Process

I have noticed more and more lately that most of our culture is not willing to go through the appropriate process that is needed for growth and success. We are always trying to look for the easy way out...i.e...diet fads, get rich quick schemes, run your first marathon in 3 weeks or hard work is no longer the norm for our graduates. There is a process to everything in this world no matter the situation or scenario. When one starts with level A and skips B through Y hoping for Z they may experience success at times but I can guarantee that the success will not last and they will have missed the growth phase of the journey needed to reach Z.

The picture above is the one and only way to take a nap. There is something very comforting about having a little one all snuggled into you with nothing else in her mind other than how much her dad loves her. Raising little ones is the epitome of following the process and letting it take its time to develop into something special. From breast feeding to bottle feeding to eating solid foods...from laying still to crawling to walking/running...from blank stairs to baby talk to saying her favorite word "DA DA"...from diapers to potty training to taking her to the store for big girl undies...all of these are a process that can't be interrupted at any point in time or else the growth process is altered (except for some reasons my girls try to skip crawling and go straight to walking).

The PROCESS surrounds us in everything we do 24 hours a day 7 days a week. From our physiology constantly trying to maintain a state of homeostasis, to your daily routines to developing goals in a macro/micro strategy. b

I can think of a couple examples of process that are exhibited in my day to day life. In the world of distance running and triathlon success is defined by following the process of consistent/smart training over years. Yeah you may have incredible results early but to truly tap into success in the sport its a process of waking up each and every day realizing that every workout you do has an impact on tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. As a coach I typically try and educate my athletes that each workout or training session is a stepping stone towards success later on. Its best to follow the process now and understand the effort your giving will help you down the line. I know lots of athletes that become January/February champions in that they push the process to far or jump out of line to early in the season and pay for it come June, July and August when those of us that followed the process are passing them on the race course.

 Another process that I deal with daily is in the form of helping my patients get better. Being a health care practitioner I have tried over the years to not get emotionally involved into my patients injuries but I have come to the conclusion that its impossible. If a patient doesn't improve after one visit I typically will go home to my wife in frustration only for her to remind me of the process. The way I have practiced chiropractic over the years has evolved with both the knowledge I was taught and the knowledge that I learn via treating patients every day. I will rarely start treating the immediate area of pain on a patient. Dealing with a very athletic population I know deep down that the individual is more than likely routed in functional dysfunction. This is typically when I have to tell the patient that it was a process over a course of time in which they became injured. It is then up to me to focus on providing them with direction, guidance and the tools to heal not the main complaint but the dysfunction that has developed over time. If I jumped around in my diagnostic process and didn't put all the pieces in place then I can almost guarantee I would be out of a job as its usually a practitioner with a solid process that gets patients better.

What I challenge you to do is think through your day to day activities and identify what your process is. What do you do daily that supports your goals and efforts. Do you have a process of setting yourself up to succeed or does your process support defeat and constant below average results.

Make It Count!!!

Stress

Stress is a word which always carries a negative feeling when it is brought up in conversation. Many of my patients come in complaining of how stressed they are and how their upper back/shoulders feel like concrete, I hear friends talk about how the economy is affecting their business thus making them stress more about tomorrows pay check and I often see people who don't prioritize their day or goals fall into a state of panic or stress trying to find a way out their situation.

I always take pride in really not letting stress get to me but so far this year I have started to become friends with the negative side of it (will talk about positive stress later). Over the past couple weeks my wife and I have bought a house, are trying to sell ours, one of our cars transmissions died, we are both busy professionals, trying to keep up with three amazing, amazing girls, building a coaching business on the side, trying to carry out 10-15 hours a week of my own endurance training, lack of sleep due to a fast growing 8 month old and on top of it always trying to remain open to friends and family that need us.

Yesterday for about 15 minutes I will say I broke down  but then went to my safe haven. A 4000 meter, arm falling off, lung searing swim workout. There is something peaceful about seeing that blue line at the bottom of the pool. As hard as the workout was it allows my mind to wander and re-collect any negative thoughts that I might be allowing in. First off I realized that in the big picture I am extremely lucky to A) have an amazing family that surrounds me 24/7 and B) a healthy body and outlook that never slows down in the face of anything that tells me otherwise.

