11 Monday May 2020
Posted in Workout Routine
Tags
Cardio, Dedication, Discipline, Drive, motivation, Physical conditioning, strength training, workout
This week, we’ll revisit one body part a day and shoot for 100 reps.
Monday – Chest
Tuesday – Back
Wednesday – Shoulders
Thursday – Abs
Friday – Legs
Saturday – Calves/Forearms
Sunday – Off
Have a great week, folks!
See you at the finish line!
Dave
20 Monday Apr 2020
Posted in Motivation Monday
Well, well, well. We are here again, folks. It’s another Monday.
For those of you that are not used to working out of your home, this must seem quite strange. Like Clint Eastwood said in the movie Heartbreak Ridge, “Adapt, improvise, and overcome.” There is so much available and so much to do.
Here are the things I focus on each week. I focus on four realms. The first is the physical. This is your health, your fitness, your diet, etc. The second is the mental realm. This is reading, writing, and learning. The Third is the social realm. This is interacting with family, friends, blogging, social media, and when this lockdown ends, getting out there and meeting new people and interacting with them. The fourth is the spiritual realm. This is whatever you deem to be religious. For me it’s reading my Bible, meditating/spiritual exercises, religious discourses, and going to book discussions, classes, and events, when we are not locked down. This is how I build my days and weeks.
Ok. Here is my weekly schedule:
Physical – exercise, eating right, plenty of sleep, and daily water intake.
Mental – Computer Science course on Codecademy, James Patterson’s writing course on Master Class, and Algebra and edX. Work on my book, blog, and journal.
Social – post quotes I find, post interesting and educational articles on the topics I enjoy, and interact with my friends and colleagues’ postings on Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat.
Spiritual – work on my current discourse, read my Bible, do my spiritual exercise, and keep up my dream/experience journal.
Well, folks. That’s it. Have a great week!
Until next time…
Dave
28 Monday Oct 2019
Posted in Motivation Monday
Tags
Achievement, Consistency, Dreading Monday, Drive, Goals, habits, motivation, rituals, Routines
It’s time to grind folks!
Are you one of those folks who dreads Monday? I think it’s pretty common across all cultures. For those of us that work Monday – Friday, the weekend is our relax, binge-watch, and laze-around time. Then we have to get up on Monday and head to work.
Since retirement, I’ve tried to keep a Monday-Friday schedule. Last week I tried an experiment of not having a real weekend. In other words, I kept my daily schedule consistent across 7 days. I still have a blow-off day on Sunday called “my do nothing day”, but this last week I continued to plug away at all the things I schedule for myself daily. What did I discover? My Monday wasn’t that bad when I consistently kept doing what I normally do during the Monday-Friday workweek.
For me, consistency is the key to accomplishing what I have set out to do. This consistency is what keeps me going. I love to habitualize everything. I find comfort in the consistency of my schedule and the automation of daily tasks and routines. The key, however, is I love everything I am doing.
When I retired I knew I would still want to be active. I didn’t want to fall into the trap of binge-watching videos, playing video games 12 hours a day, and all the rest. I wanted to finally do what I have always wanted to do–focus on exercise, learning, writing, reading, meditating, and coding. Subsequently, this is my day. I love what I do. Since I love what I do, I am no longer “working”. It is a great place to be.
For those of you that are still doing the 9-5, find aspects of your job that you love. Then, carry some of these things into the weekend with you. Instead of piling up all the personal things you have to do during the weekend, spread them out through the week. Clean as you go, do your laundry in batches, prep all of your meals on Saturday or Sunday. What you’ll find is your weekend will slowly begin to blend in with your workweek and each day will be more consistent.
I started doing this in my final years in professional recruiting. I used to do something work-related each weekend day. Maybe I would source for candidates and begin building out call logs for my work week. Maybe I would do some research into some company or new technology hitting the market place. I could even knock out some social networking. I thought that if I make everyday the same, there will be no more “Monday dread” because there would be no separation from my work day and my weekend.
Give this a try. You may be like me. You may enjoy the consistency of your day and thrive on it. I know I do. I just feel good when I can knock out little chuncks of my goals each day. I wake up each day knowing what I am going to do and it never changes. This consistency is my life line. I’ll stop here.
