Goal Setting is for the Birds!

 

(Note: Not "pigeon")

I first participated in hot yoga a few years back when it was just getting popular in North America. I figured, Stretching, Sauna...No problem! My friends and I walked into the studio with beach towels and had to rent mats. The girls behind the counter knew FOR SURE that this was our first time. I found one open spot in the room, not realizing it was directly under the window in the ceiling until it was too late. That was in August. Live and learn.

Rewind.

I started playing football at the age of 14. I'll admit that I was pretty green about the game, its rules and so forth, but I remembered growing up in Hamilton and seeing the Cathedral High School football team gearing up for training camp. I knew I had to do it.

As I grew older, I realized that I had quite a bit of size, and a modest amount of athleticism to go with it. So when universities from across Canada began calling me and asking me to play football for their teams while receiving a university education, I figured, I should probably start working out. If schools were willing to pay a portion of my tuition, this would help my family save money (which was very important). As my high school years drew to a close, I committed to a Bachelor of Arts program at St. Francis Xavier University, and with it, an opportunity to play for the X-Men.

It was during training for the football season, and the upcoming seasons that I progressively got bigger, stronger and faster by focusing on one or two aspects of my performance at a time. Over the next few years, my coaches and fellow teammates would tell me that I had a "raw talent" and "natural leadership ability"; things that would help me get to the next level (Canadian Football League) after I had graduated.

So I continued to hit the weights and the books year after year, making sure I did all the right things to graduate and set myself up for success. In 2007, I graduated St. FX with a Joint Advanced Major in History and Sociology, and the Hamilton Tiger Cats drafted me in the 6th round. I had achieved two goals that I had set for myself many years earlier.

And therein lies the point of this post.

Since the age of 14, I had consciously and unconsciously been setting little goals for myself, whether it was in the weight room, hitting the books, or on the playing field. These "little" goals had time spans ranging anywhere from one play in a game or a night of cramming for an exam, to a week of prep work for the upcoming weeks game, semesters for school, seasons for football and even 4 years plus when it came to wanting to become a professional athlete!

All these little steps that I had taken had gotten me to my ultimate goal which was to play professional football. It is when we make those tiny daily ripples of success on a continuous basis that we eventually create a tidal wave of success. 

 I'll never forget a game against Winnipeg when I came down the field on kick-off, and made my one and only tackle in my professional career ever. While some may look at that and say, "It was JUST one tackle", I prefer to quote one of my coaches, mentors and best friend's father in saying that "It's in the record books forever."

My football career has been over for awhile now, and I came to terms with that long ago. When that happened, however, I was confused as to how I would train going forward. I no longer had a season to look forward to. I no longer had an ultimate goal that I was working towards. For some time, my training took a bit of a dip, and for someone who was used to performing at a peak level, that was incredibly frustrating.

It was during conversation with a colleague of mine that I realized consciously that I had no goals! And perhaps somewhere in the depth of my brain, that memory of being in the hot yoga studio under the August sun came to the forefront of my mind.

Flexibility is something I have never taken seriously, and my body's tightness shows it. I realized that correcting this issue was in fact a goal of mine. Specifically, my glutes were very tight. One pose in yoga known as the "pigeon" is a glutes stretch that I had an unbelievably difficult time doing.

So I set a new goal for myself (amongst many others) to work towards. I decided this was important to do because I do not want to grow older, become tighter, lose mobility in my hips, shoulders etc. and thereby decrease my quality of life. While that may not seem like a big thing to some, optimal health throughout my life is an ongoing goal for me. I had to make the reason for wanting to do the goal personal, and meaningful.

Goal setting applies to anything, from business relationships, to personal fitness.  

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, HOW WILL YOU EVER GET THERE? 

Try the following steps:

1. Figure out WHAT your ultimate goal is. What do you want? What do you want exactly?
2. Figure out WHY this is important to you. Why do you want it so bad? What happens if you do not get it?
3. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals that actively work TOWARDS your meaningful want. Self-explanatory but I figured an italic sentence here keeps things consistent.
4. Write it down. Doing so makes it real.
5. TELL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS SO THEY HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE. Nobody wants to disappoint those they love, and those they love do not want to see you disapointed. You have an unbelievable network of support, including your local gym. You just have to ask!
6. GO! Commit to doing whatever it takes to get to your goal! You are either doing it, or you are not! It is that simple. Trying is lying. YOU MUST COMMIT!

