Sunday Story…this is

The year. The one where you finally do (fill in the blank). Yet all the years previous to this one you haven’t (fill in the blank). But this is the year. Finally, you will see it through. You will (fill in the blank).
Eat right
Lose 20 pounds
Quit smoking
Get Fit
Blah blah blah more uninspiring stuff.

Just stop already. We both know what the likely outcome of this is. I don’t need to tell you and you don’t need to look over the last few years to know.
Try this on for size…pick 1 fun thing you can do that will make someone else’s life better, more inspired, more something else. It isn’t for you; it has no consequence for you. You are going to do it because it will be both fun for you and create joy for someone else. Then do it as scheduled.

Here are some ideas:
Give your significant other 1 compliment a day
Tell your children you love them…at random times every day
Flirt with your spouse more
Write a personal note to someone every week expressing your gratitude to them

Sounds way more fun than the usual I’m going to lose 20 pounds this year only to blow it off by the 15th of January, doesn’t it? Just imagine how much richer your life will be if you spend a year doing 1 fun thing for someone else all year.

John Mariotti
wwwcrossfitodyssey@gmail.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Message Sent

Is Not message received.

I can say just about anything and you will hear what you hear. Just because I said it doesn’t mean you actually heard it. You laid all your “stuff” on top of my words. “Stuff” like your own experience, your preparation to answer what I said, your willingness to deeply listen (or not), my use of language that is different than your understanding of the same language. With all that “stuff, it’s amazing we can communicate at all.

I can talk and talk and talk but unless you are listening and hearing, all my talk is for naught. It takes two to communicate. It takes effort to make sure you are understood and it takes effort to understand.

Deep listening is a gift. Give it often.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Lazy is

Sunday Story…Lazy is

As lazy does. Most of the time we view lazy as work avoidance. I don’t want to dig that ditch, or clean the garage, or do the dishes, or fold the laundry so I find other things to do that I find more appealing, or, at least, less daunting.

But the facts in this modern life are simple: if I don’t want to do it, I can find or pay someone else to do it. And there is a pretty good chance they will do it better than I will anyway. This is especially true of tasks I detest. If I don’t like yard work, for a few bucks I can get a professional crew to do it and it will look way better than anything I would have ever done.

The kind of lazy that is more prevalent today avoids a different kind of labor. The kind of deep emotional work that requires real effort, mental, physical, emotional, psychic, and spiritual. The really hard work of digging in and seeing who you are…and who you are not.

This is the lazy that avoids thoughtful conversations. The lazy that refuses to introspect and uncover hidden feelings and dig around in the psyche. This is the lazy that avoids fear in the hope things change or it just goes away.

Let’s call it for what it is. Lazy. It’s okay in the short term but in the long term, it erodes at our self-worth. We know we aren’t doing the hard work and like the dishes in the sink, it keeps piling up until we do something. All too often though the something we do isn’t the hard work, it’s another strategy for not doing what we know we should be doing.

Don’t be lazy. Do the work.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

Sunday Story…It’s that

Time again. It comes around every year about this time. Every year you do some things in January to try and make some changes to improve your life in some way. Some of them work. Most of them don’t. Some years we give them up about 2 weeks into the year. Some years we get a couple months. Some years we don’t even try.

This year let’s do something a little different. Look back over this past year and pick the 1 thing that you really want to shift. Just one thing. Is it your fitness? Your eating habits? Ending a bad habit like tobacco use or alcohol? It doesn’t matter what it is.

Take the one thing and spend the next week thinking about what your life will look like when you achieve that goal. Make it real; make it so real you can taste it. Keep that image in your head.

Go back to the goal and reverse engineer it to today. You know the goal. You know what it is going to feel like when you get there. What do you need to do today to move closer to that point? When tomorrow comes, the same question applies…what do I need to do right now to move closer to that goal?

Make a plan of small incremental steps that you can do every day. Just little things. But things you can do every day without fail. Keep that feeling in your heart and your head.
You can do this if you just break it into small bite-sized pieces. The same way you would eat an elephant.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Enough

And Full are not the same. Thanksgiving is coming, that glorious holiday where enough is never and too much is the watchword for the holiday.

Too much food. Too much football. Too much T.V. Too much of everything. On this holiday it is very easy to get full. And Full is not the same as enough.

When we get full we aren’t just satisfied. We are over-satiated. We have met and surpassed any and all desire for more. But full doesn’t last, and it isn’t really even desirable. What we really desire is enough. Enough doesn’t feel like full. Somehow we convince ourselves that full is what we need. We need to be topped up, full to the brim, no room for anything else.

There is an exception…gratitude. I want to be full of gratitude. Of that, there is never enough.

Eat enough. Be full of gratitude. Enjoy your day. If you are looking for something new and unique to add to your holiday try this from Seth Godin:
http://www.thethanksgivingreader.com/

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The race

Isn’t real. Years ago my uncle had a T-shirt that proclaimed, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Really? What do you win? $250,000.00? A date with a supermodel? You’re dead. I’m pretty sure the number of toys you have doesn’t count at that point. You aren’t winning anything.

You think the race is real but it really only exists in your mind. You aren’t behind. You aren’t ahead. You are creating a competition that has no winner, no loser, and the other participants don’t know they are playing.

When I do this the only person who can lose is me. No one else is playing. Can I win? Not really since there is no opponent, no judge, no start or finish, and no reward at the end of the day. How much sense does this make?

Why make a race where one doesn’t exist? Why feel like you are losing when you are the only one playing?

Here’s an idea…go all out. The race doesn’t matter, the winner doesn’t matter, the loser isn’t important, your job is to do the best you possibly can…at work, at play, in the gym, wherever and whatever. And then do it better next time.

That way you always win, toys be damned.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Infinite

Choices. We do not live in a place where our choices are finite. You can pick up and move to another part of the country if you choose. You are not restricted to living within 20 miles of your birthplace. You can choose a career no one else in your family trees has ever done before. You are not stuck with doing what your father has done.

