Paradigm

A paradigm is the way you see something; its your point of view, frame of reference, or belief. Another word for paradigm is perception. Paradigm's can be helpful or hindering depending on your belief system and the confidence you have in yourself. Most often our paradigm's are forced upon us or formed via others opinions on us. How many times has someone told you that's impossible or you can't do something? How many times have you forced your views upon someone even though you knew it wasn't your place? Our perceptions are just that ours...we have the power to create a positive atmosphere within our belief system yet we also have the power (or lack there of) to create a demise in our beliefs thus always limiting the power to make the most of our lives and those around us.

The picture on the top is yet another picture or one of my children but like I have stated 100 times before we can learn so much from the youth if you just open your eyes. My daughter is number 23 and this is from an awesome youth duathlon in my region this summer. My point with this picture is while I watched every kid that morning every single one of them's perception was A) this is so much fun and B) I can win this. They have no perception's or doubts in their abilities. They don't let other kids or the competition get in their way of attempting to accomplish their goal. There is no talk of this is to hard or that hill is to steep. They show up with a smile and 100% belief that today is their day. What if you woke up every day and displayed the same confidence these kids do? What if you had 100% confidence in your abilities?

I want you to stop what you are doing right this second and answer the following question: Are your paradigms of yourself helping or hindering you? Negative self-paradigms are incredibly strong at putting limitations on what we can accomplish in the world. On the other hand positive self-paradigms can bring out amazing self creativity that will push you to accomplish dreams and goals you never though were possible.

Over the past year I have had the chance to meet two very incredible people who have both accomplished so much in their life and lead a life of nothing but doing their best to make the world a little better place to live. These two individuals don't know each other but unfortunately are tied together via multiple myeloma. The thing is and I hope I could be this strong is once they were diagnosed each of them instead of giving up made it their point to take their life and giving to the next level. There was no outward negative self pity but instead a show of inner strength came forward. Their self-paradigm grew into one of I am stronger than this and I will win. Due to how great of person they have been in their life the community has come out to support them and this is due to the energy they have displayed over time and the commitment to always be there for everyone else.

This leads me into my next project and one that I am so extremely excited to be a part of that my heart feels a sense of warmth and drive to be better.

Over the past 15 years I have engulfed myself competitively into the world of triathlon and I have enjoyed every single second of it. Its time to put some of that all about me self competitiveness aside  as over the next year I will be taking a step back from the competitive side of triathlon and instead using triathlon/Ironman more as a platform. My platform will be two fold in number one raising as much funds as I can for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and second trying to get across a story of inspiration and my mantra of Make It Count!!!!

Cancer has affected my family and close friends numerous times over the past couple of years and its time for me to use a passion of mine to fight a form of this terrible disease.

The following link will lead you to my fundraising page where you can read more about the cause and what I am trying to accomplish.

http://support.themmrf.org/site/TR/EnduranceEvents/EnduranceEvents?px=1781288&pg=personal&fr_id=1730

Thanks for your time and remember to MAKE IT COUNT!!!

Educate

I have been terrible at my posts this summer due to the schedule of keeping up with these three little ladies above. Between ER visits, triathlons, duathlons, soccer tournaments/practice, vacation, work, dance, camp and just trying to be the best parents we can be time seems to fly bye the older we get. Although even as crazy as we get I wouldn't trade out a single moment with these ladies.

This leads me to the topic of this blog post...Educate. I am not singling out our nations teachers or leaders but instead shifting focus to everyone who wakes up each day and takes a deep breath. We all have what I believe is a given responsibility to educate ourselves and those around us. Have a daily goal of learning something new. With technology and the ability to search anything on the internet spend 10, 20 or 30 minutes a day trying to educate yourself on something new. There is only positives that will come from this exercise as it will make you a more well-rounded individual.

The larger task at hand though is to take time each day and educate those around you. It can be anything from teaching a co-worker effective marketing strategies, to helping someone learn how to properly canvas the grocery store for food choices to spending 5 minutes educating your constantly depressed/negative friend on how much they have to live for and the good they can accomplish. Whether its a family member, a friend or a complete stranger we can all work together to make our days more effective through education. I am helping coach a local high school cross country team this fall and I am over the hills excited to share my knowledge and help the kids become better runners and even better individuals.

