Put your heart into it…

When we love ourselves, we are then able to love another. Same is true about work. Oh god, did he really just write that? Yup, I did…

When we love what we do, we are able to sink in and work to our highest potential.

Look around and take a moment because watching and listening is a great way to communicate. Observation is key and as mentioned in my last blog, someone is always watching. So I invite you to take the time to watch for yourself. Check out the interaction you see on the floor…or if you’re a baker, check to see how your teammate is kneading that dough! Ones daily actions say a lot about someone and if you are tuned in, you may see a lot more than you think. Sure there are tricky people out there and those who practice deception…but I trust we have none of those within our groups…

Watch with amazement and observe patterns and examples of how people truly feel.

Are they being honest?

Are they being true to their word?

Are they enjoying what they are doing in the moment?

Or are they attempting to punch a time card because if that’s the case, we need to punch them right out (a little harsh, but the words just kinda flowed)

Back to the moral…

Put your heart into it. Ask yourself, ‘do I love what I am doing?’ and if the answer is yes then step in with both feet and if the answer is no, make a change. Now that’s not to say that one should switch gears completely, maybe there is something that can be done or altered in your current situation to change the way you feel…but that is up to you and to be honest, your heart will tell you…

Here’s the clincher, if you are able to be true to your heart, then the answer will be right in front of you!

I personally LOVE what I do and I may even go so far to say that it’s really obvious but we all have our ups and downs. It’s important to be consistent, but it’s also very important to…experience sadness to truly experience the latter…happiness ;)

Add this blog with last weeks and what do you have?

Drop a comment and let us read what you think…

An added bonus this week – we are 8days from leaving for Australia and all systems are a go, get ready for next week’s entry!

Giving Back

What I love about training and being involved in the health and fitness industry is the ability to give back to the ones that are close to you. I thrive on having the knowledge to advise my friends and family about their training game, certain injuries that they have and put to use the things I learn from IF on personal and professional level and spreading it to those closest to me.

It is important to be that role model for someone and be able to give back your knowledge and experiences to the ones you love. When friends ask you for advice on how then can get “fit” or they want to lose “xx” pounds, you are able to help them. I love training a friend/family member and helping them get to their goals and feeling better about themselves. This is an act of friendship/love and it helps them realize what you do on a daily basis.

A couple of weeks ago I finally got my mum and her friend to come into IF. Since being at IF for just under 2 years, I have constantly asked my family to come in and see what it is all about. They come to all the events that I am in and are very supportive but have never come in and had a training session. This was a huge break through and after my mum's training session, she got a taste of what I do everyday, realized how much fun it is and now knows the reasons why I get up at 5am everyday to come in and train.

My advice to you all, is take the time out of your day to train a friend, significant other or family member. The experience they will receive will make the relationship, respect and understanding of what you do for a living that much better.

Losing Touch

As we run around on a daily basis, we have to recognize the importance, or better yet, the necessity of being connected. Whether it is our Blackberry, our IPhone, being connected to Skype, the use of Twitter, or updating our Facebook status - we probably don’t realize just how much we rely and/or need these means of communication to survive. Most of us are attached to these religiously – even in our sleep.

It seems as though as we have gained a way to stay connected, we are losing the emotional link. We cannot express any kind of emotion, feeling or passion when we send a message to someone, but more importantly the fundamental nature can be loss while in translation. There tends to be far more misleading, misrepresentation and misreading…or perhaps it’s the cryptic nature behind these means of communication.

Don’t get me wrong, these are unbelievable tools and they definitely should be used. We would not be the successful and productive society that we are if we did not use them. However, I believe that nothing compares to actual human contact and interaction. Face to face discussions are so powerful and meaningful and nothing can compare to that.

We must remember that there is actually someone on the other end who we are communicating with. Therefore, next time you are about to Blackberry message someone, think about it…pick up the phone or make arrangements to meet, because there is nothing better than hearing their voice or better yet seeing them.

~Nina Mathers

Self Esteem to the Extreme

A 48 year old man walks into an francise of LA Fitness in Pittsburg and open fires on as many people as he can, unloading almost 40 bullets, killing 3 women, before turning the gun on himself.

His name is George Sodini and according to his online diary he hadn't had a girlfriend in 15 years but was confused about his lack of appeal to the opposite sex, calling himself "not ugly or weird".

He goes on to write "just got back from tanning ... I actually look good. I dress good, am clean shaven, bathe, touche of cologne - yet 30 million women reject me". Stating "a man needs a women for confidence".

Now I bring this up partly because it was all over the news yesterday and he is but one extreme example of those people on the edge of sanity, on the outskirt of normalcy. Just like the perpetrators of Columbine, the Unibomber, or a recently fired employer pushed to the edge by his boss, he too found the restrictions of society, the judgements of others and his inability to live up to them too much to bear.

Self esteem is an amazingly powerful aspect of the human psyche. On a lesser level all people grapple with it - whether it is fear of rejection, not feeling adequate in body image or intelligence levels. From the time simple communications with toddlers are possible we are showing and praising as parents or caregivers. As they grow and develop we carefully nurture their relationships with others, involve them in sports, music, swimming, martial arts (oftentimes without them even showing an interest or asking). In an effort to keep them safe and fulfilled we are teaching them one thing but disallowing them to learn about another - desicion making, failing.