This now leads me into the positive affects of stress and in my day to day activities and mentality it falls into two categories...1) exercise and 2) is what I call "What are you gonna do about it". Everyone that exercises typically goes into a session or season with a particular goal in mind. i.e. loose weight, performance gains, competitive edge or just to feel good about ones self. After 15 years in triathlon I have come down to stress meaning constantly improving myself year after year. Whether its a workout like the one above or an easy run they both have a stress on the body that tomorrow, next month and later in the year will make me a better triathlete. The second stressor "What are you gonna do about it" is a little more broad. Most people have stress in their life of varying extend and situations but some people let the stress continue to build into there life is overwhelmed by what is stressing them. This is when I ask them "what are you gonna do about it"...when that stress comes on its the positive actions that are needed next to either solve the problem or start building the blocks needed to take you towards breaking out of the cycle. Once I started to fall into the negative stress cycle I describe above I quickly started to develop the steps needed to make every one of those stresses disappear.

Sometimes the answer is an easy fix and is quickly taken care of. Other times you need to be patient and know as long as you keep following the necessary path you will make it out on top.

The picture above is my daughters goals for 2014. The reason I share them is that goals can sometimes feel stressful and out of your comfort zone (stress) but when you surround yourself with the right people, gadgets, thoughts and most important your right frame of mind then anything can be accomplished.

Make It Count!!!

Success

Success is not something that happens randomly but is something that has foundation and is a by-product of putting the right pieces in place. I have recently been seeing all these posts on major media outlets about what the key factors for success are and if you don't do them then you will never succeed. I will agree that some of them have truth but at the end of the day we are all very individualized and need to survey what it is within ourselves that needs to be done to succeed.

The picture above (once again of a child of mine...I am telling you children expose the truth in life and if you just take a second to watch you will learn 50 different rules of how to be better) is of my little lady. It is a pretty basic picture and besides a cute smile and an outfit daddy dressed her in the picture itself doesn't describe much. However to me it explains in lots of detail what is needed to succeed. Over the past 2 weeks she has started to crawl (I think I have a sprinter and not distance runner if we can quantify her crawl times to the 40 meter dash), stand up and now survey the seen with intent to walk. All of these movements are littered with the idea of what it takes to succeed in my mind so follow my logic: 1) she had to figure out the cross crawl mechanism to start moving 2) she immediately found out that solid immovable objects were easier to stand up on compared to the opposite...she learned from her failures immediately 3) while standing she is taking small steps trying to understand how this balance game works 4) she stood without holding something for 20 seconds yesterday. This has all happened within a 2-3 week span and goes to show you that even though she took some tumbles along the way she didn't let the pain or failure stop her from reaching her goal.

I try and not push my ideas of success on other people but I do have 10 core beliefs that I like to implement in my life as when I follow these daily I always feel I can accomplish my goals.

1. Wake up not later than 5AM everyday...whether its to get training in or to self study...this is a time when the world is quite and I can build on who I am in peace.

2. Don't worry about what others will think of you. We live in a world where there will always be people trying to bring you down or suck the energy out of you.

3. Consistency. Nothing can be accomplished without a dose of consistency to get you there. In the world of triathlon success and accomplishing your race goals are only done with consistent intelligent training. There is no easy road or magic pill (well I guess there are magic pills but I wouldn't recommend going that route).

4. Never go to bed angry. For me this is telling my wife and children every night how much I love them. My wife and I have the greatest relationship because we are always open and don't harbor negative feelings.

5. There is nothing that one can't accomplish. Yeah failure might happen but learn from what didn't happen and next time around teach yourself the steps that need to be in place to move past that goal.

6. Always take the higher road and never talk negative about people either to their face or behind their back. I believe that this is a character flaw that exposes weakness and the person that talks negative of someone else typically has other shortcomings that will hinder their path to success.

7. You have to put yourself in uncomfortable positions in life as if you stick within the box of whats controllable/comfortable then you will never truly learn what type of individual you can become.

8. Never stop learning!!! Everyday try and snag a little nugget of information that will make you a better person. Life is about being well rounded so grab something that is not in your wheel house and educate yourself.

