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.
Amor fati is a Latin phrase that may be translated as “love of fate” or “love of one’s fate”. It is used to describe an attitude in which one sees everything that happens in one’s life, including suffering and loss, as good or, at the very least, necessary.
The Stoics were not only familiar with this attitude but they embraced it. … It is why amor fati is the Stoic mindset that you take on for making the best out of anything that happens: Treating each and every moment—no matter how challenging—as something to be embraced, not avoided.
Amor Fati teaches us to put our energy and effort into what will be most impactful in our lives so that we don’t waste our time worrying about things that we don’t have the power to change. When faced with adversity, the goal isn’t to just passively accept it nor is it to simply think positively about it.
“If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.” – Lt. Col. David Grossman
Covert Street Warrior – Social Unrest Handbook – Get A Copy –>Here<–
Over the years I’ve read some amazing books by some very amazing people. I look at my life at times and take notice of the habits I’ve picked up because of the positive influence they had on me.
I implemented this habit years ago when I was young but I didn’t know the power of it until I read Brian Tracy and later John Maxwell.
The habit is to find some down time to think. I’ve always done this from the time I was a kid. But the thinking wasn’t organized the way it is today.
Your place to think never has to be ordinary.
Some successful people I know of get comfortable in a dark room and just think and wait for an answer to a question they are thinking about.
You can also find other very successful people that do their best thinking in a small crowd of people like a coffee shop or restaurant. J. K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” books did some of her best work in a cafe’ and coffee shop. Some people need to have that little distraction to stimulate the thinking process.
It may not be as important where your thinking place is as long as you get to really think.
Thanks.
Lynn Lane
Make This Moment Count.
The majority of people never live a life of purpose because it takes hard work and discipline. Most people just settle for what comes along. They live the life of quiet desperation. They talk about what they should do and dream big dreams, but never go forward. A life without action is a life without purpose. Success has been studied and researched for years. We have more information on success today than ever before and one outstanding similarity is that the winners in life all have a major definite purpose. You see, it’s your purpose that keeps you in a forward motion.
Your purpose gives you momentum. We need to know that we are growing and making a contribution. Each time you reach a goal your self-esteem will grow and then you’ll build on that accomplishment, like an avalanche it will grow as it pushes forward. That’s why winners have goals and a major purpose for their life.
Tony Robbins, life coach and inspirational speaker on leading a successful life, says, “People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them.” Some people have a goal to get up and go to work.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few”
― Shunryu Suzuk
Always remain the student. A cup can never receive when it is full…empty the cup for new knowledge. The expert should always be ready to learn new possibilities. That is what it means to be a Master of oneself.
Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare. In Aristotle’s works, eudaimonia was (based on older Greek tradition) used as the term for the highest human good, and so it is the aim of practical philosophy, including ethics and political philosophy, to consider (and also experience) what it really is, and how it can be achieved.
Seven groupings of values and strengths that have been universally loved across cultures, religions and history:
• Integrity
• Generosity
• Courage
• Humility
• Compassion
• Loyalty
• Perseverance
Identify your strengths and virtues. At what do you shine? A literature review of all major religions and philosophies of the last 3,000 years reveals the same seven major categories of 24 virtues (from Seligman, Authentic Happiness, 2002):
I. Wisdom and Knowledge
II. Justice
III. Courage
IV. Temperance
VI. Love and Humanity
VII. Spirituality and Transcendence
Once you identify what truly matters to you, look at how you express these strengths and virtues in your daily life. Prioritize your values, distinguishing the top three to five that are most important to you today
The psychologist C. D. Ryff highlighted the distinction between eudaimonia wellbeing, which she identified as psychological well-being and pleasure. Building on Aristotelian ideals of belonging and benefiting others, flourishing, thriving and exercising excellence, she conceptualized eudaimonia as a six-factor structure :
1. Autonomy
2. Personal growth
3. Self-acceptance
4. Purpose in life
5. Environmental mastery
6. Positive relations with others.
Three paths to happy lives
Three paths to happy lives.
