Gaining Self-Perspective Through Our Diets

Beginning this written piece with my eating and drinking adventures of the past weekend, I feel somewhat hypocritical in the act. But, I redeem my behavior as the piece reads on. Balance is key my friends. Balance is my savior. Cheers to balance!

On Thursday, November 15, I attended the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo at the Metro Convention Center and I enjoyed myself to the utmost. Indulging my happy little foodie me, with foods like Scallop Ceviche, 21 day aged beef, Russian Sturgeon Ossetra Caviar, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Sliders, Samosas, Spring Rolls, and Fois Gras Ice Cream!  “Sampling”, if you could call it that, more like “Sipping” from some unorthodox vendors, I still found myself in heaven with wines from Niagara’s Winery of the Year ‘Southbrook‘ to Australia’s Peter Lehmann’s Clancy’s Legendary Red to the ever so popular Kim Crawford‘s Malborough Sauvignon Blanc.

I continued living the life of a foodie as the weekend continued with great company, great wine stories over wine, and great food the way foodies do. I shall cut my losses here and redirect with my bigger picture, out of the box, don’t want to hear it but know it’s good for me, Buddhist approach, style of writing blog post.

Below are my thoughts on diet and nutrition as a response to my classes’ brief discussion and query on my views to this sensitive and complicated topic.

Dieting is very personal. I am not a registered dietitian nor a certified nutritionist, but only an expert within my scope as a successful Kinesiologist/Fitness Coach. I too have experimented on my own body with my highly active lifestyle and it has enabled me to do above average things. You have heard me speak about vegan-ism and vegetarianism as a key player of success in my running. I may have told you about my green smoothies and super-foods approach to a holistic  approach to supplementation for high dosage of nutrients. I may have spoken to you about my gluten-free, dairy-free, red meat free diet that I have been upholding to deal with my eczema skin disorder. I have experimented with my own diet to great depths but do not expect the same experimentation out of you. We are all different. We must do what is right for ourselves, but we must know what is right. Hence we must know thyself.

Eat not based on how you want to look but on how you want to feel. Eat to fuel what you want to do not what you want to be. Eat not just to survive in life but to perform in life. Feed yourself what you would feed your loved ones.

I provide advice on diet to those I believe are in need of habitual reassessment. We all have good habits and bad habits. We are not born good eaters and poor eaters. It is not nature but nurture that determines our dietary habits. We are influenced by our environment. Our dietary habits are simply a reflection of who we are, what we do, and how we want to do. We need to be able to identify triggers, behavioral indications, symptoms, and changes. Let’s be proactive rather than reactive. Let’s read into our past, act on our present, and write out our future.

I look as food as more than just fuel but a joy in life. I eat to live AND I live to eat. I make sure I understand the difference, and also balance the two. Along with balance, I look for alignment. Food must complement my work-life balance. It should give me confidence to work hard and live life as fulfilling and meaningful as possible.

You must simply ask yourself two things:

1. What is a better me?

2. Am I eating my way towards a better me?

Change is a crucial element to our health, fitness, and wellness. Sustainable change happens very slowly, hence we must be patient with ourselves and our environment. But we must also be consistent, persistent, and focused. The best way to answer these big questions are sometimes with a new perspective:

• Try for many small wins instead of one big win.
• Try adding good instead of subtracting bad.
• Try a new recipe instead of an old recipe.
• Try losing inches instead of losing pounds.
• Try substituting here and there instead of changing altogether
• Try packing lunch instead of buying lunch
• Try shopping grocery store perimeters instead of aisles
• Try: “If you never try, you’ll never know”

Cheers to good eats,

Julian

How to Perceive Intangible Forces

“Poems don’t always have to rhyme, you know. They’re just supposed to be creative.”

–Sam Shakusky, from Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.

I was inspired by this quote in this beautiful film to write a poem that, according to Sam, does not rhyme, but is creative, and also, a written passage that makes you think.

Brewing in my thoughts post 100km run are deep thoughts influenced by larger than life events and forces. I have not written a piece in more than a month because I have been unsure of my next pursuit. I have been aimlessly absorbing at my mind and heart’s content: a book here, half a book there, podcast here, ted talk there, audio book here, youtube video there, a magazine article here, a research study there. David Mitchell says, “A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.” He is the author of the book Cloud Atlas, of which I have not had the pleasure of reading, but of watching. This amazing film by the directors of The Matrix Trilogy and Run Lola Run has also been on my mind and has been an inspiration to many of my thoughts and actions throughout the weeks. I have experienced many half-finished literature love affairs because there is an unknown to my short term training destination. I have not set myself onto a path to which I can set foot.

I am at a standstill, a fork in the road, a red light, and yet, I am happy.

Below is the poem that reflects some of my big picture questions, unquestionably shared by many in the world. The poem reads as many divided verses written at different times for different reasons, this is true. It is a collage of popular deep thoughts that continue to linger in my mind, simply in need of releasing. The main spark of this poem is from a Ted Talk by Chip Conley called Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile.

