See part 1 below.
"willpower" will not get you far if
-physically you are not integrated because you are eating the wrong foods or wrong quantities or your sleep pattens are out of sync. "Proper" exercise which bears little resemblance to 99% of what is called such these days. All these will affect your hormonal environment which will in turn affect your energy levels and erode your commitment.
This is why your first "commitment" to integrity is based on this foundation.
A good foundation but still only start. Future blog on mental, emotional and spiritual/ohilosophical. All of them are needed in order to be "truly integrated".
On physical crucial first step: get to bed earlier in a cool dark room (dark as possible) and wake up at similar if not exact same time each day.
Dec 31, 2010
Dec 30, 2010
Integrity
Integrity is the ability to make and keep commitments to yourself!!
Master this and you master much of your destiny!!
See stickk.com
hint: developing this is far more than just a matter of willpower (whatever that is)
beating up on yourself for lack of said willpower is not productive.
Getting to work finding out what it to takes to develop integrity is far more productive and involves alignment physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Stay tuned.
Master this and you master much of your destiny!!
See stickk.com
hint: developing this is far more than just a matter of willpower (whatever that is)
beating up on yourself for lack of said willpower is not productive.
Getting to work finding out what it to takes to develop integrity is far more productive and involves alignment physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Stay tuned.
Nov 13, 2010
Nov 13, Nautilus Pullover and what's the deal with attitude?
Well, finally, I'm posting again.... if you click on my title you will see the "one set" workout that I did today. In a future post, I will go into detail with my current workout strategy.... but for now....
Attitude.... positive? or something else.
When I first started this blog, I spoke about how much of what passes for "self-help" is often just repetiton of many age old platitudes. This is not to say that there is not some definite value to much of the material, but that there is very little original, and much of what there is, is superficial and overly simplistic.
One of those things is this whole idea of having a "positive attitude". Certainly, optimism can be vastly superior to being an eternal pessimist, but also it can be misconstrued as meaning that you have to always be happy and accepting of everything that comes your way. It also implies that this "attitude" comes out of thin air, in the sense that, one just decides to be "positive" because it seems to be self-evident that it is a better way to be, and that somehow great things will come to us as a result.
However, there are many who preach that we should have a positive attitude who may have an agenda as to some sort of advantage they wish to have over us, and they will use our "positive attitude" against us, by accusing us of being negative if we refuse to put up with their agenda.
A proper attitude isn't just something that we choose to have in a vacuum. A proper attitude is the result of having deliberately chosen certain values, principles and philosophies after having carefully considered alternatives, and having made that choice, are prepared to defend our values, with our lives if we must.
This type of attitude may not always come across as optimistic or "positive" or "nice" and in fact people who have the attitude that comes with havng the courage of their convictions, may come across to some as fighting against status quo's, suffocating bureaucracies and injustices. They may not always be appreciated, and frankly they don't really care.
Patrick Henry displayed this when he said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" The British didn't think he had a positive attitude.
Athletes and businesspeople who have what I call "fire in the belly" or even the "killer instinct" may not be poster children for "positive attitudes" but they are the ones who make things happen in the world.
Ted Nugent, exemplifies it, when he screams out at his concerts, "God Bless, the (expletive) attitude!"
Angus Young, at 5'2"" when he looks out at his audience, and does the famous Chuck Berry duckwalk, shows this attitude....(one of the reasons, AC/DC is one of the top grossing acts in the world.
While some people, will be offended by this attitude, nothing of any value was ever accomplished by anyone trying to please everyone.
Cary Mullen the Olympic skiing champion, talks about "lunging forward" on the hill and in life.
While being positive, can definitely be a part of the formula, people who have the proper sense of life, display an attitude that could be characterized by the statement "Life is short, I plan to make the most of it, and I will not put up with anyone interfering with my right to do so!"
So if you see things around you, that you feel are not correct, don't get duped into the idea that you have to put up with it, by displaying a "positive attitude". Speak out! But, and here is the qualifier... make sure you know what you're talking about! Don't misconstrue my message to mean that we should complain every time things don't go our way, especially if we haven't taken the time to know the facts, and even more importantly, taken the time to carefully choose what it is that we strongly believe in. Most people never do, taking the attitude, "who am I to know?" If we take that stance, then we have just renounced our right to stand up for anything. (since we don't know what it is that we believe in!)
John Cougar Mellencamp's lyrics say, "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything!"
Once having done the internal work, that we all have the responsibility to do, that will allow us the courage of our convictions....(you must have convictions before you have courage!), then we have the right, indeed, the responsibility when we see injustices to, "raise a little hell!" (or a lot)
Nov 7, 2010
Workout on Nov. 7
Click on title to see video on youtube...
