The Power to Change

Power

The rate of doing work. Equivalent to the amount of energy consumed per unit time

If I asked you what is the most important factor if doing any amount of work, what would your answer be? Work? Energy? Or time?

Can a corvette run without gasoline? Can a train run without steam?

The answer I hope you're looking for is ENERGY. The single most important source of fuel for your hustle and your drive to accomplish whatever your heart desires. Regardless of what your goals may be.

What motivates you to be better? What drives you to get up in the morning , even when you had a long night and no sleep?

If you don't know the answer to this question, then I have some bad news for you. Time to stretch out your LuLuLemon yoga pants and take a meditation yoga class with your mom or get tickets to hear a motivational speaker tell you something you already know , but don't feel yet.

Here are a few ways to find your motivation without spending a fortune or wasting too much of your time:

1. Recognize Passion!

If you ever wanted to hear or see what passion looks or sounds like ,YouTube guys like Grant Cardone, Rob Bailey or even Rich Piana and just listen to how these men speak to you. Now, I'm not telling you to do exactly what they're doing or shoot yourself full of steroids and BS, I'm telling you to listen and watch them to see what passion looks and sounds like because in all honesty, it is hard to search for something when you don't have a clue what it looks or sounds like. When you hear yourself or see yourself like you hear and see them, you're headed in the right direction.

2. Seek Passion

Now that you know what you're looking for, it's time to find it. It's not as easy as asking Siri for the nearest Pizza place but here's something you can store in your iCloud, just ask yourself this simple question

"Am I happy?"

Now answer yourself and don't B.S. yourself because you're only going to let yourself down. True power is having the courage to ask the hard questions and having the strength to accept the truth and change for the better and it all begins with you seeking the truth from within yourself. Not your wife, your ex, your BFF , or your co workers.

3. Enforce your passions

Hopefully by now, you've caught something you can work with passionately. Don't be the dog chasing cars, if you caught something, own it. You cannot treat this like a catch and release! You're here to eat, not for the hell of it. Enforce your passions through expression. Write about it, read about it, talk about it, and be about it!! Become that passion on a daily basis, no matter what direction it is going in.

There's a huge difference between being passionate and doing what passionate people do, recognize that.

Write down your passions and put them on the bathroom mirror next to your His\Her towel set.

Read , read and read about your passions and how to emphasize them.

Talk. Talk to yourself or others. You aren't talking to conversate, you're talking to hear yourself speak passionately. Just make sure you aren't talking to yourself in public because you might scare someone.

4. Reinforce your passion.

The final stage is the most important one because in all honesty , passion comes and goes. It could take forever to get here but could be gone tomorrow. You MUST reinforce your passions daily, weekly and monthly because, unfortunately, there will be people who will want you to fail. This you already know, but what you don't know is why someone would want you to fail. Whether they're jealous, lazy, ignorant or just unhappy, they're out there to tell you

"That's not a good idea"

Or

"You'll never make it.",

Never ever listen to anyone with anything negative to say.

Keep your power. Keep your drive. Never let anyone doing worse or better than you tell you other wise. Keep reading. Keep writing and keep reminding yourself why you live, breathe and drive. 

Fit-trepreneur: Achieve fitness success by thinking like a businessman

Have any of you reading this ever thought about what it would be like running your own business? Have you ever walked into a store, restaurant or any establishment of your interest and thought to yourself,

"This place is all wrong. If it were my business, I'd do this, that, etc etc."

Don't lie, we've ALL done it. That's only the first step. Then you begin to visualize how you'd change the facade of the establish. How you'd manipulate what the service provided is and how to make it better.

Don't get confused, this IS a fitness article and your brain has just been switched to "Leader" as opposed to "Follower". Follow me here:

Every business has a plan and every plan; a goal. Now I want to ask you while you're thinking like a businessman,

" What's your plan? What's your goal?"

Whether you want to lift 1000lbs or lose 10, you need a plan in motion to achieve success. Treat this as your "Business Plan." Every business plan will include the following:

- location/environment
- investment/costs
- timelines
- references (personal/professional)
- fail safe back up plan

Let's look at these briefly to explain how you can make this new endeavor work for you!

