One Day at a Time (Today is the Day)

What do you want to accomplish?  What are your dreams; your goals; your aspirations?

You can’t do anything with yesterday.  It’s gone.

You can’t do anything with tomorrow.  It’s not here yet. (although today’s choices can impact tomorrow)

Today’s the day.  Today, it is within your power to work toward your objectives.  Today, you can do something to move closer to your goals.  Today, you can take another step forward in pursuit of your dreams.

But you only have today…

Take it one day at a time.  Understand that you can’t “do” one week in a day.  Aim for incremental change.  Over time, the cumulative impact will be considerable.  Make today count.  Make today what it can be, to the best of your ability.

Be patient.  Today won’t be perfect.  You can’t control everything, but you must be committed to do your best to impact what is under your control.  Try not to allow outside influences to upset and distract you.

Be persistent.  Don’t give up.  Setbacks are inevitable — and often temporary, and can be used as valuable learning experiences.  Keep moving forward — over, around, and through.  Slow progress is better than no progress.

Be realistic.  We all have limitations.  Be honest with yourself and recognize the difference between “can’t” and “won’t.”

Challenge yourself.  If you’re doing something you already know you can do, you’re not really challenging yourself.  Push yourself.  Raise your personal “bar.”

Believe in yourself.  Have faith in the power of you.

What will you do with today?

Your thoughts?

WE BUILD STRONGER ATHLETES!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

Slow Progress Is Better Than No Progress

We all have aspirations, dreams, and goals.  And sometimes it can be frustrating when our progress toward those goals moves more slowly than is consistent with our expectations.  How do you handle those situations?

As it relates to exercise, I occasionally have clients and friends tell me that they simply don’t have time to workout.  Given the choice between a short but effective workout and doing nothing, they would choose the latter.  If they can’t set aside 45-60 minutes for exercise, they’d rather not do it at all.  That kind of convoluted logic makes me crazy.

Ultimately, everything is a process — fitness, sports, school, work… life.  Slow and steady is the way to go.  In the long run, consistency wins the prize.

Quantum change usually does not reflect reality.  Incremental change, over time, can make winners of us all.

Early last year, I published a blog post titled, The One-Percent Rule.  The 1% rule is all about self-improvement.  It means you should try to be 1% better today than you were yesterday — in the gym, at practice, as a competitor, at work, at home, and in life.

Do something — anything — today that moves you closer toward one of your goals.  Don’t get caught up in how much or how little you are able to do.  If you’re willing to do something, you’re halfway there.

Keep moving forward.

Carpe diem!

Your thoughts?

WE WILL HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER ATHLETE!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

One Day at a Time (Today is the Day)

What do you want to accomplish?  What are your dreams; your goals; your aspirations?

You can’t do anything with yesterday.  It’s gone.

You can’t do anything with tomorrow.  It’s not here yet. (although today’s choices can impact tomorrow)

Today’s the day.  Today, it is within your power to work toward your objectives.  Today, you can do something to move closer to your goals.  Today, you can take another step forward in pursuit of your dreams.

But you only have today…

Take it one day at a time.  Understand that you can’t “do” one week in a day.  Aim for incremental change.  Over time, the cumulative impact will be considerable.  Make today count.  Make today what it can be, to the best of your ability.

Be patient.  Today won’t be perfect.  You can’t control everything, but you must be committed to do your best to impact what is under your control.  Try not to allow outside influences to upset and distract you.

Be persistent.  Don’t give up.  Setbacks are inevitable — and often temporary, and can be used as valuable learning experiences.  Keep moving forward — over, around, and through.  Slow progress is better than no progress.

Be realistic.  We all have limitations.  Be honest with yourself and recognize the difference between “can’t” and “won’t.”

Challenge yourself.  If you’re doing something you already know you can do, you’re not really challenging yourself.  Push yourself.  Raise your personal “bar.”

Believe in yourself.  Have faith in the power of you.

What will you do with today?

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Slow Progress Is Better Than No Progress

We all have aspirations, dreams, and goals.  And sometimes it can be frustrating when our progress toward those goals moves more slowly than is consistent with our expectations.  How do you handle those situations?

As it relates to exercise, I occasionally have clients and friends tell me that they simply don’t have time to workout.  Given the choice between a short but effective workout and doing nothing, they would choose the latter.  If they can’t set aside 45-60 minutes for exercise, they’d rather not do it at all.  That kind of convoluted logic makes me crazy.

Ultimately, everything is a process — fitness, sports, school, work… life.  Slow and steady is the way to go.  In the long run, consistency wins the prize.

Quantum change usually does not reflect reality.  Incremental change, over time, can make winners of us all.

A while ago, I published a blog post titled, The One-Percent Rule.  The 1% rule is all about self-improvement.  It means you should try to be 1% better today than you were yesterday — in the gym, at practice, as a competitor, at work, at home, and in life.

Do something — anything — today that moves you closer toward one of your goals.  Don’t get caught up in how much or how little you are able to do.  If you’re willing to do something, you’re halfway there.

Keep moving forward.

Carpe diem!

