How To Constructively Vent...

Once in a while I read something and it hits me hard... Really HARD! I read just that on Kobe Bryant's facebook page back on April 13 the night after he torn his achilles...

This is such BS! All the training and sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I've done millions of times! The frustration is unbearable. The anger is rage. Why the hell did this happen ?!? Makes no damn sense. Now I'm supposed to come back from this and be the same player Or better at 35?!? How in the world am I supposed to do that?? I have NO CLUE. Do I have the consistent will to overcome this thing? Maybe I should break out the rocking chair and reminisce on the career that was. Maybe this is how my book ends. Maybe Father Time has defeated me...Then again maybe not! It's 3:30am, my foot feels like dead weight, my head is spinning from the pain meds and I'm wide awake. Forgive my Venting but what's the purpose of social media if I won't bring it to you Real No Image?? Feels good to vent, let it out. To feel as if THIS is the WORST thing EVER! Because After ALL the venting, a real perspective sets in. There are far greater issues/challenges in the world then a torn achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever. One day, the beginning of a new career journey will commence. Today is NOT that day. "If you see me in a fight with a bear, prey for the bear". Ive always loved that quote. Thats "mamba mentality" we don't quit, we don't cower, we don't run. We endure and conquer.
I know it's a long post but I'm Facebook Venting LOL. Maybe now I can actually get some sleep and be excited for surgery tomorrow. First step of a new challenge. Guess I will be Coach Vino the rest of this season. I have faith in my teammates. They will come thru. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Much Love Always.
Mamba Out

Everytime I fall down the road of feeling sorry for myself I do anything and everything I can to pull myself out of it. This post really does just that for me.

A couple of phrases that hit me:

-Feels good to vent, let it out. To feel as if THIS is the WORST thing EVER! Because After ALL the venting, a real perspective sets in. There are far greater issues/challenges in the world then a torn achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever. 

Sometimes it is healthy to get things out of your head by verbally voicing your thoughts. We tend to figure out our own problems when we vent for the good. When you constructively vent you are finding the truth to your feelings. Most people I find destructively vent, by venting to complain with no real solution because you want others to feel sorry for you. 

-If you see me in a fight with a bear, prey for the bear". Ive always loved that quote. Thats "mamba mentality" we don't quit, we don't cower, we don't run. We endure and conquer.

People typically are scared and run away from the unknown or uncomfortable. You simply must realize that fear is fuel for progress, growth and change. It is a natural instinct we have been given to help push us. Those who use fear for it's natural intent are the ones who we look up to in life. Be that person who you ultimately want to be. 

Life is not supposed to be easy. Life can however be simple. We have information and people that have  already walked the path we are on today. They have left behind their cliff notes, stories, tips and tricks. We have the ability to move forward faster then they did. We just have to commit, believe and achieve. 

What part of Kobe's 'vent' hit you?

What are your thoughts about it?

Old YOU vs. Younger YOU...

The Wall Says it ALL...

I was listening to an interview with Pete Cashmore and the question was posed to him, "What advice would today's 'Pete Cashmore' tell the before he started mashable.com 'Pete Cashmore' to help him with his success? 

He had a great response. I HIGHLY suggest you pick up the June issue of SUCCESS MAGAZINE and listen to the interview. 


I think we have all at one point in our lives asked ourselves, "If we could travel back in time and give some life advice to the younger version of ourselves, what would we say"???

I wrote a blog about it back in 2011, WHAT IF YOU COULD OF... With these questions about this topic:


Knowing what you know today, knowing what you have learned from your life experiences, and you had the opportunity to write yourself a letter, what would it say??? 

What would you say? 

What life lessons have you learned that you wish you would have known back then?

What do you think would happen if you knew what you know today, back then, and how could you life be different today?

Now let's flip it around... Whaaaat???

ThrowBack Thursday... Associations and Peers

My wife and I have been working out in the backyard lately. With a squat rack, some weights, a kettle bell, bands and the California sun we have everything we need. The more we are out in the backyard the more my little sister watches us. She becomes curious as to what is going on. She then gets off the couch from watching TV and wants to come outside and play. She see's what we are doing and wants to join. It got me thinking if we weren't there and there were no backyard workouts would she just sit and watch TV? They say that kids learn more of what they see and observe vs. what you tell them to do. I believe adults are the same way. 

The power of our peers is vital to how our lives will turn out. You surround yourself with better people than you, you will rise to the level of your peers. You surround yourself with complainers, negative nancy's and self sabotagers you will eventually pick up their traits. 

For a lot of us it's the HARD truth. More times than not the people that aren't best for our goals and dreams are the people that are closest to us (best friends and family members) so it is a very tough situation. 

Here are 2 ThrowBack posts to help you if you are in this situation currently:

FIND A RABBIT

DROP ALL... BLOCKERS

Post to the comments your thoughts. 

Every Time I Fail I...

Tip #4 is go to a place of peace to refuel and refocus.

I haven't failed. I've found 10,000 ways that don't work. -Thomas Edison, US inventor

I feel the common perception of failure is a bad thing. 

