Now what?

I’m big on reflection and planning.  I reflect on the things I did, the things I want to change, and then I make plans to do something about it.  I wrote about the 7 highly effective habits I’m trying to form in 2012, but beyond that, I have to start planning on career success, business success, and anything else I want to accomplish.

So in the new year, do I create a new me?  New year, new you?

I like the person I am.  I’m not perfect, nor do I claim to be, but I don’t need to create a “new” me at all.  And you may feel the same about you.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  But, what I am challenging myself, and will challenge anyone else with, is take the you that you like (or the me that I like, in my case) and be better.  Take that extra step.  Do that extra action.

For me, I have a few areas of concentration this year:

1.  Career progression – I have some goals here.  I have some things I’d like to accomplish.  2011 was a great year for me in getting things setup to make the move, and 2012 is the year I plan on piecing the puzzle together.

2.  Business growth – I work with Team Beachbody independently.  I like being a motivator for people to make a positive change in their lives.  But, this year, I need to do more.  I need to inspire more.  I need to encourage more.  There’s a real obesity problem out there, and I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.  With this means business growth, yes, but it also means a larger focus of what I need to do.

3.  Financial house in order – This is always a big one each year.  I’ve never been wildly successful with it.  This year, I’m planning on taking careful, measured steps in bringing a level of financial stability I’ve never experienced.  I have my plan in place, and now it is just time to execute.

4.  Fitness – Along with the business, I have  a level of fitness I want to obtain.  I’ve had setbacks the last couple of years with shoulder issues, but with therapy finally helping, I hope to resume what I love to do soon.

These are the areas I know that most of my non-family focus needs to be.  I’ve planned for a while for most of this, and now it’s just doing it.

A new me?  Nope, just an improvement on the me that is already there.

So maybe a “new you” isn’t in the cards for 2012, but just do something to make your world better.  Does not have to be anything major, just something.

Enjoy 2012 folks….its the only 2012 you’ll get!

But I was reflecting the other night on the knowledge I gained this year.  I learned a lot.  I learned techniques to become more effective.  I learned how to step up.  I learned how to lead better.  More than anything I’ve learned how to make me a “better me.”  With my knew knowledge, I wanted to put together a plan of action of sorts to take advantage of what I’ve read, what I’ve been taught, etc.

So instead of resolutions, I’m creating habits in 2012.  These are small daily tasks that will continue to make me smarter, sharper, better, in better shape/health, drive my career and my business, and just make me a more pleasant person.

With that, here are the 7 things I plan to implement and why I think they will help.

1.  Make a daily to-do list.  After reading “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy, I learned a lot about getting organized for my daily activities as well as keeping my personal, professional, and business life on track.  And this is something that I subconsciously do but never put it to paper (or, in my case, to iCloud).  This is my biggest thing to change and implement.

2.  No TV/computer/work at night within 30 minutes of bedtime.  Instead, I plan on engaging that time as personal development time.  This will be my time to dive into a good book, learn a bit more, etc.  Now, granted my book very well may be on my iPad, but I’ll still devote that time to reading.

3.  Ample sleep.  7-8 hours minimum a night.  That means I’m getting to bed early (10-10:30).  This will cut down in my extra work per night, which means I must be even more efficient during the day and early evenings.

4.  Dive into Scripture every morning.  I usually start my day by checking email, web browsing, etc.  Instead, I’m going to take 15-20 minutes and read The Bible some.  This is a personal choice, and I realize that not everyone reading this is Christian, but that’s fine.  I am, and this is something I’m going to do.

5.  Exercise and Eat Primal.  The exercise part I do fairly well already.  Eating Primal is something I plan on doing in 2012 and will write some about here on the blog (I’ll also write more frequently about it on my fitness blog).

6.  Journaling/blogging.  I need to be better at this.  I write a lot about fitness, diets, etc, but sometimes I need to just write and reflect thoughts on various things.  Some post I may write and never make public.  I may just write to vent, etc, and mark it as private on my blog.

