Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Consistency, Exercise, Learning, motivation, Patience, perseverence, Persistence, Skills, spirituality

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” Walter Elliot

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/walter_elliot_190719?src=t_motivational

Want to learn a secret? Here’s a secret that will change your life.

You will accomplish whatever you set out to do if you do not quit trying to accomplish it.

I don’t care if you are trying to lose weight, stop smoking, read more, write more, learn more. Say you want to learn a new language. Learning a new language is hard. Quitting a bad habit is hard. Learning how to do something you’ve never done before is hard.

Learn incrementally and continuously. Take a little bit of new information, study it, read it, do something with it in little bite-size chunks on a daily basis and before you know it you’ll own that new knowledge. You’ll build the skill. The challenge with this type of learning is consistency. You have to keep doing it over and over and over and never stop. You must really want the new knowledge or skill.

If you keep pushing forward, keep digging in consistently, keep pushing the envelope, you’ll see some dramatic results over time. Stick with it and you’ll achieve your goal over time. It’s really that simple.

Here’s what I’m up to this week:

• I’m leading a Book discussion class on Past lives, dreams, and Soul travel today at a local library
• I’m still sick but doing some home workouts to get back into my routine of daily exercise
• I’ve read 2 books of the 48 I am goaled for and currently reading 5 books simultaneously. Each month I’m tackling 4 books—one fiction book, one history book, one book on philosophy, and one on self-help. Currently I’m reading book 2 of the 2136 series, book on Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, Unit 731 – Japanese biological warfare unit in WWII, and The One Thing.
• I’m finalizing the initial rough draft of my technical recruiting book.
• I am working through a basic JavaScript programming course on Codecademy.
• I just wrapped up a course on WWII that was offered for free by Hillsdale College (hillsdale.edu).
• I’m watching a course offered by Dr. Jordan Peterson on Personality and transformation on YouTube. He currently teaches at the University of Toronto. All his courses are available on his YouTube channel. The current lecture series is composed of 20 lectures spanning between an hour and two hours each. It is time-consuming but interesting.
• I’m starting to brainstorm my own YouTube channel. I am still thinking about what I would like to do with this. This is probably something I’ll investigate next year but will begin putting together a plan for this by the end of this year.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I hope all of you are keep pushing forward with your goals.

Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Goals, Going for it, Meaning, motivation, Persistence, Purpose, Structure

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” – Charles Kettering

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/charles_kettering_121333

I’m finally over this bug and got back to the gym this morning! It felt good to get in there and get moving. Today was a full body workout with weights. We had some snow come in last night and it was nice looking at the white covering everything as I drove to the gym.

Today is a work day. Since I’ve retired, I’ve learned that I need structure. So, I treat my Monday through Friday as my work days. Subsequently, I’ll be working on my book, getting my reading in, my JavaScript programming courses, lectures by Dr. Peterson at the University of Toronto, and pursuing my other interests. For those of you who haven’t retired, keep this in mind. You may not be working for other people, but we all require some structure and goals to pursue. This provides us with meaning. The folks who reduce their lives to watching tv, playing video games, and all the rest, won’t last that long. When you lose meaning and purpose in your life, your life tends to turn into absolute misery and boredom. Stay busy and pursue the things you couldn’t when you worked. The world still needs you!

I’ve recently signed up to the Poetry Foundation. You can find this at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ It’s a great site and if you sign up (it’s free), they’ll send you a daily poem to read. I really enjoy the random poems they send because it exposes me to people I would have never found on my own. Try it out if you’re interested.

We’re in the part of the year when we reexamine our lives and look forward to the new year. Some of you may have already set your New Year’s resolutions, while others may still be looking at what you are going to accomplish this year. As today’s quote states, set your goals so that you pursue something meaningful. What do you want to do? What have you always wanted to do but decided not to pursue because you’ve convinced yourself you can’t do it? Take the can’t out of that sentence and go for it. It is really liberating to pursue something you might have to work really hard to achieve. Imagine how you will feel if you accomplish something you didn’t think you could?

Goals should stretch you. Why set up something you know you could accomplish? Is that really a goal? Failure? You can’t fail if you keep moving toward your goal, regardless if you crawl, walk, or run. You can’t fail if you don’t quit. Get at it!