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

One Day at a Time (Today is the Day)

What do you want to accomplish?  What are your dreams; your goals; your aspirations?

You can’t do anything with yesterday.  It’s gone.

You can’t do anything with tomorrow.  It’s not here yet. (although today’s choices can impact tomorrow)

Today’s the day.  Today, it is within your power to work toward your objectives.  Today, you can do something to move closer to your goals.  Today, you can take another step forward in pursuit of your dreams.

But you only have today…

Take it one day at a time.  Understand that you can’t “do” one week in a day.  Aim for incremental change.  Over time, the cumulative impact will be considerable.  Make today count.  Make today what it can be, to the best of your ability.

Be patient.  Today won’t be perfect.  You can’t control everything, but you must be committed to do your best to impact what is under your control.  Try not to allow outside influences to upset and distract you.

Be persistent.  Don’t give up.  Setbacks are inevitable — and often temporary, and can be used as valuable learning experiences.  Keep moving forward — over, around, and through.  Slow progress is better than no progress.

Be realistic.  We all have limitations.  Be honest with yourself and recognize the difference between “can’t” and “won’t.”

Challenge yourself.  If you’re doing something you already know you can do, you’re not really challenging yourself.  Push yourself.  Raise your personal “bar.”

Believe in yourself.  Have faith in the power of you.

What will you do with today?

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Slow Progress Is Better Than No Progress

We all have aspirations, dreams, and goals.  And sometimes it can be frustrating when our progress toward those goals moves more slowly than is consistent with our expectations.  How do you handle those situations?

As it relates to exercise, I occasionally have clients and friends tell me that they simply don’t have time to workout.  Given the choice between a short but effective workout and doing nothing, they would choose the latter.  If they can’t set aside 45-60 minutes for exercise, they’d rather not do it at all.  That kind of convoluted logic makes me crazy.

Ultimately, everything is a process — fitness, sports, school, work… life.  Slow and steady is the way to go.  In the long run, consistency wins the prize.

Quantum change usually does not reflect reality.  Incremental change, over time, can make winners of us all.

Early last year, I published a blog post titled, The One-Percent Rule.  The 1% rule is all about self-improvement.  It means you should try to be 1% better today than you were yesterday — in the gym, at practice, as a competitor, at work, at home, and in life.

Do something — anything — today that moves you closer toward one of your goals.  Don’t get caught up in how much or how little you are able to do.  If you’re willing to do something, you’re halfway there.

Keep moving forward.

Carpe diem!

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

The One-Percent Rule

You’ve probably heard of the 1% rule (or something similar).  It’s all about accountability, responsibility, and self-improvement.  The 1% rule means you should try to be 1% better today than you were yesterday — in the gym, at practice, as a competitor, at work, at home, and in life.  But improvement involves (requires) change and change requires work.  Basically, there are three types of change:

• Steady-state change
• Incremental change
• Quantum change

Steady-state change is about maintenance.  Although there is little or no change, work is required.  For example, if you want to keep your house looking a certain way, you have to do dishes, wash clothes, vacuum the floors, etc. on a regular basis… and that’s just to keep it looking the same way, day after day.  The same applies to your strength & conditioning and sport-specific skills.  You need to commit yourself  to working out and practicing just to maintain your level of performance — consistency is the key.  Failure to work will invariably lead to a decline in your performance (and the appearance and condition of your house).

Incremental (small-scale) change is the key to improving performance.  This is the type of change to which the 1% rule applies.  Incremental change is realistic and attainable.  It obviously requires effort, but incremental change also encourages progress.  If managed properly, incremental change can lead to significant results.  As with steady-state change, incremental change requires consistency and discipline.

• Healthy Weight Management.  If your goal involves losing a few pounds, break it down into a reasonable weekly or monthly goal.
• Diet and Nutrition.  To improve your diet, don’t completely overhaul your eating habits all at once.  Try changing one thing per day (or week) — for example, eliminate one sugary drink per day or add an apple every day.  Then, aim to change (add or eliminate) more things over time to create better habits.
• Strength and Conditioning.  In order to improve your strength and speed — or your overall level of fitness — you must do something differently than you’re currently doing.  That usually means increasing the overall intensity level of your training (more resistance, sets, reps, and/or volume).
• Sport-Specific Skills.  Want to improve your ball-handling or shooting?  Find some new drills, instead of  — or in addition to —  the ones you’re currently doing; and commit more time and effort (more repetitions) to your skills practice.

The new year is a time of change for lots of people.  My first blog post of 2013 referred to new year’s resolutions.  I’ve read that most people give up on their new year’s resolutions by the end of January, and that trying to accomplish too much, too soon (unrealistic goals) is the primary reason.  Challenge yourself, but take “baby” steps, and you’ll find the change process much more manageable and attainable.

Quantum (large-scale) change takes time, and is the result of lots of incremental change.  Regardless of your goals, it’s unrealistic to think you can make huge gains in performance in a relatively short time.  If you want to achieve big things, you need to do diligence to the incremental change process.  Be aggressive and realistic.  And be patient.

What will you change, and how will you improve, today?

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?