Yesterday, last week and last year are all dead and gone. You can learn from the experiences in those times, but you shouldn’t dwell in the past. There’s nothing you can do to change what you did or did not do in the past.

Tomorrow is almost here and can bring unknown experiences.

But, those experiences may never come to fruition if you don’t put in the effort today.

Instead of focusing on what you want to change from the past or what could happen in the future, focus on the small things you can pay attention to today.

This is easier said than done. I struggle with this quite often, as well. Instead of doing the small things consistently, I think of what I should of changed one, two or three years ago. Or, I’ll think of how great things will be when XYZ happens.

It takes a self-slap to the face to wake up and realize it doesn’t matter what happened in years past. Things will be great when XYZ happen, but XYZ will never happen if I don’t take a few steps forward today.

Instead of consistently doing the simple steps (like sending an email/Facebook post like this one out three times a week) I need to take to grow my personal training business, I’ll think about the business mistakes I made in the past. Or, I’ll think about what everything is going to be like once I grow to X amount. That goal is only going to be a fantasy unless I do a little better today.

I’ll think about some of the things I wish I would of done with Crystal (the wife) and I’s relationship in the weeks and months prior instead of figuring out one thing I can do today to make it 1% better.

This is how your health and fitness should be thought of:

You beat the crap out of yourself for having a few appetizers and a marg or two at happy hour last night so badly that you can’t even realize those things were a small blip on the radar when it comes to your long-term success. Instead of thinking about yesterday, think about what you can do today to get back on track.

Instead of saying, “I’ll start working out once I’ve lost 20 pounds…” This one still baffles me. Instead of looking into the future where you magically lose 20 pounds without effort, how about you start off with a simple workout you can do at home or 15 minute walk around the neighborhood?

If you want to get yourself to your fitness goals, you’ll have to put in the focus now and win the day.

Doing something small, such as a 15 minute walk or planning your meals and grocery list for the week, each and every day will do more for your goals than sitting around thinking of what you should of done or what you’d like things to be in the years to come.

Will you win the day?

I’m sure you’ve done this yourself or known someone who has said this phrase before (I know I’ve heard it plenty of times).

Imagine someone is rocking and rolling with their fitness routine.

They’re getting in their 2-4 strength sessions per week, staying active by consistently hitting around 10,000 steps per day, sleeping like a rhino who’s been hit by five tranquilizer darts and sticking with their nutrition plan 90% of the time.

All seems good and well.

Nothing is going to interrupt the progress they’ve made and the momentum they’ve built.

Until…

Life happens (Or, shit happens, if that resonates with your personality a little better).

Your kid gets sick.

You have a big deadline at work approaching which is stressing you out.

You have a new baby.

Or, your favorite college football team loses the absolute worst team in the conference…

Whatever it is, you let it disrupt the momentum you’ve built with your fitness.

Folks will try to put their fitness and getting into shape on hold while they work out the problem.

Problem is, your body doesn’t allow you to “hold on.”

You’re either getting better or getting worse.

We don’t get the luxury of simply pushing the pause button with our fitness.

Stop showing up to the gym for your strength training sessions 2-4 times per week?

You’re going to lose muscle and strength, resulting in it being harder for you to lose weight.

Not hitting around 10,000 steps per day?

You won’t be able to eat as much of your favorite foods without gaining weight. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough of a reason to get my happy feet walking.

Eating like a child who orders their food by the cartoon character on the box?

You’ll gain weight, feel like death glazed over and have zero energy.

No bueno, my friend.

You won’t always have to be 100% committed to improving your health (you rarely have to be at 100%, honestly). You can take a week off here and there, go on vacation or deal with a personal issue,

But, you’ll have to regain focus and hop back on the gains train sooner rather than later.

If you don’t?

You’ll end up back where you started and starting all over again is the most frustrating part. Knowing how far you came only to allow one of life’s tests to kick you in the gut and sending you back down the hill.

Don’t put your health and fitness on hold.

Were you ever told you you HAVE to do cardio to lose weight?

Or if you’re trying to get stronger, should you even do cardio?

If you’ve been in the weight room for an appreciable amount of time, you’ve inevitably struggled with one of the big lifts at some point.

You squat and deadlift cars with little effort, but your bench press blows chunks.

The amount of weight you deadlift and bench press scares small children. Your squat, on the other hand, makes those same children shake their heads in embarrassment.

Or, your bench press and squat make juiced up baseball players from the 90’s jealous. But you can’t deadlift said players jock straps of the ground. Read More

Have you ever had life throw you a right hook when when you were expecting a left jab?

Life just punched you square in the face. What an asshole.

Unless you’re a trust fund kid with  no responsibilities or a hobo, again, with no responsibilities, you’ve had days go not so according to plan. Read More

Being a guy, it’s in your nature to be a little on the competitive side.

You always have to be the best whether you’re at work grinding for a promotion, playing your friends in a “friendly” game of corn hole at a barbeque, or dominating your local beer league softball game.

Let’s be honest, if you’re rounding third and heading for home to score the game winning run, you’re going to slide into home despite the fact you’re wearing shorts and the strawberry you acquire on your thigh will cause a slight limp when walking for the next week.

This situation is described as if it’s happened before…

Other than the fact it’s just plain fun to compete against others, it has a significant effect on your health, as well. Read More

When I write there’s often times when I don’t have the slightest clue as to what is going to appear on the screen. Many times, I’m working on an article for my website, but other times not. Most of the nonsense writing has the sole purpose of making sure I write something for the day.

Instead of deleting those incoherent pieces of garbage (they’re not garbage, but it’s hard to call them anything when they don’t have a definitive purpose), I’ll begin to put them up on the website.

Read More

Think back to your glory days during gym class.

Remember the test where a fellow classmate would hold your ankles down and you’d do as many sit-ups as you could in one or two minutes?

Of course you always had the kid who loved to dig his bony little knees into the top of your feet just to be an asshole.

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How often do you think about the health of your internal plumbing?

You’re probably focusing on everything you can change in the mirror. No one is blaming you. It’s one hell of a feeling to wake up and see less cushion around your belly. Or the proud moment when you fit into a pair of pants you haven’t been able to button since college.

Your guts aren’t causing embarrassment when you take your shirt off in front of your wife, so there’s no need to think about it. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Read More