I have the luxury of seeing patients daily who are in acute pain or just want to live a better life and the one thing I enjoy the most is educating them on how things can indeed always improve. I use strategies from every facet or chapter of my life to help someone improve on what they currently have. I am not saying I have all the answers but what I am saying is that through some form of communication or confidence in an individual you can make long lasting dramatic changes in their life.

Although no offense to any of my patients but the one thing I enjoy the most is educating my children. Number one I always daily teach them and constantly reiterate that they can accomplish anything they put their mind to while at the same time giving it their best. I will never once tell them its impossible or they don't have what it takes. Living with 4 highly competitive driven women (yes I can already tell what direction the baby is going and anyone else that knows her will agree) I love the challenges that each of them takes in their life and I love being there to help drive them down the path. Their confidence wanes at times but as a team we are always there to help each other out.

A week ago I competed in the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships for sprint and olympic triathlon in Milwaukee, WI. Its two races where basically the top athletes for those distances come together and duke it out for spots on the next years Team USA triathlon team. After years of racing long course triathlon I was excited to switch gears and attempt to get some of that old school speed back. Well without going into extreme detail I showed up at the race running some of my fastest times in all my 37 years. That was until race day when my body decided that it had different plans and extreme stomach pain slowed me down to a walk/jog. To come this far and push so hard in training it was an immediate mental letdown. I thought about just quitting as the pain was intense but then I realized what does quitting really accomplish and that my children where at the finish line and what example would I set if I quit. So with much determination I pushed forward cheering on those I knew racing and looking forward to that finish line when I knew no matter my time my family would be there with smiles on and congratulate me regardless of my performance. I was right as my oldest told me at the finish "sometimes we don't get what we want dad but if you tried your best then at the end of the day you won".

So with this I challenge each and everyone of you to take time to educate someone around you. We are all a wealth of knowledge no matter if you have a doctorate degree or a high school diploma. We all have something to learn from each other.

Make It Count!!!!!!!!!!

1st or 2nd

Before I get into what "1st or 2nd" means let me just focus on this picture for one minute. I get people ask me all the time for secret workouts that will make them faster. Well over the last month I have incorporated two one hour walks into my training schedule and I can tell you first hand that the recovery workout has made me a stronger runner. What it also gives me is one hour of uninterrupted time with this amazing little lady who for anyone that has met her knows what kind of special lady she is.

So back to the focus of this post...Are you a person that maximizes their time while on earth and lives each day to the fullest? Do you bask in the glory of selfish activities or do you put others happiness in front of yours in an effort to make the world a better place? Are you willing to spend time teaching those around you a skill that you excel at or do you think you are to good to assist?
Do you let the little things in life that are out of your control affect your way of life? Do you allow people with negative energy (energy vampires) change the way you think?

I have a good friend of mine who I consider to be one of the most amazing individuals I have ever met and although distance has separated our daily encounters I still consider him very close to me. Recently while running he developed a condition in which his heart stopped working and for a brief second. Thank the lord his heart came back around and with a small surgery he is alive. While speaking with him he mentioned how he has a 2nd chance at life now and is going to maximize his time. The thing that is scary is that his 1st chance was nothing more than exceptional. He is one of those individuals who instantly puts a smile on your face, he will always be there for you and the word selfish is not part of his vocabulary. So I can't wait to see what his 2nd chance is going to be about and the way he will change peoples life for the better.

The thing is we don't have to wait until a health issue or other life changing event to happen in order to get your second chance on life. Do your part daily now during your first chance in order to make your life and those around you better. Or after reading this blog take a deep breath and move forward with the rest of your life calling it your 2nd chance.

Life is fragile so there is no guarantee that a second chance will ever happen. We are GUARANTEED one chance and one chance only so don't hold back on a dream you have. Don't stop pursuing a goal just because someone told you there is no way you could accomplish it. Don't let those energy vampires control your decisions as there is only one person that has control over what you do and that is you. Instead surround yourself with the people that you aspire to be. When we do this their energy is easily transferred to our goals and you will go forward in life ready to rock n roll.

Those close to me know that my 1st chance in life is 100% focused on my family. My wife and three kids are my main focus in life and I know that I only get one shot to be the best dad and husband a man can be. Our kids grow and age at what feels like warp speed and for me not to be there for them all the time would mean I am failing them. Same goes for my wife in the sense that yeah sure times will get tough but the true meaning of any life partnership is the willingness to work things out and know you have each others back. If I wait for my 2nd chance to be a good family man then it will be to late.