7.  Spend more family time/more time devoted to family only.  Listen, it’s easy to get distracted.  TV, cell phones, demanding job, business, whatever…even for me, I find myself not paying enough attention to my kids and wife.  I’m not saying that I’m going to spend X amount of time a day with them, but I plan to make a conscious effort to unplug, unglue, and pay attention to them more.

Now obviously, some of these are breaking of one habit and establishing another.  But I’m okay with that.  Some of these are major changes, such as the move to eating Primal.  But that’s cool.

I know that doing these 7 things daily will make me better at what I do.

It will make me better at who I am.

And maybe, just maybe, some of these will help you as well.

In a year that has brought so much change for my family and I, as well as struggles both professionally, in business, and in personal relationships, I have not had a chance to slow down, sit back, and think about the good things that have happened.

So, in no particular order…

• I’m thankful that in a year when I’ve lost many friends due to a change decision my wife and I made, we have found many more in the process.  I knew when we moved on from our old church that many people would quit talking to us, and it happened.  But in that move, we have had a chance for other bonds to grow stronger with others as well as meeting an entire new group of people which we are getting to know well.




• I’m also thankful of the relationship April and I have.  No marriage is perfect, and I definitely would never pretend ours is.  Through the tons of tough times this year, we’ve stuck through it, grown closer, renewed our commitment to each other no matter what comes against us, and learned that when no one else is around we can always rely on each other.




• Along those same lines, I’m thankful for all of my family.  I’ve worked more this year than in any year past as I’ve taken on more responsibility at work.  They’ve been supportive of me when I had to hole up in the office all night, sometimes as late as 3am in the morning.




• I’m very thankful for my job.  Sure, it has had its down sides over the years, but the bottom line is, I work for a great company in my profession.  After interviewing around some this year, I came to realize just how good we really have it.




• I’m very thankful of the health of my family; in particular my kids.  I’ve heard horror story of kids with diabetes, cancer, and other unexplained illnesses.  I have 3 wonderful kids, all healthy, energetic, and full of love.




• I’m thankful that I found a company like Beachbody.  Sure, I make money, but more than anything, it has me interested in my health, my fitness, my family’s health, and has given me a platform to be an inspiration to others, helping them achieve their fitness goals.

• Finally, and most importantly, I’m thankful for a loving God.  I don’t talk on public forums like my blog or social media a lot about my faith due to how I see it being abused by so many (i.e. the “holier than though”, pharisee types who talk big but live a hollow, blasphemous spiritual life), but I’ve felt like my spiritual life has taken me from one wanting to find God’s love to being one that wants to display His love.

So I wanted to bring back this blog (all while thinking of what design I eventually want for it) and just start putting up some thoughts.

So my first thought coming back is this:  No wonder we, as American’s, are so fat!

I don’t visit buffets much.  The only time I prefer to go to them is when I know I need to eat out and get something in the bellies of my daughters without much wait.  In fact, buffets are very dangerous on a diet like I’ve been on.  But, we visited one yesterday for lunch after church.

No wonder we are so fat.

The veggies were drenched in grease.  The salad bar had a good selection, but the rest of the veggies were just not that good.  The only meat I really wanted (turkey) was heavily processed; it did not even taste like turkey.  In fact, it tasted like spam with a slight hint of turkey.  It was not appeasing at all.

The other meats were fried or fatty cuts.  In fact, a lot of the food on the buffet was fried.

The only area that was “bad” for me that looked good at all was the dessert bar.  And yes, I had dessert, in a very moderate fashion.  But I’d hate to know exactly what they put into the cookies I had (but they tasted good!).

The sadest thing about a buffet is this:  The amount of obese people that run to them looking for a meal.

Umm…hello?  Wonder why your weight got so out of control to begin with?  Maybe it’s the rounded over plate of fried chicken, french fries, fried okra, and buttery mashed potatoes!  I don’t want to come across as I am being mean towards obese people because I’m not.  But if we, as American’s, really want to know why our waistline is expanding along with our healthcare cost, maybe it is time we re-evaluate what we eat, how much of it we eat, and our increasing body fat percentages.

But buffets are not the only problem.  Calorie traps are everywhere.

