Archives December 2021

Preparing for life’s work out!

As I pulled into the gym parking lot this morning I noticed a young dude running in place and stretching. He continued to do this while I was gathering my gear to go inside. We both went into the gym and I stowed my gear and jumped on the treadmill to get a 25 -30 minute warm-up and some cardio.

As I started to walk I looked up at the big windows in front of me and noticed the reflection of a guy behind me…..it was the same dude I noticed in the parking lot earlier.  He was still warming up! He paced back and forth waving his arms, rolling his neck back and forth. Then he went over and got a smoothie and started to drink that while he continued his warm ups.

He looked as if he dreaded the real work out so much he was happy to just spend time preparing to work out. He prepared for his work out during the full 25 minutes I was on the treadmill and was still working on that smoothie as I left for work.

Preparing For Life!

Isn’t this a great metaphor for life? Look around at the people that wait for the right time to make a move in life. They say…when the kids are out of school I’m going to, when the economy is better I will, when I get the right information I plan to…….and the list goes on.

Most people are just afraid of the risk they may have to take. It’s the risk of looking bad or the risk of failing in the process.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” ~ Helen Keller

Life is about living and living is about risk. Remember how the world looked to us as kids? We had that feeling of wonder and amazement, ready to learn and be fascinated at every turn of the imagination. What happened? We got older and the world got more and more boring to most of us as we go through the same steps day after day.

I have one thing I’ve learned that I think is the most important for your success in life. This one thing will help you if you’re in the office or on the street. You can use this in any area of your everyday life. What is it? It’s the ability to take action! In the martial arts you can have the best skills and be in the best physical shape, but if you don’t take action it means nothing. If you’re in the ring to fight or on the street to defend yourself you must take action or be hit.

Ed Parker, the Father of American Kenpo Karate once said, “He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position.” You must move!

The same is true in your personal life too. Most people talk a good game about all the dreams and plans they intend but never go into action. These are the very people that will point out your failures and mistakes. They never worry about failure because they never attempt to do much in life.

 “A life without action is a life without purpose.”  You don’t need all the answers to get started!

Don’t let life pass you by while you’re preparing to live! Start today….start now!

Practice Mindfulness

Using mindfulness to build focus is probably one of the best techniques. The key step involved is to sit in a quiet place and take a deep breathe in. After that, you are required to hold your breath for a few seconds and then exhale. It is during this pause that you need to bring your mind back to the thing that it needs to be on.

Your mind tends to drift away every once in a while because the lifespan of human concentration is merely 8 seconds. It is due to this reason that you need to make this exercise a habit so that you can benefit from it. It also serves as a reliever of stress and can rid the body of any negative energy. Once you harbour positive energy in the body and you shift your brain’s function to one task, your focus will automatically improve.

Since we are all creatures of habit, integrating the right habits into your workday will help immensely. Once something becomes a habit, it also becomes easy. If focusing becomes a habit, it will come to you naturally and will let you have multiple benefits on a daily basis.