As with the rest of our lives, we often develop patterns and habits in our physical training routine (that’s right folks, I’m actually going to write about training).  Generally, working out with a specific goal in mind is tough.  It usually means that we’re focusing on improving things that we’ve outline as weaknesses (which means we’ve gone through the process of identifying these areas – critical self analysis can be shitty) and identified these as priorities.

Our human wiring predisposes us towards positive reinforcement – that is we are more inclined to repeat actions that elicits a favourable response – so we tend to opt for these behaviours (one of the reasons I suggest not using food as a reward).  So in our “workout world”, we tend to do the things that make us feel good – or make us feel like we’ve had a really great workout – these naturally become our preferences.

Now, here comes the part where I take back some of my previous words…

As part of the Resolution Roadtrip series that I wrote to kick off 2013, I wrote a blog on doing the things that you make you smile, and hopefully you’ve been able to accomplish that to date.  But with about 15% of 2013 behind us, it’s time to buckle down and get serious about the goals that we set (and refined) over the past 8 weeks.

So, don’t get me wrong, feeling great after a workout is motivating.  It increases the likelihood that we’ll come back and have another one.  That’s great if workout frequency is our goal (hopefully that habit has been established), but it’s time to bear down and focus on the priorities - why are we busting our butts in the gym.  It’s time to walk into the gym after a long day of work and say, “I’m gonna bust out that workout that kicks my ass and own it!  Why?  Because in order to achieve my goal, I have to!”

What do you want to achieve? 
What are you prepared to do to achieve it?

A few days ago, I shared a post from Ido Portal on my Facebook page (this guy has some pretty awesome philosophies on movement – and some pretty amazing ability).  In his post he talks about how we all “want” to achieve certain standards.  We want to lift heavier weights or perform certain movements proficiently, but he notes that so many of us haven’t accurately assessed the requirements necessary to achieve these standards.

Lou Holtz, a famous football coach from Notre Dame encouraged his players to ask themselves the question “What’s important now?” 25 times throughout the day as a means of keeping themselves focused on the task at hand – for them that task was winning the National Championship. 

What’s important for you? 
Right now? 
Tomorrow morning? 
Tomorrow at lunch time? 
When you lace up your sneakers?

** If you’re at the stage where you are just starting out – you might want to go back and read the Resolution Roadtrip, establish a starting point, develop your game-plan and bookmark this post for another month down the road after you’ve had a chance to play a while.

I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, in fact I’m not a huge fan of any Hallmark-exploited festivity – but I might as well use whatever opportunity I can to make a point.

I’m the last guy that anyone should turn to for relationship advice, but I have been in the fitness game for a while, and I realize that a romantic relationship(s) has a lot of close similarities to the relationship we have (or should have) with our own health and fitness.

1.       There has to be some commitment – one-night-stands tend to be unrewarding.  Making a healthy choice once in a while just doesn’t cut it.
2.       We seldom experience “love at first sight” - it usually takes a while to nurture the relationship;
3.       You have to respect your health.  It too can go “all crazy on your ass” if you don’t take care of it;
4.       Either relationship can elicit a heart-poundingly good time (both of which can improve health… wink)
5.       There are gonna be some ups and downs (no pun intended) – the key is working through them and coming out better off on other side;
6.       Things do get easier as you go along;
7.       Sometimes you need to spice things up a little;
8.       Worse case scenario for both… death.

… and a few differences between romantic relationships and our relationship with our health:

1.       Breaking up with your health is not an option (well I guess maybe it is but we typically call that something else);
2.       Your health won’t run a key down the side of your car or throw your shit on the front lawn when things go to hell;
3.       Diamonds, flowers and candy don’t help your health - the anatomical heart is not for sale (at least not legally);
4.       Your heart won’t be with anyone else – it’s yours for good so take care of it!

Well this is the final installment of my Resolution Road Trip, and today I’m going to be “that guy” to talk about the elephant in the room when it comes to goals and resolutions – failure.

You might remember the scene from G.I. Jane where Flea busts his knee in SERE training and Instructor Pyro asks him if he is hurt or injured.  Hurt means you walk it off and keep going, injured means that you give up and quit.

