Category: Athlete's Toolbox

Daily Tips for Improving Overlooked Aspects of Health

6/18/2020

Guest Author

Sheila Olson of fitsheila.com

When you think of your health and areas to improve upon, often you immediately think of diet and exercise. While both of these areas are extremely important to your health and require attention, there are also other aspects of your daily life that impact your health. Let’s take a look at a few of these areas and discuss tips that you can incorporate into your daily life.

Hydration Is the Key to Success

It is so easy to get busy in your day and forget all about drinking water, but hydration is a vital aspect to your overall health. It's more than just simply quenching a thirst. According to Healthline, hydration impacts your energy levels, ability to focus and concentrate, digestion, and metabolism levels.

Adequate water intake is important, but many people struggle to drink enough for different reasons.

If you don’t care for the taste of plain water, try sprucing it up with a squeeze of lemon juice or add some fresh fruit.
If you are always on the go, be sure to bring a reusable water bottle with you.
If you get caught simply forgetting due to a busy schedule, set an alarm on your phone or take advantage of a reminder app to help you take a break to hydrate.

Soon, this will become a part of your daily routine, and your body will thank you for it.

Your Skin is Your largest Organ

Not only does water benefit the inner workings of your body, but it also improves the function of the largest organ you have: your skin. Skin is often thrown to the back burner as an aspect of vanity, but it is an important area of overall health.

When your skin is healthy, it improves its ability to act as a strong barrier against bacteria and infection. In addition to daily care routines, you may want to consider creating an at-home spa day. Turn your bathroom into a steam room by running hot water in the shower to open the pores on your skin. Slather on a soothing body and face mask, and then lock in the moisture with a hydrating face and body cream.

Taking these moments to care for your skin will not only be advantageous to your physical health, but it is rejuvenating and stress relieving as well.

Healthy Teeth Are More Than Just Pretty

Just like skincare is often categorized as vanity, sparkling white teeth are also considered an aspect of appearance and vanity. While it’s true that white teeth are not necessarily an indicator of good oral health, it is still important to recognize that daily dental hygiene improves your overall health.

According to US News, periodontal disease affects one out of two Americans, increasing your risk of coronary arterial disease, peripheral arterial disease, and stroke.

Thankfully, you can incorporate simple daily habits to improve your oral health and prevent these diseases. Brush your teeth twice daily, floss at least once a day, and cut down on your sugar intake. Healthy teeth are more than just pretty; they impact the health of your entire body.

Life Isn't too Short to Sleep

You may have heard the phrase “Life is too short to sleep” or some other variation. While the implication to make the most of your time is valuable, deprioritizing sleep is harmful to your health.

Adequate sleep is beneficial to your health by:

Improving memory functions
Reducing inflammation
Lowering stress
Aids in weight management

You may find it difficult to get enough sleep, but there are some helpful tips to increase the amount you sleep and improve the quality. Try increasing your exercise and decreasing your caffeine to prepare your body to sleep well at night. If you are busy with many responsibilities, you may benefit from setting a set sleeping schedule to ensure you are getting the rest you need.

The Wrap Up

Set your intentions and develop daily habits. Prioritizing sleep, developing good oral health, caring for your skin, and staying hydrated are all important aspects of your overall health.

Sleep is for the Elite
Be a Grape, Not a Raisin
Habits for a Healthy Life
Three Ways to Reprogram Your Mindset

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Sleep is for the Elite

6/11/2020

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What is that terrible sound? Oh.. right, it's my alarm. It can't be time to get up, can it? It feels like I just fell asleep. Oh why not, another 7 minutes (hits snooze).

Typical morning conversation for you as well? If it is, and if you are hitting the snooze like I used to, please just STOP. This is completely throwing off your productivity and cognitive ability in the morning. More on that later.

Sleep, and rest in general are things we don't necessarily have to think about while doing, so we typically don't think about how to best optimize them beforehand.

They are not as passive as we may think; in fact, a lot of times we end up sabotaging our ability to properly recover because we don't think about either enough.

As a potentially widespread, undervalued asset to health and performance, taking and applying the science of sleep to our daily lives could be more life altering than many of us realize.

