Tag: training

You are not one.

I’m going to deviate from my normal coffee praising posts for a moment and venture into a slightly philosophical topic. This is something I wrote a while back but didn’t post it here. I’m going to add it now with some minor editing. It’s kind of a musing of mine, but I wasn’t sure how it would fit into the rest of the content. Perhaps I will find a way to blend it into other subjects I stumble upon.

I spend a lot of time in deep introspection. Maybe it’s just because I am often bored and alone, or maybe I’m just a pondering sort of guy. One idea that has often popped up in my mind is that we do not appear to be a single person. We appear to be a combination of at least two persons or entities. I believe that understanding can shed quite a bit of light on the situation in which we find ourselves.

The first person (entity) is the inner self. The inner self is your observing mind. This is the self that observes the universe around you. I think this self is mostly what philosophy and religion is talking about when they discuss the concept of a soul. It might also figure into quantum physics because it is basically of the observer of the universe. It is the part of you that actually explores existence and reality. I like to think of it as the reality explorer. I my opinion, this is the real you, but it’s hard to put your finger on it. It’s kind of ethereal.

The second person is the outer self. This is the self that everyone around you sees. It’s not really you but is a kind of vehicle for your inner self. You most easily see the world around you by viewing it through the eyes of this physical vehicle. You also have access to all the other forms of feeling this vehicle is capable of sensing. It is often referred to as the physical body, or the animal body. It also has a brain that is geared toward taking care of this body. It is an animal, just like all the other animals you see around you. Your inner self, or reality explorer self, is very tied to this particular animal and through it senses space and time.

This is where it gets tricky. It is very easy to confuse these two selves. You not only feel this other self’s physical sensations but can also feel its emotions. This other self is trying to survive in a physical world, and it will pull you toward goals that improve its quality of life. Very often, it wins. In most cases, both selves are working toward similar goals, but not always. Life problems begin to occur when these two selves have conflicting goals. The communication between you and the animal is very good but not perfect. Sometimes when you tell it to do something it revolts because it has other plans. It also often responds better to training and habits than direct commands.

For instance, you want to lose weight, but your physical self wants to eat a sugar glazed doughnut. Who is going to win this battle? It would be better if you controlled other factors, like not going around places that have doughnuts, as it will have to use a lot of its energy resisting temptation. Another way to lose weight might be getting more exercise. Your physical self has to use energy to accomplish this and may become tired. It may therefore resist this action. A better way might be to train it by creating a daily habit. The animal self is prone to follow patterns and habits, so it may respond favorably to this new lifestyle change.

Most of your life has actually been spent training and interacting with this outer self, and sometimes being frustrated by your inability to perfectly control it. Every person is different. Some people have a very docile and easy-going outer self, while others are in for the ride of their lives.

Do you sense this duality? Have you ever felt like there was a struggle within? Do you sometimes talk to yourself? How do you deal with temptations? How do you train your outer animal? Who’s really in control? Let me know your thoughts on this deep subject, and please like, share, and subscribe!

My favorite form of physical exercise.

I would say that my favorite form of physical exercise is weightlifting. I like lifting weights, because it increases muscle size and tone, but it does something else. From my experience, when the amount of muscle increases on your body it sort of makes you feel healthier. I think it maybe changes your metabolism or balances your hormones or something. Seeing your muscles get bigger probably also boosts your self-esteem. The only downside are those days you really push yourself and can barely move the next three days. This doesn’t happen as often once you make it a habit though, or maybe you just get used to a certain level of pain. Overall, I still think it’s one of the best physical exercises you can do.

I used to lift weights more often, but I’ve kind of gotten lazy since I moved downtown. My building does have a nice gym as one of its amenities, and it doesn’t require a membership, so there’s really no excuse to not walk down there. They are all machines though, because that’s probably the safest, especially if you don’t have a spotter. I’m not against machines, but I think I do prefer free weights. Back when I owned my own home, I had a good weight bench and decent set of free weights in my garage. I used them quite often. To be perfectly honest, it might also be that I don’t care to work out around strangers. Having a private home gym was definitely a huge benefit for me.

A few years back, I sort of went through a health improvement phase where I was really into weightlifting. I lifted like three or four days a week. I would say the phase became habitual enough that it lasted for over a year. I was also following a workout plan laid out in a health book I had read. It’s really amazing how a book can change your life by giving you the right motivation. I wasn’t really that overweight, but I did lose a significant number of pounds during the process. I would honestly say that period of time left a very pronounced effect on my health, and I am still reaping the benefits years later.