You have a myriad of choices. A nearly infinite number of people to speak to, food to eat, books to read, events to attend, attitudes to take. This is a place to hide, a screen for us to use in order to not make a choice. We can pretend we don’t how to choose, or what to choose. It is safe and easy to not choose. To hide behind a stack of seemingly endless choices is a pretense to use when the number of choices seems overwhelming.

Making a choice isn’t easy. Making the best choices are never easy or simple. You can make the easy choice of not choosing; just going along the way you have always gone along. Or you can choose the road less traveled, the not-so-popular career, the position that feels right but is difficult to hold.

Either way, you are choosing. The question is are You making the choice or is the choice being made for you.

Choose.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Commit

To consistency.

If there was one trait, one thing that would guarantee your success it may be consistency.
Show up when you say you are going to show, do what you are supposed to do, and do it the way you are supposed to do it. Every. Damn. Time.
In the dictionary next to the definition of the word “consistency” is your picture, right? No? That isn’t your picture? Hmmm. Why not?

Here’s the deal…if I commit to being consistent, if consistent is who I am being, all the things in my life get easier. Want to lose weight? Eat the right food consistently. Want to get more fit? Show up and exercise consistently. Want to learn a new language? Read a book? Be more knowledgeable about just about anything? Work at it consistently.

Whatever your consistency is on any given subject or problem that is your commitment. You will show up and work out 3 times a week. You will study 1 hour a day. Every day. You are honest with yourself and hold yourself to the same standard of integrity you expect of everyone else. And integrity is doing what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it. And that includes the promises and commitments you make to yourself. Especially those.

Commit to consistency. It will change your life.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…My World

Is normal to me. In other words, the way and where and how I live makes sense to me and the other people around me. This “default” world is confirmed by the people who share my world.

We often wonder how people live in a war zone or in a jungle without power and running water. Those worlds are normal for those people. Those worlds are confirmed when they look around and see everyone else living in the same manner as everyone else. Where ever you are, there you are.

We define our world as normal. This normality is confirmed by the people around us and the way the world looks. If I live in a religious cult and all of my peers do as well, that becomes my normal, my usual world. If everyone around me speaks Italian and I speak Italian, Italian is what seems normal. When I venture outside my normal world and Italian is not the default, things start getting a little difficult. In many big cities, it is possible to speak a different language than the rest of the city in my little enclave. When it is pointed out that my “default” is not the same as everyone else’s dissatisfaction arises. I want to be normal, I want to fit in, I want to maintain the status quo.

If my anxiety around belonging gets too great I will need to change something. I could change my environment but that is often very difficult. I am stuck in a place, physically. No, what is changeable is me. I can decide that wherever I am is my new normal, my new “default.” And I can count my blessings there and then.

Count. Your. Blessings. Often.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story...the Critic

And you. The critic is always there, lurking just behind the door, ready to rush out with a bang and then slink away like a stain. He/she is familiar, the voice well known, and you are used to listening.

He knows how to hurt us. She knows where our sore spots are and how to push the buttons of insecurity, insufficiency, doubt. Our inner critic lives in the shadows and gets power from our inability or unwillingness to confront him.

But what if you sat down and looked her in the eye and invited him to talk about being useful. Maybe if we welcomed him to the table there might be some constructive use there. Our sore spots are, well, sore. That can’t be helped. There isn’t anything we can do about that. But maybe if we welcome him to the party instead of running away we can make her impact less painful. Maybe if we befriend the critic we will find that he is quite ordinary and boring.

When we resist, fight, and rail against him we make her bigger and badder than he actually is. When we go to battle the fight is inevitable. If we decide there is no battle to win because there is no battle the critic loses power. The critic loses power when you shine your light upon him/her.

Don’t fight, befriend. Find out how to use, defuse and define your critic. Life is going to go on; wouldn’t it be nice to fight one less battle?

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey@gmail.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Optimized vs. Maximized

We often work at a maximized level. Going as hard as possible, as long as possible, trying to extract the very last morsel until everything fails. That is certainly one strategy. It will get a lot done. It will produce amazing results…short term.

Once we have hit maximized performance there isn’t anything left…the wheels have fallen off the bus, you are laying on the ground exhausted, and your organization has stopped producing anything at all. This maximal effort is necessary from time to time. Often time it is necessary just to demonstrate how unnecessary it is. The time it is going to take to rest up, replenish and rejuvenate the systems, is time we aren’t spending on polishing our craft or producing more or doing creative brain work. We are all in and spent.

Better to hit your optimized performance. Optimum is that speed where everything runs smoothly and consistently and constantly. The engine isn’t in danger of blowing up. The tires aren’t going to blow and I’m not going to need an hour to recover from the effort. I can keep going hard and fast but just under the red line where the wheels start falling off.

I often say: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. We need to have consistent mechanics, learn the proper way to perform, and be disciplined throughout. Discipline is what is going to make our performance optimum.

Make a plan to perform at an optimum level, eat an optimum diet; do things as well as they can be done in that moment. You may find the results far exceed doing things at the maximized level. I guarantee you will feel better t the end!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey@gmail.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Your Food

Needs to meet your needs. By that I mean your lifestyle needs. Yes, you need to meet your caloric needs. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight, eat more calories and you will gain weight. In many respects it is that simple. Obviously eating only candy could cause you to lose weight if you are in a caloric deficit but your health may not be very good. And you can gain weight if you eat really healthy food and too much of it…you will be a healthy overweight person…which may translate to not so healthy.

Here is the rub…any “diet” or “food plan” or “system” can be made to work. The real question is this: will the way you are eating fit into your lifestyle? Will the way you are handling your food create happiness in your life or not? Because if the answer is not then you shouldn’t be doing it.

I weigh all my food. I eat the same thing for all of my meals 6 days a week. I am very strict about food preparation. It works for me.