The core thesis in Authentic Happiness by Martin E. P. Seligman 2002 is that there are three very different routes to happiness. First the Pleasant Life, consisting in having as many pleasures as possible and having the skills to amplify the pleasures. This is, of course, the only true kind of happiness on the Hollywood view. Second, the Good Life, which consists in knowing what your signature strengths are, and then recrafting your work, love, friendship, leisure and parenting to use those strengths to have more flow in life. Third, the Meaningful Life, which consists of using your signature strengths in the service of something that you believe is larger than you are.
Navy SEAL Inspired Baseline Workout
by Jason Earls
Navy SEALS are the most elite branch of American Special Forces, and most military experts consider their training to be the most difficult to endure in the entire world. A SEAL candidate (“SEAL” stands for Sea, Air, and Land, all elements in which a Navy SEAL operates) must survive BUD/S training, which stands for “Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL” training. BUD/S lasts seven long grueling months and you may be surprised to learn that during that time there are no actual weights or weight-lifting involved. The majority of BUD/S training involves only body weight exercises (calisthenics) such as: pullups, pushups, situps, dips, running, air squats, lunges, etc., (although logs and boats are used regularly, and the boats are usually loaded down with sand, or an instructor, water, or all three). Very few individuals actually complete SEAL training since the Naval Special Warfare Command is looking for a select group of elite men who are highly-motivated and would rather die than quit. Due to the rigorous physical conditioning, the men who pass SEAL training are some of the most physically fit specimens on the planet. Hence, wouldn’t it make sense that if you wanted to get in shape, you could simply adopt some of the training patterns used at BUD/S, perhaps even pretend that you will soon attempt Navy SEAL training yourself, and by default wouldn’t you get in the best shape of your life? Of course you would, so let’s get started.
(Note: the author of this article is NOT a Navy SEAL and has never served in any branch of the military.)
To even enter BUD/S training, a candidate must be in extremely good physical shape just to walk in the door. After studying various Navy SEAL documentaries, SEAL web sites with workout programs listed, plus youtube videos made by legitimate SEALs, the following baseline was discovered which provides a “ground” level of fitness that a person should possess if they want to do well at BUD/S. Here is the baseline:
The four “benchmarks” given above are what one Navy SEAL listed as his baseline level of fitness before entering BUD/S training, and he said that he did extremely well and consistently remained in the top performance percentages of his entire class, and eventually passed to have a 20-year career in the Navy SEAL teams.
So if we take these four basic exercises: running, pushups, pullups, and situps, and construct workouts around them, always keeping in mind the baseline level of fitness above, surely we would get close to fulfilling our maximum potential for physical fitness. Or course it will take loads of will-power and self-motivation to continue training day after day toward this goal, but it’s already assumed you are a highly-motivated, fire-breathing, combat-focused individual since you are reading this article in the first place.
Here is an example of what might be considered an “intermediate” level workout constructed around our four basic exercises:
One circuit:
Repeat this circuit 2 to 5 times.
Note that we are doing pullups, which are performed with your palms facing away from your body, not chin-ups in which your palms are facing toward your body. (Chin-ups are easier than pullups and thus chin-ups are never performed at BUD/S!)
Many different workouts can be constructed around the four basic exercises given above, limited only by your imagination. But you should always try to keep the original Navy SEAL baseline in mind and aim for those numbers. Giving yourself a “PT test” once every month or two is also a good idea, just to see how you are progressing. As soon as you attain the amount of reps and time given in the original baseline (or even get pretty close), it’s guaranteed you will be in extremely good physical condition!
Another primary thing most Navy Seals agree on is that you will have to be an excellent runner to do well in BUD/S training. Navy SEAL candidates literally run everywhere they go, covering numerous miles per day, which is great thing to keep in mind if you are trying to get in good shape, since the more running you do the less body fat you will have.
Once you have established a good level of fitness by training with the four basic exercises for, say, 2 to 5 months, you could try an advanced workout such as: “cumulative total in one day of all exercises”:
Then you would write down your reps and mileage after this circuit, then spend the rest of the day (working on-and-off with as much, or as little, rest between circuits as you wanted), repeating the circuit again and again and recording your results, attempting to accumulate as many reps in each exercise, plus as many miles as possible. After your last circuit of the day you would total up and record whatever you were able to accomplish. Keep in mind that a Navy SEAL would be able to do roughly: 150 pullups, 400 pushups, 400 situps, and run 15 miles (plus swim about 6 miles) all in the course of one day.
Hooyah and good luck reaching your fitness goals!
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