America, the Obese-iful
I love America. And I love American people.
I do have to admit, however, it’s getting harder
and harder to wrap your arms around this
country and its people.
We used to call people fat. Now we use the
word ‘obese.” Very soon the word obese will
need replacing with something else that
describes us better.
The basic issue underlying all the fatness
is bad thinking followed by bad habits.
It begins with a lack of pride and a lack of
self-respect.
Instead of having a desire to be better today
than you were yesterday – people think they’re
doomed to be worse tomorrow than they are today.
That’s wrong thinking.
That’s believing in death and disease more than life
and good health.
To counter the way of fatness and self-pity, begin
with your thinking. Begin imagining yourself to be
better than you are right now. Say to yourself, “Today,
I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I’m going to do
my best.”
Then, instead of lazing on the couch – you make an
appointment with yourself to exercise each day.
You do something each and every day to challenge yourself.
In doing so you improve yourself in ALL areas of your life. When
your body is in better condition, you think faster, you get more done,
you’re happier, healthier – and no, I’m not kidding, wealthier.
Some time ago, after doing the Royal Court, as shown in my
international best-seller, Combat Conditioning (to order go
to http://mattfurey.com/conditioning_book.html } I went out-
side to jump some rope. I hadn’t jumped in quite a while so
I set a modest goal of 1,000 jumps – using a rope I call –
“the green monster” – which is much heavier than the
standard ropes.
Now, 1,000 jumps with this rope is no easy task. It blitzes
your entire body – including your grip, forearms, shoulders
and so on.
When I got to 200 jumps the thought of quitting entered my
mind. But I knew I had more in me, so after a break, I continued.
I kept pushing myself until I finished all 1,000 jumps. I looked
at my stop watch. 15:34.
The next evening I went outdoors and did the same workout. I
cranked out 200, then took a quick rest. Then did 100. Another
quick rest. 50 more. And so on.
I pushed myself to do better than I did the day before. And when
I knocked out the 1,000th repetition, the stop watch read: 12:05.
Today, beating either of these numbers is easy.
Now, in case you think I’m impressed with this, I’m not. My focus
is on giving my workout everything I’ve got. Somedays I may not
be able to jump as fast as others. Or I may be much faster. The
real issue is how hard did I try in each workout. My focus is on
THIS WORKOUT – to-DAY.
Many people set goals that are “result driven.” This means they want
to get to a certain weight – or be able to do a selected number of
pushups or pull-ups.
It’s good to have result goals. But it’s also good to have “being” goals.
The focus is on WHO you are going to BE when you train – not on what
you are going to get. Your mind is on the journey – not the destination.
Afterall, if the journey is more important than the “end” – then why so
much focus on the end.
Why not have the beginning and end of your journey be the same. The
circle that meets – no beginning – no end.
Focus your mind on the journey – on being totally in the moment in
this workout.
Give it everything you’ve got. And watch the results stack higher than
ever before.
Matt Furey
P.S. BTW, if you’d like to get the green heavy jump rope – or some
others that are fabulous – go to http://lifelineusa.com – tell ’em the
Fure-cat sent ya.