Location / Environment :

Consider your goals when finding the perfect environment to achieve and keep this in mind

       Birds of a feather flock together

In other words, you need to put yourself in an environment with like minded individuals to help expedite your success. No different than successful people positioning themselves with other like minded successful people. The company you choose to keep with make or break your success. If your company do not share your same views or want what you want, you need to dump them and move on.

Investment / Cost :

This, in my opinion, is the one singular deterrent in individuals success. It's the reason most business fail: thankfully for you, fitness doesn't have to cost you can arm and a leg. However, depending on your goals, it will require an initial investment to see a wonderful return. This means putting your hard earned green towards:

- Proper nutrition. You don't have to be 100% organic and jump on the Central Market/Whole Foods bandwagon, but you'll need to be more conscience of what you eat. Face it, healthy food is more expensive than cheap food.

- Supplementation Taking the extra incentive to fill your nutritional gaps makes a bit of difference and it's there to HELP your progress, not do all the work for you. Don't take the word of your Local GNC employee who obviously doesn't lift. Instead, seek out your gym rat forums and ask some people in your social circle that actually workout about it and see what they say. I personally recommend the basic MultiVitamin and Protein supplement to get you started

Gym environment - You don't need a gym to get healthy, but if your goal is to get stronger , gain muscle , lose weight , tone or any other thing then pushups and curling paint cans will only get you so far. Find a gym that YOU feel is consistent with your goals. For example, if you want to get stronger than Curves probably won't be able to help you much like if you want to get huge ,Planet Fitness isn't your destination. Visit each gym and find a spot where the people there look like you want to look or are exercising the way you want to exercise. In the end, its going to cost something. You can probably wheel and deal a joiner fee wave or a few months free , but that's about it.

Equipment - Okay so your old pair of Adidas that you mow the lawn in CAN be used for gym shoes but it doesn't hurt to invest in proper equipment/clothing . Wearing shoes with good support, purchasing gloves if needed, straps, wrist support, etc etc etc.

Timelines - set a time for your goals. Be specific. For example ,

"I'm going to workout 5 times this week."

Or

"I'm going to drop 2lbs per week"

Or

"I'm going to lose 10 lbs this month"

Set a timeline goal and reset it after you've achieved it. Remember, running water never grows stale. Keep on flowing.
References (personal and professional)

In a nut shell, find a gym buddy to workout with to keep you consistent, accountable and motivated or INVEST in a personal trainer to get you started. 

Fail-Safe Backup plan:

This is your lifeboat ready to save you and let you fight another day. Here, you will reevaluate your position and what you've done and you change everything that didn't work and try something new. This is a must and it is fail safe because it doesn't matter how many times this fell short, you never fail unless you give up

Take care and train hard,

SeanB

The Root of all Laziness: Stupidity and Supplements

Things have a very funny way of working out. I go into a GNC for a few supplements and I walk out with a mind blowing inspiration of a vastly spreading epidemic , Worse than Ebola !

There's a horrible case of stupidity going around the fitness world and somewhere along the line it just took off like a rocket to the stars.

At some point in time, people began to actually believe that there is a supplement out there today that you can buy and you would drop 15lbs , gain 5lbs of muscle and look 5 years younger all without exercising. 

Folks, I am literally blown away.

The story goes as this: the GNC employee and a naive woman were discussing a fat burning pill and a protein . Shamelessly my wife asks vaguely,  " do you workout?  ". Both ladies look at my wife and each other and both said

..... "No."

Imagine that, people would actually spend in the upwards of $150 for supplements to give them the exact same results as working out alone would do. Talk about buying the milk and screwing the cow (not literally I hope)

Let me set this straight from experience:

1. There is NO pill, powder or even a prayer for your ass.

2. There is ONLY hard work and that's all

Supplements were NEVER meant to replace the quality of real food and , sure as hell weren't made to take all the damn work out of the equation. They were made to only ASSIST in your fitness journey;  not walk the whole walk for you.