Well, I have a similar question when we lose sight of our goals, “Is it failure or is it a setback?”

Failure is simply a matter of perspective.  “One man’s failure is another man’s setback!”

A setback is the “hurt” of our road trip.  A point where we’ve veered off-course from our Plan of Action: you became distracted and goofed; your willpower was challenged and you succumbed to pressure; your schedule has become overwhelming and you’ve strayed from your PoA, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and forge forward to see a new day.

A failure indicates finality.  “I’m done, I’ve failed, and that’s that!”
 
A setback allows you to revisit The 7 Tips (they seem so official when I write that in capitals), maybe tweak your goals and re-work your PoA to something which is more manageable at this time.

A failure allows you bury your face in the pillow, only after taking your goals and PoA, balling it up and throwing it in the nearest garbage can along with the handful of Kleenex.

Suggestions for minimizing “setbacks”
Call these my “Bonus Tips” for success.

Be honest with yourself.  At numerous points along our road trip there were questions to ask ourselves, gut-checks to be had, and if at any one of these points we’ve been dishonest, then we’re fooling ourselves into believing that things are better than they are.  If things aren’t better… admit it and do something about it.  If these attempts don’t work… admit it and do something else.   If you’re struggling and you need help… then admit it and ask for help.  Things will not change if we don’t do something about it!   If we reach the point where we lack any forward momentum, then we’ve been tricking ourselves for a while thinking that things were going okay and we’d pull through it.  Be vigilant in looking at your progress, be honest.

Don’t worry about others.  I find that very frequently, when I talk to friends and clients about goals, objectives and their progress towards these there are a lot of references to what other people are doing or what presumably has worked for other people.  Who cares!?  Facebook statuses lie!  They’re not you.  They don’t have your life.  They don’t have your background.  Honestly, what they’re doing probably doesn’t even impact your life.  Concern yourself with your set of circumstances and the steps that you are taking (or not taking) to make that better!

No excuses.  YOU set a goal!  YOU developed a Plan of Action!  YOU were responsible for implementing these action steps!  The bottom line is that the onus lies with YOU to bring this to fruition (or at least to re-evaluate and make an adjustment so that YOU can).  And if things don’t go as planned, then YOU fell short of the expectations that YOU set for YOURSELF.  That’s the bottom line, so stand up, take responsibility, and move forward.

Suggestions for turning “failures” into “setbacks”
Remember, setbacks aren’t fun, but the important thing is that we keep moving forward and maintain some of that momentum, however little of it remains.

Try to find the positive and learn the lesson.  From every bump in the road there is the potential for a lesson to be learned.  What went wrong?  What were we doing right at the time of impact?  If the  bump is a repeat, how was our approach to it different than before and was this approach BETTER?

Tomorrow is a new day.  Despite setbacks today, tomorrow is a chance to start again with fresh outlooks, a modified game plan and renewed interest in success.  Don’t delay… don’t “wait ‘til Monday” to start.  Start tomorrow with a clear mind and ready to meet your challenge head-on.

No excuses.  Much like my “Bonus Tip for Success”, you can’t project sub-par performance elsewhere.  All of the reasons lie within.  Here’s a re-post of little video to put this in perspective.

Smile more!  That smile will help control your emotions.  It’ll keep things a little more positive and a little less glum.  It’ll keep the outside world (who are ready to make themselves feel better with someone else’s shortcomings) from fueling our feelings of failure or our instincts for excuses.

So as we proceed forward and begin to evaluate the “success” of our road trip, remember, having the courage to start is in itself triumphant.

Some say that if you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.  With life we innately accept some risk, and with risk comes a heightened potential for “failure”.  It’s how we recover from the “failures” that determines our success in life.

This wraps up Road Trip Resolution series with My7 Tips for Successful Resolutioning.  I hope that they have provided some thoughts towards making this year, and the ambitions that you have set out for yourselves a success.

