Posted on

Charlie Sheen is Doing It…You Should Too!

winningWhat on earth is Charlie Sheen doing that YOU should be doing, too? WINNING! We should all be winning every day! Because winning feels good! Just ask Charlie!

Don’t you remember when you were a kid how winning made you feel? Getting a blue ribbon, celebrating a big victory at a little league game, hoisting the team trophy, winning a game of checkers, even just racing a friend across the playground…you wanted to WIN! Now compare that with our adult lives…what do we win? Cleaning the dirtiest toilet best? Cooking dinner that most of your family will eat? Maybe…

In 2004 I ran my first marathon and quickly re-discovered what it feels like to ‘win’ again. Of course…I didn’t win the marathon, not even close. I think I finished in the top half though…so around 15,000th place! LOL! But you couldn’t have convinced me that I hadn’t won! As I turned the corner toward the finish line, and reflected on the last 4 months of training, and the 26 miles I had just run….I remembered all the early morning runs, the heat, the blisters, and leg cramps. In the last two tenths of the race I might as well have been all alone, running toward the tape. I was sobbing, in disbelief of what I had just accomplished. When my foot crossed the line, I WON! That’s how it felt. Even writing about it makes me well-up. It was an emotional as well as a physical achievement. And that feeling is most definitely the reason that so many people repeat the whole process again and again. I have run 4 marathons since then and ‘won’ them all! It feels good to win!

Of course the only person I won against, was me. The me that never thought I could do such a thing. The me that would rather sleep in on a Saturday than lace up, fuel up, gear up and go run for 3 hours. I beat the crap outta that me. She never even saw it coming!

I haven’t run a marathon since 2010, but I win all the time. Every time I start a new 90 day program, and see it through to the final day…I win! Heck, every day I choose my workout over an extra hour of sleep, or a t.v. show…I win! Every time (like this morning) that I take an extra 10 minutes to pack up my lunch and snacks for the day instead of feeling the temptation to stop for fast, convenient, junk food…I win! And I celebrate every little victory. It’s usually a quiet celebration: a smile, a sigh of relief, a skip in my step…but it still feels pretty damn good. In my head I’m spiking the football, doing a victory lap, pumping my fist and screaming at the top of my lungs…I DID IT! 😀 “In your face Old Me!” I’m a much more gracious winner now, than I was when I was a kid. I guess then I was a little more like Charlie Sheen.

*A side note: I wouldn’t necessarily recommend winning in the sense that Charlie was winning. Cause on the outside it looked a lot more like losing. But at least he felt good about being the best loser he could be! So in a sense…he WAS winning!

In short…find victory in the little contests of life. We face multiple battles every day, often with ourselves. Show You who’s boss. Put your game face on and be a winner! And celebrate your victories…it feels good! 🙂

Posted on

This is Only a Test

thisisonlyatest

When you see this:

~ps431.tmp

What do you say to yourself? “Oh…I’m dieting, I can’t have that.” or “I want that so bad, but I shouldn’t.” Think about it for a minute, because I think what you say to yourself in this situation says a lot about your mindset, which translates directly to the kind of results you can expect. So while you’re stirring that around for a minute…let me tell you a little about WHY I’m thinking about this.

I posted something on Facebook and Instagram a couple of days ago about changing your mind before you can change your body. We all agree on this right? I feel like I’ve written at length about how health and fitness is so much more of a mental than a physical struggle. I made a comment that if you haven’t changed your mindset, than you’re just going through the motions. I firmly believe that. Sure you might be working out, and you might be eating some healthy foods, but if health/fitness doesn’t guide almost every decision you make…you’re not quite there.

I don’t mean that in an obsessive kind of way at all. I know to some it might sound that way. How could health/fitness guide every decision? Well, honestly, if you put yourself first…that’s it! What about you? What about your goals, hopes, desires? If that is in the front of your mind as you go throughout your day, you will almost always make the right decisions for YOU! In other words, don’t forget what you want, and what you wish for yourself. If it’s important to you, if it’s in the front of your mind at all times, than you’ll find the ways to achieve it.

So when someone asks me HOW? “How can I stop going through the motions, and be ALL in?” My answer is sadly: I don’t know. Not helpful at all right!? I’m sorry…but it is different for everyone. Your needs and wants are different from mine. We’re all waiting for the CLICK! The click is when you just get it. The choices are clear. The decisions are easy. Once you’ve experienced the click, you’re turned on and tuned in to what you want. And then it’s easy. I can’t create the click for you, nor can anyone else for that matter. However, I can tell you where to start. Just try. Yep, that’s it…try. Because here is what could happen: That conscious decision to try could lead you to make better choices. You might decide to set some goals. Maybe you’ll put together a plan of action. You might stick with your plan long enough to reach some of your goals. Maybe you won’t get frustrated with setbacks and impatient with slow results. Maybe you’ll start to feel better. Perhaps your mindset will start to change and then…CLICK! Now you’re on your way to real changes. It will be contagious. People around you will begin to notice and EXPECT you to make the right choices for yourself. They’ll say, “I wish I could do that.” Or “I wish I had that kind of will power.” …and that’s a beautiful thing!

And then one day, you’ll be approached with THIS.

cheeseburger_fries

And do you know what you’ll say…

I CAN have it, but I don’t WANT it!

And that is when you will truly have the power over every decision you make. You can do anything you want. You get to decide! When faced with the choice to do your scheduled workout, you COULD choose to skip, but you won’t WANT to. Your mind is made up. CLICK!

Did you pass the test?