Hi Team,

Motivation is a huge business in America. There are thousands of speakers waiting to motivate us on any subject we can imagine.

Motivation is worth every penny.

For example, I believe everyone should (and can) be in awesome shape. But not everyone is.

The reason why is because it’s very hard to stay consistent with our exercise and/or healthy eating.

If you don’t have a problem staying consistent with your diet and/or exercise, you should be in great shape.

A highly motivated person wouldn’t have any problem staying consistent though.

["Adam! Aren't you calling us lazy then?" you might think. No not at all! I'm about to unveil what's really behind motivated people.]

As Zig Ziglar said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”

But most people keep searching for more tactics. The problem with that strategy is it delays action. And consistent action is the only way to get to where we want to be.

I don’t think you can teach someone to be motivated. Motivation has to come from with in.

However; I know inspiration can absolutely make someone motivated!

I believe motivation occurs once a switch is flipped in our mind. Maybe we caught a glimpse of our self in the mirror and don’t like what we see. Maybe our jeans aren’t fitting the way they used to. Maybe we have a vacation coming up. Maybe a Rocky marathon is on TV. Maybe our Body Tutor wrote something that hit home.

Inspiration, on the other hand, is all about looking inside our selves. Connections we make are far more powerful than connections made for us.

If he can do it why can’t I? If she can do it why can’t I? If I was able to do this back then why can’t I do it now?

I don’t know any kid who dreams of being overweight and out of shape. It just happens. Life happens! Work, kids, friends, and on and on….(I know! That’s why I started MBT.)

But when no one is forcing us to look inside our selves (I believe good inspiration should) and to be honest with our selves; it’s really easy to lose sight of the life we want to lead.

It’s really easy to rationalize all of our excuses.

I know professional athletes that have 3 coaches. Why shouldn’t we?

[The point is they're constantly surrounding themselves with inspiration, and that's why they appear so motivated.]

These highly successful people are highly motivated…so it appears…because they’re constantly being inspired. But like any human being, we slip up and sometimes we lose sight of where we’re going and we lose our motivation.

This is when we should:

Listen to our favorite music. Look at pictures. Read old inspirations. Reach out to our Body Tutor. And do whatever it is we do that inspires us.

Know the difference between motivation and inspiration. And when you’re loosing motivation; seek inspiration!

Also, if you’re losing motivation often then you should:

Surround yourself with more inspiring people. Accomplish one small task every day. And take a look at everything around you. What’s bringing you down?

You don’t want mediocrity for yourself. You know you don’t. The most successful people I know are constantly investing in inspiration.

Inspiration = Successful. Successful = happy.

I hope your Tuesday is off to a rocking start!

Let’s explore the difference between a drug addict and us, shall we?

The reason why I’ve been able to stick with this business since February of 2007 is because I truly believe in what I’m doing and I know what I offer works. I believe in what I do 1000% and my belief only gets stronger each and every day.

Again – persistence isn’t about doing the same things over and over. It’s about wanting the same thing over and over.

Something I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember – and something I’ll always want – is to live the best life I possibly can and to help others do the same.

One fact remains constant and it’s what drives me: when I eat healthfully and exercise – I feel better, in other words, happier, then when I don’t.

Believe me. I love cookies. I love ice cream. I love hamburgers. I really do. It’s a constant battle. And I indulge. But, I try to only indulge for the right reasons.

Even when I do give myself permission I still don’t feel as good as when I eat healthfully.

Which brings me to the question we always ask our selves, “Why am I not enjoying now?”

The now versus later debate.

“Screw Adam, screw MBT, screw the Daily Feedback right now! I want to enjoy life now!”

That’s the devil on your shoulder talking to the Body Tutor. That’s our irrational, short term mind yelling at our rational, long term mind.

So try this thought on for size:

Why not enjoy life now, even if it means more health problems later?

Really.

Go for that cookie! Go for that burger! Go for that ice cream!

But! It seems to me, unless you are already doing heroin then you aren’t being true to your own philosophy. Why not enjoy a good high now? Who cares what happens later!?

All of us have always thought about later on, and not now, though.

Think about the first 20 or so years of your life. Everything we did in school was to (hopefully) set ourselves up for a better future.

