“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
– Steve Jobs, CEO Apple
Category Archives: Fitness
The Handstand
The handstand pose is often considered an ego based pose in yoga, however it has been explained that the handstand pose is not at all about ego, rather the headstands (and many inversions) are about overcoming your fears (falling, failing, hurting yourself) and having faith (staying focused, controlling your body, believing in yourself). So what for many starts as an interest in learning a new physical skill can turn into so much more. And you know the experience of focusing on overcoming the fear through faith tends to be a pretty good lesson for life – drop the ego and it is easier to stay balanced in life. You see when you drop the ego, you can face your fears and overcome them with faith in yourself to create a more balanced life, a more concious life.
I was able to learn this paradigm firsthand this weekend during a yoga handstand workout. So the lasts few days have involved me asking if what I am doing is ego based and if it is, what can I do to overcome the fear that created the ego?
Once in a Lifetime Moment
At exactly 06 minutes and 07 seconds after 5 o’clock August 9th of this year, it will be 05:06:07 08/09/10, this will not happen again till year 3010. Have a good 5-6-7-8-9-10 moment!
If you missed it this AM, you can always catch this moment again in the PM.
Life is full of “moments” that once they pass you by you will never get a chance to experience them again. It is only in missing these “moments” will you experience regret, so to that I say – CARPE DIEM!
Reality Check
What do Orange County, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey and Washington DC have in common? Each is home to Bravo’s “Housewives” television series, centered around the lives of Housewives, their families and their day-to-day activities. The Housewives have captured the focus of America. In fact, the recent finale of “Housewives of New Jersey” was the highest-rated season finale for the network’s entire “Housewives” franchise.
Why is it these Housewives have captured the attention of millions? Most live arguably dysfunctional lives. They certainly are not role models. Hour after hour, week after week, millions spend their precious time watching other people’s “reality”, when they could be focusing on improving their own lives.
Kathy Welch said, “We all have the same 24 hours in a day. The difference lies within how we use those 24 hours”.
Just one hour per day would add up to 21,840 minutes per year. Think of positive impact you could create in your life if you spent just one hour a day on self-improvement activities. You could challenge yourself to meet new people, read new books, learn new skills.
While the “Housewives” franchise triggered me to come to this “reality check”, I am not suggesting everyone stop watching the show. Maybe you truly watch for entertainment. Maybe the dysfunctional lives of the Housewives help you escape the challenges in your life. I am however suggesting you be more mindful of the regular activities in your life and challenge yourself to leverage your precious time for activities that could improve your life.
What regular activities in your life have you replaced, in efforts to improve and better yourself?
Keeping Score
When you were a child, your Teachers used report cards to track your performance. As an adult, your Managers complete performance reviews, to evaluate your work. Keeping Score, as a method of tracking performance, is nothing new in your life. Yet why do you not track your performance with respect to your personal goals and objectives?
How do you know you are constantly improving and working to better your life, without evaluating your performance?
I created a daily report card, which I use to evaluate my daily performance. I keep a daily report card journal and reference it throughout the day, checking off items, as I complete and accomplish them.
It is important to note this is not a catch-all summary of my life, rather it is a method for tracking my performance in areas, that I am working to improve.
I have found this to be a simple, stress-free method for motivating me to accomplish and achieve my daily, self improvement, goals and objectives.
I modify my daily report card template on a regular basis, as I learn new skills and set new goals. I remove items from the list, as tasks become part of my daily-routine. Any time my life feels out of place, I can reference previous daily report cards to see what I am missing, then can add those tasks back to my current daily list.
Below is a snapshot of my current daily report card.
• Maintain a clean, clear and organized environment
• Do not procrastinate
• Be overly nice to at least 3 people, per day
• Read at least 10 pages of non-fiction, per day
• Read News/Blogs a maximum of 3 times, per day
• Network for Business and Personal Life (LinkedIn, Facebook, Associations)
• Email/Call two personal contacts, per day
• Make more money, by decreasing daily expenses
• Drink at least 60 oz of water, per day
• Do a minimum of 30 push-ups, per day
• Do a minimum of 100 crunches, per day
• Run 3 times, per week
I challenge you to take a minute to start your daily report card. Just think – if I offered to let you complete your own performance review at work, you would do it without thinking twice!
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