My New Year's Revelation

I remember when I was younger, everyone always said to go to college and get a degree.  Get a good job with good benefits and you'll be happy.  I know they meant well and that was the way the world worked for them when they grew up.  There was no way for them to know how much the world would change in the next 30 years.  There's never a way for us to know.

When I was a kid people didn't have cell phones, they didn't use the internet, they wanted a good job with benefits, they wanted someone to take care of them.  They wanted to give up freedom for security.  They got jobs with big corporations, worked in cubicles, got their benefits, went home and watched tv, had 2-3 kids, and died at 30 while they lived to be 70.  If that makes a person happy, then good for them, but I think those people were fooling themselves.  Nobody wants to be near the end of their life and look back at a boring life. I know that's not what I want.

I want more.  I was told when I got those things that I would be happy.  I just needed to get there.  Well, where is "there?"  I'm supposed to get to a certain place in life and then just be content, happy, and quit improving?  I don't believe life is about getting somewhere and then stagnating.  To me, being happy means having something to work towards, having goals, learning new things, making changes, always trying to be better, doing new things, meeting new people.  I don't think I will ever "arrive."  To other people that, scary, weird, dumb, irresponsible, etc.  To me, that's exciting, that's life.

I'm not sure what is coming next for me or where I'm headed, but I do know that it's going to be fun and I'm going to have a blast.  The only things I truly need in life are friends, family, a place to live, and food.  If I've got that then I can be happy.  I don't need a TV, pictures on the wall, curtains over the windows, a nice lawnmower, a super nice car, or anything else that people slave away at their job for.  I'd rather have none of those things if it means I can have great experiences with family and friends.

If I were to buy those things that I don't need, I would be trading away those hours I spent working to buy it for a thing that I really don't need in my life.  I'd rather trade my time earning money for awesome experiences.  Or better yet, trade away less time because I don't need as much money to enjoy life.  In a perfect world, I wouldn't need any money for anything and I could just spend my whole life enjoying the things and people I love.  We're not here on this planet living this life just to achieve some arbitrary goal that society sets out for us that makes us think we've "made it."  I don't need to own a house to be happy, I don't need two cars, a garage, or any of that stuff.

It's time for me to continue on the path I've been on.  I will continue to remove things from my life that I don't need instead of adding things to my life and making life more complicated.  Less is more.

Keep The Goal The Goal

The goal, is to keep the goal the goal.

I think I first heard this saying from Dan John and it might sound dumb at first, but it makes perfect sense if you think about it.  Do you have goals you're trying to reach?  Most of us do, and the reason we don't reach them is usually because we change our mind along the way. 

I think we change our mind becasue we are afraid of failing.  If we give it 100% of our effort and don't reach the goal we have only ourselves to blame.  That's some scary shit.  If we change the goal then we can say that we would've reached the goal if we wanted to, but we decided that something else was more important.  We probably won't reach that goal either because the goal will change again in a few weeks.  It's how we protect ourselves from failure.

The goal should be to stay consistent and keep putting in the work on the most important goal until you reach that goal.  In terms of fitness, that means don't be switching programs every week.  Don't be switching diets every week.  How can you know if something works if you don't give it a chance?

If your goal is to lose weight and become a sexy beast, then keep losing weight until you're the most in shape person you know.  Don't get 75% of the way to your goal and then decide, "Hey, I think I want to be a powerlifter now!"  Don't flake out, finish the fucking job.

Weight Loss... Very, Very Simple, But Not Easy

I just came across a post yesterday from one of my Facebook friends.  He's a great guy, but he had a post and rant yesterday that I just don't get.  He's been doing a great job of becoming healthier, but hasn't lost as much weight as he would have liked to over the past couple years. 

He posted about Shakeology and other direct sales supplements and his opinion is that they should give their product away for free so people can see if it works.  The first problem I have is the mindset of a product "working" or "not working."  Until that mindset changes, a person will not reach their goals.  No one is going to get results just from using a product. 

There is no such thing as a good weight loss product or a bad weight loss product.  They are all just tools and they can either help or hurt.  A person could consume too many calories of the healthiest food or supplement out there and they would gain weight. 

I can't believe I'm defending the direct sales supplement industry, but the bottom line is this.  Everything works.... if done right.  Shakes can help someone stick to their diet.  Does that mean the shake magically worked?  I don't think so, but if it helps you, then use it.  If diet pop helps someone stick to their diet do we say that the diet pop worked?  No, it was just a tool used to help keep the sugar cravings away. 

I just wish that people would realize that weight loss is very, very simple.  Burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight.  No one can escape the Law of Thermodynamics.  It's very, very simple, but not easy.