The plan was to do chins, dips and "stiff" legged deadlift. Goal is to do one big compound pulling, one big compound pushing and one compound lower body movement as part of a weekly "big 3".... (see bodybyscience.net for more detail).... The technique attempted for upper body was a 90 second, 30 down, 30 up and 30 down. As you will see I came very close with chins but was short with dips but finised with a couple of partial negatives. For lower body, accent was on hamstrings and lower back... even though the exercise is named "stiff legged" deadlift, I do it with knees unlocked and at a slow smooth speed for greater safety. It is also done with a trap bar and 45 lb plates, so range of motion is limited... 20 reps with 132.5 lbs. Failure is defined as when form starts to suffer. Deadlifts of all types are arguable the most effective full body workout you can get both for stimulating muscle mass and getting your heart and lungs going at an incredible rate.
Will be posting more often soon!!!
The plan was to do chins, dips and "stiff" legged deadlift. Goal is to do one big compound pulling, one big compound pushing and one compound lower body movement as part of a weekly "big 3".... (see bodybyscience.net for more detail).... The technique attempted for upper body was a 90 second, 30 down, 30 up and 30 down. As you will see I came very close with chins but was short with dips but finised with a couple of partial negatives. For lower body, accent was on hamstrings and lower back... even though the exercise is named "stiff legged" deadlift, I do it with knees unlocked and at a slow smooth speed for greater safety. It is also done with a trap bar and 45 lb plates, so range of motion is limited... 20 reps with 132.5 lbs. Failure is defined as when form starts to suffer. Deadlifts of all types are arguable the most effective full body workout you can get both for stimulating muscle mass and getting your heart and lungs going at an incredible rate.
Will be posting more often soon!!!
Oct 8, 2010
The Art of Balance
You can call it balance, or time management, prioritizing or what have you.... but in the end, it is not easy. Of course, there is some irony in that I've actually found myself getting obsessive about being balanced.
Is being "extremely balanced" an oxymoron?
Part of it requires being focused, and by that, I believe that few people, certainly not me, can juggle the various parts of their life by "going with the flow"... it requires planning and also progress tracking, the latter being another way of saying journalling. Everyone has heard the cliche, "if you don't have a destination than any port will do" to speak of the importance of goals and planning, but also, if you don't look back as well as monitor where you are now, you can't tell whether you're getting closer to your goal or not.
All this, of course, will be resisted by many as losing the spontaneity of life, and in fact, that is why part of my mission statement, refers to "focusing AND having fun", (in order to avoid being obsessive about being balanced)
The other risk, I believe is to allow one's self to become stressed because, inevitable interruptions ("Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon)seem to make it impossible to even start on some of the priorities that you have painstakingly established for yourself. Those are times where I have to remind myself, that I am accomplishing things, just not the ones I originally set out to do, and perhaps some of these may be even more important. But then again, perhaps they are only distractions from what is truly important and the "art" is knowing when to guiltlessly abandon your plan, and when to exercise self discipline in sticking to your guns.
All of these involve an ongoing evaluation of what is truly important, and being true to the values and principles that you've established, and commitments that you've made. After all, most things "work if you work them" by which I mean to say, if you make a commitment, do not let things distract you, but remember, "easy does it" should also mean, make commitments very carefully and ensure you can keep them.
Three principles that have served me well, Reason, Purpose and Self-Esteem can be used as compasses to always check one's actions and direction. To hold reason as an absolute, means that you refuse to engage in any type of rationalization. Remembering your ultimate purpose, always reminds you of what your true priortities are. (I am assuming that a person has taken the time to identify what that is for them specifically, but in a general sense, your purpose is to have a happy life.) Self-esteem reminds you that you deserve to be happy, and that working to that end is right and should not create any conflicts in your mind.
Being happy means juggling, family, health, finances, creativity, personal growth etc. Not easy, but worth it, and hey, I will never get it perfect, but I will have fun getting closer and closer!!!
Is being "extremely balanced" an oxymoron?
Part of it requires being focused, and by that, I believe that few people, certainly not me, can juggle the various parts of their life by "going with the flow"... it requires planning and also progress tracking, the latter being another way of saying journalling. Everyone has heard the cliche, "if you don't have a destination than any port will do" to speak of the importance of goals and planning, but also, if you don't look back as well as monitor where you are now, you can't tell whether you're getting closer to your goal or not.
All this, of course, will be resisted by many as losing the spontaneity of life, and in fact, that is why part of my mission statement, refers to "focusing AND having fun", (in order to avoid being obsessive about being balanced)
The other risk, I believe is to allow one's self to become stressed because, inevitable interruptions ("Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon)seem to make it impossible to even start on some of the priorities that you have painstakingly established for yourself. Those are times where I have to remind myself, that I am accomplishing things, just not the ones I originally set out to do, and perhaps some of these may be even more important. But then again, perhaps they are only distractions from what is truly important and the "art" is knowing when to guiltlessly abandon your plan, and when to exercise self discipline in sticking to your guns.
All of these involve an ongoing evaluation of what is truly important, and being true to the values and principles that you've established, and commitments that you've made. After all, most things "work if you work them" by which I mean to say, if you make a commitment, do not let things distract you, but remember, "easy does it" should also mean, make commitments very carefully and ensure you can keep them.