If you’ve missed a blog or two, or want to recap I have provided links to them below:
Day 1: What Lies Ahead
Day 2: Hit the Gas! [Tip #1 Start Now]
Day 3: Directions [Tip #2 – Set Goals and Make a Plan]
Day 4: Smiles and Laughter [Tip #3 – Enjoy It]
Day 5: The Long Haul [Tip #4 – Think Long Term]
Day 6: That’s Better [Tip #5 – Don’t Think “Perfect” – Think “Better”]
Day 7: Pit Stop [Tip #6 – Rest and Relaxation]
Day 8:  9-1-1 [Tip #7 – Get Help]

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

Let’s take a quick run down our checklist::

• We’ve set goals and established an action plan;
• We have started implementing our action plan;
• We’re enjoying what we’re doing;
• We’ve come to grips with the fact that results will take time and we are looking to develop a lifestyle which supports the goals that we’ve set.
• We’re striving for improvement… becoming “better”;
• We value rest and relaxation and see that this is an important part of our action plan/ lifestyle.

There’s a lot of “we have’s” in that list.   WE are trying OUR best to achieve OUR goals.

But what about those times when we just don’t know what to do, where to go or how to proceed – our GPS navigational system has died and we’re at the interchange?

As a male using road trip analogies it’s tough to write this… but there comes a time when you just need to have the strength, courage and wisdom to ask for help. 

TIP #7 – GET HELP

Perhaps it’s reaffirmation that what you’re doing is “right”.  Maybe it’s a gentle nudge to get you (re)started/ motivated towards your goal.  It could be a bit of supervision to ensure that you’re going about it safely or maybe just a few tips and some encouragement along the way.   Maybe it’s a professional, maybe a “support group” of sorts, maybe just a friend… the important thing is that it truly  is HELP! 

Far too often we think that we are getting help or sound advice, but we become even more lost because the information provided either contradicts our plan of action or is just so plentiful that we don’t know which way to go (I find the latter is often the case with online “stuff” – forums, support groups, searching for info).  Is it honest-to-goodness sound advice, or is it just someone’s opinion or personal bias?

So even as we seek out help we have to be cautious!

A few suggestions when seeking out help:

1.  Do a bit of homework on where this guidance is coming from (I’m not suggesting that you should run a criminal background or contact the Better Business Bureau);
2.  Look for a source with some notable credentials and references;
3.  Look for a proven track record (has this source helped others like you);
4.  Ensure that the source you choose to work with can truly help you achieve your goals – are they committed to helping you?;
5.  If you’re seeking out a professional, can you work with them?  You are establishing somewhat of a trusting relationship with them by entrusting them with your health, well-being and in some cases money.
6.  Minimize your "input streams".  Pick 2 or 3 sources of information and focus on these.  Too many people/ websites all giving slightly different (or dramatically different) snippets of wisdom becomes confusing.

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

7 days in, 2 tips and 3 blogs to go.  I hope you’re all finding this series beneficial and are starting to get a sense of direction in the planning and implementation of your own personal Resolution Roadmaps.

Today we look at what I feel is the most important rule of physical training, and a critical component in planning for success along our Resolution Road Trip – Rest!

TIP #6 – REST AND RELAXATION

The past month has been filled with waaaay too much stress.  Too much running around, too much focus on money, too much food, too much booze, not enough sleep, in some cases too much family, and far too much pressure on ourselves. 

Even the pressures we place on ourselves to make resolutions and be successful in accomplishing these can be stressful.  “Gotta prepare my food”. “Gotta get to the gym”.  “Gotta read that blog”.  Does it make sense to have our attempts at healthy living become an added stress – a bit oxymoronic and counterproductive if ya ask me?!

When it comes time to put efforts in to our resolution-oriented activities, a workout, meal planning, a run, or reading, do we have the energy, mental capacity and focus required to do so efficiently or do we find ourselves too drained from the rest of our life?  How far do you really think you’re going to get functioning like this?  How long do you think you can sustain the efforts that you’ve outlined (PoA) to accomplish your goal?

Remember, we’re trying to put forth our BEST effort on a consistent basis, and if our “best” is generally sub-par, then so are the results that we will achieve.

Breaking news… sometimes less is more!
(Now I must add the caveat that this isn’t a license or excuse to slack off.  This is time for a little reality check.)

