Summary: 

In a world of constant change, you can build up stress.  We all need to SLOW IT DOWN and take care of ourselves.  So, what is your perfect day?  

Sometimes we are so busy getting things done, we forget to take care of ourselves, or to think a bit more strategically about how we want structure our life.  In high perforamnce studies, we talk about expression and how it is important with happiness.

Before we get to my five ideas to have the perfect day, take a second to think of five ideas to express and plan your perfect day.  What would be your five components?  I ask you this becasue there is no right or wrong answer - just perspective.  

Got your five ideas?  Cool - Here are five ideas to think through to express and plan your perfect day:

1. Nutrition - What will you do to fuel your body in your ideal day?
2. Workout - What will you do to strenghen and energize your body?
3. Rejuvination - What would you do to generation...

Hey Everybody!  This weeks video is all about communication.  Communication is something we can always work on to improve - with your spouse, with your co-workers, and/or with your team.

The biggest example I can pull from my career so far is when I went on a business trip to Japan when I worked at Wal-mart Logistics.  We had three different cultural groups, terms that each group shared but meant different things, and I essentially became the punching bag for the Japan team because I was the first person in a long while on the project team to show up in person.

The struggle was real.

The biggest value I added to that project was not the official mission of that trip.  By seeing and undertanding the communication problems the project had, clarifying shared terms so we understood common words, and building relationships.  To sum up, here are four points for better communication:

1. Understand - Try to understand, in an unbiased way.
2. Clear - Be sure you are clear...

 Hello!

Today's video talks about the important life lessons training for a marathon can teach you.

Have you ever had a huge challenge in your life, or had trouble getting from point A to point B in your life?  Maybe you want to move to California, or start a business, and it just seems too big to tackle.

That's what I thought when I decided to run the Chicago Marathon in 2008.  I was out of shape, hated running, and was not sure if I could actually finish a marathon.

I had some marathoner friends, and they helped me figure out how to survive training and running a marathon.

Here are the four big ideas I learned along the way, that can help you tackle that big life challenge!

• Plan - You need a plan that tells you what you need to do each day to make progress.  I found Hal Higdon's How To Train (I totally messed up his name in the video, sorry Hal!) 
• Recover - You need to bouce back when you fall off the plan, and you need to plan rest to ensure success.
• ...

Have you ever thought about how you got to this moment, right here right now?  Did you ever have a time when you were really struggling, feeling a bit aimless, and not sure how you were going to change?

Me too. 

I was broke, unsure of myself, and not sure how to move forward in my life.  I was working in a strange town, on things I was not super passionate about, and I never wanted to get out of bed each morning.

After a tough relationship, I decided things needed to change.  I started to study relationships, psychology, and self-confidence.  I got into the best shape in my life.  Because of that one relationship, I evenutally ended up finding the work I love - coaching.

So, what are a few pivotal moments in your life, and where did they lead you?  What surprised you the most about the changes that one moment caused?

Everyone is chasing happiness, in one form or another.  So, his week's video go over my five ideas to be happier!  

Having struggled with depression a bit earlier in life, I keep going back to these five ideas to course correct when life gets hard, or when I need to change my mindset.

Before I share my five ideas, what are your ideas on how people can be happier?  Take a few minutes and write down what you think.  I would love to hear your ideas, so please post them below this video in the comments section!

Ok, now to the good stuff.  

Five ideas to be happier, by Shawn Buttner:

1. Learn from everything 
2. Participate in and direct your life
3. Find greater perspective
4. Stop comparing yourself to others
5. Remember - your consistant best is enough

There is more context in the video above, but here you have it folks!  The five ideas that help me course correct when I feel a bit down.

Ever feel like you were mentally drained, and still needed to finish the project, interact with the kids, or just feel better about the day?

Here are five ideas I use to build a positive, energetic brain on those days where I am dragging:

1. Self-care - We can probably take care of ourselve better.  When we get stressed or tired, we tend to eat poorly and/or not take care of our bodies.  Go for a walk outside.   Take the time to do your workout for the day.  Watch or listent to insprational art.
2. Breaks - Take 5 minutes to clear your head by talking with a co-worker, friend, or family member.  Grab some water.  
3. Graditute - In the hustle of daily life, we can sometimes forget how awesome we are doing.  Have you ever forgotten to honor your accomplishments?  Taking a few minutes to recognize and connect with our successes can help energize and motivate us to push on.
4. Excitement - We can also forget to generate excitement through-out our...

Hey All!

Wanted to quickly share what has really been working for me with keeping in with my workouts this week.

After trying to figure out when the best time to work out during the day, I finally marked the first hour before I go into the office as workout time.  

I work out Monday through Friday, and try to get two 1-hour cardio session, and two 30 minute lifts in each week. Friday is a bonus workout/make-up day incase things go crazy during the week.

I've also been walking for 20 minutes outside before lunch, just to get some sun and get away from my desk.

Surprisingly, I have lost 4.5lbs in the three weeks I have been moving around more!  Plus, keeping my workouts consistant has been pretty aweome.

The three steps I uses are:

1. Figure out why you want to get healthier 
2. Schedule one hour of workout time each day during the week
3. Schedule one 20 minute walk before lunch

The Project Ares Challenge

If you want to get healthier, post below you are in the Project...

What is project Ares?  Check out this video to see what crazy ideas I am talking about! 

It’s natural to want to learn new things, to grow and improve in areas where you feel you’re lacking, and keep aiming towards becoming your ideal you. The thing is, it’s not always easy to figure out how to do it. Whether it’s advancing professionally, forming deeper relationships, or refining your skills at a particular hobby, it can be difficult to take the steps to do so, no matter how much you may want to.

But what exactly is holding you back? How did great public speakers, musicians, and athletes get to their level of expertise? What does it take?

The persons you see and admire right now, the ones who make everything look easy, spent months, if not years, trying to perfect their craft. They didn’t make a single big change and maintain it. They took small steps, and they took them frequently, and they kept going.

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new language, or play an instrument, then you know what I’m talking about. There’s no...