The one downside of planning ahead is that we may enjoy today a tad less. The upside is that our future might be a bit better! Maybe, even a lot better!

I’m not saying my thinking here is the best, but I think you get my point.

I don’t think it’s fair to call the “live for today” approach any kind of philosophy unless you’re also quitting your job, doing heroin, living at McDonald’s and only doing what feels the best every minute of your life.

Junkies have a philosophy. We have rationalizations.

Now there’s always a twist:

1. It turns out – we actually enjoy today more when we eat and exercise for the future. We’ve all had days when do nothing but eat and watch TV – at least I have. Yet, I always feel better when I’m eating right and exercising. Always! I know you do too.

2. I’ve never done drugs. Had/have no desire. I’m not saying you should. It was just to make a point. Actually, as a public service announcement I’ll write it: don’t do drugs!

3. It turns out that when live and plan for the future it’ll also make us happier today!

Let’s talk about reality. Not reality TV – I watch too much of it. I’m talking about reality – life.

Reality is always worth talking about.

When our life feels like it’s all out of whack, our diet and exercise tends to mimic that. When we’re all stressed or upset or anxious about something we tend to forget about everything else.

Whenever we’re unhappy about something that’s out of our control we are fighting reality. Whether it’s traffic, people in our life, weather, and a million other things. Anything that we can’t control is what I call fighting reality.

The more we become a lover of reality the happier we’ll be. And the less we’ll suffer.

Loving what is – is extremely important. The more we love what is – which is reality – the less anxious we’ll be.

Why bother loving reality or what is? Because no amount of wishing or hoping will change it. No matter how much we hope or wish, we can’t change things we can’t control.

But why we insist? “Why is this happening? Why did it happen? Why is it like this? Why is the bus late!?! Why is there so much traffic!?!? Why is he like that?! Why is my kid misbehaving?! Why is she so unappreciative! Why is he such a jerk!? Why is my boss so mean?!”

Cats meow and dogs bark! And whatever happened happened. No amount of fighting or hoping can or will change it.

The sooner we become a lover of reality, of accepting what is, the happier we’ll be and the less we’ll suffer,

Fighting reality is like hoping a cat will bark and a dog will meow.

Believe me. Don’t think for a second I don’t freak out! Everything I write is aspirational.

However, I do believe we should try to make the best of our lives, though. And I do believe we should try to not dwell on things we can’t control.

For me, saying, “Cats meow, dogs bark and whatever happened happened” helps me puts things into perspective. It reminds that it is what it is.

A cat will always meow. A dog will always bark. And reality…will always be reality.

Besides, I find that focusing on things we can control, and actually taking control, is far more empowering.

The less we fight reality, and love what is, the the less we’ll suffer and the happier we’ll be.

And the happier we are, the less emotional eating we’ll do and the less our health and fitness will suffer!

In one of my favorite business books, Good to Great by Jim Collins, there is a quote that I read every day. It’s on my wall so I can’t help but read it.

Here’s the quote: “Good is the enemy of great.”

Meaning it’s so easy to settle for good. But good is not good enough in business. We must strive for great.

On the other hand, many clients always say things like, “I ate perfectly until dinner and then I ate really bad so I said screw it. It doesn’t matter anymore. I already messed up!”

I must admit. I am a recovering perfectionist. And being a perfectionist is not a good thing.

I still have tendencies but I’m getting better. I’m progressing.

Having the attitude of, “I ate really well all day but for dinner I just had something that’s not MBT approved so now I’ll eat unhealthy for the rest of the night” isn’t good.

If we play the all or nothing game, we always end up with nothing. It’s why I don’t like making absolute statements such as, “I’ll never do xyz again!”

Instead, focus on doing xyz less.

There is no such thing as perfection…

There is only progress!

And that’s what life is about. Moving forward, growing, and evolving.

In fact, being a perfectionist is a childlike way of living.

We are not children. We are adults in control. We are more powerful than we think. (I know – I sound like a corny motivational speaker but it’s the truth!)

Being a perfectionist and having the “If I can’t be perfect, I’d rather be fat” attitude suggests that the only position worth having in life is being the winner.

No one likes playing games with a sore loser.

So, if we can’t be the winner, we shouldn’t bother playing the game?