Now my next thing is,  who's the blame? Is it just stupidity on the people or is it the ignorance of marketing? Maybe the genius of marketing is a better culprit to blame. The only reason I ask that is this BS is happening across all product planes, not just the supplement industry.

Sak's 5th Avenue will sell you an eye cream for $800 (and the bottle is smaller than your ex bfs package) with the promises of no more eye wrinkles , crows feet and look younger. Fact of the matter is, unless the bottle goes into a syringe followed by a needle going into your skin, you're gonna have those wrinkles and no cream is going to make you look younger.

Educate yourself before investing blindly into a marketing scheme. If whatever you're investing in DOESN'T include the fact that hard work and dedication go into it then you're going to be a very unsatisfied customer

Talk care and train hard

Sean B

Forget what you've heard

I started training about 6+ years ago and ever since day one, this single solitary thought process has pissed me off and it still continues on today . You ; yourself,  have either heard or said it and I wish I could kick some on you in the head of saying or thinking this single solitary notion.  That notion is this,

"Dr. OZ said this will work. Oprah said this. I saw this on TV so it must work. I read about it in Muscle and Fitness so it MUST be right ! "

Even as I write this, my fist is violently shaking in the air and my blood pressure is skyrocketing.  How IGNORANT can someone be to think just because a :

1. Very rich TV personality (who gets paid to tell you something works )

2. Doesn't even look like they workout whatsoever

And 3. More than likely, doesn't even use/do what he/she is trying to sell you/tell you what to do.

Since when have you completely let go of your own thinking? You have a mental process about every damn thing in your life but when a celebrity says something, you take it as the gospel truth. 

(I seriously want to round house kick someone at this point)

I can't tell you how many times, in all the years that I've been doing this, I've heard that same B.S. and , what's even worse, I'm trying to explain to them the truth and no one wants to hear the truth.  They want the fantasy. They want to live in fantasy land where you can take this pill, use this diet and take this workout and you'll look like Brad Pitt or Angelina Joelie.

I'm sorry to burst your bubble but that just isn't going to happen.

Here's the truth for those of you who WANT to really make a difference. Not only in your physique,  but in all areas of your life. Doesn't matter what you're trying to accomplish, this truth plays on any damn sports field, in any ball park, flys straight in any direction and is the same in any language.

It's HARD. WORK.

That's the honest to god truth, it's about HARD WORK. It's about the intensity. It's about the dedication, the time you put in and the will to never accept anything short of achievement.

Since we're on an honesty kick, I'm going to through some more honesty at you. If you don't like it then maybe you're guilty of this.

Not everyone is made to achieve. Every single person does not have success instilled in their psyche. We are all CAPABLE of it, but this isn't for everyone and that's how it goes. That's fair.

Now everyone has their own thought process of what it takes to succeed in your own health and fitness but this is how I want to explain it to you. You're investing: Time, Money, Energy,  Effort and Consistency in yourself for this HUGE pay off. Now, think of all what you're investing is as actual money instead of action. Now think of this;

How in the hell can you make some big money if you're just dumping change in your investment?  A quarter here is you thinking , "oh I can just workout once in a while, that's good." A dime here is you thinking that taking the damn stairs at you job instead of the elevator counts as cardio. And a single penny towards yourself is you thinking just doing cardio is going to get your ass where it needs to be.

If that's your thought process then save your money,  keep eating McDonalds and watch the Biggest Loser because that's as close as you'll ever get to getting in shape. 

By this time all the people who don't care enough to change, they've left the blog. So you who are dedicated, I'm going to tell you EXACTLY how to get yourself in shape and it's no secret or no special workout.  I tell my clients all the time, it's about the intensity!  It's the effort you put in EVERY day. Not 3x a week just with me, NOT on the damn stairs at your job and it's sure as hell not when you get on some whack diet because you saw Kim Kardashian do it and it must work.  Forget celebrities,  look for REAL people with real world problems losing weight and getting in shape. Those are the people you should be following and keeping up with !

