Every Day is a Chance

What can you do today? What are you trying to do today?  What are you Goals?

I've accomplished more than I imagined I could in the past few weeks, because I gave myself the chances to succeed, the chance to have impactful experiences, and the chance to connect with others.

I have deepened and broadened my relationships with friends and family, I have connected on an impossibly deep level in the past week and I have made large strides towards my goals.

There is nothing special that I have done, I have not been operating at full capacity, and I have not been feeling the best about myself or my position.  But I had a chance. And every day we get more and more chances, and we need to TAKE chances.

Sometimes you have to "risk it for the biscuit" and sometimes that requires what father would call going "Balls to the Walls" or as I would say, it requires us to GO HARD.

Rodney Mullen would say that it requires us to keep getting up.

I want to take this time in my life to make the most of every chance I've got. I want to work hard, I want to grind my nose against things that are HARD.  And I want o FAIL.  And I want to keep on going, and overcome and WIN.

True glory lies just behind the door that you're afraid to open, so open some doors my friends. Take that chance, and make the most of today, and EVERY day.

There's Nothing to Fear but the Unknown...

I worked with a small business owner yesterday, she is a Massage Therapist, she worked through a hospital and over time has started working partly on her own.

She has already made the transition from entirely working for others, to partly working for herself.  She loves working for herself, it is the part of her routine that gives her the most enjoyment, the more fulfillment, and it could easily reward her better.

The really exciting part is that on her own she isn't limited by the hours she's allowed to have, or the pay they want to give her, she can be unlimited in her ability to find a better way.

But she was hesitant to let go of the familiar position.  It felt safe.

We talked about what her goals were, for her life, for her business.  We talked about what's currently stopping her from reaching those goals, what obstacles are in her way.

And do you know what happened? She realized that the Goals were NOT that far out of reach, that the things she were afraid of weren't really scary...but they seemed scary because they were out there in the dark, unknown.

It's hard to identify what the path forward is, if you've left it completely in the dark.

Now she has a lot of hope, now she has a vision, and now she can move forward.

The hard part isn't letting go of the security you have, it's really evaluating each problem and solution, and finding out that for as many problems as we have there are just as many answers.

I would love to help you set your own goals and work through the darkness.  We can shine light onto your path forward and let the unknown be known.

Are You a Big Dog in a Small Backyard?

When you think of a big dog what do you think of?  When you think of a big dog in a back yard what do you think of?

There's two types in my mind, there's one Bulldog, massive, slobbery...passed out with it's tongue flopping out of its mouth.

I had that dog.  She was a great dog, but we eventually gave her up so that she could be with a family that had the time to take care of her, making sure she got enough play and exercise.  That was a sad feeling, to have to admit that we couldn't take proper care of a dog...one that was loyal and that we loved so much.

But we knew what was right. We let her go...be a dog.

Everybody has at least one person in the neighborhood with a dog that is GREAT when they get a lot of exercise, and TERRIBLE when it doesn't.  An Akita or Pitbull or German Shepard.  A really helpful friendly dog...that gets shut into a small gated back yard...and it gets antsy. It wants to play and have fun and see the family and go for a walk.

And some of those dogs owners get too busy, and don't admit their problem.

But this is an analogy, and my question still stands...Are you a Big Dog in a Small Backyard?  Are you falling to lethargy? Ever find yourself hearing the schlick sound as you pick your head up off the desk?

Or maybe you're just tensed up...a caged animal looking for adventure.

Or maybe you're a dog owner that should be more available for Walkies, or find someone who is.

I suddenly want to start a dog walking business. But then again...I don't know that I love dogs nearly as much as I love my dogs.

There's Nothing to it but to DO it!

I woke up feeling terribly, I tried sleeping in and that didn't work out very well.

I decided to get up and start a slow sad shamble of the "daily routine" during which I managed to work out enough kinks, solve enough problems, that I was able to come to a single actual problem that was the major result of my issues: I had a ton of mucus in my sinuses, my nose was starting to run...and I realized it had probably been running all night longs...

I had a case of snot belly.

I need to start taking Guaifenesin in the evenings to prevent this in the future....but now I feel back in the game, eating a delicious lunch, then for a great workout.