All successful people fail. The more successful they are the more they fail. Most of them I bet would admit they have failed many more times then they have succeeded.

What do you do when you fail? 

Stay down and give up? Try something else? Bounce back and be better?

It is easy to get caught up in our failures, setbacks and struggles but how is that going to improve your situation? It's not! 

The reason why the successful are successful is not the lack of failure they have experienced (because they actually fail more) but how they respond to, learn from and act when those setbacks occur. 

Here are 3 very simple steps to guide you to be on the path to success. 

In It for the Long Haul.

Not stopping. Just tying her shoes.

Starting a workout program can be intimidating, nerve racking, and feel overwhelming at first.

Succeeding with that same workout program and turning it into a lifestyle can be even harder.

During my years as a coach I've noticed that most people quit working out because they failed to understand and address the non-physical issues with being successful in making exercise a life long habit. It's usually not the exercising itself that makes them decide to quit it's the issues they don't address before they start.

Physical: The physical issues are the most popular and usually the first type of goals/reasons we think about when we start on a FITness program. The physical issues are things such as the type of exercises/program, your health, your fitness level and nutrition. Most people have at least a vague idea of how they think they want to exercise and know their general health and fitness level.

Everyone wants to look better. That is a great thing! Wanting to improve your physical body is tangible and relatively easy to determine at the start. I believe you need to be selfish with your physical goals because that is going to help you in the beginning when you don't want to go workout. Being selfish will help you do things your brain doesn't want you to do in the moment i.e. workout!

Guidelines to a Good Challenge

Bicep curl challenge???

I am all about embarking on challenges personally and coaching others. My number #1 goal as a FITness/Success coach is to get someone to do and achieve more than they ever thought they could mentally just as much as physically. Challenges work for all types of people...


The person who has just not got it going and can't seem to get themselves off the couch and in the game.

The person that is consistently working but has fallen into a plateau and is resulting in a mediocre mindset and mediocre actions. 

The person that is always on the hunt for more. The person that is never satisfied and wants to continue to push the envelop of success for themselves and others. 

Challenges do one of two things:

A challenge can simply overwhelm you and defeat you. 

Consistency is the KING of All Success

My AM Ritual Items...

One of my favorite quotes, "Consistent daily action builds extraordinary outcomes."

Consistency is the KING of all principles if you are wanting to be successful in anything you do.

I've posted about this story on other blogs in the past but I came across it again recently and had to post, as it is a great reminder.

A young comic asked Jerry Seinfeld if he had any tips for him starting out as a comic.

What he told that young comic would benefit him for a lifetime.

I’ll pass it onto you now, as I know it will benefit you too–for a lifetime. Seinfeld told the comic that the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes. And the way to create better jokes was to write every day.

But his advice went further.

3 Success Ingredients...

I listened to one of my favorite mentors this week, Grant Cardone and he said something that really resonated with me. The topic was, "How To Get What You Want", he discussed 3 very simple (but not easy) steps you must do and you can get what you want.   

Obscurity: In sales and business when others are thinking about you for your product/service you are putting yourself in a position to win and close the deal. For your life, health, marriage/relationship if you are constantly thinking about and aware of them you are putting yourself in a position to win in those aspects as well. Most people don't really know what they want because they are not thinking about it enough. We are so worried about others and what they think about us. Once we begin to bring more attention to what we want we have just taken the first step towards getting what we want. 

Tip: Write down your goals… EVERYDAY! Yep… everyday! If you want to move to the next step faster write them down 2x a day. You need to ingrain these goals in your brain. You need to keep them fresh on paper and tattoo them to your heart. The process of writing, reading and speaking these goals over and over again makes them happen faster and I believe it is a rite of passage for you to believe them. 

Be the Be...

I heard this term quite a few years ago (2005 to be exact) at a personal development seminar. I was hearing what they were saying but I wasn't ready listen to what they were saying until recently, then it HIT ME!

The term, "Be the Be", refers to what type of person you need to become (on the inside) to actually get to where you want to go (on the outside).

I wrote a post almost 2 years ago, ACT AS IF, discussing you have to act like the future successful person you are trying to become.

If your goal is to become the top sales person in your company, with that title in hand... How many calls are you making a day? How many appointments do you have each week? How many deals do you close each month? 

If your goal is to be in great shape (double body weight back squat, have a six pack, run a 5 minute mile); With those goals accomplished... What does your weekly workout schedule look like? What does a typical day look like of your eating?

If you begin to act like that future person you are trying to become then you will eventually become that person. Sounds simple right? More like easy in theory, hard in reality.

"Be the Be" digs deeper. More than mirroring the activity of your future successful self you have to work on the inside to produce the outside.

"Be the Be" focuses on what is going on in your head and your heart to get you were you want to go. If you want your goals to be permanent rather than temporary you need to work FROM THE INSIDE TO OUTSIDE .

Why??

What To Do When You are Frustrated with YOU?

Yoga is much more than stretching.

We all have good days an bad days. The trick to moving ahead in life is not to just string more of the good days together it is what we do with the bad days.