As teenagers their cars now have specific keys with volume, speed and passenger restrictions. We take away the ability for the young person to choose right or wrong, the thinking is taken out as are the steps of learning and consequences. Oftentimes this generation is not required to work to earn money, parents referring to their own long days when they say "there will be a lifetime of work ahead" rather than teaching them responsibility and a work ethic and easing them into those long days slowly.

All of this coddling grows a generation of adults who need constant reassurance or they don't feel adequate. They are unnecessarily unsure of their decisions, feelings, motives. They spend too much, work too much, eat, drink, stress, compensate too much.

I think that as leaders we need to take responsibility for our own feelings of inadequacy, own our decisions and enable others to do the same. Not always easy to do, but I know that I daily allow my daughter to make her own decisions and (sometimes) mistakes.

Why is Common Sense so Uncommon?

I was driving back from Whistler the other day, and at a certain point I realized that I was getting passed by a number of people. Thinking that maybe I was driving Miss Daisy, I looked down at my spedometer...

I was doing 30km OVER the speed limit. Therefore, all the people passing me... were going even faster.

I slowed down. I knew that it was not going to do a lot to improve the safety of the road, but I certainly wasn't going to contribute to it. I also started to thank that (sadly) all the improvements that they've made on the highway aren't going to make it safer... just like the Patello Bridge, there's no way to fix stupidity. And until people just start slowing down - the roads are going to continue to be unsafe.

How is this related to anything, other than for me to rant about the other morons on the road that continually make it one of the most dangerous forms of transportation?

Because there are numerous examples from our everyday world where common sense continues to elude the public, and people instead look to others to fix the problem instead of just showing a modicum of intelligence.

A few sample hints for people out there that may need a little guidance:

• If you're worried about road safety because of speed or road conditions, don't ask for a safer highway and better tires - slow down.


• If you don't fit in airplane seats, don't expect a "disabled" designation and a free extra seat - lose weight.


• If the food you're eating is unhealthy, don't blame the restaurants for serving it - stop eating it.


• If you're worried that the cost of cigarettes is getting too high - stop smoking.

Basically - stop talking about what other people AREN'T doing, and ask yourself "What am I doing" first. And if you're not willing to do that, then at least stop asking for others to fix everything for you.

And if you're not willing to do that, even - then for the love of God, just stop complaining.

The rest of us who are doing what we can to make the world a better place would appreciate it.

~Guy

Someone is always watching…

Seriously, the world is a small place and one never knows who’s watching. Wherever we are we must act like professionals. Whether we are working or not – act appropriately…

First impressions are a real time chance to act the way you want to be perceived. We seem to sometimes live in a shallow world and we all fall into the trap of judging a book by its cover – don’t provide ammunition or ‘fuel to the fire’

As times moves forward and we become more intertwined to the company, our reputations are looked at closer and closer – it seems the better we do, the greater the lens of the microscope used to keep track of us. It can be a slippery slope so please act right and perform the way you see yourself 100% of the time.

Don’t fall victim to road rage and flip someone off…what if that Chevy has your next session driving in it and they recognize you as they walk through our doors…or how about a coach is trying to book you an hour with that customer standing right there and as they are selling you they witness you acting childish, immature or worse, like you aren’t paying attention while training a customer at the that time.

Even super stars need to watch their back – clocking someone in the face is hard to hide from when you have 100,000 eyes watching your every move.

Be sure to act your age and represent yourself like the professional training coach that you are striving to be!

Importance of Rest!

Mental and Physical rest is important to keep mind, body and soul in one piece. Whether it is physical rest, where are bodies have been put through vigorous training and it needs the time to rebuild or it is mental rest, where you need to get away from your familiar surroundings and not think about the daily stresses that you go through.

We often take the time, physically to rest our bodies but how often do we take the opportunity to mentally rest our minds.

We live in a society, where we are always trying to better ourselves, stay on top of the game, make more money and be able to live a lifestyle we want. Technology of cell phones, blackberries, I Phones, allows us to be connected to everything so that we can constantly check our emails, missed calls or receive general updates. This is all wonderful technology but it is important to step away and to refrain that urge to check work/personal emails. It can be as little as a couple hours to a whole weekend, but the mind needs a rest from the day-to-day stresses that come with life.

You might think that sleeping is the best way to rest and rejuvenate you mind, however while you are sleeping you still keep processing information from the days work or any other issues that you might have. Other examples may include taking a vacation, going hiking, boating, playing a sport but how often has something suddenly come up and “pop”, your concerns are back. How often has the stress of day-to-day life reemerged in your head the minute your relaxing vacation was over?

Why is this happening? Well despite the attempts to relax, distract and slow down, the mind still processes problems in your conscious and unconscious sphere. To help us with these distractions you need to be able to control your flow of thoughts and brain waves.

Having the ability to relax and clear your mind, is the result of resting your mind.