I'm attempting to write this blog and watch my one year old at the same time....and the observation a good friend once had is that 'multi-tasking is multi-stupid.' So I've decided to put this task aside for an hour or so and take Liam for a stroll around the neighborhood...it's such a better way for me to spend my time...I'll get to this, for want of a better description, less important task in my life later...
Now is later and I'm going to give my best shot at trying to explain how I'm seeing so many parallels in life. Specifically about becoming the best at something you're trying to achieve. I've applied myself and have written a book about leading a fit and healthy life. I'm leading a fit and healthy life. I'm now in a position to make a living from my hard work and realize that just because I want to be a best selling novelist doesn't mean I'm going to be. Nor am I going to be a whiz at social media, because I want to be.
No, I'm going to have to work incredibly hard at it and, if I'm lucky will get the results I want. Which is just the same as someone else wanting to be fit and healthy and expecting that to be the case because they join a gym! The dilemma that I have is very similar to the one a new member has - "do I do it myself or hire a pro?" Like most new members I'm going to, because of finances, go on my own to start off with. With the help of Melissa who I mentioned earlier and the 2 books she suggested I buy.
I'm pretty confident I'm going to make some pretty good progress right out of the gate because I've got momentum on my side. Then I'm going to have to make the decision as to whether I can afford to hire a pro to take me to the next level. I've got a sneaky suspicion that said pro would be recommending I do something more productive with my time than writing this blog that nobody is going to read! Just like the new member walking 3 miles an hour on the treadmill!!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Day 9....don't you hate the definition of discipline?
For over a year I sat and wrote for anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 hours almost every day. If you've read my books you'll see in the second one I offer up an almost daily diatribe of what I did, and quite often, didn't but should have done! I have to think that I did what I did because there was a clear and precise goal for me - write a book (it ended up being 2 books in one) in a year. More importantly write a book that is going to help people lead the fit and healthy life their higher power (fill in your own definition here - God, Buddha etc.) planned for them. Et voila!
Now.....now it's a little different. I don't have that clear and concise goal. Now it's vague and ambiguous. In fact I feel like almost everyone who joins a gym!! Over the years I've probably conducted more than 5000 initial meetings of new members to a health club, gym, spa etc. And I bet 4900 of them said "I joined because I want to lose weight and tone up." Trust me when I say you, whomever you are, will always always always want to lose weight and tone up. It's a never ending quest. Like Sisyphus.
So what am I to do? Well I obviously have to have some clear and concise goals or this writing thing is going to get the better of me and I'm going to find every excuse known to mankind not to do it. And I'm going to have to keep the definition of discipline squarely in my vision. Definition, in my world, is "doing what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it." Which is pretty much exactly how I feel right now. Its Friday morning and I was up at 5 to get ready to train a client at 6. I just got back home and will be heading back to the gym for 4 hours in about 10 minutes. When I get back instead of it being a typical day of lunch, look after my 1 year old, write, do research, market my business, it will be a litany of 'honey-do's' with the family. Quinlan is out of school for the day and we plan on painting the porch, planting the vegetable and herb garden, the sunflowers, the wildflowers and something else that slips my memory. In between all of these we promised Quin we'd head to the beach to play for an hour or so.....yikes!
So, I have just done what I didn't want to do when I didn't want to do it...and feel great about my accomplishment.
Now.....now it's a little different. I don't have that clear and concise goal. Now it's vague and ambiguous. In fact I feel like almost everyone who joins a gym!! Over the years I've probably conducted more than 5000 initial meetings of new members to a health club, gym, spa etc. And I bet 4900 of them said "I joined because I want to lose weight and tone up." Trust me when I say you, whomever you are, will always always always want to lose weight and tone up. It's a never ending quest. Like Sisyphus.
So what am I to do? Well I obviously have to have some clear and concise goals or this writing thing is going to get the better of me and I'm going to find every excuse known to mankind not to do it. And I'm going to have to keep the definition of discipline squarely in my vision. Definition, in my world, is "doing what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it." Which is pretty much exactly how I feel right now. Its Friday morning and I was up at 5 to get ready to train a client at 6. I just got back home and will be heading back to the gym for 4 hours in about 10 minutes. When I get back instead of it being a typical day of lunch, look after my 1 year old, write, do research, market my business, it will be a litany of 'honey-do's' with the family. Quinlan is out of school for the day and we plan on painting the porch, planting the vegetable and herb garden, the sunflowers, the wildflowers and something else that slips my memory. In between all of these we promised Quin we'd head to the beach to play for an hour or so.....yikes!
So, I have just done what I didn't want to do when I didn't want to do it...and feel great about my accomplishment.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Day 8...a great example of Unmarketing
A good friend of ours, Melissa Marro is a genius at social media marketing. I asked her if she would give me some guidance on how to promote myself, my book and my website and she has been awesome so far. She suggested I read 2 books. Unmarketing and the Zen of Social Media. I uploaded the sample of Unmarketing to my Kindle and read it yesterday...today I'll buy the book itself and get cracking on it in my free time lol..that's a funny one...free time...sometimes I crack myself up!!