The Biology of Sleep

By the time we die, we'll have spent an astounding third of our lives asleep, despite our culture's promotion of a less is more attitude when it comes to sleep.¹

I myself often burn the candle at both ends, and have been guilty of buying into Margret Thatcher's comment of "Sleep is for wimps."

But, the reality is, it's actually not for wimps. It's for people who want to be elite and is an unavoidably critical aspect of human physiology.

Lack of sleep means functioning in a constant state of fatigue, causing:

Increased carbohydrate craving: Russel Foster in his Ted Talk states, "If you get 5 or less hours of sleep every night, you have a 50% more likely chance of being obese."
Increased stress levels. Eye twitch much?
Negative effects on cognitive functioning: decreased mood, learning, and memory retention. A fifth of our body's blood circulates to the brain during sleep!
Chronically sleeping less than 6 hours a night increases stroke risk by 4.5 times.²

Sleep to Remember

There is a natural phenomenon called the forgetting curve, where our brains forget 40% of the information just learned within the first 20 minutes of learning it. Discouraged? Don't be.

What scientists have discovered, is that while short-term memory is pretty pathetic in terms of retention, long-term memory is far more durable.

We can remember more information through a process called memory consolidation, in which information from our short-term memory is moved to our long-term memory.

This is enhanced when our bodies enter Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) "deep" sleep cycles, both of which are entered into 4-5 times per night after two stages of "light" sleep.³

The Cruel Cycle of Stress and Sleep

Stress can both keep us from getting sleep and increase if we aren't getting sleep. According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, 43% of adults report that stress frequently keeps them awake at night, and 21% report that if they do not sleep enough, they feel more stressed.

Very unfortunate to be the one who experiences both. Which, if that's the case, it's time to work on some stress management techniques to help with daily functioning and overall quality of life!

In fact, on average, American adults sleep 6.7 hours a night and only 20% report that their sleep is good or excellent.⁴

Sleep Cycles

I used to think of sleep as a kind of linear thing, with a dosing stage, dreaming stage, and eventually ending in REM. Of course now that sounds silly when we focus on the meaning of a sleep cycle, which naturally implies something that repeats itself.

The typical adult will drift through 90-120 minute cycles, comprised of four different repeating stages.

Stage 1: light sleep, if awakened from this stage, it may not feel like you were ever actually asleep.
Stage 2: still light sleep, but harder to be awoken from. Body temperature decreases, heart rate slows, and memory consolidation occurs here.
Stage 3: deep sleep that is both the most restorative and hardest to wake someone from. Sleep walking, talking, and night terrors occur during this stage.
REM: most commonly known as the dreaming stage. It is easier to wake from this stage and, if awoken from, where we tend to feel the most grogginess.⁵
Repeat

Sleep Inertia: STOP Hitting Snooze!

When pulled from the midst of REM sleep, scientists have formally identified that temporary state of grogginess and mental fogginess, as sleep inertia.

Defined as a "transitional state of lowered arousal occurring immediately after awakening from sleep and producing temporary decrements in performance," sleep inertia can be blamed for your feelings of mental and physical dishevelment upon waking.⁶

This is due to higher levels of melatonin that is formed in our bodies during the REM stage. The longer we sleep, the higher those levels get.

Contrarily, when we wake up during non-REM sleep, blood pressure, heart rate, and brain activity are slowed down, which helps us feel awake and alert much quicker.

So back to that bit in the beginning about hitting the snooze and it's slap in the face to our productivity.

The two hours prior to waking, our body begins to go through a thaw out stage that gradually helps us wake up more easily; however, if we hit snooze, our body thinks we are returning to another 90-120 minute sleep cycle.

Physically we can wake up, but mentally the cortical region of our brain cannot. It will take our brains up to 4 hours to come out of sleep inertia when this happens.⁷

Therefore, the initial amount of energy that is required to push yourself out of bed will have a higher return on investment than the extra energy you think you're depositing by snoozing after the alarm rings.

Also, the small act of getting up when you intended to the night before, deposits a coin of discipline into your mental bank. When enough deposits accumulate in this bank, it translates into other areas of your life.

It will suck in the beginning, there's no doubt. But, if change and difficult choices were easy, everyone would do it, and we would all be fit, rich, and beautiful.

How Much Sleep Do I need?

The average adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep, and adolescents need around 10. Yet, like anything, there is individual variance within this generalization.

