Thursday, March 30, 2017

What Makes a Champion?


What Makes a Champion?
What makes a champion? Is it something a person is blessed with at birth? Is being a champion just about being lucky? Can anyone be a champion?
Over the many years I have been involved in athletics and business I have taken note on all those that have achieved greatness in their endeavor and there are a few things that they all have in common.  
  1. They are focused on their task at hand
  2. Negative vibes don’t exist in their world
  3. They are goal planners
  4. They think outside the box
  5. Being “normal” to them is failing and there is no room for failure
  6. They surround themselves with positive people. There is no room for negative influences regardless of who we are. They will get rid of us.
  7. They don’t settle for their last performance, whether in business or on the field of play. They are constantly trying to get just a little better.
  8. They are risk takers
  9. There are no such things as excuses for bad performance. In their world, excuses are for the weak.
  10. Winning is the only option in their world.
I don’t believe that one is thrust at birth into being a champion. I believe that it takes hard and consistent work to become one. It takes years of failures and doubt. It takes years of sweat, blood and tears to reach that final destination of being called a champion. Luck does play a bit of a role but a very small bit. Hard work is the only key to success and nothing less. It is constantly working when others call it a day or quit for the night. It’s running in all types of weather when others will only run when the weather is perfect. It’s always giving 100% regardless of how they may feel at that moment.
It really upsets me when I see competitions where there is no really winner and everyone gets trophies at the end of the day. We are setting our children up for mediocrity in the end. What is wrong with mediocrity? America was not built on that or for that. Mediocrity breads failure in the end on so many levels.  

Yes I believe that anyone can be a champion. The question you have to ask yourself is, “How badly do you want it?” If you want it bad enough you will focus and figure out a game plan for you to achieve your final goal… being a champion.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The hardest part of life changes

The hardest part of life changes is that sometimes we may need to make the hard decision of not hanging out with the same crowd we are accustom to.
Mary has been trying for years to lose the 150 pounds she had additional on her frame and she would lose it then gain it back. It was frustrating to her. She tried everything to keep it off but could not. She would work out every day religiously and still somehow or another she would end up back in the same position months later.
One day while analyzing why this yoyo thing was happening, her trainer asked her who she hung around. She told him that she has been hanging around the same crowd for years now. She did not think that they had anything to do with her weight problems. They were much thinner than she was, even though they too were overweight. The trainer had told her that they looked at her fuel intake and her rest and they were running out of ideas. The trainer suggested that she stop hanging around them for a few weeks. At first she blew that idea off but as luck may have it her friends had to go out of the country for a few weeks, so she decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
Well, at first, it was pretty easy to do because they were out of the country. But when they came back it was really hard. Thursday thru Sunday nights were spent with them and every Friday night they would meet at the local bar to socialize. Mary decided to stop going there for a while and hang out with her other group of friends. These friends were made at the gym and she seemed to have a lot of clean fun with them. Well weeks turned into months and before you know it, she did not miss her old crowd and something else happened… she just didn’t lose that unwanted weight, she actually kept it off.
At first she couldn’t believe that it was her friend and the environment she was in so one Friday night she was asked by her old group to go out. She did, and her eyes were open. Besides the alcohol drinking and the food consumption, everything they did was over the top. That was the last time she went out with them. One year later she hasn’t seen any of them and she has run several marathons and now teaches aerobic classes and feels great about her “new” life.

We need to understand that if we are to have a total life change, we may need to make the hard choices and change the environment and the people we hang out with. Maybe your friends and environment is holding you back from achieving what you ultimately want. If so change them and you will feel better for your move.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

The end game

I think I may have figured out why so many people lose a lot of weight and then a few months later or a few years later gain it all back again. Most people don’t understand that there is no “end game” with actually having a lifestyle change. For most people lifestyle change means, “well I will lose this weight and get in better shape so that I can get back to life as I know it” and that is just wrong, way wrong.
People ask me why I am so successful with people losing weight and it is because I make sure they understand that there is no “end game”. There is no time, once we get started that they can rest and go back to life as they knew it. If they feel as though they cannot change their ways, and for good, I cannot work with them.
If you want to be successful at your lifestyle change you must understand that what you are about to do is something that you will have to do for the rest of your life. You will never be able to go back to life as you once knew it because if you do, well, you will only be setting yourself up to fail…… again.
There is a medical term that we use when it comes to our health and it is called “set point”. The “set point” is the point where our body is accustomed to and lives at. If you have been heavy your whole life and then you lose the weight, unless you do something drastic, your body will revert back to your original “set point”. This can be changed, but it takes hard work and strong discipline for this to be changed. I believe your set point can be reset after a minimum of 3 years of consistent change. I could be wrong however. I have only seen a small number of people actually reset their body to a better, healthier setting. Most fail miserably within the first year.

So, who will you be? Will you be the person who fails or succeeds? Do you understand that the only way to win this game is to change your lifestyles and for good? Do you understand that your old life can NEVER be visited ever again? Think about it.