When I meet someone who asks for my help, these are just a few of the basic steps I take to get them actively moving in the right direction towards a better life. At the end of the day, we are talking about looking and feeling GREAT!

Today, I took the block away from underneath my hip for the "pigeon" pose. I'm now one step closer. 

The Paleo Solution

I'm currently sitting inside a room at the Renaissance Hotel in the Skydome (yes it's the Skydome!) about to embark on 3 days of Fitness Manager bootcamp along with 17 other new FM's from across the country. I'm looking forward to the learning experience and working on my personal development in order to be a better teacher and leader to those I affect directly.

It's now been one week of my Paleo challenge against my friend Patrick and I can honestly say, this time I think it is going to stick as a lifestyle.

Let me elaborate.

I've tried a couple times to go "Paleo" in the past. I read a bit of Loren Cordain's "The Paleo Diet for Athletes", but it was too technical. I went solid for the month of February and fell right off halfway through March. Come to think of it, it was right around the time I accepted the FM position. Hmm...stress leading to poor eating habits? I may be on to something!

It was Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution" which really got me interested in it. Robb writes in an easy manner. I don't want to say "layman's terms" because there is a lot of technical stuff in there that can be quite hard to understand. After reading Robb's book, I read Art De Vany's "The New Evolution Diet" and everything began to click.

To be honest, I don't even see it as a competition anymore. And I don't mean that from the "I don't care about winning or losing" perspective. Simply, the purpose of the competition was to be able to have a reason to stick to the diet. I was using excuses, saying that it was too hard to not eat grains when it is everywhere around us. So, we made a competition with an end point and a reward at the end. And I stayed true, until Friday night when I decided to experiment and had some nachos.

Needless to say, my stomach felt like crap, I got a headache, and the experiment was done. It's obvious that I have reset my system, and putting "food" that isn't healthy in me just doesn't make sense anymore.

It would be ludicrous to presume I will never have another grain again. However, as Agatsu CEO Shawn Mozen once told me during a kettlebell cert in Toronto, "Just think about what you are putting into your mouth, and what it is doing for you." Putting "food" that we know is crap into our body is serving some sort of emotional function. The trick is to rewire your brain into getting that same end without turning to food. Some people chew gum. Some chug water. Some exercise.

My trick: 1 shot of tequilla, mixed with soda water in a tall and 3 limes. Stir, and enjoy.

AmeriCanuck Paleo Challenge: Do or Do Not...

For those of you who don't know, my dear friend Patrick and I decided last week to partake in a little nutritional challenge between April 3rd and May 8th. I've really been on a Paleo kick lately, but find my commitment to it wanes from time to time. Turns out, grains really are an addiction!

Why are they so hard to give up? Well let's be honest: we've grown up thinking that these were good for us, that we needed "carbs" in order to function and so on and so forth. Old habits are hard to break, as are previous mindsets. Recent studies by Paleo gurus Art De Vany (http://arthurdevany.pro.subhub.com/), Robb Wolf (http://www.robbwolf.com) and Loren Cordain (http://www.thepaleodiet.com), have shown otherwise.

In a nutshell (pardon the pun), the Paleo diet means no grains, no dairy, no legumes or sugar. It means plenty of lean meats, quality vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats as well as some nuts. (A simple google search will answer the rest of your questions). Protein, carbs, fat. Simple right? Sure. How long have you gone without break, rice, and pasta? Not as easy as you think. The more I educate myself however, the more I realize that this is really doing nothing for me. Why would we put garbage "food" into our bodies? You wouldn't fuel a Ferrari with diesel would you??? (Hint: No. You wouldn't.)

Back to the challenge.

My friend wants to shed some pounds. I'd like to work on my discipline and if it means some aesthetic qualities show up at the end (ie. abs), I'm not going to complain about it. We've set goals for ourselves, taken pictures on day 1 and taken measurements. We've told our friends and family on a Facebook group what we are doing so that we can hold ourselves accountable.

It's been two days and I feel great. Did hot yoga on day 1, and had a great workout in the evening today. What's driving me is not necessarily the end goal, but the process and the commitment to eating right, and fueling this Ferrari with some high octane fuel. It also helps that my buddy down south is doing the same. And if in turn, it makes you think about some of the stuff you are actually putting into your body, and makes you really THINK about it, then hopefully it will help you along your path too. This is why I do what I do (blog name! They do this in movies all the time!)

To finish, I read a tweet today from @_robin_sharma today: "The translation of "I'll try" is "I'm not committed."

I think a little green dude in Star Wars said something similar once.