The Perception of Intangible Forces
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
What happens when time stops?
What happens when opposites attract?
What happens when the unthinkable happens?
What happens when the seven heavenly virtues meet the seven deadly sins?
When chastity meets lust.
When temperance meets gluttony.
When charity meets greed.
When diligence meets sloth.
When patience meets wrath.
When kindness meets envy.
When humility meets pride.
Is all that is good turned bad?
Is all that is gained lost?
Is all that is understood forgotten?
Is this all for nothing?
Why are we afraid of the unknown?
Why is time always fleeting?
Why is the grass greener on the other side?Why are we in pursuit of happiness?
Questions may forever never be answered.
Forces may forever remain still.
Time may never tell.
Never knowing the unknown may forever be our destiny.
The answer to these questions may be lost with the logic and intelligence of science, but may be found with the wisdom and perception of philosophy.
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
The most important things in life are intangible.
Knowing the difference between having what you want versus wanting what you have.
The measures of happiness are immeasurable.
If our purpose is better unknown, then we’d be dying to live rather than living to die.
If time is better fleeting, then life would not be precious.  
If happiness is better pursued, then life would be too easy. 
But if what we value most in life cannot be valued, are we going to be spending our lives measuring the mundane? 
Believing that life is ruled by an equation, a path, and an answer, may not be the way.
Believing that life is lead by magic, mystery, and miracles, may not be the way either.
But believing that life has a mysterious path to miraculous answers through a magical equation, may be the only way.
When a dream becomes a reality.
When moments become memories.
When ordinary becomes extraordinary.
When the impossible becomes possible.
When we face our fears and rise to the occasion, courage happens.
When we kiss and sparks fly, love happens.
When we lend a helping hand for the greater good, kindness happens.
When we witness birth and death and life, beauty happens.
It is not what we see but how we see.
It is not what we hear but how we hear.
It is not what we say but how we say.
In order to understand these intangible forces, we must look at the glass as half empty AND half full; we must take the road traveled AND less traveled; we must take both red pill AND blue pill; we must see ALL shades of grey.
The intangibles in life cannot be explained.
The intangibles in life may simply be better unexplained.
In order to live with the intangibles, we must accept the nature of these forces, and nurture the unknown as they arise through our every day moments.

The Conclusion To My 100km Run

After a year long journey of training for my 100 km Great Canadian Sears Relay Run for kids cancer, honestly, at this moment, I am simply happy that it is in its full stage of completion.  To put it into perspective, my mind is only now able to rest without the thought of this 100k run. Every thing I ate, every workout I performed, every person I interacted with on a regular basis, every thought or decision I made revolved around this event. It’s not like I have abandoned all good habits and stopped training, I will never let go of these positive life changers. The weight of 100 km has been lifted from my shoulders, the pressure has melted, the nervous energy has dissolved, and the goal is now an achievement I can look back on proudly. This video will allow me to showcase to my friends and family the build up, the changes, and the adaptations I have made. But as I have mentioned in my video, this project is ultimately for me. I now have something tangible I can look back on. It is a glimpse into a small chapter of my life. It shows me my true potential. It is evidence that I got the most of my 25th year of living the life. Now onto the next chapter!

Pre-100km Thoughts: Training Reflection

I am experiencing déjà vu.

I am standing at the crossroads to another epic challenge. Earlier this year, I just barely conquered The Apu Ausangate Trek of Peru, to be honest, I just squeeked by the most prestigious mountain trek in South America, and perched enlightened (that I made it in one piece!) atop Machu Picchu, one of the most famous man-made wonders of the world. I have powered through a year of progressively intensifying training milestones, earning PB’s (Personal Bests) along the way. Starting the season off with a solid 1:21 Burlington Chilly Half Marathon time, a proud 2:00 Hamilton Around the Bay 30km, a steady Goodlife Toronto Marathon as a first timer Pacer Bunny (3:15 pacer), and my first ever Ultra (any race longer than a 42.2.Km marathon) at the 56km Muskoka Limberlost Trail Ultra Marathon where I finished 3rd Overall. These race experiences accumulate as part of a long recipe necessary to complete such a daunting 100km distance. I have strategically signed up for them in that order to progressively build up my mileage (and my confidence!). I had set these milestone goal races early on to keep me honest and accountable. It worked. Goal setting was the first trick.

I knew early on that 100km would take my body to a place that I have yet to push, so I put together a training program that would provide the pillars of a generic running program, which includes hills, intervals, tempos, short and long runs, and pair them with my previous year’s duathlon training of brick workouts, which is a combination of cycling and running back to back in one training session. I brought everything together with my career as a personal trainer and fitness instructor in mind by forcing myself to be on my feet the whole day, practicing the principle of “time on your feet”. Finally, I knew that I could not build my mileage of my long runs up progressively from 42km to 100km week to week, so I decided to pack in the mileage I ran into a specific number of days. The ultimate goal is to run 100km over the course of 1 day. So I started with running 100km over 5 days. Then 100km over 4 days, then 3 days, then finally, two weeks ago, I ran 100km over 2 days. Strategizing was the second trick.

I have one more trick up my sleeve, a two part trick, dieting and mental training. Reading about the ultra world through the eyes of Scott Jurek, in his book Eat and Run, gave me specificity training. I had a good idea of what he had to do mentally and physically for the “run” part, but what helped me most was what he did for the “eat” part. For the majority of my life, I have been a certain weight, never fluctuating. After my Peru trek, I have found myself at body weight 10 lbs lighter than I have always known. I have maintained this lean and clean weight with what I am most proud of amongst all of my training developments; implementing vegan and vegetarian days. I am not an extremist, I have not fully converted, I may or may not ever fully convert, but going from eating meat with every one of my meals, to eating meat once a day, to once every other day, to once every week, was quite the habitual challenge. My leaner and cleaner diet decreased my recovery time, increased my energy, and boosted my immune and digestive system ten-fold.