Today we start Intervals! For those of you not "in the know" with the fitness scene Intervals started becoming a big thing near the end of the 90's early 2000's.  People have called them a lot of different things, they've used them for a lot of different reasons, and they've used a lot of different activities to achieve these results...but the idea is simply this:

Do an exercise in a light capacity for a minute or so, get into a stead rhythm.  Then for 15 seconds go ALL OUT BALLS TO THE WALLS OMG THIS IS CRAZY I MIGHT DIE....then go easy for another minute or so....and then GO SUPER CRAZY RUN LIKE THERE IS A BEAR BEHIND YOU AND THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WITH YOU IS LIKE WAY AHEAD OF YOU okay the bear gave up, but you better keep going so you can get some distance, plus we don't want you to have a heart attack, so calm down.

Wait a minute! Did I just provide a real world situation that describes a scenario in which this type of activity would be natural, and NECESSARY!? Why yes I did!  It seems that this type of exercise would have been very TYPICAL of hunter gatherer homosapiens.  This kinda stuff is in our DNA.

So I went from not being able to get out of bed, to out running bears.  In just a few hours.

That's the power of DOING THINGS, of a positive mental attitude, and then just putting in WORK.

Let's go hard!

(btw, down another pound this week!)

You have to close a door, if you're going to step outside.

I quit my day job.

I put in a two week notice after an incident in which I felt I was treated rather unfairly. I worked for the next week, and then a far worse incident occurred, which also led to me losing income because customers left.

It was a positive experience. A few of the cooks degloved and shook my hand.  A few of the servers hugged me and wished me well.  The customers I had at the time were already almost done, I apologized to them for any inconvenience, and they tipped me cash and wished me well.

Now I'm looking to the future, and looking to make a real difference. I have been hiding in a cave, and I have finally stepped out into the sun.

In that same way I have been hiding under layers of fat my entire life, and I'm shedding them at speed again.  I am two weeks into the Lean Eating Coaching Program and I am measurably smaller in all ways. I feel great, the workouts are pretty neat, though I don't know how they change next week.  I hope the next step is a bit more exciting than pre-conditioning :)

All is well and I look forward with Optimism.

Gazing Towards The Future....

One week into my Lean Eating Coaching Program, things are going well, I'm feeling pretty great and I really enjoy it!

I am excited for each workout and each habit!

I also have a super secret project that I've been working on between the two day jobs and the program.  It's not anything yet, but will whip together quickly. Worst case scenario August 11 launch.

Looking forward I realize that I truly wish to teach the concept of Serving to Sell, of offering customers excellent service and closing sales by showing a customer how your product is of the most benefit to them.

The difference between this and what people know today as "sales" a hard sell...it's astronomical.

Frankly, sales people that are incentivized to hard sell may not be providing customers with the service that leads the impression you want your company to leave!

I had a customer that wanted to do business with my company, she prefered our store to the competitors, so she came to use first. I could quickly tell that what they truly wanted...we could not provide. She would be best served to seek out our competitor, because they would have what she wanted immediately.

She thanked me for my help, she said that if the competition did not have what she wanted she would be right back.  Over the next several hours I assumed the competition had helped her and felt good that at least she was properly served.

But then she came back, with her gains from the other store...and now wished to purchase MORE things from us!  She had gotten only the very thing she could not get at our store, and came back to us for everything else!

She was so THRILLED that I had solved her REAL problem that she is now a loyal customer that truly values our integrity.

That is how you sell. That is how you make customers for life, and that is how you run a profitable business with integrity.

I could have taken her money and not given her what she truly wanted, and nobody would have made out. Instead my competitor wins because they made a sale, I win because I have a loyal customer that trusts me. My customer wins because she was taken care of, has found an ally, and knows that her best interests will be upheld when making a purchasing decisions.

Steven Covey speaks of the Win-Win situation...but what we have achieved is a win-win-win...win-win...You see the lady was purchasing for her son...so the son wins because he got ALL the cool stuff AND his mom is super happy!  And happy son and mom are going home to dad!

Well if you look at it that way, we just may have saved the world!

And into the future that's what we need more of, and what I intend to give.  More wins for everyone!

Ever hero needs an origins story

..and the "real life" heroes always get a training montage.

It's time to start my own Training Montage.

I have joined the Lean Eating Coaching Program over at Precision Nutrition: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/coaching

And I will be working very hard on the dietary and fitness goals that I have set for myself.

Part of the transformation is admitting exactly where I am right now, so I know how to get where I'm going. Here's to our brighter tomorrows, and expect to see updates as they happen.