What I got from the first part of the book is that no matter the size of your company the thing that is NOT going to get you business is the traditional marketing - cold calling and ads. The way to sell your product or service is by becoming a 'recognized expert' in your field and getting other people to promote you....and I had a perfect experience of that last night.
Every Wednesday is our swim practice for the triathlon we (me, Lisa, Jeff, Kim and Erin) are doing for Joe and we're hoping to raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you've read my book you know I really don't like swimming. It sucks! But as the race calls for me to swim 1500 meters I think it is prudent for me to go to the pool and practice. This will be my second time in a month. The first time was, and I can't believe I'm actually writing this, excellent! Last night was even better!!! For one simple reason - Coach Andy. He is amazing. Oh, I should also preface these observations with letting you know I've been swimming actively for the last 12 years. I've done 3 mile ocean swims regularly. I did the ironman which is a 2.4 mile swim. So it's not that I'm a novice to this discipline.
So here's my 'aha' moment. I think Andy is a teacher by trade and is helping coach because his 22 year old son is part of our fundraising group. If he was a swim coach I would, without him asking me, offer to write or tape a testimonial saying how incredible he is. I'd say something like "I've been swimming for a looong time and in 2 sessions with Andy am already a better swimmer than I'd ever imagine. He knows so much and is able to impart that so easily it's truly amazing. You have to hire him." Or words to that effect.
So now it's up to me to get other people to say the same of me!!
What I got from the first part of the book is that no matter the size of your company the thing that is NOT going to get you business is the traditional marketing - cold calling and ads. The way to sell your product or service is by becoming a 'recognized expert' in your field and getting other people to promote you....and I had a perfect experience of that last night.
Every Wednesday is our swim practice for the triathlon we (me, Lisa, Jeff, Kim and Erin) are doing for Joe and we're hoping to raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you've read my book you know I really don't like swimming. It sucks! But as the race calls for me to swim 1500 meters I think it is prudent for me to go to the pool and practice. This will be my second time in a month. The first time was, and I can't believe I'm actually writing this, excellent! Last night was even better!!! For one simple reason - Coach Andy. He is amazing. Oh, I should also preface these observations with letting you know I've been swimming actively for the last 12 years. I've done 3 mile ocean swims regularly. I did the ironman which is a 2.4 mile swim. So it's not that I'm a novice to this discipline.
So here's my 'aha' moment. I think Andy is a teacher by trade and is helping coach because his 22 year old son is part of our fundraising group. If he was a swim coach I would, without him asking me, offer to write or tape a testimonial saying how incredible he is. I'd say something like "I've been swimming for a looong time and in 2 sessions with Andy am already a better swimmer than I'd ever imagine. He knows so much and is able to impart that so easily it's truly amazing. You have to hire him." Or words to that effect.
So now it's up to me to get other people to say the same of me!!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Day 6...ish!! and a review of the chapter 'compete in something..anything...
I've already lost track regarding what day it is after my first entry. Which is to be expected when you take all things into consideration. Which I won't go into right now because as the rest of the title says it's all about competing in something...anything...
Not wanting to be hypocritical as a coach I'm going to detail my race schedule. I'll start out with one I did the other day. It was the local St Patty's day 5k. I ran it last year in about 24 to 25 minutes - I forget the exact time. I did it this year in 25:12 which may look as if I've slowed but it was substantially better than last year because of 2 things. First, and most importantly, I ran the last 400 yards with my 4 and a half year old son Quinlan, which as a father is the ultimate reward of life. Secondly this was my first 'real' race after tearing my knee up. If you haven't read the second book of '52 steps' you won't know that I was demonstrating how to do a handstand to a teenage client and twisted my knee so badly (a complete fluke injury) I almost passed out from the pain. It was so bad that at one stage I was worried for my career as a trainer. I couldn't climb the steps with my 1 year old in my arms. I struggled to get in and out of the car. I almost fell over one day trying to play soccer with Quin my knee was so weak. I envisioned myself being that guy who 'used to race' but couldn't any more. Thankfully I'm baaack...
And here's what's next - in theory! The Cooper River Bridge 10k in 2 weeks. It's always around my birthday and my goal is always to beat my age. I'll be 53 this year and plan on coming in under 53 minutes and 59 seconds. I'll struggle to beat last year's time of under 50 minutes. I'm scheduled to compete in a 100 mile bike ride the day after but I think I'm going to have to drop down to the 50 miler. We have friends in town and there's going to be a bit of a birthday bash for me so I really don't want to set myself up to either fail or feel miserable afterwards. We'll see. Next is a 5k downtown mid April. Then either a sprint triathlon or one leg of a half ironman triathlon at the end of April. There's a 10k in May. Then I'll do one of the James Island Sprint triathlons in May or June. A big race on my calendar is at the end of June and that's the triathlon we, as a family, are competing in to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the name of Lisa's step dad Joe who is currently undergoing chemo for a precursor to leukemia.
I think that's about it...Oh yes, the Assault on Mount Marion. That's penciled in there as well...I'll elaboarate about that one at some stage later...meanwhile, it's time to make a healthy breakfast for the family and get cracking on what's going to be a great day!