That isn’t going to work for most people. Your lifestyle is different than mine. You need to eat the food that works for your body. You need to find pleasure in your meals. You need to find gratitude when you eat and joy around your food.

If you want to lose weight figure out what your caloric deficit needs to be. Then find a plan that’s going to be joyful for you and work in your lifestyle.

Bottom line on food:
Eat Real Food. Eat protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Eat quality food. Eat the correct quantity. Avoid excess added sugars. Avoid processed food (things in a box/bottle/can). Avoid things with a nutritional label. Enjoy every bite, enjoy the indulgences, and revel in the process. You can transform your relationship with food.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…3 things

You must have in your life.
Trust.
Commitment.
Love.

Trust yourself. You know what the right thing is, do it. You know what the wrong thing is, don’t do that. It is never the right time to do the wrong thing and it is always the right time to do the right thing. Trust yourself, your thought process, your learning, and your instincts.

Be committed. 100%, burn the boats committed. Don’t let anything come between you and your commitment. Don’t be half committed. Don’t be: “I’ll try it and see how it works out” committed. That’s what we do when we try some new stinky cheese. Nope, when you commit, commit all the way.

Love. Everything. Every day. Love the process. Love the outcome. Love the struggle; love the failures, the disappointments, the suffering. Love your life, your tribe, your work, your grind. Most of all love yourself…You are the most unique lovable you there is on the planet today.

Trust. Commitment. Love.

3 simple things. Just do it.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Freedom

Requires discipline. Many people think Freedom means you can do anything you want, whenever you want. But, really, that’s not freedom, that’s anarchy and chaos. To be truly free you must have discipline.

Discipline means you will do what you need to do, what you meant to do, what you signed up to do no matter what. Come hell or high water. Barring accidental death or dismemberment you are going to step up and put all of your focus and energy into the task you have chosen to do. Discipline isn’t about doing one thing. It’s about doing all the things you need to do to achieve the goal you have set in front of yourself.

How does this relate to freedom? Let’s suppose you want to go to Africa and climb MT. Kilimanjaro. But walking across the street leaves you out of breath. You don’t have the freedom to climb that mountain, do you? If you want to ascend to those heights you have to get down and get to work to be able to do that.

Freedom requires us to be disciplined in our approach. We must have a plan and stay on the task to complete that plan. Financial freedom does not happen by accident. Physical fitness (a freedom that allows me to move the way I want when I want) requires consistent work. Intellectual freedom (to think, read, and write as I choose) requires vigilance. None of these things just happen by chance. They require work. Work requires discipline. Discipline is the proper application of focus and attention to the job at hand.

Want to be free? Get discipline. Freedom will follow.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Thank You!!!

A quick note of Thanks! to all the people who have made my journey to the CrossFit games in 2017 such a success.

First my Mom. Because without Mom there’s no me! My parents instilled a simple value in me: if you are going to do it, do it to the very best of your ability. It serves me throughout my life.

My Business partner, Ellie McKenzie. She dug me out of self imposed exile in Fernley NV. with an opportunity to come to Dallas TX and create a community dedicated to fitness and health. She has put up with my ups and downs, training injuries, mercurial moods, and acted as a modulating force to my often explosive force. In the athlete’s area at the games her coaching and focus cues were invaluable. It’s been quite a journey and we are just starting to get traction!

My coach, Tino Marini, and the entire staff at CrossFit Invictus. Over the last 4 years they have continued to get better at programming, more innovative, and flat out smarter. Tino has programmed around a myriad of injuries over the last 2 years and has somehow managed to get me stronger and in the absolute best condition of my life going into the 2017 Games. No small feat given my last surgery on 12/15/17 and the inescapable fact that I am 60 years old.

My community at CrossFit Odyssey. There are too many of you to list here. You stepped up with donations to help fund the journey. You bought T-shirts. You show up every day with all your energy and enthusiasm for health and fitness. You serve as an inspiration for me! You make all the lonely workouts worth it. I hope I inspire you…to know you are only limited by what you believe to be possible. Your age, your current condition, your previous disabilities have no hold on your “What’s possible”. If you believe it, you can achieve it.

My support community…Chris Babb and Landon Webster and the whole crew at Kinetik Chain without whom this old body would impossible to manage. Kelly Carden at CryoOne for freezing me regularly. Mark Murdock and his people at Phoenix Re-gen for getting me into the NovoThor infra-red bed which was an invaluable tool for recovery as the lead in to the Games took its toll on me. Dr. Soryal at Texas Sport for getting my knee working again. Dr. Mezera at Dallas Hand and Lower extremity for not 1 but 2 fixes on my thumb.

I know that isn’t everyone. I am extremely grateful to everyone who made this Journey to Extraordinary possible and, yes, Extraordinary!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Painted

With the same brush. If you hang around clowns people will think you belong in a circus. If you dress like a clown, you probably are a clown. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. These are just a few of the things my Father used to say to me. Usually he said it when he wanted me to look more deeply at my words and deeds.

None of these old saws are fair. You should be able to dress however you want and not worry about what other people think or how they judge you. Hanging out with anyone you want doesn’t mean you agree with their religion, politics, or sexual orientation but it might. And just because you say certain things, dress a certain way, and attend certain meetings it doesn’t in your heart of hearts mean you are the same as everyone else that looks and says and does that stuff.

Or does it?

I didn’t like to admit my Father was right. But he was. You and I are the sum of the 5 or 10 people we hang out with the most. That includes the books you read, the music you listen to, and the language you spout. Use the language of love and I will assume you are a lover. Hateful language…a hater. Hang out with deeply spiritual persons and I will assume you have some semblance of spirituality. Hang out with people who idolize evil and I will assume you have evil in your heart.

If you don’t want people to think you are a clown don’t join the circus.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story...Balance vs. Harmony

We are often exhorted to have balance in our lives...career, family, hobbies all balanced. If we get out of balance something has to give in order for us to find balance again.