We need to take a quick (and honest) look at our lives, lifestyles and activities and ask, “Is everything I’m doing a necessity?”  “Do all of the things that I’m doing contribute to the success of goals or are there some that prevent me (either directly or indirectly) from putting my best foot forward?”  To refer back to my favourite Einstein quote where insanity is defined as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”   

As we answer these questions honestly, do we need to think about paring back a bit and allowing ourselves some time to rest, relax, rejuvenate, replenish?

As we continue to tweak and tailor our Plan of Action, we need to include rest in that.  Just as you schedule and plan for workouts, meal prep or self-improvement activities, we need to include time for  rest and relaxation in this formula.  Work, work, work kind of makes sense in terms of achieving our results – we’re programmed to believe that more and harder is better. 

Taking a day off and resting amidst our efforts to achieve, achieve, achieve takes balls – many a mortal being has fallen because they’re not courageous enough to take a step back and rest.

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

Moving down our list of tips, today's post is essentially a sequel to something I wrote last year  (I'm always happy when a year later I look at something and still consider it valid - it makes it feel a little more concrete).

Last January I was inundated with the emotions of others.  Lots of people were expressing a lot of emotions and I wrote a blog for them entitled “Enjoy”.  Hopefully today’s tip will be pre-emptive and help us move forward on our “Resolution Road Trip”.

TIP #3 – ENJOY IT

Resulting from the realizations I had last year, I now include this thought in pretty much all of my discussions with clients and people looking for advice on how to move forward:  "Do things in a way that will keep you happy.  Start to pick away and remove the superfluous BS from your life that you do not enjoy.  If you’re not enjoying something, figure out why the hell you’re doing it."

So as you sit down and begin to create your Plan of Action (PoA for all you acronymically-inclined people out there – and yes,  acronymically is MY word) ask yourself the question, “Will I enjoy doing this?”   And as you answer, be 100% honest with yourself.  Is it just that this sounds hard and I don’t really feel like exerting myself?  Do I really know that I won’t enjoy this particular choice?  A tough workout might seem daunting, and may even leave us a bit sore, but the feelings of accomplishment afterward may be overshadowing.

If you don’t like running, it doesn’t make sense to include running 3 times a week in your PoA.  If you don’t like fish, it becomes counterproductive to state that you are going to start eating white fish twice a week as a good source of protein.  You will begin to loathe that particular activity, it will become burdensome and before you know it, you’ll be finding any and every excuse in the book not to do it.  Suddenly we are not following our PoA and we become frustrated and prone to giving up. 

If the answer to the question “Will I enjoy doing this?” is legitimately “yes” – perfect!  If the answer is “I don’t know”, place an asterix beside it, revisit this later, and if you truly find yourself not enjoying it, think of how to remedy this.  If you immediately spout “NO WAY”, think of other things that you will enjoy doing that lead toward the same result.  Yes, some of these alternatives may take a little longer and appear as more of a scenic route, but hopefully we’ve come to terms with the fact that this journey is more of a marathon than a sprint.  And hey, you may find that as you proceed along your resolution road trip and you revisit your PoA, some of the things that made you initially curl up your nose may become a little more appealing - so keep an open mind.

As we look to develop habits which will help us endure this road trip until our final destination, we must surround ourselves with things that make us smile.  It sets us up for being able to sustain these behaviours once we have reached our destination.  Arriving at our final destination smiling makes staying there a lot more promising.

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

Do you really want to achieve the goal of losing those last 8 pounds of weight hanging on post-pregnancy in 3 months – only to put it back on?  Do you really want to “quit” smoking for 6 months – and then restart?  The efforts and dedication that we put into achieving these results seems pointless if we simply revert back to the way we were and the habits we had.

Today’s tip looks at making these results stick rather than just being a flash in the pan.

TIP #4 - THINK LONG-TERM

I KNOW WE WANT RESULTS NOW!  I get it.  But do me a favour for a second and rack your brain to think of how many people you know that have achieved great results through a quick-fix diet, or obsession with fitness and actually maintained these practices, and subsequently, maintained their results.  Think of all the popular diet approaches: Atkins, South Beach, Slim Fast, Body by Vi -  how many people do you know who made incredible progress on these programs, achieving their expectations and beyond, only to revert back to pre-program condition (or worse) at the conclusion.  How many of the goals that you are setting have you previously set out to accomplish (and maybe succeeded in accomplishing)?  Is this another attempt?  Obviously there something in your methodology that prevented it from "sticking"... so let's start thinking "long term".

