WORRY: nothing good ever came of worry as it basically puts you in a holding pattern of Fear. The answers to the possible “Problem” that you are searching for will not appear in the conscious part of the brain as your worry/fear has turned off the creative frontal cortex and you are now operating in fight or flight mode.
Some will argue that worrying did produce a good/correct answer, but this is not entirely true. The solution came to mind only after you had depleted your energy, given up and surrendered. Then the front of your brain is good to go again, and an intelligent solution emerges in your thoughts.
CONTROL: Stoic Philosophers such as Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius urge us to be mindful of what is in our control (thoughts, actions, and behaviors) and what is not (outcomes, other people). Once we are focused on what WE really need to do while leaving others to get on with their lives, then anxiety/fear naturally melts away. Trying to control others and not recognizing their rights to act in freedom not only sucks the life out of them but it adds unnecessary responsibilities and frustrations to yourself. Just drop it and get on with what you really need to be doing to fulfill your own happiness and possibilities.
RELAXATION: Learn to take the time to let your mind and body relax. This activity will take different forms for different people, however constantly trying to keep up with the unrealistic pace of the 21st century is a sure-fire way to burn yourself out. Imagine the thoughts of a burnt-out brain vs those of one that is relaxed.
It is difficult to be relaxed and fearful at the same time but ultimately you need to make the choice as to where you will be sitting. Your life depends on it!
Watch your mind throughout the day, keep note of how your reality matches your clarity. Watch for yourself how fear clouds your own mind, then choose to sit in possibility and openness instead. Plus enjoy Dune 2 on the big screen at the cinema with some friends.
― Dune
]]>Jordan Peterson notes that "aiming low" doesn't mean settling for mediocrity. Instead, it suggests setting goals that are challenging yet attainable, “”one brick at a time”. As you achieve these goals, you can gradually up-scale the difficulty and aim for larger improvements and bigger conquests.
]]>You can still enjoy the holiday season without compromising your fitness goals. It's okay to indulge occasionally, just don’t let all of your healthy habits go out the window because it’s Xmas.
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Most people’s definition of motivation is usually “finding the energy to do something they don’t fully want to do”. This is a sure-fire way to achieve results far below what you are capable of or more often than not, just giving up altogether. Even if you have to continually re-energise yourself to achieve your goals, do you really want to live this way.
We’re not saying that every goal that was successfully completed was rainbows and lollypops. Sometimes to complete a goal you are going to have to endure some pain and go places mentally and physically you may not want to. What we are saying however is that whether a goal was successfully completed with a big smile or gritted teeth, the successful person fully knew WHY they were striving to complete this challenge. They understood their WHY and the goal had tangible MEANING to them.
WHAT DO YOU REALLY VALUE - Unless your goals have significant meaning to you then you will not be MOVED to see them to fruition, or at best you will struggle to achieve a sub-par outcome. As Nietzsche stated, we can bear almost anything if the WHY is big enough.
Would you shovel shite in a sewer for 12 hours a day for the next 4 years, every day? ……Probably not? What if it was high paying, you had no other skills and you need to pay for your daughter/father/wife’s lifesaving medical treatment? Suddenly the context changes everything. Most people will not enjoy it but most people are good hearted and they will not falter, the meaning associated with caring for their loved ones can move mountains (of shite in this case). Context and Meaning are everything and if you are not fully aware of what you truly value then you will not know what is really driving you.
Most of our goals don’t involve anything as dramatic as the example above, however the driving force is going to be the same. At some point you are going to have to ask yourself what is really important to you, what do you value, what drives you? I can guarantee you that the journey to your goals is going to be revolutionary (and evolutionary) once your Highest Intentions have been firmly established.
DOOMED TO FAILURE - No more rousing pep talks like you see with football coaches at half time, no more “you can do this”, “come on, fire up”, et. If you need a constant Pep talk that you can do this then obviously you aren’t “doing it”. Why keep beating yourself up with a method of motivation that rarely works? If you continue trying to do something and continually failing because your heart isn’t really in it can you imagine the damage this pattern will do to your self-esteem?
ASK YOURSELF SOME QUESTIONS – bring some awareness into your daily actions. Ask yourself some basic questions like
When you bring some awareness into your daily patterns you will start to quickly see your goals coming to fruition while also enjoying the process of creating your life anew. Only then will your resolutions actually have a fighting chance of being made flesh.