Balance is boring. Balance doesn't move, it is a static position. If everything is balanced there is no room for anything to change. Think of an old school scale...weight on one side and a st amount on the other until the arm or needle doesn't move up or down. It is balanced...the same on one side as the other. Nothing is going to change as long as the status quo is maintained. Balance doesn't win championships. Balance doesn't set world records. The reward of balance is mediocrity...just average not great not bad just dead center in the middle.

What I want in my life is harmony. There have been times when I was completely focused on my children, other times on my career or my business. The last 6 months I have been focused on the physical pursuit that was the CrossFit games. That's over now. While that was my focus, lots of other things got put on the back burner.I was out of balance but I was moving forward toward a big hairy goal. What I was trying to achieve in my life was harmony. Harmony allows me to move forward happily even when forward is toward a single minded purpose. Notice the word happily...I was moving forward happily because I have harmony. Because what I want and what I am doing are in lock step. Because the other parts of my life are running a bit more on auto-pilot and the part I am obsessing about needs all of my attention now. If I obsess and the rest of my life falls apart it is NOT harmonious. Harmony takes a certain amount of work...a constant attention to the big thing in the foreground and a noticing of all the other things running in the background.

Balance doesn't serve me. Harmony not only serves me but it allows me and the people in my life to understand what it takes to do things today as well as days, weeks, months, years into the future.

Harmony is easy once you find it.

John Mariotti
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
www.crossfitodyssey.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…This is It!

Over 10 years ago Tom Callos challenged me and a number of participants of the Ultimate Black Belt Test to get in the best shape of our lives. This started a more focused fitness journey for me. Since that time I participated in Marathons, Ultra-marathons, Tough Mudders, BJJ tournaments, and started CrossFit.

The problem with getting in the best shape of your life is there is no objective measurement. What does that really mean? If you have never been in great shape it isn’t going to take much. If there isn’t a way to measure fitness how will you know? I decided to not just get in the best shape of my life but to be one of the fittest people on the planet.

Fitness is not about being the fastest or the strongest or running the furthest. Fitness may best be defined as: increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains (Glassman). In other words are you better today than you were yesterday? Is your fitness broad, general and inclusive?

Tomorrow night I leave for Madison Wisconsin to compete at the Reebok CrossFit Games for the title of Fittest on Earth (60+). This has been an amazing journey. I started competing in 2012, went to the games in 2014 (finished 6th) and this year I qualified 2nd. The fact is I am in the best shape of my life. I can lift more weight. I can do things I have never been able to do and I can do them faster and longer. I may not be as fast as I was when I was 18 or 20 but I am much fitter overall.

For information on how to watch the Reebok CrossFit games go here:
https://games.crossfit.com/article/how-watch-2017-games/games/2017
Games.crossfit.com and facebook are all great choices. CBS sports if you have it will offer over 40 hours of coverage. And there’s an app so you can follow your favorite athlete (me?!) and watch them when they perform!

Anyway…for those of you who have been following and supporting this journey…I thank you. If you haven’t yet…let’s get started!

And most of all…get up and get fit…your fitness journey starts with a decision to start moving. You never know where it may lead!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412
PS. No story next week…I’m going to be a little busy!

Sunday Story…Turn on your Drive

We only have a brief moment or two here on this planet. As I write this my life, your life is flowing away. My body is decaying. We know not where we may end up over the next few years but we know for certain were we will be when it is all over. All my physical apparitions are like a river flowing to the sea. My spirit is as insubstantial as the air and slips through time like sand in an hourglass.

Keep your spirit free of harm and the ravages of disrespect. Keep your body healthy and fit. Move through the world daily with purpose and focus, staying true to your overarching philosophy.

Get focused on what’s important to you and stay focused. Do not waver. Do not take your eyes off the prize. Do not allow the klaxons and distractions of modern life to pull you away from your purpose. You were sent here for a purpose. Find it and follow it like your life depends on it. You can float through this life like some debris on the water but that’s not why you are here. Find your purpose and fulfill it.

If getting up in the morning shows up as a chore, a task to be fulfilled…Turn on your Drive!
If you are just plodding through another day…Turn on your Drive!

Turn on your Drive and keep it turned on!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The Sum

Of your life can be found by adding up how and with whom you spend your time.

Obviously you spend all of your time with yourself. What do you say to yourself? How do you treat yourself? Do you put in good food, good thoughts, good words, exercise to honor your body? Or something else?

You spend a lot of time with your loved ones. Are they happy, positive, uplifting people? If not, what are you doing to help them be more positive?

You spend a lot of time at work. What can you do to make sure your interactions there are as upbeat and positive as possible?

What are you reading? Are you reading? What do you listen to? What are you watching? How much time do you spend watching or listening to some talking head fill your head with negativity and stinking thinking? Even 1 minute is too much! You only get so much time every day and you can’t get it back after it’s gone. Spend it wisely.

You are what you say you are. Declare yourself to be someone great. You were put here to do great things. It is an affront to the universe for you to do anything less than great things. Stop listening to the negative, to the non-life affirming, to the crap. Start spending your time with the great thinkers of our world. Start listening to messages that inspire you. Start being the great person the worlds needs and deserves.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Say What?

I talk to myself constantly. From the time I get up in the morning until I go to sleep at night there is a running dialog in my head. Most of the time this conversation is mundane…don’t forget to buy bread, remember to call so and so stuff like that. The things that run our daily lives. No big deal, most of that stuff.

What is a big deal is the stuff we tell ourselves about ourselves. How often do you berate yourself for some imagined flaw? How often do you denigrate yourself? Do you beat yourself up for doing something “wrong”? Do you cut yourself down for not being good enough or not remembering something or failing to perform to some supposed standard you weren’t aware of?

Ask yourself this simple question:
If I heard someone talking to my child/spouse/parent/friend this way what would I do or say? Would I step in and correct them? Would I ask them to stop? Or would I just nod and silently assent?

Here’s the deal…if you wouldn’t let someone else talk to someone you love the way you talk to yourself…Don’t Do it!