I'm going to close with this,

You have everything you need to succeed within YOU. It's there, it may be dormant but damn It, it's there and it's waiting to be used . Look inside yourself and be honest. Do you really want this or are you B.S.ing yourself and everybody around you because you're lonely or bored and have nothing else to do. Not a damn person got anywhere by someone playing addy cake with them about what they need to do. Perfect example, over half of the population who take the easy route (plastic surgery,  Gastric bypass,  Fad diets, and fad workouts) all gain their weight back, plus some!

Intensity: That's the word ,bird and if you don't know what you're doing then quit being a cheap ass and hire a trainer. A REAL trainer, not some 18 year old kid who has a single piece of paper and no common sense of the business.

Take care and train hard!!

SeanB

Keeping it fresh

It seems to be that every time I have free time between clients, I am inspired to write SOMETHING in relevance to today in some form or fashion. Today's post comes from a conversation I had with a struggling client early as hell in the A.M. The topic is about motivation.

There are going to be two driving forces in your success. That is:

Goal setting

Motivation

Now the question is, which is more important? If you had to pick one to keep consistently what would it be?

I hope the answer is obvious to you!

What good are your goals if you aren't motivated enough to accomplish them? Forget goal setting if that's the case. Save the paper you are going to waste writing down all of your goals down on to. The trees shouldn't have to suffer because you haven't found out by now what lights a fire under your ass and gets you going!

In my time as a professional , a practitioner and an entrepreneur, I NEVER set a goal.

I just did it. It was that simple.

On the other hand, I have driven into overdrive by motivation. I was bothering the hell out of EVERY single business owner I knew to constantly pick their brains for ideas and inspiration.

I was constantly reading about success and how to achieve it though numerous venues of my choosing. I even dabbled in eastern philosophy to understand the act of doing on a spiritual level!

But the biggest single fire that was lit under my ass to do something was this:

When I announced to my friends at the time that I wanted to start my own business they flat out told me I couldn't do it. I wasn't educated enough for that. I will fail. I have no clue what I'm doing.

And you know what? They were right about all of that except for one part.

I did NOT fail.

I didn't have a damn clue what I was doing, but I also didn't give a damn to have a clue. I just did it. No matter what, I was motivated in so many different ways that I could not be stopped by anyone or anything but myself.

Don't worry about your goals because if you're driven and motivated enough, then your goals are going to be a reality whether you want them to be or not. It doesn't matter when your mind is right.

Bruce Lee said ,

" the only knowledge is self knowledge. The only help is self help. "

You have got to find that fire that is gonna burn your ass into  blaze until you get moving and you need to find it now! A book, a YouTube video, a magazine or a movie. I don't care because it doesn't matter what it is, you just need to find it. Once you find it, find it again. Keep it fresh and don't let it grow stale on you. Get your ass motivated and get your ass going!

Take care and train hard,

Sean

Fall's Call! Fitness Facts while you holster your guns until the summer

Falls here and that means all of your "Suns Out.  Guns Out" tanks are about to hit the shelves and collect some dust, that is unless you're an big success, rich or live in Sunny California.  No worries, this is a good thing. This is the perfect opportunity for you to change your body and learn something new in the process.

Keep this in mind,

Brace Yourselves.  The Holidays are Coming

Unless fitness pays your bills, this means you'll be digging into some holiday treats. Sad, but true. So before you start lying to yourself and your friends that you're going to be so good on your diet and your goals , let's try a new approach to your goals. We'll give you a few things to consider to keep your engine revving during the holidays. Try these and challenge yourself because how can you expect to change if you never challenge yourself.

1. Lift Heavy

Yea, I said it. Lift Heavy. That goes for men and women alike. That means add sets, less reps and looking awesome in the process. This challenge will push your body to new limit which means it'll be burning more calories during and after your workouts.  Try adding 2-3 more sets to your exercise and taking your rep range to 6-10 reps. Please note that lifting heavy doesn't mean: break your back, destroy your knees, dislocate your shoulders or end up on Awkward Gym Moments. Please keep form a priority

2.  Change Your Cardio

Because of the diet violations you're about to perform, cardio is going to be a big player in keeping you from going overboard. While I'm sure you get a kick of jamming to Pearl Jam on the treadmill for an hour, that's simply not going to cut it. I'm talking about some challenging cardio.  That would be:

Spin Class - Perfect if you're in dire need of some nice legs and a wicked butt

Boxing / MMA Class - learn how to kick ass while looking good? Sure, why not?