]]>Sounds nice if you want to play the blame/victim game but this approach is neither empowering nor particularly true. The key bit of information that seems to be left out every time one of these studies is mentioned in the popular media is that your genes CAN NOT turn themselves on. By themselves Genes are powerless. Without getting into too much nerdy mumbo jumbo we shall have a brief look at what factors that REALLY determine which genes are activated and thus how YOU control your own body.
Research scientists discovered decades ago that it is the cell membrane that determines the functions within each cell and that the nucleus is just a repository of blueprints (genes) that are selected and accessed when needed. Basically every cell has only two states of activity, either growth when the membrane perceives positive conditions, or protection (shut down mode) when the membrane perceives conditions to be hostile. If the protection mode is activated for a long enough time cells will actually die. Each cell needs a growth period where it can generate new proteins to repair itself.
Every cell membrane has thousands of receptors that monitor their environment for hormones, neurotransmitters, acidity, toxins, temperature, amino acids and just about every other conceivable thing that the cell may encounter. Then by activating secondary messengers and regulatory proteins that activate the appropriate gene.
So what does this all mean to average Joe/Jane that wants to look and feel healthier? It is us who control the 3 most important variables that determine which genes are activated.
The first 2 variables of what we eat and how active we are is a no-brainer. It is no surprise to anyone that your cells will activate the appropriate fat storage genes if calories are greater than expenditure. This is where last week’s media darling “fat master gene” comes into the picture, but again it has to be activated under the appropriate conditions and has no power of it’s own. It is also a no brainer that cells will try to protect themselves in the presence of damaging substances and environments.
What is less well understood is the effect our thoughts and beliefs have on the behaviour of the cells in the rest of the body. Basically positive thoughts and emotions cause the release of hormones and neurotransmitters that create a cellular environment for growth and repair, while negative thoughts and emotions cause the cell to go into shut down mode (low or no repair). As mentioned earlier, if a cell stays in this low repair mode low enough it will eventually die.
So what does this mean to the above average (we don’t have average members) Planet Max member? Bottom line is that you are in control of your own body. through your choices of foods, activities, supplements, medications and most of all, your thoughts determine which genes your body will activate in
order to keep itself healthy. The fact that different genes have been activated unintentionally in the past by certain thoughts and habits does not mean that you are genetically ungifted. With some more positive exercise, food and thought patterns you will be able to achieve your goals and achieve a physique where others will start to refer to you as “genetically gifted”.
For a more in-depth look at this topic I encourage you to read Dr Bruce Lipton’s “biology of belief” or for those that are time-poor there are a series of clips on Youtube that summarise the book quite well.
If you really want to take control of your thoughts, moods and emotions then sign up with Australia premier NLP experts www.thecoachingroom.com.au
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At this point, and I’m sure other points in your preparation, you may be thinking things like:
The biggest question which you may be asking yourself is ‘Why am I doing this?’ Why is it all your friends are out partying and your opting for an early night because your exhausted? Why can’t you just eat everything everyone else is eating? exactly why/what did you sign up for? It’s Saturday night man, let me have a piece of (or a whole) pizza already!!!
Most of you will remember when you signed on with us we asked you to fill out an initial Goals Sheet. That sheet asked you a question, the answer to that question needs to be plastered onto your fridge, pantry and desk and read as many times a day as you need.
Of course that question is:
WHY AM I DOING THIS????
If you haven’t thought about it lately, it may be time to put pen to paper yet again and answer some simple questions:
When you get an earful from your family, friends or all the ‘Experts’ out there ask yourself:
And lastly if you receive some feedback or comments which start to provoke some negative emotions take a step back and think:
Preparing and competing in Bodybuilding/Figure/Fitness/Sports modeling is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. You will have people around you, family, friends, co-workers and even strangers telling you how ‘unhealthy’ it is. You will have people telling you 100’s of different ways in which you should be dieting or training and 1000’s more articles from the internet confusing things even more.
The reality is very few people really understand what you are going through. If you allow your emotions to take control, instead of reasoning out why you feel a certain way, you will have let those doubting people and even your own self doubt win.
Keep the positive people around to share your thoughts and feelings with. Just be sure that at the end of the conversation you are in a better place. There is no point wallowing in self-pity, remember YOU choose to compete and only YOU will be able to see the preparation through. A good friend of ours summed it up earlier this year when he said: ‘You have to enjoy it, because after all it’s just a hobby’.
One of the most influential quotes to me during comp prep is: ‘I didn’t say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it’
Trust us when we say, competing WILL be worth it.
Take it to the next level and TAKE IT TO THE MAX!!!