I know people who function great on 4 hours, others who must have 8 or they are major crank-pots, and some who are chronically functioning in sleep deprivation (6 or less) and supplementing liquid naps to make up for it.

Bottom line, find what works best for you. If possible, go a week without setting an alarm, which for many of us this may need to happen on a vacation, and see how much sleep your body wants based on when it naturally wakes up.⁸

Conclusion

Making time for a full nights rest is not only highly undervalued in our society, but also scoffed at. Yet, there is no out talking the science that has proven sleep is a critical part of human physiology that should be taken seriously.

Sleep is not for wimps, Margaret Thatcher, it is for the elite.

Synergize

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References

1, 8. Foster, Russell. Ted. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep.

2. Aguirre, Claudia. Ted. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.ted.com/talks/claudia_aguirre_what_would_happen_if_you_didn_t_sleep?language=en.

3. Marcu, Shai. Ted, Ted, www.ted.com/talks/shai_marcu_the_benefits_of_a_good_night_s_sleep#t-267995.

4. American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/sleep.aspx.

5. "Stages of Sleep - Non-REM and REM Sleep Cycles." Tuck Sleep. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.tuck.com/stages/.

6. Tassi, P., and A. Muzet. "Sleep Inertia." Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.
August 2000. Accessed December 12, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12531174.

7. Robbins, Mel [VNV]. The 5 Second Rule: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Live, Love, and Speak with Courage. S.l.: Post Hill Press, 2017.

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What We Think Holds Us Back, Actually Has Incredible Power to Move Us Forward

8/30/2019

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We all have experienced situations, circumstances, or even periods of time that we perceive to be terrible. Just absolutely, flat out, awful. Oftentimes, we allow these perceived situations to hold us back, while in reality they are the very things that can propel us forward.

The thing holding me back at this very moment, literally exists in my back. I have a herniated disc between my L5 and S1 vertebrae. As a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, I realize that this is a byproduct of years moving incorrectly as a collegiate and professional basketball player, where abuse to joints through jarring repetitive movements, without correction, is the norm.

Truly, this is one of the most humbling obstacles I've ever dealt with. Yet, I don't embrace the vulnerability of writing this for you to feel sorry for me, quite the contrary actually. I write this because I know I'm not the only person out there who has or currently is struggling with something that feels debilitating, injury or otherwise.

The Objectivity of Pain

Pain is an interesting thing. Back in April when I hurt my back the first time, for apparently no particular reason, I became an empty shell of myself. I caught myself feeling sorry for myself as I would lie on the floor in excruciating pain, unable to stand up. Or when I would drop something on the floor and stare at it, because I knew there was really no forgiving way to bend down to pick it up. This, by the way, makes you very crafty with your toes and shimming things up walls.

At the worst points of my pain, I couldn't sleep. If you've ever experienced sciatic pain before, I am giving you a sad look through the computer, because it is NOT fun. If you've been so lucky as to not feel sciatic pain, let me describe: imagine someone takes a hot, grotesquely large knife to your butt and then slowly and continuously slices down your leg, sometimes all the way to your ankle. Great, right?

It was the simple things that we take for granted every day that became ridiculously difficult and painful. But with time, I healed. And I forgot about the pain.

I forgot what it was like to wake up every morning hunched over with hair disheveled like Golem from Lord of the Rings. I forgot what it was like to have to very carefully do a supported pistol squat into my car and hope no one heard my muffled screams of anguish as my spine temporarily bent to fit through the door. It's amazing how our minds forget. I suppose this is why women have more than one child. If childbirth was an overall positive experience, we forget the discomfort of what it's like to have a small human rip its way through our bodies into the world. I say that like I've had a kid, I have not. So kuddos to all you moms, and to my own mom, thanks for doing that for me, you kind bad ass, you.

Coming fresh off my injury, I swore I would never allow myself to injure myself to that degree again, whatever it took. But a few months later, after feeling back to my "invincable" self (that is my own false confidence speaking), and repeatedly slouching lazily in my chair, squatting heavier weights than I should have been, and just generally forgetting that my back had a dormant, but angry disc just waiting to get pissed off again, it decided to remind me.

Oh Yeah, That...

