Last weekend, Nova Scotia experienced its first mud run/ obstacle race.  Mud Hero toted a 6km long run across diverse terrain, 16 obstacles along the way including walls to scale, slides and fireman’s poles to descend, beams and cargo nets to traverse, all covered with lots of mud… and let’s not forget that this all took place on a ski hill. 

In the past few years, obstacle racing has experienced a rate of growth that may be unprecedented in the history of participatory sports, and registration for this event was so popular that a second day of racing was created to meet the demand.

Their website states that:

“Mud Hero is the ultimate place to scale new summits. Conquer your fear of muck, madness and mayhem and embrace your love of friends, fitness and fun. Crush your inner wimp as you crank your adrenaline to push yourself and your fellow Heroes to the finish (without spilling over laughing).”

I, of course, was somewhat of a sceptic.  The first ever mud run… at a ski hill… it’s going to be a clusterf@#$. Parking.  Too many “keeners” jacked up on too much Redbull.  Absolute chaos with all the different starting "waves”.  Backlogs at the obstacles along the way.  It’s going to be a nightmare.  BOY WAS I WRONG!

EVERYTHING that I've heard following the event has been overwhelmingly positive.  I am thoroughly impressed, and tip my hat to the event organizers at Crazy Canuck Events.

As I listened to the recaps of last Saturday, I began to think of all the subtle life lessons that could be taken from this muddy, gritty experience:

Lesson 1
Sometimes life gets a little messy.  That's okay.  Make the most of it.  Don’t let a little muck get ya down.  Pulling through the other side of a mess it what growth and learning are all about.

Lesson 2
It’s not always the obstacles that are hard – sometimes it’s the journey in between.  I’m sure climbing over those walls was a son-of-a-gun, and sliding down the fireman’s pole was nerve-wracking for some... but I bet none of them compared to running up and down a ski hill. 

Lesson 3
The obstacles in our way may not be as tough as we envisioned… or how we view them from a distance.  We create visions of daunting obstacles and devastating obstructions along our journey and when we finally get there... they're actually not that bad.  Stay positive.

Lesson 4
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat”.  We often look at a situation and see two solutions: follow the masses and plow through it or avoid it all together.  Far too often we can tackle these situations with a little creativity (or craziness) - we can go over, go under, stray a little from the pack and create our own style or “hells yeah”, take the bull by the horns and plow on through – we don’t have to get stuck in the black-and-white.  Sometimes we can conquer a fear or prove that we’re a little stronger or better prepared than we thought by overcoming that barrier…

Lesson 5
… or sometimes going around is the wise decision.  Now, as much as I’m saying “buckle down and overcome”, there are times when the wise, excuse-free choice may simply be to circumvent an obstacle.  This might change our course a bit and may make our journey a bit longer, but the important thing is that we end up back on track headed forward in our journey.  Be honest with yourself when answering the question, “why can’t I do this?”

Lesson 6
Don’t be afraid to reach out for a helping hand – you might be surprised.  You’ll be shocked at the camaraderie that some of those seemingly super-serious, GoPro-sporting, Camelbak-toting, Vibrams-wearing super-studs (and I use that term in a gender-neutral manner) display.  Don't be afraid to ask for help (and don’t be afraid to be that person who glances over their shoulder to see if you can pull someone over when you reach the top).  Karma’s a son-of-a-gun!

Lesson 7
Sometimes all the mud won’t come clean and you’re left with a little reminder.  Despite how much you scrub or what chemicals you use, that nice white t-shirt is always gonna be a little off-white and the eyelets of your sneakers will always have a bit of mud caked in them as a permanent reminder of your journey.  It’s okay to wear those badges with pride – you were brave enough to step up to the start-line and to get a little dirty.

Lesson 8
The correlation between our efforts and the results attained is a valuable one.  The preparation that we put into something is pretty much guaranteed to be reflected in the outcome that we achieve. 

Lesson 9
It’s not always about speed (and those of you who know me, can attest to how tough that is for me to write).  The fastest competitors completed this event in a little over 33 minutes.  The slowest.... well .... who cares?  Not only were they brave enough to start, they were strong enough to finish – and who am I to talk, I didn’t even put my sneakers on!

To all those people who completed this event… Congratulations.  I'll see ya next year!

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).

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).

Didn’t think I’d be back huh??

Well, like I said yesterday, over the next week, I’m  going to delve a little deeper into each of my 7 thoughts for successful resolution-making.

So without further ado, here’s Tip #1

TIP #1 - START NOW!

I know you all want to hear my thoughts and read all about the 7 fantastic tips that I have for making your resolutions a success this year (and I appreciate it), but my first piece of advice is this: “Don’t wait – start now!”

Figure out what it is that you really want to achieve.  Write it down.  This begins a working document of sorts that you can begin to tinker and tailor throughout the upcoming week and beyond.  Writing these ambitions down makes them more than just a thought.

Start to think about how you are going to bring these to fruition… and as you do this, think about implementing these action-steps NOW!  Maybe it’s on a smaller scale than intended, maybe it’s a little different than you thought the important thing is that you start!

Don’t wait to find time to go shopping for a new outfit, or for the most up-to-date issue of Mens Health to arrive before starting your routine.  Don’t wait for the next pay-check so you can join the gym.  There are things that you can do right now to begin working towards your goals.

“But my goal is to go to the gym 3 days a week and I don’t have the money to join right now”. 
Start working out at home!  Set aside the time that you were allotting for the gym and use this to do some exercises at home – form the habit of including physical activity into your week.  And hey, this foundation you are laying might serve you well when it comes time to transition into the gym.

“I’m waiting for my first issue of Runners World that Uncle Johnny gave me for Christmas.  The January issue always has great beginner tips in it.” 
I’ll pretty much guarantee that one of the first tips is to run!  So go for a jog.  See how it feels.  Take it easy if you’re worried about overdoing it, but you know what… you’ve just taken the first step towards achieving your goal of running.  Okay, okay, you run to the mailbox everyday to see if the magazine is there – I get it.

You can come up with every explanation in the book as to why you can’t or shouldn’t start immediately.  BAD START, and very few of them are legit (even though you'll convince yourself that they are).  When your new magazine or fancy workout gear arrives, you can see if changes can be/ need to be made.  Continuously putting off starting doesn’t help you get any closer to where you want to be.  Take that first step – you won’t regret it!

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!"