This is one of the slooooooo-west weeks of the year – unless, of course, you sell champagne and party hats.

Naturally when everyone else slows down, so do we.

Most people don’t do much of anything this week (even if they’re “working”) except relax or vacation, eat left over holiday food and relive all the top stories of 2011 on TV or the Internet.

Already people are saying, “Well figure it out next week” or, “Let’s work on this in the New Year” or, “I’ll have so and so call you next week.”

I get it.

We all have to rest. All work and no rest makes for a very tired.

We all have things we want to change. BUT, at this point of the year, it’s so easy to give in to our short term, irrational mind.

Why?

We have THE most perfect excuse, ever.

“I will start on January 1st!”

It’s incredible, right?

No, I’m not saying we need to start taking action on ALL of our goals for the New Year right now. After all, I want to relive the top stories of 2011!

But telling myself, “I’ll start on January 1st.” is pure bull-secretion, unless…

I say that because when we wait until January 1st, the date itself becomes the agent of change. Instead of us!

Change happens when WE decide it’s going to happen. It happens in an instant. In a flash. It doesn’t care what day of the year it is.

And then…and then…it ONLY happens we fight like heck to make sure we have all of the tools and support necessary to back up that decision. Because if we don’t, our short term, irrational mind is going to be relentless in trying to fight our long term, rational mind at the first hint of discomfort.

Because after all, change is uncomfortable.

(Are you ready for a run-on sentence? I know I am!)

So, if we find ourselves watching (or reading) the top stories of 2010, and on the verge of ignoring our long term, rational mind, and not taking the action we really want to take – like going to the gym, or returning that gift, or cleaning that closet out – because we’ll just do it on “January 1st” — because we (want to) think we’ll become this “different” person — because of the date, let’s call bull-secretion.

And at least acknowledge that if we don’t change our actions, we can’t expect our outcomes to change either.

We’re better than that.

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For a few of us, it seems as though once it was officially the holiday season – our motivation officially started to fall.

I hear ya. BUT, I’m not so sure it’s our motivation as much as it is our environment.

Because in the face of GINORMOUS temptation, it’s easy to start questioning why we’re doing this. In the face of GINORMOUS temptation our motivation fades.

Hold up.

What is a temptation anyway?

My definition is very simple: A temptation is something – anything – that makes us think irrationally.

Our motivation fades because our rational and long term mind is asleep while our irrational and short term mind is W I D E awake.

But even so, even after all of my rational/irrational talk, what’s the point of this? Why bother?

I figure now (TEMPTATION) is as good a time (TEMPTATION) as ever to remind (TEMPTATION) you why because (TEMPTATION) there is temptation everywhere (TEMPTATION).

(See what I just did there?)

But first let’s start with the question, “Why?”

Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to get more fit? Why do you want to accomplish your professional goals? Why do you want to accomplish your personal goals? What is your goal in life?

When I ask people these questions, I get a lot of different answers.

Whatever your goal is, think about the answer to the next question: Why?

And then keep asking yourself why.

What’s so fascinating to me is that if we keep asking ourselves, “Why?” enough times, we’ll arrive at the same answer that most people do.

We’re all doing what we do because we believe it’ll ultimately make us happier.

I think the end goal of anything we do is: happiness. However, I think happiness is a very ambiguous term. Instead, I’m very interested in how I can become happier (and how I can help other people become happier).

Not that I’m unhappy. I’ve always been a happy person…

But why not be as happy as I possibly can be? Life is short.

We might as well be as happy as we possibly can be.

These questions and thoughts are what led me to write all of these posts.

So, here’s a question I’ve been noodling on, and it helps me a lot:

“Will this make me happier?”

But you have to be honest with yourself when you ask that to yourself.

Let’s explore a little:

I’m not saying I’m unhappy when I’m shoveling a burger and fries into my face. I’m not saying I’m unhappy when I’m eating ice cream. No. Not at all. That makes me happy.

At least, while I’m eating it.

I’m saying I’m happIER when I eat healthfully.

I’m not saying I’m unhappy when I’m lounging around watching TV. That’s fun!

I’m saying I’m happIER when I’m moving around and enjoying my fitness! That’s MORE fun!

I’m not saying I’m unhappy when I have a great meal and overeat because the food is just so tasty.

I’m saying I’m happIER when I leave the table feeling satisfied and not stuffed.

When are you happier if you’re really and truly honest with yourself?

And of course, our rational and long term mind knows the answers. The challenge is that in the face of temptation everywhere – we lose sight of what makes us happier because we’re thinking irrationally.

By asking yourself this question (“Will this make me happier?”) it helps you to think rationally, and that’s the key.

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I gotta say – although I love the summer, and the warm weather, I also love this time of year because everyone is in such a good mood.

But with that comes a lot of events and gatherings with family and friends and coworkers.

And as I’ve been hearing from some of you – with that comes peer pressure eating.

I’d like to dive into this…

Peer pressure (in the sense that I’m used to it) is when we feel that if we don’t do what everyone else is doing we’ll be the outcast. Usually, it’s with our friends, which is sort of ironic.

In this case, though, I think the peer pressure we might be facing is from our self. We don’t want to stand out, and we really don’t want to make a big deal out of our healthy eating habits.