Words are powerful. Words have meaning. The words we speak to ourselves are probably even more powerful than the words other people speak to us. Your opinion of yourself is your business. It may be the only one that counts. You spend all day talking to yourself so say nice, positive, uplifting things. There is enough negativity in the world. There is no sense contributing to it with your interior dialog.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…All you can eat

Might not be a benefit. Just because you Can do something does not mean you Should do something.

You can eat it all but should you? If eating all I can leaves me with a bloated belly and an all day malaise, should I indulge myself that way?

Quite often doing what I can eliminates the things I really should do. Doing what I can is to succumb to the urgent, to the pressing, to the insistent. Doing what I should is strategic, important and planned.

The flashing neon sign is not a good indicator of quality or sound planning. Knowing what you want to accomplish requires you to stay on course and not be distracted by the cheap, by the insistent, by the new shiny bauble.

All you can eat is the bastion of the unsatisfied and unintentional. Don’t be pulled off course by the easy or cheap or alluring. They are the bringers of false hope.

You know what to do, now go out and do it.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…More Cowbell

There is a ubiquitous Saturday Night Live skit done in 2000 featuring Christopher Walken called More cowbell. The gist of it is simple…the producer (Walken) wants more cowbell on the track. The band members resist. The finally agree to the right amount of cowbell. (You can see the clip here: https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/more-cowbell-with-will-ferrell-on-snl-video-saturday-night-live-nbc/3506001?snl=1).

Modern life is like this these days. We are getting more and more cowbell to the point that it drowns out the rest of what we want or need to hear. We have 24 hour news cycles, more and more information from more and more sources (some of which just pander to what we want to hear), and a virtual overload of cacophonous sounds coming from all directions.

Drinking from a firehouse is rarely a good thing. The fire department, on the other hand needs the biggest fire hose it can find to put out the blaze. We can limit the stream of information that enters our consciousness. But the information isn’t going to stop streaming because we use a small hose to drink out of.

Better to take that cowbell and explore the space. Dig in and irritate your status quo, find your limits and push them out further. Make a bunch of noise and irritate yourself with more cowbells until you can discover the right amount of cowbell. You just think your limits have been reached. After all, overwhelmed is temporary.

More Cowbell.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The only way out

Is through.

You can turn around and go back, you can quit, you can fire the problem, or divorce yourself from it/her/him but none of those things get you through the issue long term. As short term strategies they may appear sound. After all it looks too hard, too unpleasant to deal with, or just too much too much.

In that moment it makes sense to stop, to withdraw, to change directions. The problem isn’t in that moment. The problem arises when we are confronted again and we quit or stop or withdraw…again…and again…and again. Long term we need to do the work so we can move forward. We need to learn the lessons.

You can quit the gym. But your fitness won’t improve. You can stop being concerned about eating a healthy diet but you will still be dissatisfied with your body composition. You can stop learning the lessons but the lesson will keep coming more and more insistently.

It starts as a whisper but it will get louder every time you take the short term easy way out. Save yourself the stress, pain, and angst of having to repeat the course over and over again.

Burn the boats, take the lesson, and get through it. Act like it is the only choice you have…because it really is. You will be different because of it.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…You are Born

With 2 fears…the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. That’s it…just those 2 fears and no others.

Every other fear you either made up, decided it served you in some way, or had some well-meaning person in authority put it on you. Your environment or your culture (society) taught you those fears were supposed to be there. Some fears are pretty reasonable…look both ways before you cross the street, you don’t want to get hit by a car. Reasonable fear, easy to understand and easy to defeat…just look both ways for crying out loud. Fear of speaking in public…pretty unreasonable because that isn’t really the fear at the base…it’s fear of other people’s opinion of you, fear of looking stupid, fear of making a mistake…all of which you are making up in your head. None of those fears actually have consequences. Not looking both ways…consequences.

People don’t like you? Oh well. Other people’s opinions (good and bad) of you aren’t your business. You made a mistake? Learn something and move on. Mistakes are how we learn. You look stupid? All in your head. You look the way you look, you said what you said and any judgment around those things is just an opinion (see #1).

Stop making up fears. They only serve to impede your progress toward the goals, dreams, and destiny you have in front of you. Look both ways and cross the damn street!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The One Right True

Answer. We all want to find it…the magic pill, the book that will give us all the answers, the one exercise that gives us abs, the perfect diet, the one conversation that will have our kids “get” it.

But there isn’t one right true answer. There are plenty of wrong answers, however.
There are lots of answers and some of them are right. But the right answer is not exclusive, in other words, there may be more than one right answer. The right answer works, it‘s useful and generous.
There are lots of wrong answers as well. They don’t work, are selfish and short sighted. Wrong answers are clearly expensive, defective, and have a list of bad side effects.

We want to avoid the wrong answers. But we don’t want to miss the right answer because we are looking for the one right true one. Pick a right answer, let it play out and if it isn’t a good fit, pick again.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

We like the familiar, the usual, and the stuff we feel comfortable around. Change is uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and unusual.

On the other hand change is inevitable. Without change nothing grows. You can hide from change but that won’t stop the inevitable, things will continue to grow, shift, transform.

The question becomes: Are you managing your change or is it managing you?

Every year my body changes...did it change last year in a way that I wanted it to or did it shift in ways that were out of my control? I have an opportunity everyday to manage my growth. If I manage my growth it becomes familiar. I become competent with change the more often I apply myself to managing it.

Pick up more weight. Eat 1 more meal that is healthy. Read 1 more book on your reading list. Make that uncomfortable call. Change is coming. What it looks like is up to you.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Sticks and Stones

Will break my bones but words…well words will hurt me in ways that are deep, hard to heal, and often times invisible.

My bones will knit together. My bruises will disappear. The blood can be staunched.

Words can cut much deeper than my skin, deeper than my viscera. Words can drive deep into my soul. Words can change my view of myself, my view of the world, my thinking of what’s possible.

And words can light up a room, open possibilities, create change, and make a difference.