Not wanting to be hypocritical as a coach I'm going to detail my race schedule. I'll start out with one I did the other day. It was the local St Patty's day 5k. I ran it last year in about 24 to 25 minutes - I forget the exact time. I did it this year in 25:12 which may look as if I've slowed but it was substantially better than last year because of 2 things. First, and most importantly, I ran the last 400 yards with my 4 and a half year old son Quinlan, which as a father is the ultimate reward of life. Secondly this was my first 'real' race after tearing my knee up. If you haven't read the second book of '52 steps' you won't know that I was demonstrating how to do a handstand to a teenage client and twisted my knee so badly (a complete fluke injury) I almost passed out from the pain. It was so bad that at one stage I was worried for my career as a trainer. I couldn't climb the steps with my 1 year old in my arms. I struggled to get in and out of the car. I almost fell over one day trying to play soccer with Quin my knee was so weak. I envisioned myself being that guy who 'used to race' but couldn't any more. Thankfully I'm baaack...
And here's what's next - in theory! The Cooper River Bridge 10k in 2 weeks. It's always around my birthday and my goal is always to beat my age. I'll be 53 this year and plan on coming in under 53 minutes and 59 seconds. I'll struggle to beat last year's time of under 50 minutes. I'm scheduled to compete in a 100 mile bike ride the day after but I think I'm going to have to drop down to the 50 miler. We have friends in town and there's going to be a bit of a birthday bash for me so I really don't want to set myself up to either fail or feel miserable afterwards. We'll see. Next is a 5k downtown mid April. Then either a sprint triathlon or one leg of a half ironman triathlon at the end of April. There's a 10k in May. Then I'll do one of the James Island Sprint triathlons in May or June. A big race on my calendar is at the end of June and that's the triathlon we, as a family, are competing in to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the name of Lisa's step dad Joe who is currently undergoing chemo for a precursor to leukemia.
I think that's about it...Oh yes, the Assault on Mount Marion. That's penciled in there as well...I'll elaboarate about that one at some stage later...meanwhile, it's time to make a healthy breakfast for the family and get cracking on what's going to be a great day!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Day 2...okay I lied - day 3
It's late on day 2 and I'm switching from one tab to another on my laptop as I sit at the kitchen table my eyes at half mast. To use the great English vernacular I'm 'knackered'
And it's now day 3 so I suppose I'm already behind where I'd like to be...but then it means I'm following on where I left off on the book!
And said book is now officially available for purchase!!! Lisa bought one last night and we're still trying to figure out how the heck we can get it uploaded to her Kindle Fire. Don't you love it when the company you buy it from says "a few simple steps and you'll have your book (or whatever it is they sell) and about 2 hours later you're ready to shoot yourself in the head to put you out of your own misery!
Another tab that I was switching to and from was PayPal. Which, fingers crossed, is now up and running and I'm going to be able to accept payments - maybe from you!!
Yet another tab that I was switching to and from was Smashwords - that's the company I used to upload my ebook - that may be the way you got to this blog....wouldn't that be a result!
And it's time for me to wrap up this mini missive because I have to head to the gym to workout and then train a couple of clients. I'm also daddy day care so I have to get Liam ready to head in with me. If you've ever had a one year old you'll know we're talking a minor adventure...
To be continued...
And it's now day 3 so I suppose I'm already behind where I'd like to be...but then it means I'm following on where I left off on the book!
And said book is now officially available for purchase!!! Lisa bought one last night and we're still trying to figure out how the heck we can get it uploaded to her Kindle Fire. Don't you love it when the company you buy it from says "a few simple steps and you'll have your book (or whatever it is they sell) and about 2 hours later you're ready to shoot yourself in the head to put you out of your own misery!
Another tab that I was switching to and from was PayPal. Which, fingers crossed, is now up and running and I'm going to be able to accept payments - maybe from you!!
Yet another tab that I was switching to and from was Smashwords - that's the company I used to upload my ebook - that may be the way you got to this blog....wouldn't that be a result!
And it's time for me to wrap up this mini missive because I have to head to the gym to workout and then train a couple of clients. I'm also daddy day care so I have to get Liam ready to head in with me. If you've ever had a one year old you'll know we're talking a minor adventure...
To be continued...
Monday, March 12, 2012
Day one
I've got to get this blog address to my computer programmer so he can add the link to my web site. So I thought I'd see how it's going to look. It's been a pain in the rear because...well, just because. Let's call it user error.
So it's going to be short and sweet. I'm trying to figure out what it's going to look like when someone clicks on it. My intention is to write it in the same way I wrote the second part of my book 52 Simple Steps to a Better Life. Today is day one. In theory tomorrow will be day 2. We shall see!!
So it's going to be short and sweet. I'm trying to figure out what it's going to look like when someone clicks on it. My intention is to write it in the same way I wrote the second part of my book 52 Simple Steps to a Better Life. Today is day one. In theory tomorrow will be day 2. We shall see!!
Friday, March 9, 2012
starting again!!
I think I lost my first blog so I'm starting a new one...who knows, maybe I'll found my old one with some of those socks from the dryer!! So it's short and sweet for now...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)