By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jul 2, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
There is always the possibility of a tomorrow to do what is called for today
And the past is part of the present, too, but never the most important part.
So today I will live. But not too narrowly. I don’t want to miss important signs trying to guide me.
A good day for me includes working hard, living intensely, standing still, and retreating more than once into play.
A good day includes busyness and routine but also just enough down time to tempt trouble but resisting it joyfully.
Laughing is essential. Sadness may be too. Sharing always is necessary, personally and materially.
Take enough for yourself but give back just a little bit more, unless you don’t have it to give. Then take more for today
Be somebody’s hero and somebody else’s servant.
And do both well. Without acknowledging you are doing either.
Be grateful for what you have; grateful for what you have had taken away; and most of all grateful for what is still left, today.
Today is enough. And not too much.
We are, at the end of it all, painting by numbers. But don’t stress out over getting the numbers right. That’s not the point -although we always forget that.
The main thing is the colors that each of us chose for the picture of our lives that we paint a little bit of each day. And today’s little piece of the bigger picture is more important than we think …but is, ironically, most important with how it fits into the bigger picture of our lives–which we can’t see.
Think generally; act specifically; and play with all the pieces. Each piece has a place to fit that fills out the richest details of our life’s big picture and without the little something is missing .
And even though we can’t see the big picture we are painting, it is the only important job we have to do each day. And can only be painted by us today–using old colors we know and new colors we invent.
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Jul 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET
After two and a half years on the road we are finally heading back to the U.S. for the first time, but the adventures aren’t over. I’ll be returning home to bike across my home state of Minnesota with my family for a great cause: helping families with members suffering from multiple sclerosis. We’ll be putting on our spandex for The Ride Across Minnesota (TRAM), something I’ve wanted to do for years. Best of all, I’ll get to do this year’s ride with my family, that I haven’t seen in 18 months, to help support other families that are struggling with this debilitating disease.
I haven’t done much training for TRAM unless you count my time in the saddle on top of this ostrich
Read the rest of… Erica & Matt Chua: Riding for a Cause
By Jonathan Miller, on Sat Jun 29, 2013 at 2:30 PM ET
Of all the well-wishing emails, comments, and tweets I’ve received over the past 24 hours, only a critical one really stood out.
It came from my friend, Jim Fannin, a world-renowned mental performance coach, whose client list features an all-star team from virtually every major professional sport. I didn’t realize until we spoke that he has also counseled plenty of famous poker pros as well, including one of my favorites, Phil Gordon, a pro who once placed 4th in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Jim was taken aback by my negativity in the email I sent friends announcing my trip to Vegas — I had written that repeating my final table finish from last year would be “an absurd implausibility.” Jim let me know in no uncertain terms that this was the kind of attitude that could send me to the rail in a short time.
To help turn me around, Jim gave me a quick coaching session that was invaluable. His mantra, to “clean my mind” and “stay in the zone” — a strategy that was brilliantly described by Tom Chiarella in this Esquire piece — requires me to wipe away all of my defensive rationalizations of sure defeat (Jim calls this my “safety net”), and focus instead on my ultimate goal — winning a WSOP bracelet.
Indeed, my un-coached visualizations from last year proved prophetic. My goal — my dream — was to make the final table of a WSOP tournament. Indeed, I did, but I was so crippled by my tiny stack of chips and sheer physical and mental exhaustion, that I was soon eliminated — in 8th place. Of course, I couldn’t have been happier making the final table, but Jim urged me to think bigger this time and envision a championship.
Some other tidbits of advice from Jim Fannin:
Drink a ton of water. I’ve heard this continually from my personal trainer (see below) and every medical professional that’s treated me; but constant hydration in the uber-dry Vegas climate, as well as with the mental challenge of 12 straight hours of poker ahead of me, will be critical to keeping my mind sharp.
Stay away from caffeine. This seems counterintuitive — I credited Diet Coke with keeping me alert during the late hours of the grueling 4 day event last year. But caffeine’s high also has very deleterious consequences: It dehydrates you, clouding your mind; It has a boomerang crash effect once the caffeine wears off; and it keeps you from sleeping well to recharge the next day. That sure was the case last year — on Day 4 last July, I was the walking dead.
Breathe deeply at the table, take brief mental breaks, and keep my jaw unhinged and relaxed. Jim instructs that the world’s most successful performers think less thoughts than the rest of us. Keeping my mind clear and focused on the present (definitely not the past) is critical to empowering me to trust my math skills and my intuition that served me so well last year. As far as the jaw, Jim suggested that I think about how Michael Jordan stuck out his tongue on his greatest plays — he was in “the zone.”
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I’ve also sought counsel on how to stay in the best physical shape for the grueling week ahead. (And yes, sitting for 12 hours, focused on cards, may be nothing like a day of painful physical labor, but for this broken down, middle-aged man, it is grueling!)
My personal trainer, and this Web site’s regular Thursday columnist, Josh Bowen, sent me the regime below for tomorrow morning, with a picture that will help me visualize my ultimate goal. Between the visualization and the water recommendations, I think Josh and Jim are working in concert.