Salads are supposed to be healthy, right?  Except with the salad comes in at over 1,200 calories on a single plate/bowl, that is (and yes, browse the nutritional menus of many popular restaurants and you’ll see plenty of gut busting salads).

Deep fried fairs and carnivals?  Oh yes, fried butter on a stick?  I’ll take two!

And let’s not forget about what I think is the number one offender of calories:  The drinks!  8 ounces of most soft drinks will run you 100 calories.  What are the calories?  Straight sugar, and not even the beneficial kind.  Nope, it’s the kind that is mass produced in laboratories so that companies can drive down cost while making us fat.  I even read about a sweet tea from Subway that runs between 300-600 calories…for a drink!  I barely consume 600 calories in a meal, much less something to drink.

We wonder why we’re so fat?  Take a look at what we are consuming.  And then take a look at our activity level, and you’ll soon realize that we simply are doing too little movement with the body and too much movement of the fork to the mouth.

Now, here’s my disclaimer:  I have no problem with people straying from a pretty good diet.  Even I do it.  Yes, I enjoy sweets.  I love greasy pizza and hamburgers.  I’m not going to lie about the foods I love.

But I am also going to tell you that I reserve these type meals for a one a week (or once every two weeks) cheat meal, special occasions, etc.  In fact, recently on vacation I ate whatever I felt like eating.  I felt like crap during the entire week, my energy was lowered, I felt bloated, and was tired more.  My body is accustomed to being fueled with good stuff.  Instead, I was fueling it with garbage, and the saying “you are what you eat” manifested itself.

The every-now-and-then overeating will not kill you.  The constant stuffing your face until you are beyond full will.  Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and more are all linked to what we consume, how much we consume, and how fat we allow ourselves to become.

Survivor Quitter Kelly Purple

So tonight, I watched Survivor with my wife (as we usually do, DVR’d, of course), and I witnessed something that ticked me off as well as shocked me:  Two contestants, no more than 11 days from the end of the game, after being on the game for 28 days, up and quit.

They quit!

Hey, I understand being hungry, being tired, whatever.  But you’re over two-thirds of the way through the game, you are close to winning a million dollars, you know the longer you stay on the show the more you are going to get paid, and yet you are willing to walk away.

What are you thinking?!

Enough with the frustration though (and I was glad to see that moron Naonka leave…childess, ghetto, annoying…good riddance).  But Kelly Purple?  No one viewed her as a threat.  She might not make it to the final three, but she’s got several more days (epsidoes) until she is dismissed.  In other words, you passed on easy money.

Now seriously…enough with the rant, and on to the point:

I’ve never quit anything as big as Survivor.  I have stopped things, such as right now, I’m not adhering to my nutritional regiment as closely as I should…but I never quit.  I stalled, yes, but not quit.  I’ve never said “I quit, I’m not doing this any more.”

Yet, to so many, quitting is so easy.

They quit completely on their diets, and never return.

They quit on their dreams.

They quit on their relationships.

Let’s face it, quitting is all to easy.  Anymore, with divorce, you don’t have to have a reason.  Just call it “irreconcilable differences” and move on.  It’s easy.

But why quit when things are so close?  I was within a few pounds/body fat % until I hit my ultimate goal, yet I stalled.  I have not quit (in fact, I’m educating myself more and working on how to hit it even harder in a few weeks…and I’m still exercising to try to maintain result).

But I have not quit…I have not given up.  Yes, I’m not as proactive and involved.

All that said, where did you leave off on your goals?  Where were you on your dreams when things were derailed?  The great thing is, you can choose not to consider yourself a quitter and just consider what you went through a moment where you stalled out.  You can pick back up and continue.

But don’t quit.  You could be passing up money, health, fitness, passion, intimacy, or whatever it is that you are striving for.

Quite frankly, most of my time I’ve dedicated to my fitness blog.  It takes time to try to drive traffic…but I still need a place where I can just talk about life:  Things I’m doing, things I’ve done, what I’m wanting to do with life, and more.