Cross Fit - Controversially Cult of Fitness Fanatics , yes I said it. Crossfit will take you to a whole new world faster than the magic carpet from Aladdin but here is something important if you choose to join the dark side. 

MAKE SURE YOUR INSTRUCTORS KEEP FORM A PRIORITY

If your instructor isn't constantly talking about the importance of fundamentals , form and foundation then you are basically screwed.

3. Supplements

If you're serious about your workouts, NOT 100% solid on your diet and not taking supplements then I don't know what's wrong with you. These products are meant to get you from Point A-wesome to B-adass a little quicker. Obviously stim-products can be a concern but here are a few things to utilize to keep it trimmed up.

Green Tea

CLA

L-Carnitine

Flaxseed Oil

L-Arginine

Try these few things during the season and you won't have to look for a XXL " Suns Out Guns Out " tank at your local Wal Mart when the beach comes calling. As always, if you ever have any doubt or concern, talk to a trainer. Hire a trainer if he/she is good. How can you tell? If he/she doesn't take form, foundation and fundamental as priority,  don't hire them.

My Lesson

Since I'm stuck here with two huge ice packs on my knees, I have been forced to sit and , thusly, am force to dwell on the constant revolving thoughts in my head.

For those of you who don't know me well, I have lead a somewhat interesting life over the course of the year. I have been all along the southeast coast in a car. From Texas to New Orleans on my way to Florida , Vegas and back. I've been high, low, near deaths door sick, alone, loved and on cloud 9. I've learned a lot but the most IMPORTANT lesson that I've learned only took 3 days, 300 miles in a car and a few conversations.

The important lesson is this:       "true friendships"

I'm not perfect, I'm human and I've made plenty of mistakes. One of my mistakes has been looking for someone to lean on when I'm falling. When I fell, I noticed some posts were gone ,some fragile and some sturdy. The most eye opening part was when I realized the posts that were the most sturdy for me to lean on weren't the one's I expected to be there and vice versa for the posts that were gone.

So what does this mean for me in the future? This has literally brought my perspective in sync . My faith and reality are finally in line. Even though it took a few bad experiences,  a breakup, some very awkward conversations and a trip home, I finally feel mike myself again.

Disaster forces a better model of what was destroyed.

Even though I lost a lot and went through hell, the experience and lesson were priceless. Its beyond going to the AVNs in Vegas , meeting Ron Jeremy, having dinner with Dave Navarro , all while sick with H1N1. Its past smoking cigars in New Orleans and the beaches in Florida .

It's about it finding myself

Consider myself found and looking forward to the next lesson.

The Circles of Life Disasters: Cause, Consequence and Corrections

Disasters may be a rough example of what my theory on this is but I want to reference your goals  ( or lack of ) and your short comings to the theory of poverty. Think of your unsuccessful attempts at gaining wealth the same as your unsuccessful attempts to gain/achieve anything.

Theory of poverty basically breaks it down to two endeavours. It's either:

Generational ( or Genetic ) aka " It runs in my family "

or it's situational. Something happened to cause this. ( stress, accident, unemployment,  etc )

Either way you spin it , it all leads to what Economists call a " Development Trap . " In which majority never recover. Now , I'm not suggesting the government can help you achieve your goals,  they can't even fix the economy themselves.

The real problem when it comes to achieving anything is the lack of education or continuous education to keep yourself ahead of the proverbial curve.

But where do you find this education. Where's the knowledge? It would seem school would be the best option, but as the old saying goes:

" if you want education,  go to school. If you want knowledge,  go to the library "

The key to achieving anything is putting yourself in a position to gain as much knowledge as you can and utilizing this to your advantage. Sadly to say, nothing happens on it's own. As much as we say, " everything happens for a reason " , there's a point to be made that there is such a thing as " I fucked up and now I'm paying for it. "

I prefer the term , " You MUST make the best out of any situation.  Good or bad "

Life is a constant motion and it never stops until we're dead ( and even then, it may continue depending on who you talk to ). Think of it as Physics.  Sir Isaac Newtons 3rd law makes it obvious that you must literally BREAK the cycle that you're in in order to progress.