So here we are again. As I write this I have ice and e-stem on my spine, and of course I am sitting like a serial killer in my chair (you must have outstanding posture at all times if you've had a back injury).

The most interesting part about any hardship are the psychological impacts it can have. The physical pain of this injury definitely sucks, but I know at some point during the day it's going to dissipate and I'll be at least able to stand straight. It's wrestling with the mental gorillas along the way that has been challenging.

In his book, The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday writes:

Whatever we face, we have a choice: will we be blocked by obstacles, or will we advance through and over them? The world is constantly testing us. It asks, are you worthy? Can you get past the things that will inevitably fall in your way? Will you stand up and show us what you're made of?

Plenty of people have answered this question in the affirmative, and a rare breed still has shown that they not only have what it takes, but thrive and rally at every such challenge and that the challenge makes them better than if they had never faced the adversity at all.

Embracing a difficult circumstance or situation is not easy. What would be easy is complaining about it to any loving friend or family member who will listen, feeling sorry for oneself, making excuses, playing the victim, or allowing negative shoulder guy to tell us things will never improve, or at least not fast enough.

But what does that help?

You know as well as I do, that it helps nothing. Furthermore, people truly do not enjoy being around a whiner and complainer, unless they are stuck in the brain of a high school drama queen. And now that I think about it, I do know some energy vampires like that. I'll give you their number if you want to complain. You guys can build straw houses of negativity and banks of sadness together.

The Point

The overall resounding point I am trying to make, is that our vulnerabilities and shortcomings can actually give us incredible strength. My vulnerability to share this glaring weak point with you, is not for you to lose confidence in my ability as a coach and trainer; but, instead to share the silver-lining of this situation in that now I can coach and connect better with people dealing with injuries, specifically to their back, better than ever before.

Moreover, it's vital that kids learn how to properly move and cope with adversity at a young age, and that adults unlearn bad movement patterns and relearn how to do them properly. I do not think I would be dealing with this now had I learned at a younger age how to properly brace, hinge, and work prehab and mobility exercises into my workouts.

Of course, this is a huge motivator as to why I love what I do now. Yet sometimes I cannot believe how difficult it is for young athletes, even some coaches, and adults, to buy into the weight room and to put work into their bodies. I believe we have this perception of "strength and conditioning" as lifting heavy and running sprints. Folks, it's so much more than that.

It's learning:

Proper running, jumping, landing, squatting, lunging hinging, pulling, pushing, and throwing mechanics.
Body awareness, how to brace, and overall correct positioning in a controlled environment so that the athlete moves better in their field of competition.
How to identify and correct muscle imbalances that could lead to injury.
Incorporating different methods of myofascial release so that one area of your body doesn't become overly tight and lead to injury (*cough, herniated discs, *cough).

And finally, perhaps one of the most unrecognized area of strength and conditioning, is the relationship and culture building piece that good coaches weave into their workouts. We are able to create environments where athletes must overcome obstacles, are made to struggle and suffer, which naturally spurs their ability to build life skills like leadership, responsibility, developing a positive and relentless mindset, pain management of any kind, and so much more.

Highly recommend this book. Join in on the "Read a Book Every Month Challenge". Can't Hurt Me was the book for August!

There is no conclusion

In conclusion, there is no conclusion (heh). Life is a cyclical process of self-discovery and growth. If we aren't challenged to step outside of our comfort zone within this process then we will never grow to greater heights. So regardless of what you're going through, injury, loss, change, whatever... you've got this.

Read a Book Every Month Challenge
How Young is Too Young to Start Lifting?
What I Wish I Knew As a Young Athlete

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10 Must Reads to Grow Your Life, PT. II

1/25/2019

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When I discovered Audiobooks, the efficiency in which I learned was completely transformed. For many of us, we have to intentionally set aside time in the morning or before bed to read.

Usually, it's not for lack of desire to learn or read that we have to force ourselves to make time, it's just... life. Life has a tricky way of sucking our time away from us every day before we even bat an eye.

Yet, it doesn't take away the importance of daily learning and self-growth. The life hack that will allow you to reclaim your time for this is sharing learning not with just your visual sense, but your auditory sense as well.

Think about all the time during your day that your hands are busy, but your brain is idle. This could be in front of the mirror in the morning, commuting to and from work or school, on your lunch break, getting ready for bed, and so on. I bet you could scrape together at least 30 minutes out of your daily mundane tasks pretty easily.