Although Scott Jurek is a tall, lanky, and unassuming guy, he has proven to the world that he is tougher than the biggest, broadest, and most macho of them all. I tried my best to empathize and vividly imagine his pains and weaknesses, and how he shielded himself from them with his strengths and determination. The limits of our physical body are dictated by the limits of our mind. I knew that trekking the Ausangate was going to be hard, and it was, but didn’t know how beneficial it would be for my training. Two weeks after Peru, I competed in my first Ultra marathon. I astoundingly finished in 3rd place. I can say my mind was filled with ammo, tones of it from my trek, that the ultra was much easier than I thought; I shot through it with a smile. I am reading about the art of Zen and practicing Yoga every night before bed. It calms me down, forces me to breathe deeply, and slows my mind. I have learned about awareness, mindfulness, openness, oneness, and how boundless and limitless our minds can truly be. I feel like I have only touched upon a raindrop size amount of information as it pertains to the ocean size of Zen, Meditation, Buddhism, and Yoga. But I can honestly say that even a raindrop into this world of mental training and teachings is enough to help guide me through this life changing event as it has already changed my life.

The year of 2012 has been the most boundless and limitless year of my 25 years on earth.

It is not the dark that we fear, it is the light. It is not what I cannot do; it is what I can do. My potential, my capability, my boundless and limitless future is what I fear. I am afraid of how far I can run. I am afraid of how hard I can push my body. I am afraid of how deep I can push my mind. I am afraid of how high I can climb this ladder of success. But should I be afraid? Or should I simply be proud? … “I am proud of how far I can run. I am proud of how hard I can push my body….” Or should I just be grateful?  … “I am grateful for how far I can run. I am grateful for how hard I can push my body… I fear because I don’t know where the end is. We fear the unknown. But we should not fear what we already know. We should be proud and grateful of what we know about ourselves. I am proud and grateful of my present day boundaries and limits. I am proud and grateful to have lived 25 years.

I am ready.

Thoughts on “Steve Jobs: A Biography” by Walter Isaacson

Over the span of 4 months, I have had a love affair with a man and his story, his history. I have finally finished my persistent, drawn-out lengthy process of half book reading and half audio-book listening of Steve Jobs: A Biography by Walter Isaacson. I have picked up, dropped off, purchased, returned, shelved, downloaded, deleted, borrowed, re-borrowed, to have been ultimately drawn in, seduced from the grave, by Steve Jobs and his infamous ‘reality distortion field’ (his ability to manipulate, motivate, and magnetize anyone to his ideas). Although the journey was attractively arduous, his 656 page biography was absolutely brilliant and worth every page.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Reading about Apple almost every day has kept the doctor away, but has also kept me at bay. It has broadened my mind on things once small and microscopic. It has also narrowed my thinking on things that were once ambiguous and largely uncertain.  It has given me ideas, confirmations, insights, brewed thoughts, and motivated me to rethink things pertaining to the foundational areas of career, relationships, lifestyle, and life. Below I share with you a mish mash integration of Steve Jobs’ quotes, sayings, philosophies, and how I have perceived them.

“Know thyself”. This life mantra escapes many people not because they are not in tune with who they are, but simply because they choose not to act on it. Knowing something is one thing, but acting on it is another. As it pertains to Jobs’ life, it should more clearly read, “know thyself AND be thyself”. Jobs took the time to learn about himself. He took calligraphy courses in university, he experimented with diets and fasting, he settled on a vegan diet until his death, he practiced meditation, and he used walking long distances for exercise. He surrounded himself with people who believed in what he believed. He paved his own lifestyle path and stuck to it. At a young age, he developed lifestyle habits that would normally take a lifetime to master, which provided him with wisdom and maturity well beyond his age.

Steve Jobs committed himself to years of Zen training which gave him the ability to focus and filter out distractions. It honed his appreciation for intuition. Some people thought that Jobs was merciless, heartless, and ruthless. To Jobs’ defense, Isaacson says Jobs did not lack emotional intuition and empathy, he knew what he was doing, he selfishly knew that he could not do what he did without doing it the way he did. His attitude served a purpose. It made him effective at enforcing change. It made people do things they never thought possible, and ultimately enabled him to do things he never thought possible.  Jobs always believed that intuition is more powerful than intellect. Jobs was a proponent of intuition, whereby instinctive feeling comes before conscious reasoning. This belief in intuition led his company to hold the goal of creating products over creating profits. Jobs makes it clear that Apple’s success over Microsoft is due to this prioritization. Without a doubt, Apple has integrated the beauty of art and the innovation of technology, and from it, has created a philosophy and mission that all companies should strive for.

‘Think Different’. Jobs believed in balance, but not the kind of balance that comes to mind. Jobs believed inIntegration, in other words, balance 2.0. For example, he never saw two different things working beside each other; he only saw two different things working WITH each other. He lived in a world where form meets function, where the outsides look as good as the insides, where software integrates with hardware, where design meets engineering, where art meets technology, where humanities meets science, where emotion meets logic. Jobs was inspired by the fact that Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were as much scientists as they were artists. Uniquely, Jobs was a big picture thinker and yet equally, had an eye for the smallest details. This made him a genius in the world of business and technology, and a magician in the world of art and design: a CEO 2.0 of our time.

Steve Jobs dishes out his own contribution to his biographical legacy in the last chapter, hence why it is one of my favorites.

I’ve strung many of his life lessons together in point form as they are simple, strong, and self-serving.