Words matter. Words are power. Words aren’t benign. Words can be beneficent or malevolent. Before you spit your words out…maybe you should taste them first. Maybe you should gauge how they are going to land. Once spoken you can’t take them back. Like a rock leaving your hand, once those words leave your lips the course is set.

You are in charge of what you say. And you know, in your heart of hearts, whether those words will uplift or drive down their recipient. Choose to uplift or choose nothing at all.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday–stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…What? Me worry?

We often relieve ourselves of responsibility with the phrase, “it’s not my problem.”

But what if you accepted responsibility for the problem? What if you, your team, your tribe could solve the problem or influence it? When we are faced with big seemingly unsolvable issues (homelessness/intergenerational poverty/peace in the Middle East) it is easy to throw up our hands and utter “It’s not my problem.”

What happens when those big issues become my issues?
What happens when I accept responsibility to at least influence the intractable?
What happens if I change my belief system to say “it’s possible?”

It’s possible to
Make a difference
Create shift
Solve the unsolvable
Love the unlovable

You don’t have to know the how or even the why. You just have to know that it’s possible.

Take responsibility. It’s possible.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Done Me Wrong

We all have stories we tell ourselves about the bad experiences, the poor service, the people who done us wrong. If it happens in a restaurant we raise a hue and cry and complain and try to get some satisfaction. But we never really get satisfied and the louder and more strident our complaint the bigger and badder the complaint is.

You do the same thing in your personal life. Something happens to you. Someone does something that hurts your feelings, doesn’t live up to expectations, or abuses your trust. In your mind you are writing an angry letter. A letter so angry, so full of vitriol, so spiteful that when they read it they will feel your pain. They may even go home and kick their own dog; it is so full of heartfelt gut wrenching emotion. The more you put into the letter the more anger and spite the worse you are going to feel. You are reliving the event over and over with ever word in the letter. Every angry word, every bit of angry energy you apply to the situation worsens it until that creates a maelstrom of negativity that forces you to make decisions that affect your whole life.

Stop writing that letter. Stop right now. No one is reading it except you. No one cares about it except you. The person who done you wrong moved on. That person went on with their life. You are the one still carrying it forward. Put it down.

Re write the letter. Write the most positive, glowing letter you can write. Tell us what you learned. Tell us how that person taught you, helped, make a difference to you. Lay it on thick. This is the story you want to tell. And when you are done doing that then, and only then, can you say…”And when this happened I felt _________.” Explain what went wrong without all the angst and story behind it. Leave all the horrible consequences you think you suffered out.

This is how you change the past. This is how you move past the hurt and anger and vitriol of the wrongs you think have been perpetrated upon you. Re-frame your experiences, re-tell your stories, and re-learn the lessons from a viewpoint of positivity. This is how you change your life. This is how you move ahead after heart break and hurt. This is how you become great.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Why I compete

Someone asked me recently why do I continue to compete? What drives me? At what point is enough enough?

The answer, for me, is simple. I believe if you have gifts, skills, and talents and you don’t use them you are insulting your creator, the universe. If you have songs to sing, stories to write, or edifices to build and you don’t you are not living up to your purpose on earth.

I am good at doing physical things. It isn’t all I am good at but at this moment in time, after years of hard work and dedication, I am very good at this CrossFit thing. Not seeing how good I can be is an insult to the universe, not to mention a slap in the face to myself. Not doing all I can to reach the pinnacle would be a crime.

How good are you? How good can you become? What stories are you not telling? What songs are you not singing? You do not want to be on your death bed and have all the stories and songs and projects standing around looking at you forlornly saying,” We came to you to give us life. Only you could bring us to life. And now we must die with you. Forever.”

This is my fear. This is why I compete. How about you?

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Resolve

Promise yourself you will never give up.

Resolve is what is missing from our resolutions. Resolve is what is missing from our goals. Resolve is what is needed to accomplish everything…both big and small. We need to promise ourselves we will finish what we started. We need to promise we will never give up.

Resolve is what moves things out of the realm of a good idea and into reality. Resolve is the intangible that creates real results. Resolve is the magic that builds the impossible.

Resolve will get you back up when you get knocked down…over and over and over. Resolve is that one more rep, one more set, 5 more minutes of practice, and that steely eyed focus on the prize. Resolve to hang on for 1 more second, 1 more round, 1 more. Resolve to win.

Never. Give. Up. Never.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Fall Down

You often hear it said about certain things…”it’s like riding a bike.” What we mean by this is once learned we just need a little refresher to get back to a previous level of expertise. Easy to do, right?

Sure, but what is forgotten is the struggle it took to learn the skill in the first place. How many times did you fall off the bike? How long did the training wheels stay on? How many skinned knees and tears were produced? You had to want to learn to ride that bike.

Here’s another one you can’t remember but have watched your whole life. Learning to walk…everyone of us can walk (absent a physical impediment). Yet every one of us failed time after time on the road to walking. We fell. We got up. We fell. We got up. Over and over and over and over again. Today we walk, run, skip, hop, dance, and, generally, locomote all over the place.

So when I say, “it’s like riding a bike,” I don’t mean it’s easy. I don’t mean to take anything away from the process it took to gain the expertise. What I mean when I say, “it’s like riding a bike,” is that you have already fought the battle. Don’t re-fight the battles you have already won. Don’t get all up in your head about a skill you already own. Just smile and remember the joy you experienced when the skill arrived.

Then get on that bike and ride!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The 3 C’s

You have probably seen this before:
Choose
Chance
Change

If you want to make a shift these are the 3 things you must do.

First Choose to do something. Make a decision to do something. Until you decide to actually do something whatever It is lies in the realm of good ideas. Move it out of a good idea and into the beginnings of reality by Choosing.

Second, take a Chance. You decided, now step off the edge. Take a shot at it. If it doesn’t work you can always go back to doing what you did before. If it backfires you will have learned at least one way it won’t work. No failure just lessons to be learned. Again, reality dictates that we don’t know exactly what will work so we must experiment.