Three principles that have served me well, Reason, Purpose and Self-Esteem can be used as compasses to always check one's actions and direction. To hold reason as an absolute, means that you refuse to engage in any type of rationalization. Remembering your ultimate purpose, always reminds you of what your true priortities are. (I am assuming that a person has taken the time to identify what that is for them specifically, but in a general sense, your purpose is to have a happy life.) Self-esteem reminds you that you deserve to be happy, and that working to that end is right and should not create any conflicts in your mind.
Being happy means juggling, family, health, finances, creativity, personal growth etc. Not easy, but worth it, and hey, I will never get it perfect, but I will have fun getting closer and closer!!!
Aug 12, 2010
Five observations from today... (or just random rambling)
1. Sleep is the most important factor in overall health, above nutrition, above exercise, because even if you're doing great with the latter two, sleep deprivation will undo that good, and may even make them detrimental. Exercise without rest will eventually kill you. Also sleep regulates neurotransmitters which have an extremely powerful effect on mood, so all the positive thinking in the world won't do you much good if you're sleep deprived.
2. Purpose rocks! When you have something that excites you, the day flies by!
3. Communication first and foremost involves the willingness to not judge people solely by their actions, but taking the time to find out what their intent is. (and what they may be struggling with at the time.) If someone takes an action with bad intent, they deserve to be judged, if someone makes an error of judgement with good intentions, it can be forgiven... but you have to take the time to find out which it is, before you judge.
4. Referring to 3., if someone seems to behave irrationally, see 1. Sleep deprivation is often the cause of that as well. (note most "chemical imbalances" cited for causes of depression, bipolar etc. are neurotransmitters that get regulated during proper sleep, and which psychiatrists try to artificially bring back into balance using drugs.) Sometimes, we just need a good nap. :o)
5. Sleep deprivation or bad judgement, note, still don't justify bad behaviour, but they make it more understandable, and that knowledge can be a tremendous first step to correcting.
Oh and my grandson's cute eh? (that's at birth, he is now 21 months old! :o)
Aug 5, 2010
Honesty.... what is it really?
Most people would probably say that they already know the answer to this question.
It would certainly seem to be self-evident. People will speak of not lying, cheating or stealing, and of course, that would be hard to argue with.
However, on a deeper level, I would suggest that honesty means "loyalty to the facts" and that means that we are honest, most of all with ourselves. It has been said that, of all the people we can fool, the easiest is ourselves.
Many times, facing stark reality can appear to be quite daunting. We will minimize our shortcomings, for example, so we can feel better about ourselves, (and also because it saves us from doing anything about them.)
We will rationalize and justify those behaviours that deep down we know we should change.
In the end, though, this behaviour may seem advantageous, and arguably it is comforting, in the short run, but the price to pay in the long term is very high.
Once formed, the habit of evading reality, can lead us to disaster, including, but not restricted to, losing touch with the distinction between reality and illusion as well as a total loss of self-esteem.
People will speak of the need to develop acceptance, when it comes to reality, and I would agree that this is a great first step. Of course, people always say acceptance is the first step towards change. However, I would suggest that we want to go further, to realizing that reality is our greatest friend and ally, and the quicker we deal with it head on, the greater the odds of a favorable outcome, so I will sugggest, not "accepting" but "cherishing" reality. The good stuff is awesome, but the scary stuff is all sources for personal growth so bring it on!
Alternatively, avoiding dealing with reality will only make things far worse in the long run, and that is why one of my very favorite quotes...(I may have used this in a previous entry) is "I'm not brave enough to be a coward!" (Ayn Rand)
Heroes live Life on Life's Terms!
It would certainly seem to be self-evident. People will speak of not lying, cheating or stealing, and of course, that would be hard to argue with.
However, on a deeper level, I would suggest that honesty means "loyalty to the facts" and that means that we are honest, most of all with ourselves. It has been said that, of all the people we can fool, the easiest is ourselves.
Many times, facing stark reality can appear to be quite daunting. We will minimize our shortcomings, for example, so we can feel better about ourselves, (and also because it saves us from doing anything about them.)
We will rationalize and justify those behaviours that deep down we know we should change.
In the end, though, this behaviour may seem advantageous, and arguably it is comforting, in the short run, but the price to pay in the long term is very high.
Once formed, the habit of evading reality, can lead us to disaster, including, but not restricted to, losing touch with the distinction between reality and illusion as well as a total loss of self-esteem.
People will speak of the need to develop acceptance, when it comes to reality, and I would agree that this is a great first step. Of course, people always say acceptance is the first step towards change. However, I would suggest that we want to go further, to realizing that reality is our greatest friend and ally, and the quicker we deal with it head on, the greater the odds of a favorable outcome, so I will sugggest, not "accepting" but "cherishing" reality. The good stuff is awesome, but the scary stuff is all sources for personal growth so bring it on!
Alternatively, avoiding dealing with reality will only make things far worse in the long run, and that is why one of my very favorite quotes...(I may have used this in a previous entry) is "I'm not brave enough to be a coward!" (Ayn Rand)
Heroes live Life on Life's Terms!
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