Sunday Story…The Whole Enchilada

I love to cook. I hate to do dishes. But I can’t have one without the other.

If you are going to cook you need to be ready to clean up. If you are going to write you need to be ready to edit. If you are going to start a new workout regimen you need to take care of your nutrition as well.

You can’t just do the “fun” stuff or the stuff you like. You have to do the hard stuff, the stuff that isn’t fun, the stuff that forces you to really dig deep. You need to warm up before you work. You need to cool down when you’re done. If you only do half the work you only get half the results. This is true throughout your life.

Your relationship isn’t a honeymoon week for 50 years.
Your workout/diet regimen requires discipline as well as fun.
Your career is going to have set backs as you move forward.

It is in the grind, the tedium, the day to day that real change happens. It may be imperceptible to you on a day to day basis but after 100 days? Shift will happen.

Do it all. Especially the things you don’t want to do. You’ll be glad you did.

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

Sunday Story…Merry Ho Ho

It’s that time of year again. We get all caught up in the gift giving and the going hither and yon, the party circuit, and all the rest of the year-end things. And that’s all well and good…necessary even. We need a respite from the day to day grind we all do. We need a chance to slow down and re-connect with our loved ones and the people around us who make our loves richer and more fulfilling.



In this time of reflection don’t forget the most important person…You. Without you, all of us would be poorer and less fulfilled. You are the glue that holds so many things together. You are the one needed to lead. You are the one.



When each New Year starts we all begin with a sense of refreshment and rejuvenation. Dreams are re-visited. Goals are re-stated. Progress is reviewed and reset. 2019 is upon us and this is Your year. Unfortunately so was last year and the one before that. Maybe it’s time to really do something truly amazing. Maybe this is the year your star will really shine.



Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is one definition of insanity. Let’s do something different. Write 3 goals down. Make a map of how to get those things done. Get an accountability coach…someone who will check in and talk about your progress and keep you accountable for reaching your goals. Hire one if necessary. Make this year Your year.



Happy Holidays! Thanks for being you and for being here on the journey to extraordinary with me!



John Mariotti

www.crossfitodayssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Tribes

We are all born into a certain tribe. It wasn’t a choice, it just happened that way. Then we are forced by circumstance to be in other tribes…school, work, church. At some point we may realize that those tribes are not really the ones we want to belong to.

As you grow up you get to make some choices about the tribes you belong to. You can change your church affiliation if you decide the one you were defaulted into doesn’t serve your purpose. You can switch jobs or schools. You probably can’t get a different family but you can distance yourself from the one you were born into in order to create some distance.

More importantly you get to decide which tribes and what level of engagement you are going to have with your new tribes. You also get to create a new tribe if you can’t find one that works for you. That’s right, you are authorized to create a new tribe and invite the folks you want to join you. Invite the people who “get” you and who you “get”. Grab the ones that have been through things with you. Find the people who truly “see” you.

Your life has been a series of tribes. The best ones are the ones you connect with deeply and truly. These tribes demand the best of you, they raise the expectations you have of yourself and provide a base for what comes next.

If you are reading this, Thanks for being part of this tribe. I appreciate your presence and input. Let’s do more better.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412
Coming soon: www.johnmariotti.com

Sunday Story…Outside the Box

We all have limits. Some of them are real and inviolable, others are made up. You can’t deadlift 3000 pounds. You can’t breathe underwater without assistance. These things are real. You can’t change them no matter how hard you try. Most of them are pretty obvious and easy to find.

False limits, however, are a bit more complicated. Those limits are often habitual puts upon us by well-meaning people. They are just trying to save us from experiencing some sort of pain. Pain is part of the price we pay for wisdom. If I don’t get out of my box and expand my horizons I won’t be able to experience anything new.

Will you fall? Will you fail? Will it hurt? Will you quit? Yes, yes, yes, and I hope not. These limits don’t define you unless you let them. All they are is a story about what some thought was possible. They aren’t real unless you let them become real.

It won’t always work but it’s possible. You are capable of bringing your best self to the issue…not a self-defined by other people’s limitations. Make your own limits then surpass them.

Color outside the lines or make new lines…do not accept someone else’s limitations as your own.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412
Coming soon: www.johnmariotti.com

Sunday Story…Fitness

One of the greatest gifts CrossFit has given to the Fitness industry is an actual definition of fitness. That definition is measurable, observable, and repeatable…it isn’t just the state of being “fit”. Move a load over a certain distance…then do it again and move more weight faster, further. We all know this by now.

But physical fitness is only one aspect of your fitness. What about your mental/intellectual fitness? What about your spiritual fitness? What about your relationship fitness?

How will define those? How will you know you are more fit in those areas? Have you ever even thought about what it would take? After all, we all know if I lose weight, lift more, run faster, look better naked I am more physically fit.

How will I know my intellectual fitness is improving? Am I reading more? Am I doing things that will expand my thinking? Or am I closing myself in…only reading and thinking the things I already know? What am I learning new this week?

Your spiritual fitness? What did you do every day to connect with spirit? What practices are you using? How can you improve those practices?

Are you finding new relationship tools to improve All of your relationships...with your significant other, your kids, and your colleagues?

Just like your physical fitness, you ignore these other areas at your own peril. As we grow and age we can grow and improve or we can begin that long slow trek into a closed off and dark corner until the light goes out.

If you aren’t growing you’re dying.
John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412
Coming soon: www.johnmariotti.com

Sunday Story…Enlightenment

There is an old saying that goes something like this:
If you think you are enlightened go spend the holidays with your family.
It isn’t that there is something wrong with Your family; it’s that your family knows what buttons to push on your console. Your family knows what will and won’t light you up. Your family has a dynamic that you have been trying to navigate (both successfully and unsuccessfully) for the last few decades.

It’s easy to maintain your calm and considered demeanor in your daily life. You get to set your life up in ways that fuel your highest aspirations. You keep people around you who inspire and help you find your highest and best.

You don’t get to pick your family though. You don’t get to kick out the ones who are way less than inspiring or who are actually people you would never choose to hang out with. You are stuck with them; they are the ones who are here to really challenge your aspirations.

In those stressful moments with our families is when we can find true peace and contentment. In those moments we can find peace when we are no longer resisting any feeling or thought no matter if it is positive or negative. My family is my family, it is up to me to decide how I will react and find the peace no matter what they do.

Enlightenment is found in my every day not just in the quiet moments of self reflection.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412
Coming soon: www.johnmariotti.com

Sunday Story…Wakey, wakey

Way too often we are not 100% awake. Maybe we are dazed, or sleepy, or zoned out but we are not awake. When we are awake, fully aware of our surroundings, present to the moment, hearing for the first time, seeing with new eyes, approaching life with a beginners mind, it is a gift to ourselves and the universe.

This is the dilemma of our life. Awake feels good. Awake honors us and the people around us. Awake is the currency we use to pay for the change we want to see. Yet, Awake is fleeting and hard to hold.

The world we live in is conspiring to keep us asleep. Bored, distracted, over-occupied, busy all excuse us from our true nature. Our true nature is awake and fully present in the moment. When you are awake and I am awake we can move mountains.

All too often we find it easier to not be awake. Sleep walking through life is easy. Awake is hard to get there, harder to stay there, and nearly impossible to share with others. Getting there is a quest. Remaining there is a labor of love. Awake is a state to be cherished and reveled in.

Wakey, wakey.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412
Coming soon: www.johnmariotti.com