I have written several blogs and articles on the importance of strength training, particularly as it relates to women. I have documented the reasons why women should pick up the weights. However, for some reason, some people don’t get it. Some think they are a genetic marvel that if they look at a 40 lbs. dumbbell that their quads will expand and it will prevent them from wearing pants. Remember this; any man that works out would love for that to be their problem. I wanted to take the time to profess that Strong is the New Skinny
To back up my claim for those non-believers let’s look one strong hormonal difference between men and women:
Testosterone- this hormone has a huge impact on muscle tissue growth (as well as other interactions in the human body). Men, on average, will produce 20 times more testosterone than women. This of course will determine the amount of muscle tissue a person can grow. That also is not to say women cannot build muscle, it just means you cannot build as much or as fast as a normal man.
So I bring this up because I firmly believe that strength training is as important, if not more important, for women than it is for women. Let’s look at those reasons:
Decrease in Body fat- women who strength train will naturally have less body fat than those that don’t. That looks good! Its ok to have a little muscle J
Increase in Bone Mineral Density- Women are more susceptible to osteoporosis than men and strength training helps combat that. The loading of the bones causes the bones to become stronger and increases the density, warding off brittle and weak bones
It is great for your health- Research has shown that women that strength train are in better overall health than those that don’t. So pick up a weight and start going at it!
Some people just can’t catch a break: A man with 140lb testicles is unhappy with removal surgery after the operation leaves him with a 1 inch penis. [New York Post]
It is said that 80 percent of communication is non-verbal. It is also common knowledge that there is a psychological effect to touching. In fact there are several scientific research articles stating that when a person is touched by a person they trust, it elevates oxytocin levels and decreases the stress related hormones. Touching has also been shown to develop relationships between two people. However, in the Western Hemisphere touching can often times be looked at as inappropriate and taboo. While that may be correct, one form of touching is always acceptable and has the power to show appreciation, respect, care and develop the trainer/client relationship we are all after; the high five.
Right, wrong or indifferent I touch my clients. I give them high fives to show they have done a good job; I give them a hug when I feel they need it and I tap them gently on the muscle being worked. The power of the high five allows me to do the following:
1. Develop a great relationship- when I give a high five to a client I show them respect and gratitude for the work they are doing. Sometimes that message is difficult to convey through words. For my super competitive clients this takes them back to athlete days and puts them in an environment they are use too. For everyone it shows appreciation for their work, something sometimes their out-of-the-gym life doesn’t supply.
2. Conveys to potential clients my relationship with my clients- In a gym setting, during a 60 minute session on average 14 people will watch at least 20% of the session. This is marketing at its highest! I want to produce the vibe that I care about my clients, especially for potential clients watching me.
Read the rest of… Josh Bowen: The Power of the High Five
In the workshops and retreats I lead, a definition of health is always part of the conversation of the day. I feel this is essential because we have such limited time on earth to enjoy being in a human body, to experience love, to revel in nature. The healthier we are the more opportunities we have for these things to be possible over the course of the mere decades we get to have.
Often, in asking students the question, “What role does beauty play in your definition of health?” they think I’m asking about human physical beauty. I do understand the confusion since vitality can be clearly visible in one’s countenance.
But what I’m really asking about refers to the experiential and how much personal time is spent engaged with art, music, literature, nature, spirituality, or other meaningful things one would classify as beautiful.
Oftentimes, we don’t realize that a complete definition of health includes the integration of beauty into our lives, but it does, in a big way. Beauty fills a giant space in the core of human beingness.
On the flip side, as we age and tend to spend more and more time thinking about what’s wrong and worrisome, we further reinforce what’s broken. But how to fix and solve those problems comes only partly from the itemized solutions and goals we think up. The rest actually comes from allowing ourselves regularly scheduled time to just be with something profoundly bigger than our problems—with something beautiful that stirs both heart and soul.
Though spending time in “beauty” might not provide the specific solutions we desperately need for problem x, it absolutely creates the fertile ground from which creative solutions can be born. It creates perspective, it soothes, it reminds us that we are not here merely to struggle. Beauty reinforces hope.
Given the choice, why not go there? “There” is anything that does it for you.
For me, the natural world satisfies a lot of this definition involving beauty. I am mentally and viscerally
enthralled by the relationship between sky and ocean, and the constant fleeting change between them.
I took photos of this magnificent show last week over the course of 90 minutes, from about 7:15pm to 8:30pm as I hung out in the calm Gulf water and then from my chair in the sand. So moved and awed by these gorgeous natural elements, I actually sang, out loud (don’t worry, no animals nor marine life were harmed in any way).
However, what I feel is profoundly beautiful, and what you feel is beautiful, probably differ. What is it for you? The important thing is to know in one’s heart what that is. Conscious awareness is essential here in order to participate in the experience when it shows up.
While I love the ocean, I spend most of my time in Kentucky, which I also love. I’m enthralled here too, from my front porch.
I took this photo yesterday while observing my doggie, Apple, as she watched a family of robins hop around the front lawn in the rain.