]]>I stumbled across the above quote from Kahlil Gibran this morning and it reminded me of an incident a few years back…
One day while counting up the shop takings at the end of a rather slow sales week I couldn’t help but feel a little dejected. What was going wrong? The shop was looking awesome; stocked with all the latest products and our staff were great – always friendly, knowledgeable and keen to help. But at this time sales were only just enough to keep ticking along. It’s not that I wanted to be filthy rich from Planet Max, it’s just I thought that things might be a little bit more comfortable after working 60 hour weeks for the past few years.
That night I dreamt I was chatting with the American comedian Lesley Neilson, he was dressed in white robes and had this long flowing beard (possibly my sub-conscious comedic take on a godlike figure). In the dream I was complaining to Lesley/God about my first world problems when he suggested “maybe you could take some tips from our good friend Johnny Bach”.
When I awoke I was keen to google “Johnny Bach” because the only thing I knew about Johann Sebastian Bach was that he is considered one of the world’s greatest composers. After a bit of reading I found that for most of his life Bach worked for the church for a meager salary and most of the time they didn’t even pay him the agreed amount. In the town he lived in he had several critics, including the church congregation. He did earn some praise during his life time but for the most part he was underpaid and underappreciated.
So what did “Johnny “do? He wrote music, a lot of music. He wrote so much beautiful music during his lifetime that many people now refer to him as the world’s greatest composer. His music has touched the lives of millions of people around the world, even a musical retard such as myself can’t help being moved when you hear it.
Imagine what a disaster it would have been if Bach decided all the work wasn’t worth his effort. Thankfully he poured his whole heart and all his enthusiasm into his music and left behind his gift to the world. I’ll try not to get too preachy here but Bach’s life has been a valuable lesson to me to search for the purist motives in everything you do. The bills and daily ordeals do end up taking care of themselves, all I have to focus on is putting all my knowledge, enthusiasm and care into everything I do. I’ll leave you with a quote from my new friend Johnny…
“I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.”
– Johann Sebastian Bach
]]>The struggle basically goes something like this: it’s morning tea time and your co-worker Margaret has just walked into the office with a box of doughnuts. You start to think to yourself – “do I eat the nutritious meal I bought with me or do I just eat the doughnuts?”
The same dilemma continues at lunch, afternoon tea, etc. Then after work this thought pops up – “I’m a bit tired, might just skip the cardio session tonight”… and on it goes, with little choices having to be made up to 20 times per day.
This is an energy and self-esteem draining process that most people force themselves to endure when trying to get into shape. At some stage, motivation will drop off and then you will have to re-group and “get” some more motivation. While most people don’t put themselves through this pain knowingly, painful this process is. But it really doesn’t have to be this way!
When we remove the choice, then contest preparation, trimming up for summer or anything we want to achieve becomes very simple. Let me illustrate by sharing a conversation one of our good customers Mathew Pierce had with his then coach, IFBB Pro Josh Lenartowitz, a few months ago during his comp prep.
YOU WILL FIND A WAY
Mat: I don’t think I can fit meal 4 in at work.
Josh: I’m sure you will find a way.
Mat: We don’t have a break between 12 and 4pm though.
Josh: I’m sure you will find a way.
Mat: But my boss won’t let us take an extra break.
Josh: Have a talk to your boss, if you really want it, you will find a way.
Long story short, Mathew had his lunch break split in half to squeeze in an extra break. Josh new from experience that if you really want something bad enough you will arrange YOUR day to insure your goals are reached. He had removed the choice and was purely looking for ways to implement what needed to be done each day.
NO CHOICE
If we remove, the choice then life will become a lot easier. Instead of wasting energy deciding whether to follow YOUR plan to success, we will use our brains to determine HOW we are going to get it done. The old habit of stumbling at every choice is just that, a habit. Once we remove that choice and adopt the philosophy that “it will be done”, then eventually this new way of being will become our new productive habit.
YOUR CHOICE
So really the only choice that remains is, are you willing to give this new “No Choice” way of being a go, or are you going to stick with your old habits? I can guarantee you that the old “Will I/ Won’t I” way of following a nutrition plan is soul destroying. It will rob you of love for yourself and faith in your own abilities. If I had a worst enemy (7billion friends, zero enemies), I would not wish this horrible pattern of thinking upon them.
Having trouble sticking to your plans? Over our many, many years of coaching, we have come to learn that the way you think strongly influences the way you look and feel. Come in store and have a chat to me about how Planet Max can help you change your mindset and therefore your goals.