Third, Change yourself, change your paradigm. Once you are doing things differently there is no reason to go back is there? Once you decided to get fit will you decide to be less fit? Once you decided to be more conscious about your dietary habit, are you going to go back to eating calorie rich and pathetic (crap) food?

So…Choose to take a Chance to Change. You can always go back (but you won’t want to!)

Thanks to Michele Rodgers for this week’s inspiration!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sundaystories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Show Up

Because you can. Not because you want or need something. Not because you think you might need something in the future. Show up because you can.

I am not talking about just your physical presence. In some respects that is the easy part. You can show up physically and just dial in your presence. I am taking about showing up fully present, intentional about your presence and focused on what is going to ensue.

When you show up, present, focused and intentional, whatever happens after that will be a good thing. You see it is all about the attitude you bring to the task. If your attitude is one of non-intention your results will be unimportant.

Show up because you can with an attitude of presence and intention and something important is going to happen. You will be transformed. Maybe not the caterpillar into a butterfly transformation, maybe just the looking left instead of right transformation but a shift nonetheless. Shift can only happen when you are showing up with intention and presence. Dial it in and you will only get a dial tone…the long boring monotonous sound of nothing happening.

Show up not needing anything now or later but finding everything you need and want…if you bring the right stuff!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Shame

I talk every week with people who are afraid. Afraid they can’t do this or that. Afraid that they will be ridiculed, or have people think less of them if they can’t perform. This isn’t actually the fear of those things. This is fear of…

Shame.

Fear of asking a stupid question is not the same as fear of a bear eating you.
Shame blows our fear of fear out of proportion.
Shame keeps you hunkered down and huddled under your covers cowering.

Call it out. Name it aloud. If you won’t speak it aloud you are giving it power. Not naming it for what it is wastes time and energy and traps you in a downward spiral.

Fear happens. Shame is unnecessary. Look fear in the eye and go ahead anyway. Be indomitable.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Push

We humans are an interesting lot. We admire amazing feats of strength, crazy courageous acts, and extreme performances of many stripes. We marvel at the accomplishments and sit in awe of the process it took to finish the task.

Yet we are OK with sitting in our own mediocrity while admiring and cheering on greatness. I am pretty sure not one of us came out of the womb with a label that told our parents we would be a star ball player or a master musician.

We were given a direction. Sometimes it made sense and sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes it “clicked” and we knew we were in the right place and we stayed there and enjoyed amazing success. Most of the time we muddle through and do the best we can with the skill set we are given.

But what if you decided you wanted to be world class? And what if all it took was a decision on your part? Granted, if you are only 5’ tall an NBA career may not be your best choice but you could still be a world class player at 5’ tall…IF

You decided that was what you really really wanted.
You worked at it hard and smart.
You were relentless in your pursuit of excellence.
You never gave up.

Then we could look at you in reverence and awe at your world class performance.

Get busy.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey@gmail.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…With a little help

From my friends. Last night I happened to be listening to Joe Cocker’s version of The Beatles song, “With a little help from my friends.” I realized that I probably don’t express my gratitude often enough to all of you…my friends.

Without you no one would be reading this. And, honestly I wouldn’t be writing it so diligently (almost every week for almost 9 years). So thank you for reading.

Without you I would not have people to train. So thank you for showing up, doing the work and being willing to transform yourself.

Without you there would be no funds to fuel our passion for focus and transformation. So thank you for believing in what we are doing here at CrossFit Odyssey.

Without you there would be no inspiration to continue the fight when darkness descends. So thank you for fighting your own battles and showing the rest of us the way to do it with grace and dignity.

Without you there would be no fun or laughter in this quest. So thank you for reminding me that if it isn’t fun it isn’t worth doing.

Without you there is no me. So thank you, my friends.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Harmonious Balance

We often talk about the need to be balanced in our life. When we get out of balance weird things start happening. Balancing work, family, career, school, me time, exercise, etc, etc, is hard work. It is easy to get overwhelmed and out of balance…then you get sick which forces you to slow down and re-balance.

That really isn’t a balance problem, though, that’s an overcommitted problem. You bit off more than you can chew and now you are choking on it. If you keep on like that too long bad stuff will happen.

But if we are going to get anything done…any really big project…we are going to find ourselves out of balance. We need to be super laser focused on one thing. And that lets other thing fall by the wayside.

BUT we can still be harmonious. Even when I am consumed by my one big thing I can still manage the rest of my life…sleep well, eat healthy nutritious food, give the attention I have 100% when I can give it.

In other words…multi-tasking is the enemy here, not balance. Turn your laser focus on your family, then on your career, then on your school work. Divide and conquer rather than trying to get it all done at once.

Being out of balance isn’t the problem, not having harmony is. Be harmonious and balance will be found.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The National Time Bank

Imagine your joy if you had a magical bank account that was filled every morning with $86,400. You get up, check your bank and see almost 100 grand in the bank. But like many things magical it has some rules that are attached (like Cinderella and the coach at midnight). At the end of the day anything left in the bank account disappears. You can keep what you buy. You can reap whatever benefits those dollars give you. Wow! If you had a bank account like that it would be amazing. I bet you would be super conscious about how you spent that money. You would plan it out, set goals around it and you would leave nothing to chance when morning rolled around every day.

Guess what? You have that bank account right now. It is the National Time Bank. Every one of us receives 86,400 seconds every day. Every one of us gets the same time every day. At the end of the day there isn’t any more. You can’t save it for a rainy day. You can’t use more than those 86,400 seconds. That’s all there is and there ain’t no more! Those seconds are going to disappear no matter what you do or don’t do with them.

Soooo…how did your spend your 86,400 today?

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Losing and Winning

In most things we do we perceive there is a winner and a loser. Someone ends up on top and someone else not so much. 2 teams play and 1 wins. When I do something on my own I can say I won or I lost. The games we play and the interactions we have all have the perception of a winner and a loser.