Here’s my schedule for the week:
Ok, folks. Get out there and crush your goals and have a great week ahead!
Until next time…
Dave
12 Monday Nov 2018
Posted in Motivation Monday
Tags
Drive, Goals, H.G. Wells, habits, mini-habits, Movitation, Stephen Guise
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H. G. Wells
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_g_wells_163592?src=t_motivational
How many times have you set a goal for yourself, only to give up or screw up within a few days? (I raise my hand). It happens to all of us, right? Change is hard. The brain’s wiring is hard to overcome.
We get ourselves fired up and charge into the fight, only to fizzle out within days or hours. How do we overcome this cycle? I asked this question, searching for the answers and finally found the answer a few years ago. The answer is this: Create “stupid small” habits.
These habits are mentioned in Stephen Guise’s book: Mini Habits. You can find it online for $5.99. In his book, Stephen explains what “stupid small” means and why creating these stupid small habits are so effective. Imagine an exercise program consisting of one pushup. Imagine writing 50 words a day. Imagine creating a habit where you are only required to read 2 pages in a book or even 1 page if 2 is too much. You see the pattern here.
The beauty of these mini habits is they don’t require a lot of motivation and only tap minute levels of your willpower, which science has shown to be finite. Interestingly, they have also found that willpower can be exercised like a muscle and the more we train our willpower, the stronger it gets. Persistence is key. If you screw up today, you get back on the horse again tomorrow.
If for some reason you continue missing days or “screwing up” reduce your requirements even more. Ultimately, the goal of these mini habits is to create the ability to do something you want to do every day or every week and stick with it until it becomes second-nature. Once your internal wiring accepts the new habit, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to keep it going. The next step in this process is the bonus work you’ll get each time you use your newly formed habit. Think about reading a page in a book. If you are reading a great story, it’ll be hard to just read one page, right? The same goes for writing 50 words or doing 1 pushup. Each of these habits is so minimal, it would be easy to add to them. Just realize your only requirement is the mini habit you created. The bonus work you do is cool and will add dramatically to your self-esteem, but they are not required. Only the mini habit is. This is really important to remember: Only the mini habit is required. The bonus stuff you do is bonus stuff.
If you want to build some new habits get this book. I am not an affiliate of Amazon or Stephen Guise. I just like to pass on life-changing books that come into my life. It has had a huge effect on me and I hope it helps you attain your goals.
This week:
I hope each of you has a terrific week!
Until next time…
Dave
10 Friday Nov 2017
Posted in Workout Routine
Tags
Was really out of energy today. I ground out the workout, but boy was it a chore.
This is something I want to discuss. There will always be ups and downs in your workouts. Some days you’re going to be on fire and you’ll make significant progress in the gym. You’ll be full of energy and you’ll wonder why the workout you just did was so easy.
Once in a while, you’ll have a day like I did today. Nothing is easy, every rep is hard, and you begin wondering why you even went to the gym. That’s ok folks. Just keep going. This is the key to progress.
Going to the gym on days like today is what makes me feel good about myself. I did the best I could do, despite my low energy. It could have been something I ate yesterday, it could have been my sleep, it could have been my water intake or any number of variables. Just keep going.
This is the one lesson I’ll pass on today. The day you wake up and don’t want to go to the gym is the day you go. This is the day you learn more about yourself. This is the day you push through a barrier, created by yourself.
How do I feel? Great. I went to the gym. I did the routine I was scheduled to do. It may not have been pretty, but I got it done. If you are ever in a position when you feel like, what am I doing? Why am I going to the gym? Why am I torturing myself? That is the day YOU GO.
You go because that is what we do. We go to the gym to workout. We go to the gym to improve ourselves. We go to the gym to prove that regardless of how we “feel” we go to the gym.
This applies to any habit you are trying to establish. Regardless of your mood, your interest, whatever–do the thing you committed to today. Every day will be different. Some days you’ll be on top of the world–other days you’ll be in the dumps. Do it anyway.
I hope everyone has a great Friday!!
See you tomorrow!
Dave