]]>Socrates said, “the un-examined life is not worth living” and I totally agree. Time spent evaluating how your current plan, beliefs, knowledge and behaviours are serving you is time well spent. What I am suggesting however is dropping the secondary value judgement that most people tend to add on to their initial analysis. It is this secondary, extra judgement that is often debilitating, and the main reason people come undone. Let me give an example…
Let’s just say you have embarked on a cardio plan to trim up. After a month of doing 30 minutes of cardio each day you have only lost 3kg (but you were expecting to drop 6kg). At this point you now have a few options on what to do with this new information.
Logical Evaluation Approach: This is the part your frontal lobe is actually designed for… Let’s pretend we are commander Spock from Star Trek – the only logical conclusion to be drawn here is that at this current rate another 4 weeks are necessary to get me to my goal. That’s it. Every other thought after this point is the ‘Add On’ part that only exists in your mind.
Can you do another 4 weeks cardio to get your goal? Yes, ok now JUST GET ON WITH IT! But that doesn’t always happen.
The Add-On Extra Garbage Approach: Here is where most of us make it personal and add a judgement or belief onto the situation. The first one usually is good or bad – “I didn’t deserve this”, “I deserved better” or some connotation. Sometimes we don’t stop there and add another layer like “I’m a failure” or worse “I’m not worthy”. These value judgement are not inherent in this or any other situation. You unnecessarily added them, identified with them and are now allowing them to inform your next move (quitting, sulking, depression?).
The Disappointment: Most of us are never going to be as logical as Commander Spock, and emotions such as disappointment are going to arise. Don’t try to suppress your emotions, feel them fully. Your disappointed, that’s ok, just sit with that for a while. How does it feel? CRAP, ok how about we re-frame this experience and simply look at it a different way. What if we refer to this experience as an opportunity to gather more intel for future en devours Or My first attempt? Both of these sound and feel so much better and will serve you better moving forward.
Back to the cardio/fat dropping example, what if instead of feeling disappointed you chose to feel optimistic and come up with a new game plan? Disappointment is stagnation, which always feels crap! Having a plan is moving forward/progress which has a vitality to it. You haven’t supressed any emotion, quite the opposite, you mindfully chose which emotion you wanted to feel.
Sometimes things don’t always go according to plan, however we always have the option of coming up with a new plan and choosing how we wish to view our lives. If this is a habit of yours, make an appointment to see Stephanie, our NLP/Neuro-semantics facilitator, to discuss how you can begin to see every hurdle for what it really is…a launch pad to bigger things.
Dream big… now go out and get it!
]]>At this point in your preparation, you may be thinking things like:
The biggest question which you may be asking yourself is ‘Why am I doing this?’. Why is it all your friends are out partying and your opting for an early night because your exhausted. It’s Saturday night man, let me have a piece of (or a whole) pizza already.
So the big question is “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?”
If you haven’t thought about it lately, it may be time to put pen to paper and answer some simple questions:
If you haven’t yet established a clear WHY yet, then it is likely you are going to be having to continually find some more Motivation to power you through your day. The Motivation pathway, if you haven’t already experienced for yourself, is a doomed roller coaster of emotions. When you establish a clear WHY, then Motivational top-up will no longer be needed.
WHATS HOLDING YOU BACK
Sometimes people struggle to establish a clear WHY that is compelling enough to keep them moving in the direction of their goals. Often some of our long held beliefs, values and even our perceptions of who we take ourselves to be are in-congruent with our new physique goals. By identifying what old habits of thinking and being are holding us back we have the opportunity to be free of them and free to fully embrace our new goals and challenges.
Click on this link to learn how to embark on your Competition Preparation with confidence and excitement.
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SELF WORTH
SELF WORTH is a given, your self- worth has not changed since the day you were born, nor can it. You are unique and contribute in a way that no other human-being can. There is nobody on the planet more important than you and conversely you are no more important than anyone else. While your confidence can go up and down, there is absolutely nothing that you can do throughout your life to increase your self-worth. Every single person on the planet is extraordinary and deserves to be here.
CONFIDENCE is not the same as self-worth. Confidence relates to your own perceived ability to complete various tasks to a certain level. An example would be; Bob might have low confidence in his ability to play table tennis well, however he doesn’t take sport too seriously so his self-worth is not affected in any way. Bob might think “I’m a crap table tennis player but I’m still a top bloke”.
