Many of you know that I recently made a big decision in my business and it really changed my morning routine that had been pretty consistent for close to 9 years.

I recently decided that I would remove myself from leading classes at GTS. It’s been a challenging, humbling, crazy experience and many things I had planned on. What I didn’t anticipate was the depth to which my morning routine would impact my days and my mental outlook.

After so many years of setting the alarm at either 4 or 5am I no longer “HAD” to do this to get somewhere. At first it felt amazing, but something started to change.

Over the course of a month or so something started to shift, my workouts were not the same, my attitude at home with Brandy and the kids wasn’t very good and in general I just wasn’t myself. I was struggling with “happiness” and as hesitant as I am to share that publicly it was true.

There were a few things at play here, but the big thing I knew I had to change immediately was my morning routine. Did you know that almost all super-achievers in this world are early risers? Did you also know the vast majority of them also spend time in SILENCE, MEDITATION OR PRAYER? Tim Ferriss (author of “4-Hour Work Week” and “4-Hour Body”) has studied hundreds of these high achievers (Oprah Winfrey, Arnold S, Will Smith, etc..) and one of the only common themes for all of them is this early morning routine.

I made the decision one month ago to change, or regain my morning routine, back to getting up early and starting my day with specific intentions. The difference has been absolutely amazing. Not only in business, but my personal life as well.

The reason I’m sharing this with you isn’t to get you to wake-up at 5 or even 4 am, but rather to show you how impact-ful routines and habits can be in your life.

What area of your life could benefit from either establishing a new routine or habit? What if you decided that every morning, on your drive to work, you would turn OFF the news or radio and turn on some positive training that’s specific to your goals? I call this Mobile University and the 20 minutes going and coming to the gym are so helpful.

Routines are so powerful, they can drive and push you slightly closer to your goals or they can slowly push you downward into a state of mind that’s detrimental to everyone close to you.

Your Mission, “should you choose to accept it”: Focus on one habit or routine that needs some improvement.

Here are a few ideas to get you going:

1. Immediately after waking up, drink 8 ounces of water. Our bodies are totally dehydrated after sleeping and this simple routine will refresh your mind and jump-start your day.
2. Enroll in Mobile University. Find a podcast in your industry (or something that inspires you) and listen to it in your car. Heck, just turning off the news will put you in a better mood.
3. Make one phone call to someone special in your life, that you don’t get to see very often. Carve out 10 minutes during your lunch break and make the call.
4. As your shower is warming-up, take 5 minutes and stretch a tight area on your body. For me, its always my hips. Just a little tip, if you have kids at home, lock the door or do the stretches with your clothes still on… I’ll leave it there 🙂

This week, focus on revamping, improving or tweaking just one habit or routine. Sometimes the impact is immediate and sometimes it takes a little longer so make sure you stick with it.

Be STRONG my Friends!

Your Coach

Jeremy

If you have a comment or question, please reach out, I’m here to help. If you aren’t on our Motivational Monday list, EMAIL KARI to gain access to this weekly encouragement and challenge.

In today’s age of “information at your fingertips” I really believe often times it can be a detriment to our weight loss journey.

Just the other day I was having a conversation with someone who knew an overwhelming amount of information regarding various health related foods. The problem was, and she would tell you the same thing, was APPLICATION of all the INFORMATION.

How often have you started some weight loss plan, you are excited about the new path and then just a few weeks into the program you read about some new thing that is changing the fat loss world or some nutrient that you must have?

I’ll tell you, personally, it can be an easy trap to fall into. Let me take you on a little journey, back to when I finished playing basketball in college. (2001)

I had always been the “skinny kid” and when I decided not to pursue any kind of professional basketball career I knew my goal would be to put on a build as much muscle as possible.

So I read and consumed everything I could find on how to get bigger. Magazines, supplements, strength coaches at major colleges and anything in between. So I chose my essential supplements (amino acids, protein, creatine and something to help me recover at night). Which is what I should have stuck with pretty much forever and is the foundation of my diet now.

Workouts were called MMF and they came from the strength coach at Michigan State. Every set meant you pushed to absolute failure, the last rep of every move meant you “failed”. Boy did I burn through some workout partners… It wasn’t a really popular workout with anyone half-hearted about getting bigger and stronger.

So I’m making incredible progress (for someone who struggles to put on muscle) and that is where I went of course. My “Knowledge” was really high but it ended up being a detriment to my health.