It took a few months to master, but I feel that I've now gotten into a solid routine to maximize my time for learning throughout the day, every day. Typically, I physically read one to two books a year, which is a depressing statistic; however, in 2018 I listened to 19 books, and this does not count relistening to some of them.

Talk about an exponential increase in brain food consumption!

Every morning while getting ready, I listen to The Daily*, a podcast by the New York Times that updates me on major current events. It's usually 20 to 30 minutes, which is perfect.

Then, instead of listening to music, I spend my driving time (anywhere from an accumulated 30-90 minutes a day) listening to books. There's nothing better than being behind the wheel, turning up the volume up on an audiobook, closing your eyes... and... wait, okay don't close your eyes, but you get it.

Driving is a perfect time to learn. I'm fairly confident it has helped my road rage as well, but not the lead foot unfortunately.

I use Audible for my brain candy. They require a monthly subscription; however, that includes one "free" book, so typically the monthly fee costs less than the actual book, making it a great deal for the reader. They also offer various deals throughout the year.

Another option would be using your local library and checking out audiobooks for free. The only downfall to that is you won't have them forever, of course.

Regardless of how you read or listen, here are a few of my favorite listens from the past year that I recommend!

*I have no stake in the promotion of The Daily, Audible, or any of the following books.

Daring Greatly by Berne Brown

If you haven't heard of her, Berne Brown is a queen. She is a shame and vulnerability researcher, who has spent much of her adult life studying human connection. Her Ted Talk on The Power of Vulnerability has accrued 38 million views since she gave it in 2010.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead is a game changer, and one of the books that I have listened to multiple times. It is no surprise that it became a #1 New York Times Best Seller.

"What we know matters, but who we are matters more. Being, rather than knowing, requires showing up and allowing ourselves to be seen. It requires us to dare greatly, to be vulnerable. The first step of that journey is understanding where we are, what we're up against, and where we need to go."

Relentless by Tim Grover

The full title of this book, Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable, is what first drew me in. I thought, with a title like that, there's no way the content in this book won't be relatable to my mission as a coach and trainer, and spontaneously clicked the sample listen. I was immediately hooked.

I recommend this one mostly for athletes, particularly ones who find themselves consumed with the daily grind of getting better.

During my collegiate and professional basketball playing days, I was obsessed with improvement. Oftentimes to the demise of my social life, being the first person to arrive and the last person to leave practice, as well as the only person in the gym at odd hours of the morning or night.

My obsession felt lonely at the time, but there are many athletes and people out there with the relentless pursuit to improve at their passion.

Tim Grover really speaks to this misunderstood obsession of devoting oneself to improvement in the realm of athletics. He specifically talks about basketball, as he has trained greats like Kobe Bryant. Yet, I think if you find yourself so passionately committed to something to the point where people start to think you're weird, this book is for you.

"Excellence isn't only about hitting the gym and working up a sweat, that's the smallest part of what you have to do. Physical ability can only take you so far. The fact is, you can't train your body or excel at anything before you train your mind. You can't commit to excellence before your mind is ready to take you there. Teach the mind, train the body."

The 5 Second Rule By Mel Robbins

If you haven't heard of Mel Robbins, write her name down immediately. She is well known for giving one of the most motivational Ted Talks of all time, How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over.

She knows how to deeply connect with the human spirit, shamelessly sharing her own struggles and experiences and then giving us the science behind what makes us tick.

The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage, will have you making actionable change in your life immediately.

After all, everyone can talk about the things they need to do and why, but doing it is another story, right? Robbins embraces this reality and gives the reader a kick in the butt to take action.

"Doing the work to improve your life is simple, you can do it. And it's work you want to do because it's the most important work there is, it's the work of learning how to love yourself and trust yourself enough to stop waiting and to start leaning into all the magic, opportunity, and joy that your life, work and relationships have to offer."

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The most striking aspect of The Alchemist, to me, is that Paulo Coelho could not sell more than a few copies in the first two years after publication. Now, over 35 million copies of the book has sold.

This allegorical novel follows the journey of a young shepherd boy, Santiago, as he seeks to find out why he keeps experiencing a recurring dream. This would be a fun book to read with a friend or group, as it is full of hidden meaning open to interpretation.