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Business lessons:

• Products over profits mentality: the products should always be the motivation
• There’s no such thing as a dumb user, there are only dumb products
• Follow the “Less but better” philosophy by Dieter Rams from Braun
• You always have to keep pushing to innovate – evolve, refine your art, keep moving
• Value the designers and product engineers first, then the salesmen
• People do not know what they want, until you put it in front of them
• No B players, only A players.
• Don’t just build a company, build a LASTING company
• A good boss is an honest boss, brutally honest
• Honesty is responsibility

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Life lessons:

• “If you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying” – Bob Dylan
• If you are not busy surviving, you will die being busy
• Sometimes it’s nice to be in the hands of a control freak
• Add to the flow of life, don’t subtract
• Jobs believed that there must be more to our existence than meets the eye, there must be a deeper purpose for us humans to accumulate and acquire knowledge and wisdom over a life time. Jobs thought it would be unfortunate if it were as simple as on/off switches…when you’re alive, you’re on, when you’re dead, you’re off. He recalled that’s maybe why he never had on/off switches on his products.
• Shake off the erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just going to live in it. Instead, embrace it, change it, improve it, and make your mark upon it.

To Sir, With Love: To Become a Better Teacher, You Must Become a Student

To know something and to teach something are two entirely different things.

To become a better teacher, you must become a student.

It is not what you say but how you say it.

Know the difference between what’s best for you and what’s good for you.

There is no shortcut to learning hard work ethic.

Don’t try to be great. Good is enough.

Don’t make the world worse.

All of these exceptional pieces of advice come from teachers who learn it from other teachers’ teachers, who have learned it from experience. You either learn it through action (teaching a class) or though thoughts (reading a book). No matter how you take in information and upload it as an experience, it means nothing until it is (in this day in age tweeted, status updated, blogged, or) simply shared. As I was randomly reading through an article from the Journal of Teacher Education, I stumbled upon an insightful quote, “Experience alone is not enough. It is the thought and subsequent action associated with the experience which determines its value in the learning process”. In other words, thinking about what you do and how you do it brings value to your experience. Internalizing your thoughts and actions before and after an experience gives it value, meaning, and purpose.

We all know that knowledge is power, we must not forget that this power is forged with Uncle Ben’s advice to the young Peter Parker, “with great power comes great responsibility’’. Successes through experience are not stopping points, they are stepping stones. Experiences, whether good or bad, are always teachers. Experiences are things that you can learn from and take away from; they are selfless like the attitude of our teachers, eternal like the wisdom of our mentors, and self-sacrificing like the understanding of our parents/guardians. In order to achieve conclusions, end results, or milestones, the process of learning from an experience requires transition, movement, and a momentum shift towards the goal. The responsibility of great power is the ability to take knowledge and put it into a format of action: put ideas/thoughts into action! Absorbing knowledge, reflecting, internalizing, and analyzing it, transforming it into a skill or technique, and transferring it to others is the information learning process we must all adopt to become better handlers of information; better teachers andeven better students.

I have taken the above thoughts on experience, teaching, and learning, and have put it into practice. In order to become a better teacher, which I am always in the pursuit of, I have become a student. Starting with small baby steps, I have bought myself a package of dance classes to downtown Toronto’s Street Dance Academy. I took on my first dance class called “Beginner’s break dance”, and can conclude that it was simply an experience.

I put myself into an uncomfortable, humbling, eye-opening, mind-stretching, physically draining, and confidence realizing situation. As the late Randy Pausch from The Last Lecture says, “experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” I wanted to be the best in the class, but realistically, I wasn’t even close. In my mind, any physical challenge for me is seen as attainable, but this time, time will be the answer. Through this dance class experience, I am growing a deeper awareness and appreciation for the students of my own classes. I am putting myself through the process of learning and reflecting upon my dance class experience by sharing it with others through this blog.

Ongoing, with more classes under my belt with dancing, I will be putting myself through an education of a different kind. One that allows me to grow my own skills and techniques, strategies, abilities to provide options, variety, range of choices, and diversity to my students and the people around me. As a student from the world of academia through The University of Western Ontario, my choice for an elective course is similar to that of my Street Dance Academy classes, but different in overall purpose. I have come to the point in my career where there is more to learning than simply learning for myself. I am learning for a higher purpose. I am learning to help others learn. I am growing myself to help others grow. I hope that one day, I can speak from experience and look back on this blog entry and say, “I have become a better teacher by becoming a student.”

Some Thoughts on "Trending"

Dick Clark said it best, “Don’t set trends, just find out what they are and exploit them”. Setting a trend in this day in age is practically impossible because someone, somewhere, at some time in this life or the one before has already done it or seen it. Sharing uniqueness and individuality is an overexposed, overdone, and practically overrated past time. Social media and the power of sharing have given individuals the ability to make individuality a commonality. The rise of television talent shows, the rule of Lady Gaga, and the roar of Gleeks all around the world have made the action of freeing your true unique self to the world, with no shame and no doubt, a trend.