One last first is your health in regards to health and nutrition. The choices you make today will affect you tomorrow, next month and for years to come. Make time in your life for exercise and know that while eating crappy foods tastes good and is comforting the effect it has on your life is not what you want. As a physician the health effects food is having on us is getting scary but at the same time is something you can take control of and easily fix your life.

I don't know all the answers and I will be the first to say that my life is not perfect. There are times when my mindset fails and stress/frustration sets in but then almost immediately the reality of I am in control of everything sets in. The reminder that life is indeed fragile and can be taken away in a heart beat keeps me focusing back towards the purpose in my life....to MAKE IT COUNT!!!!

Perception

I have written on numerous topics over the past year and while all of them have extreme meaning to me (otherwise I wouldn't have posted them) this post signifies a topic that if you can master it then I guarantee nothing can stop you.

Perception by definition is the act of cognitively understanding and making sense of a situation. It is the process of you and only you making a choice as to how you are going to act, think, speak, perform to any and all situations. Perception is 100 percent individual and we all have beliefs that lead to how big or small that perception is going to be.

Being a doctor that treats mostly athletes and a coach I have recently been getting lots of questions in regards to the mental side of training and injuries. Most of these individuals have put in the time and effort and physically are capable of achieving their goals they are just not ready mentally and don't know how to fix that. My single response is its all in how they are perceiving their race or their confidence in themselves. Most endurance athletes give up on themselves in a race instead of their body giving up on them. When times get tough we mentally tell ourselves that its OK to walk or stop even though physically you are capable of pushing forward. The perception comes down to how you view the difficulty of what you are doing.

Our cultures perception typically is when things get hard or difficult most of us typically will give up on something. We will decide that that effort is to much and the goal that we had in mind will never be achieved. If there is an obstacle in the road our perception is that its to difficult or we can't think outside the box as to what tools are needed to help success.

I try and teach my daughters daily that there is nothing in this world that they can't accomplish if they just try their best and sometimes think outside the box. A great example of this was this past week my oldest daughter and I went to the school track for a workout and on the way home there was a pretty steep hill that she immediately said there was no way she could ride her bike up. At the bottom of the hill I stopped and looked at her and told her that she should never in life say she can't do something. Her perception of the hill was it was to steep and she wasn't strong enough to ride up it. I told her that sometimes we need to asses a situation and use all the options we have available to achieve a task. So I told her to start riding and mid way up the hill when she started to slow down I gave her a push on her back for about 5 seconds which then gave her enough momentum to crest the hill. When we reached the top I asked her what she learned and she said that sometimes things seem difficult but if you ask for help or use your surroundings you can achieve anything. Through the accomplishment her perception changed from I can't to anything is possible as long as I try.

Most of the great leaders in history had the perception that they could accomplish anything. They still knew that there would be plenty of failures along the road but the failures didn't scare them away from trying. Deep down they understood that all a failure was is something that taught you how to do it better the next time. The world is out of our control but our actions and perception are within our control and only our control.

A good friend of mine has had a rough year with having to drop out of his first ironman triathlon due to being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. I think plenty of peoples perception would be crap and crap. Not this guy he took on the MM with 110 percent of his energy knowing that he was going to control everything within his control and anything outside of his control was just that outside of his control. His perception of the situation was strong and an inspiration to all his friends and family around him that no matter what card we are dealt we are in control of the response and how we will attack the next minute, day and year.

One of my favorite examples of perception is when I was a kid growing up in Chicago. In 1985 we had arguably one of the best football teams ever assembled. Two weeks before the Super Bowl that year the Chicago Bears came out with the Super Bowl Shuffle which was basically a song that the team performed saying that no one can beat us. They hadn't even played the Super Bowl yet but their perception was that they were that good that no matter the opponent they couldn't be beat. Now come at it from the opposing teams viewpoint. There had to be a little break in the confidence in the other team playing in the Super Bowl. If you are so confident in your performance I believe sometimes its the secret weapon needed to outperform your competition. Well I will let you do your research but the Super Bowl that year wasn't even close right from the start.

Bringing this to an end I ask each and everyone of you that takes the time to read my blogs that before you ever perceive something as to hard or to difficult that you take a step back and reassess the situation. Never give up on something or believe that you don't have what it takes to succeed. There is no obstacle in this world that is to strong to stop you. I also ask you to never look at a situation as negative as every situation has a positive. I know that there will be a group of people who never take this blog serious but if there is just one person out there that I can positively influence than mission accomplish. I don't wast my time with negative energy as at the end of the day my perception of negative energy is its not worth my time.