I tried to use this site as an advertising blog, and it just isn’t going to cut it.  So, you’re going to see this blog change.  No more pimping a lot of MLM junk on here (although I’m still a part of a great network marketing organization, this blog is just going to be a lot more than just about business….it’s going to be a bit more “all encompassing”).

Give me a while to change all of this up.

I’m probably one of the world’s worst at focus for someone who does not have ADD or ADHD.  I have goals and ambition, but sustaining that over a period of time has always been hard for me.  But what I am learning is what I was shifting my focus to is not what will get me to where I want to go.

Sure…I had fun.  I had a LOT of fun with some of the stuff I started focusing on.  But now I look at myself 8 years into my entrepreneurial career and learn that those things distracted me from becoming what I should have become.

And it’s simple things, such as hanging out with fiends instead of getting on a conference call or returning calls; playing games instead of marketing, or even just watching television instead of making progress.

My focus has been all out of whack.  Now that I have gone through some things in my personal life, I’ve learned that if I am to ever achieve what I know I can, I have to focus.

To get in focus, though, you have to set priorities.  Which is more important:  Going to hang out with the guys or putting in that bit of extra effort to get something business related done?

Or playing a game instead of doing what needs to be done, whether it is business or family?

Again, I’m writing this from my own experience.  I’m sure as you look at your life, you’ll notice similar trends (maybe in not all things, and maybe not in business, but in other things).

From observing others, I realize how easy it is to get your priorities all out of whack and the destruction it can have in your business and your personal life.  I’ve watched friends’ priorities get messed up in the last several months and the path it is taking their lives down.

The true can be said about my business, and has been true in the past.  Not doing the “right” things and doing the “wrong” things first has always kept me from making the progress I wanted.

So one of my big goals is to simply bring my priorities in line with what I want to accomplish and to focus on them until I reach what I desire.

Just some food for thought….

Here are a couple of videos I have of the snow fall, including a very tall snowman that a neighbor built.

I know I can become a better leader, and if you are reading this, you should know that you could become a better leader too!

If you want to join the series with me, I encourage you to purchase the book and follow along with me.

The book is 26 chapters.  I plan on doing 2 chapters a week and going over what I find are the high points on this blog.  I hope during this discussion we can grow together as leaders, learn a bit about ourselves, our high points, areas we can improve on, and learn a bit.

I know what while I am growing in my home business with Zurvita, I need to develop better leadership skills.  If I plan on growing a business of thousands, I must first better myself and learn how to lead myself, my family, and then small groups of people before I can lead large groups of people.

Be watching for the start date soon.

But now it is time to do what I need to be doing, and you should be too:  Forgetting about “resolutions” and take action.

Resolutions is such a funny word in how we use it.  We “resolve” to do something, but there is no real action taken with just a resolution.  In fact, Congress passes “resolutions” all of the time.  They typically recognize people, places, etc, but there is no real action, just a nicely worded phrase.

And all to often, that is what “New Years Resolutions” just end up being:  Nicecly worded phrases.

We say things like “I want to lose weight” but never get started…

We say things like “I want to change my financial future” but never take that first step….

We say things like “This year will be better than last year” yet we never do anything differently…

Nicely worded phrases.  How do you avoid this problem?

Instead of setting resolutions, set goals.  This is what April and I are doing:

1.  We’re writing down our big picture objectives.  We know what we want.

2.  We’re taking each of those goals or objectives and breaking them into sections.  Bite sized chunks, so to speak…

3.  We’re taking each of those sections and writing the actions we are going to take to make it happen.

Goals are important.  An interpretation from Proverbs says “Where there is no vision the people perish.”  If you don’t know what you want out of life, how do you expect to achieve anything?  Do you think you will just wonder into a good situation?

Goals do not work like that.  Luck does, but goals do not.

So here is what I suggest:  Get your goals down on paper.  Do it as a family, with your wife and your children (if they are old enough to participate).  Get a clear picture of what you want.  Write down the steps to achieve that.  And once you have all of that down, get to work!

Here’s to an EXCITING 2010.  I pray that you prosper in all of your goals.

Brent