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."

Get Smart! by Brian Tracy

When I first read the title of this book, I couldn't help but think it was a little cheesy. Yet, the content inside is anything but. Like Mel Robbins, Tracy implores the reader to move towards what they want.

He talks about things like the momentum principle of success, effective goal setting, developing clarity, building the discipline to concentrate, the 80/20 rule, eliminating negative emotions, and taking control of your life.

During a time in my life where I felt lost and like I had almost no control of anything, Tracy's words helped me get back into a good headspace. Get Smart! How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field in a way is a more modern rendition of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, both of which I highly recommend.

"There is a direct relationship between the amount of responsibility that you accept and the amount of control in your life. Because almost all stress and negative emotions come from feeling out of control in some way, as soon as you accept responsibility, you assert control over yourself and everything that happens to you."

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

The flute intro for this audiobook is nearly as epic as the opening metaphor:

"Then something happened inside of him that transformed his life forever. He looked at this hands, he felt his body, and he heard his own voice say 'I am made of light. I am made of stars.' He looked at the stars again, and realized it's not the stars that create light, but rather light that creates the stars. 'Everything is made of light,' he said, 'and the space in between isn't empty.' And he knew that everything that exists, is one living being, and that light is the messenger of life, because it is alive and contains all information."

Navigating life is no easy task. We all experience highs and lows, and the need for answers and help during difficult times. This book is not only a comfort during those times, but a character builder and tool to cultivate self-compassion as well as understanding of others.

There is so much wisdom within the pages, it is simply a must read.

"Humans punish themselves endlessly for not being what they believe they should be. They become very self-abusive and they use other people to abuse themselves as well. But, nobody abuses us more than we abuse ourselves."

This is me by Chrissy Metz

I tell you what, this book got me through a horrendous 16 hour Greyhound bus ride once. Before said bus ride, I have loved Chrissy Metz since her breakout role in This Is Us.

Her biography is real, touching, and all the things you'd expect from a young lady who has wrestled with being overweight her entire life while pursing spotlight roles in Hollywood and in front of the mic (she also has an incredible voice).

If a story like this doesn't make you laugh, shed a tear, and leave you inspired, Lawd help ya.

"When you're confident in your abilities, it lets other people be confident in there's too. And sometimes we have to teach each other. I know I'm still unlearning everything I learned as a kid. When I was down, people told me that is where I would stay. But, when you are so far down, the only way to go is up."

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Between Dale Carnegie's wisdom and the gentle drone of the narrator, Andrew MacMillan, every time I turned this audiobook on I felt like my grandfather was giving me advice on how to be a better person and more successful in life.

Carnegie takes on a beautiful, and what I feel some now would consider, old school approach, to building and maintaining relationships. As the title suggests, he covers ways to make people like you, to win people over to your way of thinking, and to change people without creating resentment.

It is truly a timeless read, and I highly recommend it!

"People would think they committed a crime by letting their families go six days without food. But, they will let them go for 6 days, or 6 weeks, and sometimes 6 years without giving them the hearty appreciation that they crave, almost as much as they crave food."

Legacy by James Kerr

Carnegie's book may have been on winning friends, but it's Legacy: 15 Lessons in Leadership that is about winning in general. Even if you don't like sports, or have an athletics background, this is a great book about how to be successful as individuals and in the work environment.

However, if you are an athlete or apart of a team environment now, this is a must read. Kerr dives into the legendary All Blacks rugby team, who are the winningest sports organization in the last 100 years, and shares over a dozen powerful lessons in leadership that originate from their legacy.

"Collective character is vital to success. Focus on getting the culture right, and the results will follow."

Heavy by Kiese Laymon

This American memoir caught my attention, as it received 2018 Audible Audiobook of the Year and a slew of other notable accolades such as Best Book of 2018 by the New York Times and is an Andrew Carnegie Medal and Kirkus Prize Finalist.

Laymon bravely shares his experiences with abuse, shame, joy, confusion, humiliation, and the physical and mental weight of growing up as a black man in the United States. It is powerful. Honest. And so real it makes your heart ache and question how we can let things get so bad in one of the world's "greatest" countries.