Mistakes, failures and set backs are all a necessary part of the process for growth. The hard part is they all suck and hurt. It is not fun to miss, make mistakes, swallow our pride...

Mistakes and setbacks are tests for us to see what we are made of. But sometimes we get in a rut and it's really hard to crawl out of it.

Here are some thoughts about 'What To Do When You are Frustrated with YOU?'

Perspective on Time

Spending time with friends is great time spent. 

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.

What would you do?

Draw out every cent, of course?

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is time. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success.

The clock is running. Make the most of today.

With this in mind, what will you spend more time on?? Post to the comments. 

Failure Fixes...

my accountability partner...

Sometimes it is just as important to know what NOT to do versus what to do. As we have just crossed the mark on the first complete month of 2013 lets take a look at what others struggle with so that you can change what you are doing to stay on track to achievement. 

I have been a FITness coach for over 11 years and have noticed quite a few things that will NOT lead to someones success with their FITness results. 



Uninspiring Goals
When most people set goals, they envision a "thing," such as a particular amount of weight (loss or gain), an object (like a new car), or a specific achievement (like writing a book). Unfortunately, most of the time these "things I'm gonna get or do" goals don't appeal to the core of what motivates you, because they miss the point that what you're actually seeking in life and work is the POSITIVE EMOTIONS that you believe those things will produce.

Fix: Rather than envisioning a "thing" as your goal, envision--with all the strength in your imagination--how you will feel when you achieve the goal? What are the reasons WHY you want to achieve the particular goal? That way, you'll be inspired to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.

Trade Off's... You Have to Give Up to Grow Up

We are going places... Who's with us?!

Eric Hoffer said, "People will cling to an unsatisfactory way of life, rather then change in order to get something better for fear of getting something worse."

What will it take for you to get to the next level?

Vision. Yes.
Hard work. Of course!
Personal Growth. Definitely.

How about letting go of some of the things that you love and value most? Yes, and believe it or not this is the question that often holds people back even those who have achieved some level of success.

When you are first starting out in your career it is not much to give up. Why? Because your everything isn't much of anything.

But what about when you have a job that you have started to earn some things: good salary, a growing community you are apart of, a level of security, love and respect. Are you willing to give up those things for a chance at doing something that will take you closer to your potential?

Last week was the last at CrossFit 818. This was another significant tradeoff in my life. It was my second time around being apart of building a CrossFit box from Day 1. I leave with nothing but amazing memories filled with friendships that felt like I have had since childhood, a wealth of experience added, increased confidence in coaching and dealing with more individuals personalities.

The 22%...

Is Rambo Cold or Upgrading His Attire?

78% of all New Year's resolutions (i.e. wanna be goals) fail and most people quit their goals after the 3rd week in January. 

Why is this?

I feel most people think that if they simply write something down for some reason it will 'magically' happen. And if you don't think it will 'magically' happen they sure act like it will because they simply do not do what it takes to achieve the goals they wrote down. 

This post is intended to lead, teach and inspire you to be the 22% that not only achieves their goals this year but becomes super achievers and figures out how to achieve anything and everything they want in their lives. 

For some reason we human beings work well in 3's. For you to achieve this year's goals you will need to follow the 3 BIG steps with 3 key behaviors to make it happen. 

Here we go....

Getting To Know You...

Reflecting, Refocusing, Recharging...

What is the definition of insanity again?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~ Albert Einstein

When I see people want the same goals year after year and never succeed at them but continue to say and do the same things over and over again with the same no results... Are they insane?

One of my favorite all time quotes that continues to blow my mind is:

“If you want to have more, you have to become more. Success is not something you pursue. What you pursue will elude you; it can be like trying to chase butterflies. Success is something you attract by the person you become. ~ Jim Rohn

How many people do you know that go on a diet lose weight, but then gain all the weight back?

How about the start up businesses that everyone tries (more than once) but very few succeed at?

For us to change our lives and really achieve our goals we must become different people. We must stop being the same old person we have always been and become a new and improved version of ourselves. 

One of my BIG goals this year is to become religious about keeping a journal daily. 

Why?

Get to know yourself. The main reason we procrastinate on our goals is not because of external conditions; we procrastinate due to our internal beliefs. And the thing is they are stuck so deep that we don’t even know they exist. But once you do, everything changes. ~ Robin Sharma

Focus on the Focus

I often use this saying when I am coaching my FITness classes during a rigorous workout.

Why?

We can focus on many things or a few things. We can focus on bad or negative things. Or we can focus on great things we are going to do or who we are going to become. The choice is completely up to you. But which direction you decide will lead you down the path your life will take.

The ability to manage your focus is one of your greatest powers. What you put your attention on determines what you accomplish, how you feel, and what you will handle in life. You could say it has the biggest influence what can happen to you in life.

Every day I listen to what people are saying, and more in specific, the actual words that are coming out of their mouths. When I hear…

"I can't do a pull-up." "I have no time." "I can't afford it." "I don't mean to be negative." "I'm not trying to make EXCUSES."

If I hear that type of language from that person consistently I feel I have a pretty good idea where they are headed for their future, and it's not good.