9. Teach. One way to concrete principles and ideas is to teach someone else. Educate them on the information you have learned. One of the joys of being a parent is that every day I wake up I have the gift of teaching my daughters something new. Also be willing to learn from the teacher also. Some people think they know everything and I can be the first to say...you don't know everything. I learn something new everyday from my kids, my wife, my patients, my self and the world around me.

10. Live in the now. Don't wait till tomorrow to start something that you could start today. Tomorrow is not guaranteed and there is not better time to start pursuing a goal than right now.

The joy of this blog is that I can share my thoughts with all of you. Some of you will take some of this information and start using it today. While some of you will laugh and move on in life. Either way at least you took the time to read what I had to say and I appreciate that.

As always I love to live via my mantra....MAKE IT COUNT!!!!

Planning Ahead and Challenging Yourself

Thanks for all the feedback from my daughters blog yesterday. She was so proud of it and kept asking me the rest of the day to see her writing on an internet site. I am excited for what the future holds in terms of the determination and drive some of our youth are capable of. I know when I was my daughters age everything revolved around sports and anything outside that was a waste of time. My wife and I still want our girls to engage in athletics but their drive for the intellectual/leadership side of life is all driven from them.

The picture above is my middle child who when I step back and look at posts I feel she is left out due to baby bragging and her older sister involved in everything. The thing with her is she likes the fancy sports but at the end of the day she enjoys pushing her brain with activities. I know that I have written posts about her before but some things to reiterate in regards to her personality are: perfectionist, 10 steps ahead of you in thinking, 100 percent confident in herself and always pushing the envelope on what she thinks is the right way of doing something.

I have learned a ton from this child and to this day outside of always supporting her and giving her all the love I can I think she is smarter than her dad. Just the other day she called me into the other room and she said watch dad...she continued to read 3 pages of a book her older sister is reading and then sing a song in Portuguese. I should have known from the beginning though that she would be the one that always mastered an activity with little effort. She was our only child (although the baby is almost there) to skip crawling and when she turned 8 months started to walk. The goofy part of it is my girls are tiny so seeing an 8 month old walking at the store was a strange sight to behold.

So at the end of the day while her older sister is pushing the limits of the physical side of life Brynn is pushing the limits of what a 5 year old can do intellectually. She plans ahead in her mind of what she wants to accomplish by laying the foundation of ideas today. I can't say that she really understands that what she is doing now will lead to success in the future but I also can't say for sure that she doesn't. I mean what 5 year old really thinks about what effects their actions will have. She also challenges herself daily to be better. She may not have the physical gifts her sister has but she will not back down from any challenge. The girl doesn't want any toys for Christmas but wants a Kindle Fire so that she can read....I love it!!!

So that leads me to the topic of this blog....Planning Ahead and Challenging Yourself. With only two weeks left in the year now is the time to start thinking of what you want to accomplish in the new year. Your actions today will lead to building towards what you want to accomplish starting in January. If weight loss is the goal then don't go crazy during the holidays eating everything in site because you know Jan 1 things will be different. Instead starting today start making small lifestyle changes that will make that goal in the new year a little easier. I also ask you to start challenging yourself and living outside your comfort zone. The most successful people in life are constantly trying to push themselves to the next level. With this drive comes some failure but there is no success story that didn't encounter failure at some point in the journey. Don't let the word NO or I CAN'T be a part of your vocabulary. These words are common with people who tend to fall short of their goals. One way to push yourself outside of yourself is to play a game that my wife and I started to do this week. Each day we start the day with a challenge to the other person. The benefit of this is someone else is coming up with the challenge so almost instantly you will be pushed outside your normal thought process. I will say that after only three days of this routine my wife and I have seen a drastic difference in our view on life and the small rewards it has already given us.

I am grateful for everyone that takes a moment out of their busy days to read my blog. I 100% promise if you just implement a few of the random ideas I throw out that you will notice immediate positive improvements in your life. I know I constantly am searching for perfection in my life and most days I can tell you that I am just about there.

Enjoy the holiday season, tell the ones around you how much they mean to you and most of all Make It Count!!!