My decision to learn how to write computer programs has been exhilarating. Yeah, there are times I get stuck and frustrated. That’s normal when you’re learning new things. Imagine how much impact this new skill would have on your ability to make money or just create useful programs for yourself and your family?

I wish all of you the best of luck this year! I hope all of you achieve what you have set out to do. Persist. Adapt. Continue. You’ll get where you want to if you keep walking.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday

Tags

Attitudes, Individuality, Influence, motivation, Nonintererence, Self-Leadership, Uniqueness

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ralph_waldo_emerson_101322?src=t_wisdom

When I read this quote I think about individuality. I think about what is good for me, what I want, where I want to go, and what I want to do with my life. I think this is a common thread of thought for most. We all contemplate what tomorrow will bring and how to improve our circumstances.

Individuality is something I have come to embrace. I like doing what I want. Making choices that I truly think about making, rather than being convinced by some outside source about what I should be doing, what I ought to buy, where to live, how to speak, and all the rest. Society tries to make us conformists.

Conformity must be attained for any semblance of order. We all know that certain acts are unlawful or frowned upon. We all know that certain types of language are intolerable. What I’m referring to here is the ability to think for oneself. The ability to act with autonomy. The ability to make choices that are informed by individual curiosity and research. The ability to live one’s life without too much outside interference or influence.

If you take a moment and examine your life, think about the things you do unconsciously. Are they truly your choice or are you acting in a way that others “expect” you to? Look at the things you own. Do you really use these things or are they sitting in a corner collecting dust? Do you exercise, learn, contemplate because you want to or someone else has told you to?

Are there things you would like to do with your life that you avoid because of outside pressures? Are there goals you would like to pursue but afraid to because of the social backlash? I think what I’ve been discussing here is what Emerson is talking about.

I choose to pursue the goals I want to because I want to. I live the life I do because I have begun to realize that reality is not worth fighting with. I have gained a great amount of peace in my life because I have learned to accept reality—the things I cannot affect or change. There are things in our lives like the weather and the actions of other people that we have ZERO control over. Why fret over these things?

I have mentioned this a few other times in my various blog postings but it merits repeating. Stop worrying about the things you cannot control and focus on controlling the things you can control. You can control your attitude. You can control how you react to outside circumstances. You can control what you focus your time and effort into. These sentences all start with you because you are all you have control over.

If you focus on you, you will be more effective. If you focus on reacting less to outside circumstances and more on an internal character you will be more effective. You cannot control what other people do. In fact, you will be wasting your time in most cases. I’m not talking about your children. You must exert some control over them while you guide and teach them to thrive in life as they approach adulthood. What I am talking about is your peers, your adult relatives, anyone who can do something for themselves but chooses not to.

You cannot motivate other people to do something that they really do not want to. You cannot help a friend get in shape who refuses to exercise or eat right. You cannot help a loved one who is suffering from health issues because they drink and smoke. You cannot help a loved one pass an exam in their degree program if they do not want to do the work. You cannot change a bad boss or a bad employee or a bad friend. The only thing you can do is to accept these people for who they are and focus on yourself. Sometimes people will see you and be affected. They will say to themselves, “I’d like to be like her. She is so organized. She is in such great shape. She seems so together all the time.”

I’m not advising you to be aloof and cold. If a friend or relative approach you for help—give it to them. What I’m talking about is the active attempt to try and change someone—change someone for their own good. This is where you’ll get into trouble. You’ll get into trouble because your motivation to get in shape or learn or pursue goals isn’t their priority. Do not interfere with someone’s life unless you are asked for help. They are individuals too and the choices they make for themselves are their responsibility—not yours. Worry about yourself. Pursue the things you want to pursue. Trailblaze a path that is unique to your aspirations and interests.

Focus your efforts on you. Focus on what you can control. Pursue the things that are interesting to you and motivate and inspire you. Just be yourself and ignore the pressures outside of you.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Achievement, Act, Action, Mark Twain, motivation

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mark_twain_118964?src=t_motivational 

Well, readers it is another Monday! What do you have planned this week? Are you pushing forward with your goals? Are you tackling the challenges of the day?

None of us will achieve anything if we do not act. Even the smallest action toward one of your goals will yield results. With each action you get that much closer. What is stopping you?