The meaning of the picture at the top other than I just love the picture is that its her bring on the world face. The face of confidence and belief that nothing can stop her from success except herself.

Make It Count!!!!!!!!

Obstacle

In my daily quest to always find the meaning of each and every day I recently started reading a book titled "The Obstacle Is The Way". I am not to far into the book but so far it details how society reacts to anything that stands in their way. Whether it be a failure, a boss, a co-worker, health, family, etc...we have taught ourselves that failure is negative and should be avoided at all costs. When times get tough most people would rather choose the easy way out instead of putting all your cards in and fighting the good fight. I have heard plenty of people over the years tell me they wish they had the courage, determination, guts or ability to achieve their dreams. Well I am here to tell you that anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself and constantly learn from your experiences.

The picture above is far from an obstacle that has been presented to me in life. There are times when trying to be the best dad in the world combined with everything gets tiring? Well of course but to see the smiles on these girls faces makes anything tiring worth every single second. I have 100% confidence in myself when attacking goals and I know that if they are not achieved today I will one day with the right building blocks accomplish anything. I will admit however that just like every successful person that there is always a weakness in the armour. When my weakness is exposed though I always have a back up plan and my back up plan is these three girls. They are my strength when needed and still to this day they think I am a super hero...ha ha!!!

I am not sure what the correlation is but in my sport of triathlon I have met some extremely amazing people over the years that have been dealt with more obstacles then one can imagine. Obstacles that would make most people just curl up in a corner and hope for the end. However each and everyone of these people took the experience for what it really is...a learning experience. Obstacles are learning experiences which either teach us what we did wrong or they are learning experiences in how we can be better people through spreading the word of hope and determination to everyone else.

Life has blessed me with an amazing friend who has been battling injury for a couple years and just when he gets better another one comes on thus limiting him from a sport he loves. He had to retire from a sales job that he held for over 20 years due to disagreements with organizational developments. On top of that his wife (who is also pretty amazing) recently was diagnosed with the pre-stages of multiple myeloma. Most people would shut down if these events had happened to them but not this guy. I think one day I saw him depressed and shut down for about 30 seconds and then snapped out of it. The positivity that this guy creates in a room is about as contagious as it comes. I always look forward to our meetings as I always walk away thinking I can take over the world. He has been dealt numerous obstacles in life but I think in his mind he doesn't see them as obstacles but more as what can I do to make myself and those around me better. Do you have someone like this in your life? If you do then hold on and really listen to them as they will change your life.

As most know this year as been a very busy year for the Oergels. All great events but none the less about as busy as it comes. Well my consistent triathlon training took a back seat or maybe just got thrown out of the window completely. Yesterday I competed in the Eagleman 70.3 (half ironman) race in cambridge, MD. Going into the race I truly had no idea what to expect. I knew first off that a PR probably wouldn't happen and the goal was mostly survival...ok I lie my competitive juices said a 4:45 time. The obstacle in my way this race was the obvious...almost no training since February and only on my bike a handful of times all year. The day before I had the most amazing, positive, confident day ever before a race as I knew deep down that no obstacle is impossible as long as I do what my daughter always says...go out and do your best as that is all that matters in life. In the end I came across the finish line in 4:54 and although no PR in hand the race felt more accomplished than any other race I have done in my life. Sometimes its not about the medals (although they are nice) but more about the journey and learning who you are as a person.

I challenge you daily to take obstacles head on for what they are...just a learning experience. If the thought makes your stomach turn then I suggest you start small and build upon it. I guarantee you will learn more about yourself and your confidence will blossom during the journey.

Make It Count!!!

This blog also goes out to my very good friend Nicole who also embodies what it takes to spread the good word of just do your best and the rest will take care of itself. She is an amazing person and 100% in my circle of people who make my life better.

Support

Do you have a support system in place? Are you part of a support system for a specific purpose or cause? Does helping others put a smile on your face? Do you find yourself offering positive reinforcing feedback instead of negative unwanted feedback? If you think about your life do you rest easy knowing that if something happened your support staff would have your back immediately?

I know that I can easily 100% answer yes to each of these questions. My family operates on a system where we know we have each others back constantly. My wife and I daily let our girls know that we will always be there for them and no matter what happens they are not alone.