I would read every muscle magazine in the industry, see some new product that was building muscle faster than ever before so I would change and go try it… Make some progress, then next month the same thing…

Only problem came when I began seeing some weird side effects… including “cramping, passing out several times (at random times) and ending up in the hospital with a bit of a scare that luckily was an enlarged heart…that was only because of being in great shape not a bad thing.

My knowledge was through the roof when it came to supplements and how they helped your body build muscle. Problem was my knowledge (and of course thirst for that muscle as fast as possible) ended up being a major detriment.

That is also why I stopped taking supplements for nearly 6 years and why it took my good friend Jamie Arion 4 years to even try the Advocare products. Safety was my main concern…

So, my question to you. Do you have a ton of knowledge about healthy foods (internally) and all kinds of ways to exercise, but struggle with consistency on the basics?

Well, as you can see, I can relate 100%. Here’s the thing, my friends, consistency and application are the keys to success.

Point in case… a program that we just finished called the “Inner Circle” was 8 elite clients and coaches of mine and we ONLY worked on FIVE exercises. I kid you not, for ten weeks all we did was five exercises (squat, swing, dead-lift, pull-ups and pushups) and you would not believe the absolutely incredible changes most of these people experienced in their bodies. Inches gained in the right places, inches lost in the right places and more strength gains than I have ever seen in 13yrs in the industry.

So, and finally, what can you do different today that will help you with APPLICATION? Is it;

1. Finding an accountability partner
2. Is it joining a group (like the running club)
3. Or maybe hiring a personal trainer… I might know some people for you 🙂

Just work on consistent application, stop worrying about knowledge and focus on doing one thing different this week that can start you on the path to long term success!

It is my hearts desire for you, become everything you have ever dreamed about becoming and reach goals you have hidden away in your own private thoughts. Today is that day you APPLY and BECOME.

Your Coach,

Jeremy

 

Believe it or not, 1% of tweaks in your life can lead to the most profound changes in every area.

I know 1% doesn’t sound like much, but before you stop reading, let me explain.

Would you agree that we have hundreds of habits, that we practice every day without even being aware of them.

For Example

1. Which shoe do you put on first?
2. Which way do you drive to work?
3. What radio or satellite station do you listen to?
4. When do you eat each meal?
5. When you kiss your spouse, which way do you tilt your head?

There are hundreds and hundreds of these habits that every single person on the planet follow without giving any thought to what they do.

So what if you changed just one of these? What if, instead of having a glass of wine after dinner you eat some greek yogurt? If you did that every day for just one year, could it have an impact on your body-composition? Of course it would!

I recently read an article by James Clear, you can look him up at jamesclear.com and see the article I’m referring to, I can tell you it had a profound effect on my thinking.

He talks about how a cycling coach from Great Britain. Dave Railsford became the coach of Team Sky (Great Britains professional cycling team) in 2010 and faced a challenging situation.

No Brit cyclist had ever won the Tour de France and when Railsford took over the team he declared that in 5yrs time they would win their very first Tour.

Railsford focused on the smallest of things (pillows they slept on, the best way to wash their hands to avoid infection, tire weight, seat ergonomics) the things that many performance coaches didn’t even think about.

This 1% changes added up to a Brit winning the 2012 and the 2013 Tour de France and the team dominating the gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.

So how does this apply for us?

Habits are hundreds and hundreds of tiny decisions made over the course of time that lead to either a positive or a negative in our life. We don’t suddenly change a habit and transform our life, but in the long run I believe these small nearly unnoticeable changes become who we are, how we feel and our overall happiness.

When we make the decision to lose weight and get into shape, we forget that the habits we have formed over X amount of time will also take time to change to the positive.

Just as easy as it can be to make a 1% change for the good, it is also just as easy (or easier) to allow one extra cheat meal or one more time to skipped workout to put an extra 10lbs of bad weight on.

So today, as soon as you finish reading this post, I want you to pick one thing you can improve by just 1%. Write it down, post it on your bathroom mirror (or somewhere else you will see multiple times each day) and begin to see the power of 1% compounding over time.

For me… I am going to make sure I get my third day of cardio in each week. Note is going up tonight when I get home. It’s too easy to say…ohh my knee hurts I shouldn’t run again this weekend, but you know what? I can ride my bike, take my paddleboard to the lake, do mountain climbers and other cardio exercises to get the heart rate up. The bad knee Ive been nursing is just an excuse.

Join me, lets do it.

Your Coach,

Jeremy