I can inundate you with quotes:

“Rome wasn’t built in a day”
“Good things come to those who wait”
“Slow and steady wins the race”
“Patience is a virtue”

AND THEY'RE ALL THE TRUTH.

Don’t sabotage your ability to sustain your progress by finding quick-fixes and trying to take short-cuts.  Commit fully to achieving your goals, but don’t become impatient.  Your commitment indicates that you are in this for the long-haul, so buckle up and enjoy your ride to success.  Develop habits which you can sustain for the duration of your quest and beyond – nothing stinks more than achieving your goal and then falling back into old patterns and subsequently returning to where you began this whole process.

Don't try to change everything at once.  In formulating your goals, plan out the series of small steps that you are going to take to get you to your end result.  Remember Dr. Leo Marvin’s book in the movie “What About Bob?”  Take baby steps.  Ease into it.

“Baby steps to working out 5 days a week”
“Baby steps to eating a healthier, more nutritious diet”
“Baby steps to getting more rest”

That said, these baby steps are not excuses to procrastinate.  They are a chance to develop habits and let them stick before presenting yourself with new challenges.

Resolve yourself right now to the fact that you are not going to get results overnight.  This will take time.  Whether the goals that we sit down and set for ourselves at the beginning of the year are deemed “short-term” (1 to 3 months) or “long-term”(6 months and beyond), these are just the due dates that we are establishing for ourselves (if you looked at the S.M.A.R.T. mnemonic for goal-setting, this represents the “time-oriented” component).  We want the changes that we are about to make to be sustainable for a lifetime.

See ya tomorrow...

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

Well, the world was supposed to end on December 21st so na na na na boo boo to the Incan calendar and Nostradamus (yeah apparently he predicted that when “Gangnam style” hit a billion views, it’d be lights out planet Earth – Google it, you’ll see).

Well, we made it, and holy shitballs it’s January 1st!!!

Doesn’t the act of putting up the new calendar necessitate us getting busy making resolutions? 

I’m definitely not a descendant of any ancient  Andrean civilization nor am I of de Nostradame lineage (am I Dad?) but I’ll make a little prediction (actually I’m poaching someone else’s research here) in stating that only 8% of people who make new year's resolutions will be able to succeed at them entirely to their satisfaction.

Statistics from a 2012 study by the University of Scranton:
·   Losing weight is the #1 most common resolution;
·   46% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions;
·   76% maintain their resolutions through the 1st week, 46% go past 6 months;
·   39% of people in their 20's fulfill their resolution, while only 14% over the age of 50 do.

We do it year after year… in fact we’re encouraged to do it, but why do we so commonly fail at fulfilling our resolutions? 
(I’m going to continue by being a little more specific to fitness “resolutions”, but I do feel that these same thoughts are applicable to resolutions in other facets of our lives as well).

1.    We don’t set our goals appropriately.  Either we aim too high or too low.  We set out with an “all-or-nothing” approach, leaving us feeling deprived and frustrated, or we allow ourselves too much leeway, excuses creep in and before we know it we’re right back where we started. 
2.    We proceed with  too much gusto. You’ve heard the expression, "Rome wasn't built in a day"?  Well our goals aren’t going to be achieved overnight regardless of how gung-ho we are.
3.    We lack knowledge.  We think that the internet and/ or a subscription to [insert magazine title in the area of interest here] will garner us the knowledge that we require to achieve our goals. 
4.    We don’t see results fast enough.  Results take time and consistent effort.  It’s a marathon – not a sprint.
5.    We have no concept of improvement.  People fail to objectively monitor their progress.  Small improvements become overshadowed by the fact that we haven’t met our goal yet.   
6.    We lack true conviction.  The word “resolution” is defined as the act of resolving to do (or not do) something… the making of a firm decision, and undertaking this decision with determination.  But I think we’ve come to  place some mystical power in the word.  We’re led to believe that “if we say it out loud, then it will come to pass” and this gives us false hope and removes the need for the determination which is engrained in the definition of the word.  January 1st rolls around and “Oh, it’s resolution time again… hmm… what do I want to do this year?”