I believe the technical term for trending is “Diffusion of Innovations”. It is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. This theory and its connection with new trends fascinate me because I believe it is currently undergoing mass production chaos. Via YouTube, the amount of unique people uploading unique videos about unique ideas is so vast that it makes it harder and harder to find uniqueness. Unique videos must compete for viewer ratings and view counts day in and day out. Truly epic and quality uniqueness can be easily overlooked, forgotten, and outshined by an Epic Meal Time meat cereal or a double rainbow spotting. The diffusion process of innovations has sped up into fast forward mode with our beloved social media means. We churn out innovations and expose them to the world at lightning fast mouse clicks through facebook, twitter, and youtube uploading. We adopt innovations within days, if not hours of viewing. We reach a point of critical mass (when the trended video is at its peak view count) that only lasts shortly until another innovation overtakes its popularity. A popular song becomes overplayed and is considered overdone within weeks. The shelf life of a trend nowadays is becoming shorter and shorter that the motivation to start a trend is compromised, and the feat of rising into a trend has been tainted through the process of over-delivering quantity over quality uniqueness. My suggestion:

“Don’t follow trends, start trends.” … should in fact be, “Don’t follow trends, REstart trends”.

REcyle, REuse, REduce, and REstart. 

Let’s be mindful of our social media output and refrain from excess, unnecessary garbage status updates, let’s control our trigger-finger happy mouse clicking ‘like’ habits, let’s churn out quality uploads and share quality links, let’s put into practice our environmentally friendly law of recycling, reusing, and reducing as it pertains to online trends so that we can rid the world wide web of time wasting waste.

To take my viewpoint to an applicable example, I have taken it upon myself to restart a trend … my haircut. Along with Channing Tatum in the movie Magic Mike, I am re-trending the head-shave with a tight fade. My friend Ryan encouraged me to “BE BOLD” and just go for it, as he had done it himself hours before, so I went for it with no regrets. Guys, let’s move away from the Mad Men 50’s hairstyle, BE BOLD, and bring back the Justin Timberlake / David Beckham head shave trend of 2010, and be as fashionably functional as Mr. Tatum. 

Let’s take trending back to its natural process and not force it.  Let’s make trending unique, quality, and exceptional ideas, a process that nurtures ideas that evolve into classics for the future. 

Post-Peru Thoughts

Dear Family & Friends,

The definition of humbled: “1. marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.” “2. Showing deferential or submissive respect.”

Two years ago, I trekked Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps of Western Europe (4810m). Mont Blanc was the first most challenging experience I’ve ever endured. Firstly, due to the unreliable ranges in terrain: from rocks and boulders to rivers and streams to mud hills to snow peaks. Secondly, due to my inexperienced packing skills, I generously carried 35lbs of weight on my back, through, thirdly, schizophrenic climate: rain, snow, sleet, heat, blizzard, and humidity. And lastly, the lung wheezing, leg burning elevations, making the CN Tower stair climb, combined with any number of squats and lunges seem like a minimal sweat inducing warm up.

I was humbled then.

I am humbled now.

I am writing to you now because I have lived to tell the tale of my trekking adventure up and around the overwhelming Ausangate Mountain in the Andes of Peru (6384m). On a straight numbers game comparison, Ausangate is not nearly as physically challenging as my Mont Blanc experience in terms of terrain, pack-carrying weight, climate, temperature and elevation, but there is one element that trumps them all: ALTITUDE. Any factor of difficulty falls deeply into the shadows of altitude during a trek. Rocks feel like boulders, snow feels like ice, warm feels like cold, cold feels like freezing, small day packs feel like luggage suitcases, hills are never-ending, night is never bearable, even for a Canadian, with two sleeping bags. Running is impossible, even for a marathoner. Walking is a struggle, breathing is a struggle, everything is a struggle. I sound dramatic and over-exaggerating, but the sickness that altitude brings speaks for itself. Constant fatigue, unexpected nausea, consistent weakness, throbbing headaches, projectile vomiting, and you don’t want to know #2’s. For someone who is used to conquering; not just completing, racing; not just running; going above and beyond; not just making the cut, my ego is a bit bruised, spirit bent slightly out of shape, but all in the good fortune of wisdom gaining.

How did I persevere? What did I do to survive? Why I continued on?

Attitude and Approach: after my bout with food poisoning and massive altitude sickness the first 3 days, I realized a Type A personality (someone who stops at nothing to get what they want when they want) could not survive. “Consistently Conservative” is the term I use to describe the Type B personality that would succeed any altitude challenge. Immediately, the Tortoise and the Hare story came to mind, I kept on reminding myself, “slow and steady wins the race”, and then naturally changed it to, “slow and steady wins”. The approach to the trek required patience and precise pacing. No race was to be won, there was no such thing as “conquering”, only the most satisfying feeling of completing.

Vulnerability: people have many sides to their personalities of which they choose to show to different people for different reasons. We put on different hats for different roles we play in life: boss, subordinate, leader, follower, parent, child, sibling, friend, and foe. As a coach, trainer, instructor, I wear my boss-man, terminator, leader, tough guy, superman hat almost everywhere I go. That hat is a permanent part of my role, it defines who I am and what I do, it is proudly worn as a badge of honor. But there are times when this hat need not be worn. After my first troublesome three days, I knew this hat would serve me no good; I saved myself by taking it off. The ability to let one’s guard down and uphold no ego is ironically something to be proud of, something to share, seek, and not hide. I let myself go, I indulged in helplessness, I became a follower and a listener. I reversed roles with my girlfriend savior, and sought her for leadership, strength, and nurture. One part of me thinks that I succumbed to defeat, another part of me, thinks that I opened myself to vulnerability. Ultimately, if I had not chosen to change my ways, I do not think I would be home as the person I am today, standing in shoes of which I can still be proud.

