Leadership

FOLLOW OR FOLLOWED

For the greatest rewards in life - be the one who others follow. Stay true to your beliefs, set an example for the possible and be the one who people chose to seek for advice and guidance. It takes a lot of courage and determination to push through when others would fail - but being the living proof that you can succeed against the odds will help others to see where they can also also achieve great things with their lives.

Musical Motivation

DON'T STOP BELIEVING

Music is the perfect mood enhancer. Having some uplifting tunes ready at hand is the easiest way to lift a spirit! It's amazing how we can turn a grumpy, negative person into one that's carefree and fun to be with.

Create some playlists of your own, or try some new ones on YouTube, Rdio, Spotify or iTunes. We now have a couple of tunes playing that we do our 3 minute planks to help us get through the challenge in the mornings. Every time I hear the intro for Survivor's Eye of the Tiger, it makes me feel happy and ready to tackle these once-dreaded planks and can lift my spirits for any given challenge. Journey's Don't Stop Believing caries us through to the end of the session and gets us ready for the rest of the day and whatever it may bring!

Continue Onwards

PUSH THROUGH FOR BIGGER REWARDS

I've been feeling a little below par the last couple of days. I've been having some fun - so maybe the focus has dropped a little... Truth be told, the previous couple of weekends have been a little boozy, so I'm a tad run down, tired and struggling to find motivation. My resolve is at a low ebb when it needs to be strong. Now is a key time for me to step up working towards something new and great. The last 6 months have all been in the right direction for me to do this and there's still a lot more work to do if I'm going to get there. It's just that the goals, which are temporarily out of sight, don't feel within my grasp at this moment in time. But, I know in my heart, that they will be again once I turn the next corner and if I choose to stay on this right path.

Looking this morning at great feats others have achieved in their lives, I've stumbled across another apt post from James Clear - someone who's been writing a blog consistently for 2 years and who's become somewhat of an inspiration for me (and many others). Yet again, his writing has come at the perfect time to help nudge me on when I could so easily have downed tools this morning and allowed my goals to slip.

When Success Is Just Around The Next Corner
It's great having someone to nudge us on/motivate us - but we can do this ourselves too. We just need to remind ourselves of why continuing onwards will bring the solutions and this can easily be achieved by simply revisiting a time of where we've had our previous successes.

I've just been thinking back to the past moments when I've pushed through in times of doubt. And there's been quite a few instances jumping to mind where I've convinced myself and others to keep going that bit further. So many people in this situation don't make it. they don't push on nd don't have the success to fall back on and remind them. Just knowing I can be in that other small group that do push on - spurs me on every time to attempt success. It's funny how it always seems so hard to do at the time yet so insignificant looking back after the event has finished. And it's also worth remembering that it's always those extra pushes past the comfort zone that make for the best rewards.

Challenge Signifies A Reward
I've just realised that this moment in time is the greatest moment to be in! Already, my mood has lifted, because I know how it feels to go on when your mind or others tell you to stop or turn back. I've been here before. It's amazing how much sweeter the successes feels pushing on to the end when you falsely believe you can't go on any further. It's that last little bit between being an almost made it - to the person that's crossing the finish line, where the greatest benefits are found in everything we do. We all potentially have the strength to apply ourselves that extra bit, to make that last push towards the goal which is out of sight, but so close and just around the next corner.

Taking Responsibility

SELF MANAGEMENT

Question: Why do we need to be told what to do all the time? Answer: Because we are lazy with ourselves. Unless we have some authoritarian watching over us all the time, we skip class, take shortcuts, knock of early, slouch on the couch and procrastinate. Sometimes the watchful eye comes from parents, teachers, police, managers - and other times from our conscience or inner voice. By forming our tasks and goals into schedules, writing down progress and setting out a plan that can be stuck to, we'll be formulating a task that over time will become habit. The inner voice - your built in sergeant major, will kick you into gear.

Expert Help
I visited a really great physiotherapist in north London yesterday who has given me some exercises to do which should, over the next couple of weeks, start to show some improvements in my flexibility/movement on a damaged elbow & shoulder. I've set up a plan for the times I will follow these exercise routines and I'm confident that my health will improve if I stick to them.

My friend, who recommended this physio - has told me he doesn't do the exercises and this means that he'll take a lot longer to recover and the physio sessions will be tougher and ultimately, he'll pay a lot more than if he helped himself. The bottom line is that we must take responsibility for our health and be the tough authoritarian when we need to get things done in order to better ourselves.

Taking It Personal

PERSONAL TRAINING

Employing the services of a qualified Personal Trainer to help you achieve your goals, is the best way to get results you're after. Even with our best intentions and at our strongest willed, most of us just don't have the dedication to motivate ourselves to go through a gruelling and uncomfortable hour at the gym. We still have to step into the gym and put the effort in, but without the focussed training, we're going nowhere fast and that's why paying for the pro is so worth it. 