"I heard Grandma-ma. But, I saw and smelt what diabetes left of her right foot. Grandma-ma hadn't felt her foot, controlled her bowls, or really tasted her food in over a decade. This Sunday, like every Sunday before, grandma-ma wanted me to know it could all be so much worse. Like you, Grandma-ma beat the worst of white folk in the mean machinations of men every day she was alive. But ya'll taught me indirectly that unacknowledged scars accumulated in battles won, often hurt more than battles lost."

Conclusion

Reading doesn't always have to take a visual form. We are lucky to live in a day and age now where we can "read" with our ears. Take advantage of technology so you can sneak in some of these must reads throughout your day.

Tomorrow is Not Guaranteed

10/29/2018

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One of life's greatest tragedies is never having started on the path towards something we deeply desire because of self-imposed limitations.

Are you limiting yourself because you are too scared to start or change, unmotivated, too distracted by things that are unimportant, or not understanding your purpose? Tomorrow is not guaranteed, here is how we start living for today.

We can get so easily caught in the daily rhythms of our lives that it takes a catastrophic event like a death or illness to shake us from our stagnant routines and remind us of what really matters.

"Two of the most valuable things we have are time and our relationships with other people." - C. Chang

There is an exceptional Ted Talk by Candy Chang on acknowledging what we want to do before we die. Her talk, linked in the above quote, calls listeners to remember how brief and fragile life can be, and not to be overtaken by life's many distractions.

Daily monotony, material obsession, and technological distraction are all major detractors from building genuine relationships or valuing each day, if we let them.

Finding Deep Meaning

Knowing your purpose in this world makes living in the present moment a much more clear and achievable task. Simon Sinek, TED speaker and creator of Start with Why, has a host of resources to help you dive into discovering life fulfillment, many of which were born out of his own painful journey to self-discovery.

"Superficially my life was fantastic, yet I didn't want to wake up and do it again."- S. Sinek

It is one thing to know ones meaning and purpose, but it is another to act on it. Doing is usually the most difficult part of any large undertaking. If it weren't, then everyone would be a fit, tan, well-groomed, multi-millionaire.

Taking Actionable Steps

Fear is one form of paralysis that keeps us from doing the things that propel us towards success and happiness.

Mel Robbins, another well known TED and motivational speaker, talks about if-then planning and anchor thoughts as they relate to getting past fear in her book, The 5 Second Rule.

An anchor thought is a thought that is relevant to the situation you are about to enter that can calm you if you need it. It sets you up for success before you step into a situation you know you're afraid of.

Robbins uses the example of her fear of flying. As she starts to feel the gut reaction of anxiety as the plane ascends or undergoes turbulence, she shifts her thinking from the fuselage splitting in half followed by a fiery death to arriving at her destination and enjoying a pleasant meal with a client or family.

"Plan A, don't get nervous. BUT, if I get on the plane and I start to panic and start to feel afraid then I have my plan B." - M. Robbins

The point is, give your mind the context it's looking for, that way it doesn't escalate the fear and you can put the kibosh on anxiety before it hijacks your stomach and thoughts.

I can automatically think about this for myself when it comes to public speaking. It is something I absolutely dread and get unpleasant physical reactions to when I allow anxiety to take over the controls.

Instead of allowing myself to not saying anything at all because I'm so self-focused on everyone looking at me and staring at physical imperfections or waiting for me to trip on my words, I shift my thoughts to the value of what I have to say.

I recognize that what I have to say is important, and that if articulated well, they can absorb the information and then implement it into their own lives, thereby having an easier time because of it. This reduces my anxiety as it shifts my own focus off of myself and onto what's important - them.

Just Start

The point to all of this, is that even the most successful people in the world struggle with the things you do. We are all human.

And we can also all learn from one another to better understand how to live our lives with meaning and fulfillment.

I want this of you! My yells of encouragement from the room I currently sit in only go so far, so join the self-made movement to receive email updates with more helpful content.

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Life Isn't too Short to Sleep

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The Point

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Daring Greatly by Berne Brown

Relentless by Tim Grover

The 5 Second Rule By Mel Robbins

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Get Smart! by Brian Tracy

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

This is me by Chrissy Metz

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Legacy by James Kerr

Heavy by Kiese Laymon

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Finding Deep Meaning

Taking Actionable Steps

Just Start

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