The Power of Sharing: we are social beings who enjoy sharing. Sharing stories, experiences, information, songs, photographs, whatever it may be, there is a cause and effect chemical reaction that takes place between the sharing people. One person gives and the other person(s) receive. The receiver receives the giver’s information and stores it as memory. However powerful this memory dictates the length in which it stays memorized. An epic, life-changing trek like Ausangate and Machu Picchu is a strong example of an experience that sticks in the receiver’s memory, enough to last the whole duration of the giver’s trip. This cause and effect reaction creates a bond. The giver has shared a part of their life that holds such high significance that a permanent memory bridge has been formed, hopefully encouraging further experience sharing in the future. This hope is what gave me reason for taking photographs, buying souvenirs, continuing up and over mountain passes, and enjoying my experience to the utmost.

The Power of Responsibility and Accountability: a wise man once told me the difference between being responsible for a task and being accountable for a task. When you are responsible for the completion of a task, your sole purpose is to complete the task in its entirety. When you are accountable for a task, you have made someone else responsible, and it is up to you to be responsible for that person who completes the task, not for completing the task yourself. A deep trust is involved and a skillful hands on/off approach is required. My role as a coach, trainer, instructor, is to be held accountable for my client’s fitness and health. My role was reversed the moment I decided to share my trekking trip with others. I was immediately accountable to others and responsible for completing the trek. This role reversal acted as my fuel, my motivation, my inspiration, and my duty. The obligation to “not let someone down” is as powerful, if not more than not letting yourself down. “The strength of a man isn’t in the words he speaks. It’s in how he keeps his word.” Amidst the entire struggle, in my head I could not let anyone down. I kept my word.  

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Albums that I listened to during my trek:

Sigur Ros – Valtari – http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/videos/varud-inga/
Tiesto – Club Life Miami
The Weeknd – House of Balloons
Mumford and Sons – Sign No More
Keane – Strangeland
Drake – Take Care / Thank Me Later

“Shrinking The Change” For That Summer Body With Summer Salad

As we finish a long hard day’s work, we look forward to a delicious full bodied Cabernet, paired with a wholesome full course meal. A fresh garden salad for appetizer, a nice juicy barbecued steak with a side of sweet potato fries (baked!), and asparagus garlic mushroom medley pouched in tin foil from the barbecue as well. Finally, to top it off, a scoop of frozen yogurt and some fresh berries. Sounds amazing AND pretty healthy. As some would assume, trainers all around the world would pick it apart and count all the unnecessary calories, then make you feel like a goofball for thinking this was “healthy”. BUT, that’s just a bit insane and extreme, even for me, a trainer!

A book I recently finished called “Switch” by Dan and Chip Heath say in order to take the right steps towards a goal (summer hot body), you’ve got to be realistic so that your goal doesn’t seem overwhelming, and “SHRINK THE CHANGE”.

The meal that I described above is a health conscious foodie’s favorite go-to dinner, an “eat this all day” fantasy, but can you eat this every night of the week? Is it feasible to eat this every night of the week? Maybe two times a week, maybe three. A bit of balance throughout the week seems to be the answer. Realistically, this meal will not help you achieve that summer body you so desperately want. Shrinking the change is a tactic that will help you enjoy the best of both worlds.

The salad in the photo that I have so graciously chowed down on comprises of: Kale, pea shoots, cucumbers, tomatoes, tuna, died cranberries, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, homemade dressing (garlic olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, pineapple juice from the pre-cut pineapples, smoked maple mustard, salt). Just like the fantasy meal I mentioned, this salad isn’t something you can eat day in day out, but maybe realistically once, twice, maybe three times a week.

So in order to achieve that super slamin’ summer body, you don’t have to force yourself to go to extremes with dieting. You simply have to balance out your fantasy meals with your summer body salad meals. To some, the change can be extreme; eating salads for dinner every night of the week. But for most, shrinking the change can be the key to building positive habits more easily; by eating salads twice a week, and your fantasy twice a week. Eventually, the notion that: salad for dinner just doesn’t seem to cut it, will turn into: salad for dinner literally cuts it (aka body fat), and seeing your results may be enough as a tipping point to continue on with salad for dinner.

With any goal you take on, make it as realistic as possible, and if it seems too overwhelming at the start, “shrink the change”, and find ways to change within your means, because ultimately, you are still on that path to achieving your goal, it might just be the one less traveled….with no short cuts.

One week until Peru & Machu Picchu… Jitters!

I’m heading to Peru to hike up the Ausangate Trail to Machu Picchu in a week and the magical aura is starting to dawn upon me. Everything I’ve heard has been nothing but positive. Am I tingling in giggly excitement or am I nervous in cold sweaty jitters? I think I am experiencing a bit of both. The positive promise, expectation, and forethought are as limited as the oxygen in Cusco at 3400m altitude; rave reviews, life changing experience, and personal enlightenment. Am I setting myself up for disappointment or am I harmonizing my pre-thoughts to a massive crescendo masterpiece upon arrival to the sacred Machu Picchu? I guess after hiking through a 10 day 5/5 difficulty G-adventures trail, I’ll have to live to tell the tale.

For the last few days, I’ve been quietly researching and superficially scouring through Lonely Planet books to orient myself to a trip of a lifetime. I’m trying to create that perfectly balanced preview trailer of this trip, doing my best not to spoil what remains as a remain itself (Machu Picchu), something of true mystery and intrigue, unknown to not only myself and its traveling tourists, but even to its indigenous natives, and to this day, unknown to all of mankind. The shock and awe will be automatic and expected, the anticipated allure of the unknown will still be unforgettable, the answers to the questions will still be questionable, and the oxymoronic memory of this place will be the biggest souvenir I’ll get to take back from any trip I’ve ever been on. The grandiose nature of this destination makes it almost impossible to think so highly of it, so can you really blame me for having such high hopes?