Here’s the thing: no one really cares about our habits, unless we do.

When we start saying things like, “Ugh! I wish I could have this slice of pizza!” or, “I wish I could have what you’re having!” or “I want dessert so badly but I can’t!” that’s when people care.

That’s when people get involved.

It’s like everything else. If we’re cool with it, and if we’re comfortable with our self, other people will be comfortable with us.

If we’re uneasy about something, other people will be uneasy about it.

And let’s just say our friends do make some comments. For basically my entire life my friends have made “jokes” when they are out to eat with me. Sometimes I choose to indulge, and sometimes I don’t.

But I think there’s some truth to every ‘joke’ we make about someone. Whether it’s good hearted or not, here’s what I’ll say: Deep down, everyone respects a healthy and fit and disciplined person. (Of course, they could be a complete jerk. I’m just talking about being respected for solely being fit, etc.)

Let’s look at it another way…

Unfortunately, sometimes people are very rude.

And no one makes fun of a fit person for being fit. BUT sometimes people make fun of overweight people for being overweight. It’s just the way it is.

Many of us hate in other people what we hate about ourselves. And if your friend wished they were as focused, and disciplined as you are, they might feel the need to make “jokes” to make themselves feel better.

To me, eating unhealthy and junk usually isn’t worth it. I don’t like how I feel after. And time after time, when I’m with my friends and they choose to eat unhealthy, they always regret it afterward. “Ugh, my stomach is killing me! “I’m so tired now!” “I should’ve had what you ate!”

I wish my friends/coworkers/family ate the way I did

Why not be a leader? In college, especially, (because I lived with my friends) and in high school too – none of my friends were into health and fitness the way I was. Not even close. Why not become a positive influence? Or better yet – lead by example.

How to get people to think you’re annoying

I never, ever, offer advice unless people ask for it – however, leading by example is the most powerful thing you can do. And many of my friends in college starting eating the way I did. And this was in college! I became the go to guy.

It’s been that way for most of my life. Why not be that person with your friends? It’s fun.

When food is love…

For many, food IS love. Not eating something, in the moment, doesn’t seem like an option when Grandma is practically forcing us to eat her “famous” dish.

Here’s the thing: we feel bad, and then we start to waver. Once we start wavering, it’s game over. Grandma (or our friend or coworker) isn’t leaving us alone!

BUT, if you immediately say something like, “Grandma, no thank you! I’m going to pass.” it’s hard to argue with that.

And then the key is to add in something like, “I know how hard you worked, and I know you love me, and I love you too! But I’m going to pass on this. I do appreciate your efforts though, a lot!” that usually helps. (Grandma just wants to be recognized for her efforts, which is completely understandable. So it’s possible to give her what she wants without actually eating it.)

It’s OKAY to say “No, I’m going to pass,” and not second guess our selves. Remember: we never regret our healthy choices. Once we answer with the “Well, maybe…” we’re opening ourselves up for peer pressure.

You’ll be satisfied AND empowered after the meal when you order/eat/get what our body (not our mind) really craves.

It’s certainly harder with all sorts of unhealthy foods and junk around and peer pressure. No doubt.

But that’s on us because we don’t want to feel different. That’s not peer pressure.

As always, I’m here to help!

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HA HA! I gotta laugh using Mike Tyson for inspiration fodder…

But as crazy as he is, he’s also a pretty deep guy.

Here is a story of his which I really like:

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His then trainer Cus D’Amato, says to him, “Listen you have the chance to change your life, your family’s life, you can be very special. Don’t you want to be champion? You can be champion of the world”.

I didn’t pay no attention.

He said, “Really, you could be champion of the world. You could devastate the world. No man can take what you did, you got to believe it”.

I looked at this guy and then I started thinking, I said, this guy is really crazy, that’s what I said, this guy is really crazy. [Funny how Mike Tyson thought someone else was crazy!]

“You do what I tell you to do, and if it doesn’t work then, then you can leave”.

So I said OK.

I did everything he told me to do and I won, I won every championship. From the amateur championship, all the championships, so I won every championship because he told me what to do. And I started believing in this old man.

I stopped being a little thief. I use to go back to New York and rob people and come back upstate and hide out.

The day I stopped doing all that I changed my whole life. I said I’m gonna stick to this boxing shit.

I turned my whole life over to boxing. I turned into a complete animal, I turned into a disciplinarian.”

**

My words now…

I love how he says the day I stopped… Because, ultimately change happens in an instant. We decide (that’s the hardest part) and then we fight like hell for the rest of our life to back our decision – unless, of course, it’s not a worthwhile one.

But we all know pursuing our health and fitness goals certainly is. Or to borrow from Mike Tyson — we all know sticking to this health and fitness shit is worthwhile. (Pardon my French!)

That day Mike Tyson decided he was going to be the best in the world. That he’d do whatever it took to be the best. That’s he’d employ an army of people to support him. That he’d be the baddest man on the planet.

What would happen if you decided right now that you’re not going to eat any junk food for the rest of this week?

What would happen if you decided right now that you’re going to exercise every day for the rest of this week?

What would happen to your psyche if you decided on something right now that would benefit you?

And the best part? The best part is that when we do things that benefit us, we feel a lot better too.

We feel like the…

Champion of the World!!!

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