That is a childlike way of thinking. It means that any small improvements in our weight, shape, mobility, and breathing are unimportant.

No one created the company of their dreams overnight. And no one created the body of their dreams overnight.

Day by day. Meal by meal. Workout by workout. Improvement by improvement. Daily Feedback by Daily Feedback.

Progress. NOT perfection.

I repeat:

Progress. NOT perfection.

There is no question about it – when we eat nutritiously, we’re a lot more energized. And when we make time to exercise, and actually get our workouts in – we feel even more energized!

So I’m going on a vacation. And I can really use it! But here’s the catch: I want you to join me!

Well, I’m not really going on vacation. I’m taking a vacation from myself.

There are many things I do that I want to change. Many habits, actions, etc.

For example, what’s the first thing you do when you have an intense craving for chocolate?

Do you give in? Or do you reach for fruit? What if for just this week you only reached for fruit?

Do you wake up as early as you want to? What if for just the next 4 days you woke up a tad earlier?

Do you cook yourself a healthy breakfast? What if for just the next 4 days you made yourself a healthy breakfast?

Do you submit your Daily Feedback right after your last meal? What if for the next 5 days, as soon as you’re done with dinner – you flossed, brushed your teeth, used mouth wash then logged on and filled out your feedback and then did the dishes? (Close that kitchen!)

What if you submitted your feedback even before dinner so you have to eat what you said you were going to eat! (The more you plan ahead the better.)

Do you keep all of your promises? What if for just a week, you kept every promise you made to yourself and others?

What if for just a week, you didn’t give in to any impulses and only ate whole, natural and real food?

Can I go on and on? Yes. But I think you get the point. I’m not asking you to do these things forever. I’m asking you to try it for a week. 5 days!

And I want you to see how you feel after 5 days. We’re taking a vacation from ourselves.

So if you do something that you’d love to change, instead of talking about it or writing about it, just be about it!

Starting this very moment! Unfortunately, all vacations come to an end. But we’ll deal with that when the time comes…

See you in paradise!

Happy Friday!

I’m fascinated by the story we tell ourselves – about ourselves.

Hear me out. We all have an ego. Some bigger than others but we all have one. Our ego is essentially the way we perceive ourselves. Or the story we tell our self about our self.

We also have an ongoing story that we tell ourselves. And it becomes very easy to connect random occurrences into a ongoing story that makes sense to us. This is known as our preferred narrative.

In other words, we’ll rationalize everything. This is good and bad. It’s good because if we didn’t have the miraculous ability to rationalize, we wouldn’t be able to function in this insane world.

But it’s bad because if something we do doesn’t fit into our story we tend to ignore it.

For example, if someone thinks they are extremely honest – and if they do something that is dishonest – they will somehow completely ignore it and rationalize it.

They will chalk it up to something other than being dishonest.

Being self-aware certainly helps. However, we’re all only self-aware to an extent – because of this phenomenon.

So how does this apply to us? I think it applies to us immensely.

Every time you indulge in unhealthy food what do you tell yourself? Every time you let up during a workout as opposed to pushing harder what do you tell yourself?

Every weekend what do you tell yourself?

Now when you start to pay attention to your actions, as opposed to your story, it starts to get really interesting.

Because your story is the person you really want to be. That’s how you’d like to view yourself.

Your actions, of course, are you! You can’t define anyone but by their actions.

You can be great. But unless you do great no one will know that.

Think about that today and this weekend. Make your actions follow your story!

I hope your Monday is off to a rocking start!

I don’t write enough inspirations about celebrating small wins. In fact, the only way to create big wins (weight loss, dropping sizes, baggy clothes, etc.,) is by having small wins.

Getting the body you want is about the accrued power of 1000’s of meals and 100’s of workouts. Each one counts just as much as the next one. But like with anything in life – it’s unrealistic to expect rainbows and butterflies all the time.

Dealing with the lows is the hardest part, of course. But even in the worst situations there can be a win!

Let’s say you’re in the middle of a binge (not going to get into how to prevent one now) and you typically eat everything in sight and then some. Or, you typically eat a carton of ice cream. Well, leaving even a few bites – is a win nonetheless. That’s progress!