Anthony Bourdain says the older he gets, the more he travels, the less he knows. The more places he sees and experiences, the bigger he realizes the world to be, the more of it he becomes aware of, the more he realizes how little of it he knows, how many more places he has to go, how much more there is to learn. He says maybe that’s enlightenment enough, to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity, perhaps wisdom, such that it is for him, is realizing how small he is, how unwise he is, and how far he has yet to go.

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Bourdain reaches this conclusion of thought after his trip to Machu Picchu…

Worthwhile Lessons

Life is too short to wake up with regrets, so love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don’t. 
Believe everything happens for reason. 
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. 
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.
 

TED Talks: Perspective Is Everything by Rory Sutherland

Making decisions. Creating ideas. Gaining perspective.

Rory Sutherland talks about the power of reframing decisions and ideas by gaining perspective. Focusing on rebranding “what” we see into “how” we see.

“Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception of the product, rather than changing the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value, and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.”

Technology, economics, and psychology must be integrative when it comes to successful decision making, engineering brilliant ideas, and providing long lasting solutions.
An idea must encompass the logic of technology, rationale of economics, but as Rory Sutherland argues a deeper insight from psychology.

When looking at solutions, there is no model for psychologists to follow. There are numerous insights, but no framework for consideration. But when looking at solutions technically and economically, there are a plethora of models and frameworks. Sutherland believes there is too much priority is given to technical engineering solutions, and not enough on psychological solutions.

To make solutions logical and rational, all you really need is time and organization. But to make solutions insightful and psychologically sound, you must provide certainty, perspective, relevancy, and value.

Certainty gives us hope and assurance. Our subways have recently acquired countdown clocks for train arrivals. We now have countdowns during our crosswalks. Sooner or later, like Korea, we’ll have countdowns for our red lights.

Perspective gives us context and a window of clarity. Techniques like chunking makes goal setting much less intimidating by breaking up the process of attaining goals into smaller and shorter parts. The cause and effect of money changes all the time; spending money versus donating money, spending money on yourself versus on someone else, money as happiness or money as convenience.

Relevance gives us a frame of reference of which we can use for comparison of solutions. Relevance can change our perception of a product’s value. New running shoes do not make you run faster or jump higher. A car wash doesn’t make your car function better. A designer brand name white t-shirt is still a white t-shirt at the end of the day.

Universal value is an oddball psychological factor, something that perspective has no control over, it is what products and ideas strive to obtain. Coca Cola is an example of a product with universal value whereby the President’s bottle of coke is the exact same as a homeless man’s bottle of coke.

In conclusion, look to improve the enjoyment and usefulness of a product along with its functionality. Be a psychological success, as much as an engineering and economical success. “Focus not on humanity’s hidden depths but on its foreign shallows”. Search for answers that are not without reach, but within reach. Work on the things we have, not on the things we don’t have. Understand the things we know, in depth, not the things we have no understanding of, or the lack of understanding for.

TED Talks: How To Make Work-Life Balance Work by Nigel Marsh

"There are too many people living lives (silently) screaming in desperation…
Working long hard hours at jobs they hate,
To enable them to buy things they don’t need,
To impress people they don’t like.”

People at their worst are temptation-driven, emotionally disengaged, have a distorted sense of reality and a dysfunctional sense of priorities.

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“The SMALL things matter.”

...especially in how you see things. Have a big picture perspective balanced with current picture realization and small picture understanding. Sometimes the small things matter more because you have more control over them.

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“Being more balanced doesn’t mean dramatic upheaval in your life. With the smallest investment in the right places, you can radically transform the quality of your relationships and the quality of your life. It can transform society, if enough people do it, we can transform the definition of success.”

To succeed, find balance between David & Goliath, the Tortoise & the Hare, and the Underdog & the Favorite. Uphold the positive attitude of David, the diligence of the Tortoise, and the modesty of the underdog. Have the passion, motivation, and work ethic, as big as Goliath, as effective as the Hare, and as promising as the Favorite.

Saying of the Week

Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills.
Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.
Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better.

Saying of the Week

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

 

Short Written Pieces Inspired by Jim Rohn Quotes

“Embrace the opposites > Embrace balance”

Life comes with its polar opposites: up and down, positive and negative, high and low, success and failure, right and wrong, good and bad, strength and weakness, hiring and firing, raise and drop, increase and decrease, hot and cold, friend and enemy, love and hate, angel and devil, triumph and tragedy. Trust that one opposite will always leadthe other opposite, follow the other, precede the other, and pursue the other. Wherever you are in between the opposites, embrace your direction, be mindful of the other direction, sustain movement, and be in balance.

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“Be a Student of Life”

Study how you want to live. Study how to live this life. Be a student of life.

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“Self Education is the best education”

Take time to learn about other things. Take more time to learn about yourself. The more you know about yourself, the more you’ll get out of these other things.

Inspired Leadership

Reflections on Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action

I am a “quiet leader”. You must be thinking contradiction, how can a leader be quiet? I have taken the concept of a leader and have transformed it to something that represents something beyond the conventional “loud leader” we all know.