The book and plan I followed was called Bigger Leaner Stronger by Michael Matthews. This book was geared toward men, but he also has a book specifically for women called Thinner Leaner Stronger. I really do believe it changed my life. I would be a lot less lean right now, and probably have a few more health issues if I had not found this book. I’m also considerably more muscular these days, which is kind of nice. If you need to turn your health around, I highly suggest getting a book with a plan and trying to stick to it for a year. You will be glad you did. Also, get a gym partner. It really helps to keep the motivation going.

Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

How to transform your body while eating the foods you like and doing a few challenging (but not grueling) strength training workouts per week. Oh, and cardio exercise? Completely optional.

Here are just a few of the things you’ll discover inside this workout book for men:

  • The 10 biggest fitness myths and mistakes that keep guys weak, fat, and confused. For example, “calories are all that matters,” “carbs and sugars make you fat,” and “some guys don’t have the genetics to get big.”
  • The primary driver of muscle growth that forces your muscles to get bigger and stronger. And no, it has nothing to do with “muscle confusion,” “functional training,” or any other pseudoscientific fitness nonsense.
  • How to create meal plans for building muscle and losing fat with foods you love so you never feel starved, deprived, or like you’re “on a diet” (and especially a “bodybuilding diet”).
  • 12 months of paint-by-numbers resistance training workouts for building a full chest, wide back, powerful legs, and bulging arms . . . in only 3-to-5 hours of weight training per week.
  • A no-BS guide to fitness supplements that’ll save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars on useless (and sometimes even dangerous) pills, powders, and potions

What’s your favorite form of physical exercise? Do you spend much time in the gym? Do you like free weights or machines? What’s your best advice on getting and staying healthy? What’s a book that really changed your life in some way? Tell us all about it! Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Think about it.

Thinking is actually hard to do, so much so that a lot of people avoid it. Instead of thinking, they use their learning to short circuit the need to use their thinking mind. This works great for a lot of things, but it does get in the way when you really need to think about something.

It is also the leading reason why people get into a rut. They have already learned something, so they don’t need to think about it anymore, or they have been trained to think in a certain way at an early age, and don’t recognize that they never really considered another viewpoint. This usually causes considerable confusion when the person runs into someone who was taught something totally different.

My challenge to you is the next time someone tells you something, fully investigate and think about what they are telling you. Often what people really want is for you to think like them. If everyone thinks like them, then they won’t have to change their thinking. Things will just stay the way they always were. See how this is problem? Laziness in thinking can create a very stagnant society. Also, every now and then, try and rethink something you already thought you knew. It might surprise you. You might end up with a completely different opinion.

Here’s an interesting YouTube video I found on how we can get stuck in our learning.

Do you think memory and learning short circuit thinking? Is relearning good for society? What ideas do you think society takes for granted that might not actually be true? What ideas are holding us back? Is there sometimes a good reason to keep an untruth going? Think about it, and let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

My morning routine.

The alarm goes off, I hit snooze a full three times. I’d hit it more but after three my alarm clock just resets itself, so it won’t go off again. I hate that, but I’d just keep hitting it until 10:00 am if it kept letting me. Yea, I admit it. I am not an early riser. I can set up all night long pretty easily, but I hate the morning. I really need a job on the night shift, but the kind of work I do is largely day shift.

After I get up, I make coffee. That’s the first thing I do. I’m not quite alive without my first cup of coffee. I think I’m in this weird quantum state only partially existing in this universe, blipping on and off with brief moments of wakefulness that eventually become continuous enough to allow me to fully materialize.

Gotta get this day done so I can come home.

Sometimes I say little things in my head to motive me to actually get out of bed. It’s an odd trait maybe. I’m not sure if I asked anyone else if they do it, and I’ve been doing it so long I forget that I do it. On the good days, I probably say something like, gotta get this day done so I can come home, or gotta get a move on or I’ll be late. On a bad morning, I might say something a lot grumpier with a few expletives. As noted, I don’t fully exist before coffee, so what I say doesn’t count.

My coffee comes from a small expresso machine I have in the kitchen. Sometimes I actually make lattes with it, but in the morning, I just fill that little portafilter to the top and make expresso shots. I’m not sure how many shots that makes. I just try to max it out. That’s the only way I will get to full materialization. I mean, you don’t want to try driving when you are not fully in this universe.

