THE FITNESS HERETIC

In my friend Ardy Skinner’s blog “The Lavish Cheapskate” she used used the phrase “consciously choose to honor our dollar” in reference to spending habits.  I would like to paraphrase that.  Consciously choose your behaviors.  Supplant corrosive habits with affirming rituals.

What exactly is a ritual?  The definition that applies here is “a consciously chosen  practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner.”

What is the difference between a habit and a ritual?  Habits are, more often than not, unconscious behaviors that because of convenience, environment, peer pressure, societal norms or a myriad of influences; sneak in and take over.  A ritual is consciously chosen, then practiced until the point is reached that little conscious thought is needed.

One day I was laying out a meal plan for client.  ”Eat every 3 hours” I said.  ”Minimize fats in the morning, minimize carbs in the evening.”  Before I could continue, she was rolling her eyes and had her hands on her hips.  ”What?” I asked.  ” I can’t just stop at 10 o’clock in the morning to eat!” she complained.  I had heard this before.  Usually when I heard it I tried to do a work around or crunch lunch earlier or something to appease the client.  This time was different.  I had a mini-epiphany. “Why not?” I asked.  ”Huh?” she said, rather puzzled.  ”Why can’t you stop at 10 o’clock for a few minutes and eat something?”  I queried.  ”Well, I have clients and calls and meetings…” she stated rapid fire until I cut her off.  ”Who makes your schedule?” I asked.  ”Well I do, but…” I cut her off again.  ”Listen, if you were a diabetic and you didn’t eat something at 10 oclock, you would do a face plant on your desk by 11.  Would you find a way then?”  Now I had my hands on my hips.  ”Of course!” she said “But I’m not…”  Again I interupted.  ”So it’s NOT that you can’t, It’s because it’s not important enough to you.”  She was quiet.  ”I can’t make it important enough for you to change behaviours,  but YOU can!” I offered.  ”You must consciously choose to though.”

If you establish a new behavior as a ritual, then you don’t have to apply that conscious effort.  This isn’t about will power.  Will power is thinking about it every time and muscling through what seems uncomfortable or different.  You need to make each behavior change a ritual so you can apply that conscious energy to the next behavior or situation.  Any worthwhile life or lifestyle design plan has multiple behavioral changes involved.  If you’re going to try to “will power” your way through ALL of them, you will likely burn out or blow up.  We just can’t sustain that much brainpower over so many tasks.  So start with one or two. Take some time to ritualize the behavior or action, then add one or two more.   Once you have done this for a while, you will look back and realize that you really can “consciously chose” your life.

Secret scrolls of the warrior sage are what I set out to find when I left for Japan in 1975 in search of the ninja. As a young man, I longed for contact with the wisdom of the ages. What if there really were special secrets guarded by generations of warriors sworn to the highest of protector ideals?

I had a hopelessly improbable goal in Japan, but I was driven by unstoppable intent. Like some tragic hero in an epic novel, I was ready to give up all in hopes of finding a master teacher who could reforge me into the man I longed to be, and I ended up plummeting through heart-tearing seasons of dark nights on my way to finding brightness.  (read more)

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Look Inside >> June 2009

No, not Jimi Hendrix.  Joseph Campbell. 

Campbell’s treatise on “experience”  as opposed to “meaning”  has influenced me greatly.  As long as there is the quest for “experience”, the search for “what does it all mean?” becomes almost irrelevant.  If you are fully engaged, that is – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, then you are living the meaning instead of searching for it. 

When you are in the middle of a triathlon, an adventure race, skydiving, scuba diving, rock climbing, jungle trekking, safari, or whatever floats your boat, you’re not likely to ask yourself “What does it all mean” or “What is the meaning of life?”.  You are LIVING the meaning!

Joseph Campbell:  “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

That “resonates” with me pretty well, I must say.  People look at me like I’m crazy when I try to relate the effort, burden and discomfort, even PAIN of an ironman distance triathlon, being on the mat in the dojo or just doing a strength training routine to “the rapture of being alive”.  Yet that is how I feel.  I am now engaged in getting my coaching clients to feel that as well.  I have felt this “in the moment” buzz whenever I was fully engaged for my entire life but wasn’t intellectually aware of it.  Not until Joseph Campbell entered the picture. 

It is my intent to cure as many as I can of their karōshi-like multi-tasking juggernaught of a lifestyle. 

It is unlikely, if they are not already involved in an active lifestyle, that I will convince younger adults, though I haven’t given up on them.  While they are welcome, I have chosen to focus my coaching on older  adults, 45, 55, 65+.  I have found that at some point in this age group there is an epiphany of sorts that spurs people to try to catch up on what they have been missing. 

A lifetime of overwork or kids gone or newly retired, something kicks in and says “It’s finally about ME!”  —   But some don’t know how!  Or what to do.  Or where to start.  Or even feel guilty about taking time to regain the piece of themselves that got lost along the way.

So this is your call to action.  Jump in.  If you have an idea about what you’d like to do, then start!  Do some research, get some training, find a venue and do it.

If you have few or no ideas and need some help, contact me for a complimentary initial consultation.

Either opt in here or email me directly @ david@trihardfitness.com