I believe a quiet leader is someone who leads by action; one that leads by action first and words second, and at times, strategically, one that does not even require words. I have been inspired by Simon Sinek’s TED Talk called “Inspired Leadership”. He provides information on marketing and managing tactics that go above and beyond the no-holds-barred, profit pushing, dog-eat-dog styles we tend to adopt. Below are his quotes, my notes on his quotes, and his unique approach to leadership and how it can inspire you to become a better leader, whether loud or quiet.

“Think and communicate from the inside out.” Think beyond the numbers, results, profit margins, and measureable outcomes. Instead, think value, reason, depth, and purpose. “People don’t buy what you do but why you do it.” WHY first, WHAT second.

“Your goal is to do business with people that believe in what you believe. If you hire people just because they can do a job, they will work for your money, but if you hire people who believe what you believe, they will work for you and your purpose.”

Without followers, how can we be leaders? As leaders, how do we find our followers? Answer: the Law of diffusion of Innovation. Innovators 2.5% > Opinion Leaders 13.5% > Early Adopters 34% > Late Adopters 34% %> Laggards 34%.

How do you narrow in on your target market? Not just people who want to buy your service, but buy into your belief, purpose, and vision? There will always be 10% of people who “just get it”. You don’t have to work your magic on these people. They are those crazies who arrive 48 hours in advance, camp out, just to purchase the newest Apple products or simply enter a new Apple store.

The goal is to hit the tipping point for market penetration and success, which is the 15-18% on the law of diffusion of innovation scale.  Once this tipping point has been reached, we can claim the largest percentage crowd called the Early Adopters (34%). Answer: Convince the Innovators and Opinion Leaders (CHANGE AGENTS) of your belief!

Gladiator says “Win the crowd, win the war.” Win the crowd, one member at a time. Choose your crowd members strategically: one innovator and opinion leader at a time. Develop the ability to communicate your cause, belief, and vision. Influence with grace, class, and enthusiasm.  Never compromise your confidence. Talk about your product purpose and benefits, not your product specs and sales.  Talk about your WHY’s, not about your WHAT’s.  Then you will attract those who believe in what you believe.

To further Simon Sinek’s philosophy on leadership, Derek Sivers, another TED talker, provides us a different look on leadership.  He says that Leadership is over-glorified: “Aim not to be leader, aim to be a follower and show others how to follow, not how to follow the leader, but how to follow the movement in which the leader himself follows”.

Make the movement about the movement, not you. Nurture your followers as equals. A movement is about participation, sharing, and courage. “Have not the courage to lead, but the courage to follow”. Martin Luther King Junior presented the ‘I have a dream speech’, not ‘I have a plan speech’. He spoke about sharing this dream, having the courage to dream, and participating as a whole in achieving our dreams. He never once dictated how to achieve this dream with a plan of his own. Although King Junior was one of the greatest orators in American history, he was a follower first, a leader second. He followed the likes of Howard Thurmin, Bayard Rustin, and Mahatma Ghandi. He followed the belief of non-violent resistance and civil rights. He embodied these principles. He was a leader who led by action. He was a quiet leader.

Clicking: Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally

Here are my notes from the book CLICK by Ori and Rom Brafman

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Magic matters – clicking requires magic, serendipity, and perfect timing – we simply need to put ourselves out there and open up to these opportunities.

The power in vulnerability – our willingness to risk being vulnerable can deepen the quality of our relationships and make us more likely to connect with others.

A few feet make miles of a difference – the smallest distances play a major role in determining who we click with, we need to recognize this and focus not on what is in the distance and future, but what is right in front of us and the present.

Being in the zone helps us create resonance and allows others to be drawn to us. Pay attention, listen, observe, reach out, and take their emotional temperatures.

Similarity: quantity trumps quality – find similarities like you find eggs during an easter egg hunt. It’ll help create a bond and intensify it.

Environmental factors – overcoming challenges or adversity can help to stimulate or encourage clicking.

“Self-monitors” are people who instinctively modulate their emotions to match and meet others emotionally – be a self-monitor and be aware of others and take mental notes, it will pave way to deeper connections.

Being with people we click with makes us perform at a higher level – increased willingness, openness, honesty helps increase productivity.

Clicking can be magical. It can change the nature of a relationship not only in that moment, but forever. It can help us achieve our best selves.

Exercise: Don’t just think outside the box, think beside the box

Exercise is simple and straightforward. We must not think inside the box; by seeing exercise as a chore, as another item on the “to-do list”, as a fallback priority, as something to do “if” I have time, as a luxury, and as a financial investment. We must not overextend ourselves and go above and beyond to think outside the box either; by seeing exercise as the end all and be all, an item that we make too much time for, make an obsession, become OCD over, place on a pedastel, and become unnatural about.

Think beside the box.

Work within your limits, create balance, foster enjoyment, play to your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Be resourceful, use what is within reach, ask for assistance, value the tools you already have.

The Divine Destroyer

She killed me with kisses
She hurt me with hugs
She beat me with blessings
She attacked me with affection
She angered me with adoration
She scarred me with smiles
She controlled me with caresses
She manipulated me with money
She played me with pain
She lured me with love
She left me with lust.
Guilt-laced embraces, Careless caresses, Lame games and shame names.
A glass half empty with scotch. A glass half full with tears.
A frown forced to smile. A heart filled with emptiness.
Scarring smiles, Hurtful hugs, Killer kisses.

Note: It's nothing personal—just a piece of creative writing that I lost myself in!