With every action, there's an equal but opposite reaction

This, to me, clearly states that if you want change, you must introduce something different to your path of life in order to catalyst the change needed/desired.

Whether your goal is financial wealth, personal health or a healthy relationship.  It requires action. 

ACTION

That is the key to overall success. Take action. Entrepreneurs will say the hint to a correct path is procrastination.  It rears its ugly face when you have important things to do, does it not? So why wouldn't it be present when you're on the path to achieving something. Small or large.

My specialty is personal health. I've been helping people achieve their fitness goals for 6+ years and the biggest advantage I have is I use no set form or way of training them. It's 100% organic and holistic but 100% tailored to them personally. 

You must tailor your path to you specifically. Don't trade one routine for another because it leads to the same thing

A plateau

Know yourself and , especially,  your weaknesses. Don't avoid them, attack them and be vigilant about it. Because it is not your strengths that will lead you to success, but your weaknesses that will cause them to fail.

It doesn't matter what you want, it can all be achieved if you're willing to ACT. BREAK the cycle through action and perseverance . Don't jump from one routine to another. Apply this consistent change to your every day life . For example;

Take the one thing you spend the most money on that is NOT a necessity. ( Mine is supplements ) and go without them for a month to three months.

If you always use the treadmill for cardio; switch to the stairs or bike

If you never say hi to someone in the Starbucks line waiting for your latte,  do something different. Smile and say Hi,  How are you?

The possibilities are literally infinite on how you can better your life.

Be a Renaissance man/woman. Experience things. Say yes more than no. Put yourself out there. Soon change will be a habit and soon, you'll see and notice things about the world , and even yourself, that you never knew.

Avoid the trap

Break the habit

If you're not living, you're dying.

Happy Training

Visuals and How To Use It

As I walked into the bathroom I soon discovered this collage on the bathroom mirror. It seems silly to some, but this simple collage is the beginning of immaculate success in ones goals.

We are visual beings. Our emotions are struck vast when we see something we want. It's almost like a spark that ignites the illuminated sign out that summons us to whatever establishment it represents.

The old line, " I'll believe it when I see it. " isn't just a coincidence here. Seeing IS believing but truth isn't always appearance. We must have faith that this is what we can accomplish. You may not be able to see yourself in the body on the mirror from the magazine; but you can see your body shaping into something that looks like it, but it's YOUR body.

Here's how I like to do it. And you can try this for yourself today to begin with all guns blazing.

Take your goals and write them all down.  In order what you want short term to what you will achieve in the long run. Such as:

1. Clear out all the bad food in the house and keep it out

2. Understand this is a journey,  not a race.

3. Get to the gym at least 3 times a week.

4. I will ONLY weight myself 2x a month consistently

5. I will lose 10 lbs in a month and a half 

6. I will not be afraid to fail 

7. I will not be afraid of judgements

8. I will not give up, ever 

Next,  I want a visualization reference to your goals. If you want to lose weight, I want a piece of clothing that is the next size down from where you are currently. Keep it there until it fits perfectly and move down until you're at your goal size . 

If your goal is muscle / tone, find an image of what you want your body to look like just as demonstrated here. Keep it, look at it and make it so 

Finally, I want you to write this down on a piece of paper and put it on the mirror. 

1.Start this morning/day with a positive note

2. You aren't the same person from your past 

3. You are worthy and deserving of this 

4. Act today, not tomorrow

5. Ask for guidance when you need it

6. Never forget where you started from 

7. Help oothers get there too

I assure you the journey to success, be it upur body , your life or business, will be a long but fruitful one . And always remember this,

As long as your persistence is many and your determination vast, failure will never stop you. It is inevitable to fail, but those who never failed have never tried 

Happy Training