Give Back

So as I sat down to write my bi-weekly blog today, I was pleasantly interrupted by my 7 year old. With their creative minds flowing today due to their second snow day in a row she stated "Dad why don't you let me write the blog for you this week." My mind didn't even hesitate but blurted out almost immediately that I would be honored for her to do such a thing. So what follows is everything that she wrote so I hope every one enjoys her words.

Give Back....by Avery

Christmas is not about getting gifts or presents it is about giving to the poor and people who need because they need more then you because they do not have that much money, food, clothing, toys, books, games and other stuff. You should give to the poor or toys for tots this Christmas because they are looking forward to you.

What I am grateful for...by Avery

I am grateful for my family
I am grateful for my aupair
I am grateful for my school
I am grateful for my cozy home
I am grateful for my cousins
I am grateful for my sister
I am grateful for my friends
I am grateful for my grandmas
I am grateful for my dad
I am grateful for my mom
I am grateful for my carrigan
I am grateful for my brynn
I am grateful for my neighborhood
I am grateful for my relatives
I am grateful for my teacher
I am grateful for my uncle
I am grateful for my aunt
I am grateful for my bus driver
I am grateful for my religion
I am grateful for my coach

So there you have it...the two blog entries that she wanted me to post this week. I am blessed to have amazing little girls with wonderful drive and determination (must be from their mom).

Everyone stay safe this holiday season and make sure to always...Make It Count!!!!

Grateful

I will keep this one short as today is Thanksgiving Day. Today in my mind is one of the best days of the year for many reasons but the top three reasons that come to mind are...1) Family, Family, Family...without them in our life we are lost and lacking one of the most important support systems we have 2) Fitness/health...its one day out of the year where lots of people wake up (usually to cold temps) and get out of the house to run, walk, trot or crawl some sort of Turkey Trot 3) This one might step on the feet of number two but FOOD...I absolutely love the food that is served on turkey day. Maybe one of the reasons that the food is so good also is that it is prepped at home for hours and with lots of love instead of some store bought garbage.

Thanksgiving Day is also a day in which we should recognize how grateful we are for what we have in our life. Each year I love to put these down on paper as it reminds we of how special our lives are the rewards of all our hard work each day of the year. Its also important to tell those close to you how much they mean to you. Sometimes we can get so focused on the process that we forget to take a second to tell those around you THANKS for all that they do.

My list of things I am grateful for is to long for this blog so I will keep it to a top ten list today:

1. My three little ladies. Without them my life would truly be empty. They are hands down the most important things I have in this life and everything I do all comes back to those three very special little ladies in my life.

2. My wife. I know she should just be part of number one but she deserves a point all to herself. In ten years of being married to her she has not once complained about any of my antics. She constantly supports me 110% which I know can be hard at times. She works harder than anyone I know professionally with the sole purpose of providing for her family and I want her to know that the girls and I are so grateful for her.

3. Friends. I am not going to list out any individuals but I am grateful that life drove me towards this uber passion of running/triathlon. If you have never hung out with this crowd then you are missing out. This community revolves around support and always putting themselves second behind helping someone first.

4. Chiropractic. The reason I am grateful for my profession is that I get to go to work every single day and make an immediate impact in someones life. There is not waiting to see if surgery worked or if some medication will make a change. I get to physically work on a patient and make an immediate positive change. I have had patients come in with tears of joy that after years of discomfort I was able to provide them with the relief they were seeking.

5. Failure. Without failure in my life I would never be able to reach the next level of success. I love failure as it is the ultimate professor of success. I get to learn what I did wrong and adjust everything that is needed to make that failure a success the next time around. Don't shy away from failure but engulf the experience and learn from it.

6. Health. I can't say that I have always been focused on health but my education and personal desire to always want to be better has led me to leading a healthy lifestyle. I am grateful that my daughters would rather eat fruits and vegetables than a bag of chips. I am grateful for being able to wake up each day and press forward without anything getting in my way. I am not big on medication and believe that a lifestyle diet, exercise and positive mental thoughts are the most powerful medication we have. Take time now to make the right choices in your life as I can promise that they will lead you to a happier life later in life.