This week for me is another week of learning, reading, writing, exercising, and of course, having some fun. We had a power outage early this morning but we are back up and running. Luckily, we have a generator that kicks in automatically to keep the critical stuff on.

If you doubt yourself–start. If you are afraid–start. If you don’t think you’re good enough–start. Once you start, all of these things will fade away. You’ll be too busy doing rather than worrying.

I hope each of you has a great week! I know I will. Here’s to your success. Go get’em!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday!

Tags

Books, Classes, Exercise, motivation, Movies

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” – Og Mandino

This week has a full menu of activity.

I’m in the last week (week 8) of Kris Gethin’s Hardcore Trainer. This week will be tough, but I’ll see it through to the end. Weight loss so far is about 11 pounds. I’ll give you the final weight next week after I finish this bad boy on Sunday.

Books I’m reading:

• The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad
• The Spiritual Exercises of ECK
• The Tiger’s Fang
• Turn your passion into a thriving business
• Andersonville: A story of rebel military prisons
• The Orion Plague
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• The Science of Getting Rich

Movies and Entertainment:

• Season 5 of Hell on Wheels
• The West
• The Hollow
• Goliath Season 2

Courses I’m taking:

• Learning how to learn (Coursera)
• Nonfiction book writing (Udemy)
• Public Policy (Hillsdale)

Book Review:

I just finished Kris Gethin’s Bio: The Transformer and found it to be a really interesting read. Since he’s one of the many trainers I follow for the workout, supplementation, nutrition, and overall weightlifting advice, the book was especially important to me. I really enjoyed learning about Kris’ background and where he grew up. A really great book if you’re into this kind of thing.

Well, that’s it for this week’s Monday Motivation. I hope all of you have a great week! I’m headed to the gym for weights and cardio 2 of today’s workout routine.

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday!

Tags

Mental, motivation, Physical, Social, Spiritual

Happy Monday, folks!

This week we’ll be tackling week 7 of Kris Gethin’s 8-week Hardcore Trainer, which means? You guessed it, we are upping cardio sessions another 5 minutes. This week we are doing two 50-minute cardio sessions.

I recorded my weight at 234, which is 11 pounds down from my starting 245. That’s good progress because I feel my body fat percentage decreasing as well. Last year, when I visited my physician for an annual physical and blood work, I was at 33%. I’m set to hit my annual physical again in September and know by the time I knock this workout and the others I have scheduled for 2018 that I will be much lower, probably around 24-20%. That’s the goal anyway.

This week’s macros are reduced again. I’ll be eating 190 grams of protein and 111 grams of carbohydrates on training days and 190 grams of protein and 89 grams of carbohydrates on non-training days (Saturday and Sunday). With this current workout regimen, I hit cardio twice a day, 7 days a week. So, that means these rest days are deemed “active” rest days.

That covers the physical component of my week. Now we look at the mental or learning portion. I will be finishing up my Udemy course on non-fiction book writing, start week 2 for Learning how to learn, offered by UC San Diego via Coursera, and continuing with the Public Policy course offered by Hillsdale College.

Spiritually, I’ll be doing some random acts of kindness online, by reaching out to friends and telling them how much they mean to me. I’ll pick a few I have not spoken with in a while and it’ll be a nice thing. Along with this my spiritual reading: The Living Word Book 2 by Sri Harold Klemp, The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad by Paul Twitchell, and two spiritual exercises daily. One is a written form, while the other is a meditative practice that I conduct prior to going to bed (usually around midnight).

Within the social realm, I am going to my monthly meetup group today at 4 PM, then we have Father’s Day this week. I’ll be taking my Mom and Dad out to a dine-in Theater to watch a movie of their choice. I’ll also be doing some video calls with one of my good friends, brother, and sister this week.

My other reading includes: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Andersonville, The Transformer (Kris Gethin), The Orion Plague, and that is all she wrote folks.

What do you have planned for the week folks? If you are comfortable sharing, leave me a note in the comments section.

Have a great week everyone!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Daily Rituals

Tags

Daily Rituals, Daily Routine, Exercise, Learning, Mike Murdock, motivation, Reading, Social Connection, Writing

“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.” – Mike Murdock

It’s Monday Motivation on Daily Ramblings. This quote is appropriate for today! I am a stickler for a daily routine or daily rituals. I arrived upon this current state by reading through a lot of the habits literature and came to the realization that our daily routines are merely a collection of habits.