Let’s say you really don’t want to exercise. So you don’t. Typically, you would then proceed to be inactive all day. But instead, you do 50 jumping jacks before you shower. That’s progress. It’s a win nonetheless!

Let’s say you have a terrible day of eating. You’re disgusted with yourself so you choose not to submit your daily feedback, as you usually do, when you’re unhappy with how you eat. But instead, you submit it and are as open and honest as possible.

I learn the most about myself and you when things are going poorly. Not when things are going great! It’s smooth sailing when it’s going great! The greatest growth happens when the sh*t hits the fan. And it ALWAYS will!

Let’s say you’ve been hating how you’re feeling and looking. So like many in this situation, your bury yourself with food in hopes of changing the way you feel. (Of course, this will only make you feel worse.) Nope. Not you! Not this time. You took action and signed up for MBT. Boom. That’s a win!

While some might see a binge as a negative, these can also be seen as wins. As progress…

Ingrained behaviors and habits aren’t easy to change.

But it’s very possible. It takes a lot of work. It takes effort. Lots of courage. Patience. And mostly, it takes a willingness to change.

And part of that is not only celebrating the good but also how the bad is getting less bad.

Helen, a client from Japan!, has a special request.

She writes to me, “I wonder if you could give some ideas about how to maintain a sense of purpose and discipline without feeling like you are holding your breath all the time. I’ve heard the phrase ‘relaxed mastery’ somewhere and I have it when I teach my students. I think you know what I’m driving at; could you write something on it?”

Let’s take a shot:

I’ve struggled with the question, ‘What’s the purpose of life?’ for a long time. I’ve come to the conclusion that our purpose in life is to be happy, and to help other people be happy.

[Your purpose may be entirely different. That's okay!]

What makes me happy, might not make you happy. We’re all wired differently. The problem with being ‘happy’ though is that it’s elusive. I’d argue that everyone reading this is ‘happy’.

Once our physiological and safety needs are met, we’re fortunate enough to focus on self-actualization. (Read: Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.)

So the question then isn’t how do I become happy, but how do I become happier?

When I was in 7th grade working out in my room at 10:30 at night after doing my home work after basketball practice, I never really knew why I was doing it. I just knew that I had to or else I didn’t feel right – even though my mom and sister thought I was nuts.

I’ve realized that working out made me happier – even in 7th grade. People ask me how I’m so disciplined and for me it’s about happiness. I’ve written and thought a lot about happiness because I believe that’s why we do everything.

[I can understand how people can think all of the happiness talk is silly. But if you ask yourself why you do anything, it always comes back to happiness. I'm very happy. Why not be as happy as I can be?]

We’re slaves to our happiness. However, I think there’s a big difference between pleasure and happiness and many times we become slaves to pleasure. (I’ll explore this later on in the week.)

I think our actions make us happy in the short term and many times our actions will (hopefully) make us happier in the long term. Here’s the challenge we all face: If we’re working to be happier in the long term, what are we now?

Well, that’s the paradox we all face. Happiness doesn’t always bring happiness – at least in the short term.

When I started MBT I did it because I had to. Ultimately, because I knew it would make me happier. But there’s been many days where I’d wonder why in the world I had to do this. Many days that are stressful and frustrating.

It’s like studying to become a doctor. All of my friends in medical school are miserable, right now. Eventually, they’ll (hopefully!) be very happy when they’re actually practicing medicine.

So for me, it has become a journey of figuring out what makes me happier and what makes me unhappy. I’ve even created a daily happiness check list for myself.

Here’s the thing: I’m relentless with myself on things that make me happier. I’ll spend and invest whatever it takes. Time/attention/money/sweat/etc.

Most people view every dollar they spend as an expense. But it’s not an expense because expenses don’t pay dividends. Feeling happier certainly does.

Just because I’ve identified what makes me happier on a daily basis, doesn’t mean I always do it. Knowing is one thing. Application is another.

One of the things I’ve learned with my work through MBT is that us adults are kids – just older in age. We can’t transform into the person we want to become overnight. We can’t sidestep ourselves. We must go through ourselves.

And even if we transform ourselves, it doesn’t mean our past ghosts won’t haunt us. We just become better at managing and dealing with them.

Just because someone quits smoking, doesn’t mean they won’t ever crave a cigarette again.