Let’s really drive this one home, whether your confidence in a particular endeavour is high, low or somewhere in between, YOUR SELF WORTH IS UNCONDITIONAL. It is not dependant on the conditions, the ups and downs of your life. The real you, call it ‘the soul’, call it ‘consciousness’, cannot be improved. You can awaken to it, but that awakening is only the realisation that it (you) has always been there and is always perfect.
So if the real ‘Me’ (soul/higher self/whatever label you feel comfortable with) can’t be improved in any way then why would a human bother doing anything? Simple, for enjoyment or because you are moved to do it for the benefit of others. This point is important and leads us on to the next part of this article…
WE CAUSE MOST OF OUR OWN SUFFERING NEEDLESSLY
Life can be challenging, we get sick, loved ones pass away, its not always sunshine and lollipops. Here in the modern western world however most of our problems are mental and are of our own creating. The most common cause of our wows is the delaying of happiness. Here is the general pattern we follow as humans in regards to goals/motivation/happiness
This final point is the very cause of most of our suffering in the western world, and it is a horrible thing to do to yourself.
ABANDON all GOALS?
The obvious question that arises for a lot of people is “So does this mean I shouldn’t have any Goals or Hopes?”. The Simple answer is goals, hopes and aspirations are a natural part of life, as reality continues to unfold then desires, preferences and hopes will also naturally arise within you. The problem for us only occurs when we think we can’t be happy until this new desire is fulfilled. We can’t be happy next week because next week never arrives, there is always only the present moment, and this is the only place we can be happy. You don’t actually have to have any motivation to be fully present, when you are fully present and paying attention your next logical move will be readily apparent. You already know what you want, now simply start moving toward it. Pay attention, see your doors open, then walk through them.
HAPPY WHERE YOU ARE AND HAPPY WHERE YOU ARE GOING
This is where we find the paradox, by being slightly less attached to our goals we actually have more energy to pursue them. When you quieten your mind and rest in the present moment you start to discover your true nature. The quietened relaxed mind has no need for motivation, your natural unfettered mind is already vibrant. Anybody that has set aside 30 minutes a day for meditation soon realises for themselves that In your natural ground state, you are happy and content with the way life currently is. With the added realisation that life is in a constant state of change, you are also happy with where your life is heading. When your mind is in its natural (unstressed) state you also have better clarity in choosing where you would like to steer your life and what choices and actions need to be taken to get you there.
Like the dance song asks “where’s your head at”, so where is your focus? Are you draining your natural vitality by worrying about every aspect of your life or are you fully engaged in the present moment, tapped into the unlimited energy that really is you. Being aware of where your focus is directed will greatly enhance the quality of your whole life. By Slowing down your busy mind and remaining in the present moment you begin to get a better sense of who you really are and begin to contrast that knowing with the transient aspects of your life that you once strongly identified with. It’s not that you abandon worldly possessions or goals, it’s just you are not possessed by them. You play with life, you create, share and enjoy.
The person that knows their own self-worth finds that they are naturally moved to participate in beneficial actions for themselves and all others as naturally as they would take their next breath. My personal experience is that once the attachment to self-gain is relinquished (even diminished) that the desire to engage in life is greatly magnified. A well of unlimited energy becomes available to you. You are that well and always have been. When you can separate your performance and your abilities from your self-worth then life for you will move into a higher gear. Instead of doing things to chase some far off happiness, you start to do things for the pure enjoyment. Activities start to have a purity and lightness to them that was lacking previously in your awareness. Often it is the very same activities as before but with a different driving force you will have a different experience.
TAKE HOME NOTES
*Your Self Worth is Unconditional, you are meant to be here on this planet.
*Projecting your happiness on to external conditions or future events will lead to unhappiness.
*Your natural relaxed mind state is already content and full of vitality. You don’t need to do anything to achieve this, more so stop doing your habitual worrying and you will eventually arrive back in the here and now.
*With a present mind you will be naturally moved to participate in activities that are beneficial, enriching and enjoyable. No motivation will be needed. Abandon All motivation!
*Many philosophers/Authors have a better grasp on these concepts than I am able to present here. People such as A.H. Almaas, Ken Wilbur, Thich Nhat Hahn and Eckhart Tolle have a variety of books available that eloquently present the topics we have just touched on.
*My Mentor/ Sensei for the past 7 years, Joseph Scott, specialises in helping to empower people in their everyday lives. Check out www.thecoachingroom.com.au to check out the courses that are available so you can accelerate your own personal evolution.
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