Unfortunately, changing a habit(s) takes effort – there’s no easy way to make it happen, no genie will pop out and grant us our wish, and ultimately the question arises, “how badly do you want it”? Unfortunately, far too often, not badly enough.

I was recently asked to write down 5 tips to help succeed in achieving your goals in the New Year… well, I didn't stop at 5 and I came up with what I feel are 7 valuable suggestions to help you set off on the right foot, beat the Vegas odds, and hopefully achieve what it is you’ve said you want to do.

My 7 tips for successful Resolutioning:

1.    Start now.
2.    Set goals and make a plan
3.    Enjoy it
4.    Think long-term
5.    Don’t think perfect… think  “better” 
6.    R&R
7.    Get help 

Over the next 7 days, I will discuss each one of these points in a little more depth, so stay tuned...

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

"It’s being widely broadcast that we as a nation have a serious problem which directly affects the health of our country.  We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic and even more significantly an epidemic of childhood obesity (almost a third of Canadians aged five to 17 are overweight or obese).  For the first time in history, our children will die at a younger age then their parents due to the poor health habits that have been passed on to them.

Fellow Canadians,

Over the past decades we have done you and your families the disservice of misinforming you about the foods that you eat, the foods that you should eat and the foods that you shouldn’t eat.  We have been swayed by corporate contributors to support products and campaigns which have significantly contributed to the plight which we now face.  And even now, as we stare down the barrel, we wince, drawing up schemes and plans to appease the concerned masses, but truly know that these will never rectify the damage that we have caused.

We are not sure where to begin, or who to target in our approach.  Do we now try to re-educate the adults whom we have misled for so long by allowing food manufacturers and bodies with vested interests to tote bogus nutritional claims of being healthy options?  Is it too late to teach the “old dogs new tricks”?  Do we focus on educating the future consumers – our children, so that when they’re old enough to make household decisions, they do so wisely, armed with knowledge and clarity?  We have spent millions of dollars, tax payers’ dollars, in attempts at “health promotion”, all the while flirting with the people who have leveraged us to lie to you and being swayed by corporate contribution to continue, and even propagate these mistruths. 

Recently it has been proposed that some of the strategies that were used to make an impact on tobacco use be used to alert consumers of poor food choices and the negative impact that these may have on your health.  But we’ve read the studies, and know that scare tactics do not work for food related behaviours yet we stand before you proposing that this is the way.  We tote our tobacco model  as a success in curtailing usage, yet we pick-and-choose only a few of the strategies utilized in this model  - taxation, scary pictures and some restrictions on sales.  Our tobacco model removed products from drug stores due to the conflicting health impact of these products.  Fearful that young consumers were being targeted and using these products without a true appreciation for the negative health impact we imposed age-restrictions on purchase – yet we are weary to take such aggressive measures to curtail the purchase and use of products which now have a more negative health impact than that of tobacco use.  Most provinces have passed legislature to prevent youths from utilizing tanning services due to the health impact that was being observed as a result of excess usage.

But we have a different relationship with food – it’s a necessity.   We need food to survive, and because of this we know that the approach that we have to take has to be even more aggressive… and honest.

But to be honest – we don’t know how to proceed.  Without wasting more time and money, we don’t even know where to begin.  There are obvious financial implications to any decision that we make and we are scared to do what is absolutely necessary to rectify the problem that we have caused.  

Projections indicate that our Health Care system is in grave danger (and yes, unfortunately that pun is intentional) due to the health costs that will result from the poor food choices that we have allowed you to make through our own negligence and greed.  The System which helps to identify us as a country, and separates us from our southerly neighbours is at risk of failure in the very near future, yet we are weary of offending, scared of losing the generous support that our corporate contributors provide, and fearful of the inevitable failure should our attempts not succeed.

We come before you humbled, conscious of ills that we have done, embarrassed by our actions, ashamed of breaching the trust you’ve put in us as leaders and ask you the consumer to now help us.   We need your help!"