I was acutely aware of everything good about this rainy day, the smell of the warm damp air, the sound of water, the flowers and happy birds everywhere.
It took just 10 minutes on the porch for my bad mood to be soothed after paying medical bills all morning.
I would definitely classify this experience as a beautiful one—I love a rainy morning in the summer, but it was Apple’s calm, sweetly quiet observing that made my heart melt in the midst of it. And all at once I felt a revelation about the simplicity of beauty in beingness. What matters most can be so routine and so right in front of us all the time that all it takes is some stillness and some noticing.
I’ve lived in my house for 16 years, and I work from home for the most part, I can’t remember the last time I made the conscious decision to sit out on the front porch with Apple during a rain shower.
So now I know. These occasions add up; they make a difference in the overall quality of a life lived. Near the end, I want to say that I lived a beautiful life. So I intend it now—I’m seeking it and living it—trying to make enough time for the nourishment of beauty in my definition of health today.
It must be working; I feel pretty good these days too.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jun 13, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Just because a middle-aged man looks at an ad in a magazine that discusses a supplement for low testosterone does not in ANY way suggest he thinks he might one day need to know about such a supplement for himself personally.
Not at all.
Lets be clear on this
A lot of men just read over advertisements because they are bored or curious and like learning about something new, or like the pictures in the ad, or maybe are just admiring of a well done magazine advertisement on a complicated subject.
A complicated subject for other men, that is. Obviously.
“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” Hebbel
I started my fitness journey as skinny, puny 145 lbs 18 year old. Like most guys, I wanted muscles to get noticed but what started as a way to get a date with a girl became a lifestyle and a career. After tirelessly trying to break into the fitness industry, I got my first training job in 2004. I was certified and ready to start whipping people into shape. What started as something I was doing on the side became a love and an obsession. Personal training was what I wanted to do! I trained them all; professional athletes, wannabe pro athletes, housewives, wannabe housewives, executives, and wannabe executivesJ. You name it, I trained them. My next moves were instilling the education and know how I developed as a trainer to other trainers. In 2007 I was promoted to Quality Control Director for Urban Active Fitness. I have spent the past 6 years directing and leading 400 personal trainers in 7 states. I’ve certified trainers; I’ve proctored hundreds of seminars and conference calls and even contributed 10 published articles. My mission is to spread the word of fitness to as many people as I can through personal training. My motto is Train, Motivate and Inspire!
This is my listed biography, short form, but doesn’t tell you everything about me. It has been a long road for me, a road with alot of high points, a few low points but otherwise great career. A career that could have been derailed several times but one that keeps going very strong. A great word I like to use is virtuosity. A word that most people are unfamilar with but one that is very important particularly to me. It simply means “doing the common, uncommonly well,” a moniker I strive to live by. The last 60 days have been a challene for me on a professional level but also a personal level. Personal training is life to me; clients, members and trainers are my family. With Urban Active I helped develop thousands of trainers some of which are with the newly name LA Fitness and some are spread throughout the industry. That simply means everything to me. On October 25th, 2012 at 5pm EST Urban Active closed its doors after nearly 20 years of operations. My entire fitness journey occured within the four walls of Urban Active. A part of me died the day we closed the doors. Now, I could of hung my shoes up and moved on to something else but I wouldn’t be living by the virtuosity defininition. There is a fire inside of me that needs to make a difference, that needs to lead. I need it like I need to breath. I am rambling I know but these thoughts have been trapped for the last 2 weeks and I needed an avenue to reliquish it
To summarize my feelings and future plans I want to say this; I need fitness as I need food. I cannot leave my passion and refuse to let my vision die just because Urban Active closed the doors. It is time for a new journey a journey I have not been on before. My search for new obstacles to conquer has begun, please join me on this ride, I promise you will not be disappointed. I am back jack!
November 5th, 1994. The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. A boxing match featuring potentially the future of the sport against an older, heavier, washed-up ex-champion. If you were gambler the smartest money would be on the young lion. However, this is real life and nothing is more dramatic than real life. On that a 45 year old ex-heavyweight champion of the world got lucky or did he? With one punch, George Foreman, knocked out Michael Moorer to capture the world’s heavyweight boxing a title, a title he hadn’t held for 20 years.
So was Foreman lucky or did something else happen? Was a lucky punch that any of us could of landed or was there something else to blame? Fitness and real life are one in the same. What you do for fitness affects every other aspect of your being. We are all given 24 hours in a day and we are all given one life to live as we choose. Ask George Foreman if he was lucky? He will tell you that the thousands of hours, all the blood, sweat and tears and the practice of going against the greatest (Muhammad Ali) prepared him for that moment. He caught lightening in a bottle, one more time. So can you.
A wise person once told me that if you are not doing something to make the world a better place AND making people around better, you are wasting your time. That you have to have an insatiable desire for achievement. Nothing should ever stand in your ways of what you want. I apply this principles to fitness; if you want something go get it. Don’t sit back and let it come to you because it won’t. “Big” George didn’t wait for it to come to him, he took it and made history. History is yours for the taking.
Laughing is essential. Sadness may be too. Sharing always is necessary, personally and materially.