Recently I felt a sense of satisfaction that my oldest understands the process. Over the past two weeks she has had soccer practice, two games and three tryouts for travel/select soccer. She has always been my girl that strives to be the best at everything she does and for the first time with the higher level tryouts I think she realized that some girls where better than her. On the way to the first tryout I asked her if she was ready and she responded with "Daddy I feel as ready as I will ever be...I will go out and give it my best and at the end of the day if that is not enough then its out of my control and there is nothing I can do about it." This is the support that we always tell our girls that as long as you give your best in life than you have done everything you can.

Although family is the strongest of all support systems it doesn't have to be the last outlet. A successful workforce can follow the rules of support if they want to take there production to the next level. What sounds better...a boss that supports your efforts, decisions and future career development or a boss that is constantly belittling your production, gives you no individual power of choice or doesn't support your daily efforts towards future advancement? I have worked in both the corporate setting and in a small health care practice and I can state that the environment that supports each other is the environment that is constantly growing and successful. Friends also provide a way of supporting your efforts. I have had some friends who unfortunately have battled some health issues over the years and I believe that the power and support we can provide these individuals is the energy they need to overcome their hurdles. These individuals need to know that no matter what is going on that they have people there to provide not only in person services but also daily prayer or support that is not seen daily.

The last level of support that is often overlooked is the support internally that you give yourself. Do you support yourself with positive thoughts, exercise, lifestyle eating and taking some personal time to support your own health and wellness. Some of us are incredible at supporting family and friends but rarely take the opportunity to support our own endeavors so eventually we run thin. I am not saying that we need to be extremely selfish but at times a touch of selfishness can help support the energy you give others but also support yourself to leading a more rewarding life. If you have a dream or goal in life than I say do everything you can to support the progress of obtaining that goal/dream. Life is to short to skip out on your dreams so go after what you want now and stop holding off.

Make It Count!!!!!!!!!!

Transformation

The past year has been a huge period of transformation in the Oergel household. We had the pleasure of watching our little princess (above) grow up with the constant quest of doing whatever her older sisters did, my middle child broke out of her shell into this uber confident little girl that believes she can do and conquer anything, our oldest continues to push the limits of success and always has a heavy heart towards caring for others, we bought a foreclosure and with lots of sweat and blood are transforming it into our dream home, my wife continues to transform into the corporate executive with leadership skills that drive a team to success they never thought was possible, my focus in training/triathlon has turned from one of type A to one of type enjoy every second as I am blessed just to be able to participate, we have lost some people close to us which was hard but reinforced the transformation thought process of needing to enjoy every day to its fullest and the biggest transformation is the constant drive to always put family first as we function better as a unit then an individual.

Each day you wake up you are faced with the opportunity to transform your day into something positive or negative and the impact it will have on your life. I use to wake up at 4AM and either jump in the pool, get on my bike or go for a run. Now I use that time for self study and to visualize how my actions that day will affect both myself and those around me. I find it positive to write a list of the top 10 things you want to accomplish in the day. They can be simple things as far as opening the door for everyone you come across to more detailed events like having lunch with a long lost friend. The art of the daily TO DO LIST will help keep you on track to what you need to do during the day to keep your mind and actions on track for transformation.

Never underestimate how small of an action in your life can transform someone else's life who may be down on times. My wife recently out of the blue sent a text message to a close family member just reinforcing how incredible of a person this individual is and their impact in this world is not over looked. What she didn't know was this family member was having an extremely difficult day and these words communicated meant more than my wife could have imagined. The family members day turned around and what was bringing her down seemed now manageable.

We all have some part of our life that could use some form of transformation. If we could all just do one thing daily to help out another person it will not only help transform that person into believing there is still good people in this world but it will help transform you into a person that giving is the ultimate reward.

With our recent move, girls activities, vacation and my daily quest to become Bob Vila I have not trained/worked out in over 8 weeks. I have enjoyed the down time and I think at the end of the day of pushing myself every year for the past 15 years my body has appreciated the downtime. Well in 4 weeks time I am racing a half ironman triathlon which at the beginning of the year I had enormous goals for. Those goals have since been put away and new goals have come out. I am not upset at not being where I should be physically not but I am excited to see in 4 weeks how I can transform myself into a somewhat competitive shape and how the new goal of just having fun will transform my mind.

As always Make It Count!!!!!