Some of my daily habits are:

Reading multiple books (a few pages up to a chapter depending on length)

Writing (Blog Posting and Book Writing)

• Exercise (currently two cardio sessions each day with weight lifting Mon-Fri)
• Spiritual Practices (Dream Journaling, Daily Reflection, Reading Spiritual Works)
• Daily Learning (Currently a Course on the US Presidents, Course on Happiness and Well Being offered by Yale on Coursera, and a Nonfiction Book Writing Course on Udemy)
• Social Media and Connection (stay in touch with family, friends, and interact with people at the coffee shops, gymnasiums, and libraries I frequent)

This week’s exercise routine:

2 cardio sessions 35 minutes each day (Monday – Sunday)

Weight Lifting: Monday (Quadriceps, Lower Abs, and Calves); Tuesday (Chest and Shoulders); Wednesday (Arms); Thursday (Hamstrings, Lower Back, Upper Abs, and Calves); and Friday (Upper Back)

I find these rituals to be extremely productive and fruitful.

I hope each of you has a tremendous week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Ayn Rand – Creativity

Tags

Achievement, Ayn Rand, Competition, creativity, motivation

Today’s Quote:

“A creative man is motivated by a desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” – Ayn Rand

I like this quote. I like it because it suggests that we measure our achievements against ourselves. This is important because we are really the only measure to be worried about.

There is nothing wrong with competition. There is something wrong with pursuing goals that are pursued just to beat another. This falls into the realm of pursuing goals that really aren’t ours.

When I pursue a goal, I am not setting a measure against someone else. I am setting a goal to improve myself. This is what Ms. Rand is talking about. We can only measure progress against ourselves. This is owning a goal. Owning a goal aimed at improving yourself is the only goal that will last the test of difficulty, challenges, and time.

I have fallen into this trap in the past. I used to play tennis in high school. I was so competitive. For me, being a good tennis player meant beating everyone else. This is the measure we use to say this person is #1 or #2. I lost a lot, by doing this, however. I lost the benefit of trying to improve myself against myself. Perhaps, I could have focused on my first serve percentage, the strength of my second serve, my baseline or net game. I did work on these things, but not to improve, but to beat others. When I lost, I worked harder, but still lost sight of the importance of self-work, before worrying about beating someone else. I hope this makes sense.

I hope you have a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Diary

Tags

Determination, Drive, motivation

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

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Amelia Earhart – Taking Action

Tags

Amelia Earhart, compelling, Evaluate your goals, motivation, Paying the price

Happy Saturday!

Today’s quote:

“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart

This is a great quote about getting to whatever it is we want to do. I find that the most simple aspects of life are difficult because of the price these simple things require of us. Saving money means we spend less than we earn. Losing weight is nothing more than lowering our intake of food. If you really think about it, any of us have the ability to accomplish whatever we want. Yet, so many fail over and over and over.

Doing something is better than doing nothing when it comes to pursuing our goals. Today I don’t really feel like going to the gym. It doesn’t matter how I feel. I’m going to the gym. That’s it. I am willing to pay the price to improve my health.

Intermittent fasting is also challenging because it requires that we not eat during a 16-hour window. I started my fast last night at 8 pm and will not be able to eat for another 30 minutes. I want to lose weight, so I am pursuing the strategies that I believe will work.

The key to paying the price for anything we want in life is about knowing your “why”. If your “why” is compelling to you, you will have no problem paying the price for what you want. If your “why” is not compelling to you, you will not be willing to pay the price to achieve whatever your goal is.

How do you find your “why”? My “why” has always been about being my best self. I want to lose weight, I want to continue to learn, I want to create content that people will enjoy reading. I want to be fulfilled. These are mine.

If you are having difficulty pursuing a goal, take a step back and think about why you are pursuing a goal. Is your “why” compelling enough to pay the price your goal requires of you? If it isn’t, maybe you should put that goal on hold. In my experience, you’ll just waste your time pursuing something that really isn’t what you want.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

I’m heading to the gym in about 20 minutes to knock out my leg day workout.

Until next time…

Dave