But life is not a zero-sum game. There is not a fixed pile of wins for us to compete over. As a matter of fact, there may be no winners or no losers. This doesn’t mean everyone gets a trophy by the way. Just because you played doesn’t mean you won. UNLESS you learned something. There’s your trophy…new knowledge you didn’t have before. You still didn’t get to do the victory dance but you took something home that may be more valuable than the trophy.

You need to be willing to lose, to fail, in order to learn the lessons that will be required to win. This is the real lesson of the “trophy generation”…they have no idea how to learn from not winning. No idea how to take the lessons of failure, apply the learning, and go back to risk it again and again, learning more every time.

Learn something from every interaction…good and bad, winning and losing, defeat and victory and I will guarantee a win every time.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…NOW VS LATER

It doesn’t taste as good as fit feels…NOW. Unfortunately this isn’t true. It tastes good NOW. Fit will feel good LATER.

This is, regrettably, is the real problem with lots of delayed gratification decisions we make. We know that getting fit, or losing the weight, or buying life insurance is going to be of great benefit LATER. But LATER is well, LATER and that just isn’t as much fun as NOW is.

Eating that box of thin mints is good NOW. Spending the money on me is good NOW, providing for my loved ones when I die (LATER) is hard to imagine. Kicking my ass in gym so I will look really good in my swimsuit (LATER) isn’t as much fun as sitting on the couch and watching TV NOW.

NOW always looks like more fun than LATER. NOW is always easier to feel than LATER. But LATER is way more fun when it becomes NOW and you are getting both what you worked for and what you want NOW. In this way LATER always defeats NOW.

The problem is getting you to feel and understand and realize deep in your being how much better LATER is going to be especially when compared to the fleeting pleasure of NOW.

Engage your future mind NOW to enjoy the fruits of LATER. It’s the only way to get what you really want both NOW and LATER.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Life lifes

Life is going to life. That’s what it does. It doesn’t matter what you do life is going to move ahead. The sun will come up tomorrow. The wind will blow (or not). It will rain (or not). Good things will happen. Bad things will happen. There isn’t much agency you can apply to a lot of these things. You are not in control of most of it. Life will life.

The one thing you can control is what your attitude is about the things life throws up. It is the only thing under your control. It is the only thing that can never be taken from you. You health can go, your freedom taken, the sun hidden and the rain never ceasing but your attitude is all yours. And it is all yours to do what you want with.

You can choose to have a crappy attitude about what’s happening or you can choose something else. You can arise in the morning and choose cranky and tired. Or you can arise with the “it’s a great day to be alive” outlook…Your choice. You can get depressed about your circumstances and you can be excited about the challenges you get to face…Your choice. You hang your head or jump for joy...Your choice.

Control the thing you can control. Let the rest of it go. Success isn’t permanent and Failure isn’t fatal. It is your attitude that matters.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Your Diet is Broken

Or maybe the word itself should be thrown out. Be gone Diet! I cringe every time I hear someone say I need to improve my diet, or my diet is wrong or my diet is (fill in the blank). When you say diet I think of a caloric deficit program to achieve a certain cosmetic outcome or to fix/improve a medical condition. There are very few people who need to “diet.” Are you participating in a physique or body building contest in 16 weeks? Then start dieting. Morbidly obese? Start dieting.

The rest of us just need to learn to eat. You aren’t eating enough of the right stuff. There is no magic pill or potion or powder that will have you achieve your goal. You are drinking too much (it converts to sugar). You aren’t fueling your body to meet your performance goals or your weight loss goals or your body composition goals (how you look in the mirror).
#1 Figure out what your specific goal is, define it, state it, put a time on it and get to work.
#2 Be patient…whatever it is will take time! Move slowly towards your goals so when they are met they are lasting and permanent.
#3 Build an individual plan. Cookie cutter plans won’t work. What works for me isn’t going to work for you. That means asking lots of questions and doing things differently than you have done them before.

EAT REAL FOOD! That means meat and vegetables, seeds and nuts, some starchy tubers, a bit of fruit and no sugar. Eat in quantities that will fuel activity but not store fat. Step one is to know what you are eating now! Can’t fix it if we don’t know what it is! Start tracking what you eat and drink every day. And stop guessing…are you eating 2 ounces or 6 ounces of hamburger? It makes a difference. After you start tracking your consumption for awhile you will get good at knowing what 4 ounces of hamburger looks like.

Get Help. Get support. There are lots of resources these days. The facts are simple though…you can’t out exercise bad food choices. You can’t do enough thrusters or burpees or row enough calories to make up for eating crap. So stop already.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Your Resolutions II

So…when we fail to connect to the outcome of our resolutions we are doomed. Actions will always fail at some point. You will get sick, get busy or a hundred other things that will have us not complete a planned action. When we are connected to the action not acting shows up as a failure. And we hate to fail so we give up.

Connect emotionally to the outcome, the results. At that point when a miss a day I will be more motivated to get back after it. Don’t see going to the gym as the result, see your vibrant health and vitality, the body you want, the strength you desire as the goal. Those pictures will get you up and off the couch. The clearer and more concise and real that outcome is, the more likely you are to stay on task.

Once you have connected to your results figure out what concrete things are standing in the way. If its money find out what it will take to save the necessary funds. List the obstacles and create a plan for getting past them. Break it down for a monthly and weekly plan of action. How much will you need to save every week to get what you need? Then, you guessed it, daily. What is the daily plan that needs to execute for success? Aim for 80% compliance. One day will not cause the whole week or month to fail.

Finally look at what is working NOW and build on that. This is critical. You can’t start loving running tomorrow if you hate it today. If you try to make that 180 degree shift it is a recipe for failure. The idea is to find what works, what you already enjoy doing and build on that to create both a sense of success and a new paradigm to get the life you truly enjoy.

Stephen Covey exhorts us to “Begin with the end in mind.” I would add “Begin with the end in your heart” as well.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412