Hence, I've been having personal training since the beginning of the year with Zac - a super-fit PT who is himself training with Olympic Decathalon Gold Medalist - Daley Thompson. What I've got here, is someone who is dedicated to the pursuit of bettering himself and he's using this knowledge/wisdom to help better me.

What I've learned from doing sports and sports training over the last 20 years, are pretty basic assumptions. Get your heart rate up, sweat loads and if your muscles ache the next day, you're working out enough. Not a very focussed or measured approach. This is obviously not a good way to train and it's no surprise that I've got injuries and poor results. 

Getting In The Know

There are various ways to burn calories, keep a general level of joint mobility, improve heart & lung performance and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. If you jog for 30 minutes at an easy level or as I see many people doing, sit reading the paper whilst leisurely pedalling on a gym bike, you'll burn calories eventually but it's a going to be of a waste of gym time if you want killer abs. Understanding anatomy, metabolism, nutrition and the best ways to train are gonna help give you the tools for maximising the gym & training time. So, I've now signed up to be a Personal Trainer and this new found knowledge should help get the results even quicker. 

The First Milestone

ADJUSTING TO A NEW SLEEP PATTERN

I've managed to keep the 5am starts going for a whole week now! It was fine the first day, then the 2nd day I stayed a few minutes longer in bed quietly contemplating the day, the 3rd day was the same, I nearly fell back to sleep on day 4 and then day 5 onwards I've had a better way to get myself up and motivated.

The Key to getting up early:
– Bed early. Go to bed when you start to feel tired - I missed my slot a couple of days this week and struggled to get in...resulting in an even later time and less hours sleep
– Eat light. Eating a steak or or other types of meat, will generally take more energy to digest. So avoid anything heavy, start with a protein rich breakfast, have a substantial lunch and keep the evening meal plain/simpler, with fish, pulses and vegetables.
– Eat early. I try and eat before 7pm. I have a decent canteen at work, so this is easier for me to stick to, as like many people these days, working/travelling means I don't get home from work til after 7pm.
– DON'T have a snooze option. OK, so I nearly fell back to sleep on day 4 but having a sleep function gives your lazy voice the chance to kick in and convince you to stay in bed. Turn it off - remove the option for a snooze and you have to get up!
– Prepare yourself the night before. I tell myself that I'm getting up no matter what the voices tell me on waking. I have my list of things to do and everything at my work place ready in order before going to sleep.
– Use your inner drill sergeant. Mine says '1-2-3 UP!'
– Get a tight routine going. When the alarm goes, I first flood some oxygen into my body with 3 deep yoga breaths - then the voice kicks in and i'm up, into the kitchen to switch on the kettle, then bathroom, where I splash cold water in my face to wash the sleep out of my eyes, then back into the kitchen to have a 60ml shot of Aloe Vera, drink a glass of water and make a hot drink. I have my start routine down so I'm ready to go at 5.10.

The no drinking rule:
So this other rule also has a 1 week anniversary today. One of my best friends is having a 'wet the baby's head' tonight...in a pub of course. Whereas the girls get together and sew names on to baby grows, eat and drink maybe a glass of wine or two – it's traditional in the UK to get a few pints in - certainly that's the case in my circles. These are guys that like a drink (no food) and the same guys that rib me for my manliness - usually 'cos I'm in a brightly coloured jumper - and consequently, I'm usually the one ordering whiskey chasers by the end resulting in crashing on a sofa at someone's house and waking with a fuzzy head! So tonight will be a real test. It has to be zero alcohol - having one drink can slip into two, into three, 4
four, five...there never is a one - this is FACT. So I'll also want to avoid the caffeinated beverages and keep the sugar levels down too if I'm going to make 5am tomorrow. Not sure if I'll use the old antibiotics/medication cover story or be bold and come clean about my no-drinking rule. My sergeant major voice just chimed in - so I'll be bold!

The result of a week's no drinking and 5am starts...
I've been in a much more productive mood. The extra 3 hours in the morning are allowing me time to plan, organise and get down my ideas. I'm doing a 3hr session for myself when I'm at my optimum. Then the 8 hours at the office are more productive from the moment I arrive. I'm able to better react to situations where others are stressed - staying calm - responding with a smile, civil and forgiving attitude. I can see a clear path of actions by assessing the status quo morning and evening – writing this blog, I've taken ownership of my days rather than letting each one slip away – I've been able to lift my head and look around me to see what I'm normally oblivious to.

The first week has gone very well!
This is the fantastic view from my window last night...