7. Family. I think I tried to invite about 50 patients/friends to my house this holiday season as I hate when people don't have people around them to spend this time with. I have been blessed with an amazingly supportive family base in my life. My parents never told me I couldn't do anything but knew I had to fail at times to understand life more. I appreciate everyone in my family as I know no matter how bad life can get they will always be there for me.

8. Success. Success has led me to keep pushing the limit of what I can accomplish. In my mind there is nothing that I can't accomplish in this world. Success allows me to experience many levels of joy and internal peace. Success has also allowed me to give back to those who are less fortunate whether in financially or words of wisdom success allows you the power to change someones life.

9. Humble. I purposely put this behind success as I think its an important concept for individuals to learn in life and something my wife and I are trying to teach our daughter after her recent success's in running (actually everything she does). Every once in awhile I look back on what I have done so far and it puts a smile on my face of the accomplishments I have obtained. I could use that and be very arrogant but that is a character flaw I am not fond of. I think it takes a stronger person to be humble and praise other peoples achievements instead of brag about yours.

10. Freedom. At the end of the day without freedom a lot of the previous 9 items might be more difficult to appreciate. I am grateful for everyone that wakes up in the morning whether over seas or on US soil with the main goal of keeping our country safe. I give THANKS to all military members who are waking up on Thanksgiving away from their families as they protect our freedom.

Make sure at some point today you share with yourself, your family or your friends what you are grateful for. If you have a hard time coming up with anything than at least starting from that point on you know that you can make your life that much more rich by starting to build you list.

One last point as I have been working towards it all month. November is also known as Movember and for those who are not familiar Movember is us males version of breast cancer awareness month. During the month of November men are suppose to not shave and grow facial hair with a mustache being the ultimate goal. The goal is to raise awareness for health issues that affect men in particular...i.e. testicular cancer, prostate cancer and even breast cancer. This is my second year in a row trying to spread the word and below you will find my most recent Movember photo.

So on this day of thanks go forth and enjoy everything that you are blessed with and realize that life is ever evolving so if you are not happy with your situation today then you have the power to make a change.

Make It Count!!!

Time

When the word time is used in our day to day language or thought process how is it defined in your world? Most people refer to time in regards to being stuck on Interstate 95 with only 10 minutes till work starts and they are an hour away. Some people refer to time in regards to how long they will wait at the local eating establishment to be seated. Then there are people who view time in regards to how many minutes are left until the weekend. Over the past year I have started to view time in a different manor. Time to me stands for making sure that each day I make the most out of my time on this earth as I have learned that nothing is guaranteed.

Above you will see pictures of the the man in which this whole blog started. I am bringing up Jimmy once again in my blog as one year ago on Thanksgiving my family had the joy of spending the day with Jimmy and his family. The day was surrounded by food, drinks, a touch football game and more important the sight that no one could tell Jimmy was dealing with brain cancer. His strength and will to fight the fight over powered the tumor that was trying to overtake his brain. He showed everyone that even when life just doesn't seem fair you don't have to give up and throw in the towel. Life is all about what you make it and Jimmy was going to make the most of what time he had. The picture on the bottom was 6 months later days before cancer won the fight but not the battle (just would like to note Jimmy was a die hard Bears fan all the way to the end...I knew there was a reason we bonded so well). He fought all the way to the end making the most of his days and trying to leave a lasting impression on the world of the great man that he was.

What can we learn from Jimmy and just about every person that has been given that diagnosis of Cancer? I think we can learn that each and every one of us has the strength and will to make life (time) count. My question to you is why wait until something negative in your life happens that forces you to change? Start today and build on the person you want to become. We all have goals or bucket list items in our life. Why wait and keep pushing off your dreams when the day may come where time is not your friend. Act today and forge ahead pursuing the goals you have stirring in your head.

Here is an action plan that works...pick a goal, skill you want to obtain, a dream vacation, potential new career and follow this strategy. On a piece of paper write down 30 days, 60 days and 90 days. Now under those headlines start filling in what you need to do in that time frame to conquer your goals.

Time is the one thing that will always be there but also can be pulled out from underneath us in the blink of an eye. Why wait to make a difference when we have the power to make the most of our time on earth. I will always guarantee to Jimmy that I will not waste what I have been given and I will keep pushing to make sure I prove to him and the world that I can make a difference.

Make It Count!!!