To me, relaxed mastery means how do I master something so I’m not obsessive about it. Or I’m not constantly killing myself or walking on egg shells so to speak.

The key, I think, is to focus on how you want to feel. Let that guide each choice you make. The problem though is that sometimes we make choices based on short term impulses and pleasure vs. happiness.

I would guess that teaching feels easy because it feels good in the moment. You can connect with your students. The challenge for us is that eating salty, sugary and fatty foods feels good in the moment too. I’ve never denied this.

But eating healthful foods feels even better! That’s the twist we must not forget.

As much fun as eating ice cream and watching The Real Housewives is, deep down I have more fun (and feel happier!) when I’m eating healthfully and moving around.

The battles get easier and easier but they’re still battles. The only way to master anything is decide that you’re going to and fight like hell every single day to make that happen doing whatever it takes, surrounding yourself with whatever it takes, to make it happen.

Choosing that feels happier. Not fighting like hell doesn’t.

I hope this helps. If you have a special request for a topic, feel free to shoot me an email.

Sayonara,

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

I’ve long argued that you can tell a lot about a person by how much they tip.

I’ve long believed that having personal integrity is one of the keys to being truly happy. It’s the only way to live because it’s our sense of selves.

In short: Personal integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking.

I believe lying to yourself – and rationalizing things to yourself – that you normally wouldn’t do if other people were around – is the worst feeling in the entire world.

There is no worse feeling than lying to yourself. We all do it day in and day out. And it’s very easy to become numb to the feeling.

I don’t know one person who enjoys being overweight and out of shape.

I don’t know one person who doesn’t enjoy being healthy and in shape.

Clearly, there’s something going on here. If everyone wants to be healthy and in shape why isn’t everyone just that?

Because we constantly lie to ourselves.

Don’t feel bad. We all do it! (That’s why I started MBT because I was doing it and I hated how it made me feel.)

The difference between us and everyone else is we’re more honest with ourselves. We’re willing to raise our hands and say, “Hey, I need some help!”

The only way to solve a problem is to acknowledge you have one in the first place. Most people can’t do that. And even fewer people can admit they need some help.

That’s why so few people are ultra successful. Every mega-successful person I’ve ever met is extremely self-aware in what they excel at, and what they’re terrible at. The difference – they aren’t too proud to raise their hand and say, “Hey, I need some help!”

Here’s another key to happiness: when there is a disconnect between our desires and our actions, unhappiness ensues.

So that means if something is really important to you, say, losing weight but your actions don’t reflect that (most likely, because you’re rationalizing and justifying to yourself) that’s going to lead to unhappy feelings.

It’s a constant journey of listening to the Body Tutor on your shoulder versus the devil on your other.

No one knows how much you’re concentrating when you’re lifting weights. So you can easily go through the motions or you can go slow and steady and focus on the muscle you’re working each and every rep.

No one knows if you’re running as hard as you can. It’s very easy to fake it. Only you know how hard you’re running.

No one knows if you’re sneaking snacks when no one is looking. Sure. You don’t have to tell us…

But at the end of the day you have to face two mirrors. The mirror you look in every night when you brush your teeth and the mirror of the Daily Feedback.

If you don’t like what you see, start with personal integrity. You’ll be amazed at how you feel (and look) when you start doing the things you really want to do deep down.

In fact, I’m arguing that personal integrity is the key to your happiness. People who get plastic surgery are still, according to plenty of research, unhappy with how they look – and feel.

Inside out. That’s what it’s about. Doing what you *really* want to do. Being who you *really* want to be.

You ever hear of the game Spotto? It’s a game that involves finding red cars (or whatever you want) and shouting the appropriate term as you see them.

What you discover after just a few minutes is how many red cars there are. A heck of a lot!

We notice what we choose to notice.

Consider playing a version of spotto involving delicious, and healthy foods or ways where you can move more (steps instead of elevators, parking far from the store as opposed to close, etc.).

What you’ll notice is that there’s a lot more of it out there than you would have guessed, which will make it easier for you to follow suit.

Spotto!

Stop focusing on what you don’t have. Focus on what you do have. Stop focusing on what you can’t eat. Focus on what you can eat!

For today. For this coming weekend. And for life!