There’s some degree of multitasking going on as I wait for the expresso machine to spue out its life juice. I start taking the vitamins and supplements that I take every morning. There’s a lot I must admit. I was always a vitamin taker, but over the years I added this thing or that for various claims. Some I think work pretty well, but others I’m taking might be snake oil. They have become a habit though, and habits don’t always get scrutinized, at least not daily. There would be no gain from making them a habit if you had to think about it, since a habit is teaching your brain to do repetitive things, so you don’t have to think about it. I think I repeated myself there, maybe I need more coffee.

After coffee and pills, I go to the bathroom and get everything ready for my shower, but don’t quite get in yet. The caffeine takes a little bit to kick in and I have the morning sort of timed out to account for this. After I lay out my towel, etc., I actually go back to bed for a few minutes. I have an alarm set on my phone for this one, and I can’t hit snooze. I might get a whole 15 minutes, but it depends on how long it took me to get the morning tasks done. If I get sidetracked by looking at my phone, I will lose precious moments of sleep. Those 15 minutes feel heavenly some days.

I think I hold some sort of record probably, like maybe ten solid years of being late.

After the alarm goes off on my phone, I’m in kind of a rush to shower, dress, comb my hair, brush my teeth, put on deodorant, and make the short drive to work about 15 minutes away. The coffee is finally pumping through my veins by this time, so it goes a little faster. I’m usually there about time, but honestly, I’m a little late most days. I think I hold some sort of record probably, like maybe ten solid years of being late. I’m probably exaggerating. Lots of people are late though, and many of them get to work from home and take vacation, and I’m there every day and basically on call 24/7 through my smart phone.

Are you a morning person or do you need coffee to get you going? Do you prefer to go to bed early or stay up late? Do you find sleep as blissful as I do? Do you have motivational phrases you say to yourself?

What’s your best blogging advice?

What’s your best advice for people new to blogging? Do you have a different opinion about it now from when you first started? What did you learn from the process? Do you have a good strategy for gaining and keeping subscribers? Are there some things that worked better than others? How do you come up with content? Have you had any luck monetizing a blog? What is the best way, wordads, adwords, affiliate marketing, paid subscription, donations, selling products or services, consulting, or something else? Do you actually make money on your blog, or does it cost you out of pocket? Is there a plugin or theme you are really partial to? Did you make any mistakes along the way? What would you advise a new blogger to do or not to do? Any suggested training? Was it all worth it?

Now’s your chance to tell us all the dos and don’ts about blogging. What experience can you share to help us all be successful at blogging?

The thing I value is their why.

A few weeks ago, I was in an in-person leadership training course paid for by my organization and the instructor kept mentioning a book in the class. It was a book written by Simon Sinek called Start with Why. The book peaked my interest, so I bought a copy. He also has a blog (https://simonsinek.com). The book itself is geared more toward how companies form their image, and a critical part of their image is their why.

After that day, I began to think about why in terms of people. When we meet someone knew, it’s pretty much a blank slate, other than maybe what comes across visually or through body language, but one of the things I think we do though, as we get to know them, is we start to try and figure out their why. Why do they do the things they do? Why do they say things like that? Why do they like or dislike me? What’s their agenda? That is to say, what’s their why?

When you learn someone’s why, you will either resist their every move or drop everything and take up their banner.

When I know them well enough, a pattern will emerge. I will know their why. I will begin to anticipate what they are going to say or do next. I have come to know how they will react to different situations. I will begin to guess what they really want from me, what they are not openly saying. I will start seeing hidden agendas. I’m not always correct, as no one can predict the future, but it still influences me enough to adjust what I say or do around them. Very often, when you learn someone’s why, you will either resist their every move or drop everything and take up their banner.

Not everyone has a good why. You will find people who are not at all altruistic. Most of the things they say or do has some hidden benefit to them, either physically or egotistically. They can’t get past this. They are just very self centered and manipulative by nature. Other people are just there for them to use, but the challenge for them is how to get what they want without being discovered.

That being said, some people are just genuine people. The more you are around them, the more you see that their why is actually good, or at least benign. To me, these people make great friends. You can usually trust them, and they don’t really have any hidden motives that would cause you any issues. If they like you, it’s really because they like you, and not because they want something from you. You can’t help but like these people honestly.

Do you find yourself trying to figure out a person’s why? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to hit subscribe.