his "Momma" know he's like this? (actually, i bet she does, he's was probably allowed to act like this as a kid)...

i'm probably making too much about it because he was IN MY SQUAT RACK at MY NORMAL TIME... and set aside for a second that his "workout" was some b.s. made up silliness... rude, disrespectful, and above all feeling "entitled" to behave this way... we all know these types of folks, we all know these people, we see them in our work and in other places... watch folks in the gym... not just how they lift or how they work out, but when they are done, how they treat the bar, the weights, the space they use, the water fountain - are they spitting their snot it in?, do they share? do they treat you and others and the facility itself with respect and pride?

do you?

Fear and Lifting

So, i got under the bar... ready to squat. This week is my heaviest week in this training month. Next week i will de-load... so this week was heavy. I woke up this morning... well go farther back... this weekend, when i was planning the lifts, i started to get nervous... a little sweaty... thinking about how heavy that weight would feel... that nervous / excited / scared / even angry feeling that the thought of putting some big weight on my back engenders...

see, it's been a while

ok... back a little farther still...
not quite 8 months ago, i had both of my hips replaced... arthritis... injury... not paying attention... blah blah blah... the "why" of it... the "HOW did this happen" of it is less important than the forward movement... i had pain, a LOT of it, all the time... i limped, all the time, i couldnt get into a car without some serious gymnastics.

and now, i dont have pain at all... It is awesome. my goal now is to get back to lifting heavy weights.

so there i was... thinking about this all weekend. and the voices in my head were all about the NOISE from fears... fear of injury, fear of failure, fear of disappointment, fear of going backwards in my recovery... those voices were just relentless.

fast forward... back to the gym

and i got under the bar. heart racing. focus on proper form, footwork, bar position ... and lift it off ... small steps back ... DEEP breath ... drop slowly into the hole... good depth ... DRIVE UP ... and... it felt good, solid, strong ... so another rep... dig deep for the third ... cold sweat on the fourth... rack the bar.

the weight felt like weight... but i felt strong and solid.

i've said it before, and probably more often than i should, and i probably make if fit where it doesnt... whatever.

but, i think the bar is often a metaphor for life... those voices of fear or doubt that hit us in relationships, in our work, with our kids, in taking a chance... this is where we are tested! it is the test of our desire and our ability to do what we have committed to do despite the fears and the voices (real or in our heads). the fears are always there, talking... making the obstacles seem HUGE... heavier than we THINK we can move... and the bar is our test... it is MY test. to overcome MY fears.

even if i had fallen, had re-injured, had to "bail" at the bottom ... that matters LESS... moving the weight IS important, but getting under the bar and committing, full on is MORE important.

i feel that simply by getting under that bar, that i ... that when WE do that ... that WE are proving to ourselves that we can overcome what confronts us, that we can quiet those voices that tell us we cant, the voices that tell us we will fail, or caution us that we will be mocked... when we hear those voices, and we STILL get under the bar and willingly put all we have against that obstacle... THAT is the success... THAT is why we are here... to constantly confront our fears and to push against them either to success or to failure - and to do it again - over and over - that is the purpose... the goal... and THAT is the BAR.

dont let fear control you ... get under the bar... silence the voices ... then ... do it again ... it wont get easier, but the voices matter less.

More Plateaus

Plateaus happen… they happen regularly… you can prepare and do whatever you like but they will come. And it can be beautiful. It was during one of my plateaus that I decided to change my workouts completely - a year and a half later, after some additional variation and trying things differently, I pulled a PR in my deadlift and got certified in teaching Body Pump. Both at the age of 49.

I have met some great folks through both of these changes - and it would not have happened if I didn’t embrace the plateau vs. fighting it!

What I was doing got me great results… and they were things I "understood" and could do without even thinking - I KNEW what to do…how and when to do it… and it stopped working… this new stuff forced me to THINK, to ENGAGE, to LEARN through trial and error and research, to STEP BACK and actually do less, to get HELP from others with more experience, and to WORK my ass off…

PR in Deadlift… teaching others to love moving weight…

It is not easy for me but I now understand that at eventually… down the road… in time… I will be better for it… stronger and more able. I learned to take the long-view and to look beyond the visible horizon.


It happens in business (and the rest of life, too)… what got us where we are becomes a trap - comfort in the known vs. the fear of the unknown… small progress and slight improvement give us the illusion that what we've been doing still works… this is the most deceptive place to be in… when growth and improvement slow significantly - beyond a season and beyond a few months…. They become the new norm and we become complacent… that is where courage needs to step in and when the work should begin…. THINK, ENGAGE, LEARN, STEP BACK, GET HELP, WORK! Or whatever formula you like.

Being an Apprentice

So I wrote about some of the characteristics I was looking for in finding a good mentor / coach and I was going to start writing about how to be “coachable” or to be in a state of mind where you can receive guidance, feedback, direction, learning etc. as we work to improve and to master something – in my case, it is my current process of working on the deadlift… and a whole lot of other things i'm working on....

Well, there are 2 new books out that cover this far better than I could…

These are by two of my favorite modern authors: Robert Greene (http://powerseductionandwar.com/blog/) and Tim Ferriss (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/)

Robert Greene looks at the historical perspective of becoming a master of something in his book “Mastery”. When you think about folks who become great, it doesn’t just “happen”… they spend years learning under others…

In “The Four Hour Chef”, Ferriss looks at how to become a life-long “learner”…

In his blog, Ferriss actually takes some pieces from Greene’s book, which is just pretty cool:
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2012/11/12/the-magic-of-apprenticeship-a-how-to-guide/

So, here is the teaser for Greene’s book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bNiAADUh0FY

and the teaser for Ferriss’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z-fkHUkCPs

I highly recommend either… but like my wife’s grandpa “Boppy” used to say, “I like either, but I’ll take both.”

Wake Up!

It has been quite a while...

the thing that has been sitting in front of me, around me... has been the notion of "brand" and "branding" - not so much from the corporate perspective - though that may actually not be true - but more from the personal / self / resume / cv perspective...
"Personal Brand" has been something that a number of folks have been writing about for many years...

i have learned recently that it has played behind the scenes for me for some time and i'm only now really becoming conscious of it...

Our “brand” is what people see or feel or think they know about us before they meet us… and it is either changed or reinforced when they meet us and get closer to us.

I like to think of my “brand” as my “wake”… see, we all leave a “wake” … a disturbance in the water as we pass through… an impact on those around us… our environment… and that “wake” is often the real first impression folks get of us. We all know we can act a certain way in front of certain people… and so our “1st impression” is rarely when we physically meet someone for the first time but more often it happens with our “wake”.

So, I’ve been thinking about the “wake” I’ve been leaving… and how it has made me conscious of my actions towards others, my work, or whatever… it’s changing me… in a good way, I hope.