You Are the Sum of 1,000,000+ Decisions

Posted by on April 17, 2012 No comments

“We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an act. It is a habit.” — Aristotle

Humans in general like to think about their lives in terms of major events: the day I got into college, day I met my boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, day I got my promotion, day I moved to a new city, day I got sick, etc. In reality, the “big days” are nothing more than an accumulation of hundreds of thousands of tiny decisions. At the most basic level, you are the sum of millions of small events in your life.

The preceding sentence seems obvious and you may be thinking to yourself “of course I am affected by my decisions Aiden!” I would like to encourage you to think about even the most mundane tasks and how you perform them. For example, how do you eat your food? For most people, they eat very quickly and in front of a TV. This usually means that they overeat and spend extra time sitting on the couch because they don’t feel good. The lack of feeling good may encourage one to eat more, not go to the gym, or not do other productive things because they feel “gross”. I certainly have been there!

The key then is to evaluate all the decisions you make. Think like a consultant might approach a business: is there any room for improvement? Please don’t think I am suggesting that you become a robot, but try and think about some of the problems you face and how you could implement a solution. I know that I feel tired after sitting at work for long periods of time, and I really am sore after working out and sitting all day. It occurred to me that I needed to dedicate ten minutes of time in the morning to stretching. This helped alleviate my sore muscles and helped me be conscious of my body positioning.

Below I have listed some of the smaller problems I have faced, and small solutions I took to help remedy the solution. What problems did you face and what habits did you develop to improve them?

Problem: Poor snacking throughout the day.

Solution: Brought multiple fruits and veggies to work. Drank much more water.

Problem: Getting home from work and not wanting to go back to the gym (usually accompanied by more junk food at home).

Solution: Pack a gym bag and go to the gym before going home.

Problem: Somehow magically drifting to Facebook when writing and wasting three hours there.

Solution: My ThinkPad has a button that turns the internet off. I literally have to turn my internet switch off to keep myself from drifting onto the internet and its vast sea of non-productive activity (but did you see the video of the guys in squirrel suits?).

Problem: Struggling with small talk (this was a big problem for me when I was younger).

Solution: Talk to everyone. Literally. Everyone. This is a habit you should try to develop over time. I started talking to sales clerks, sandwich makers, customer service representatives, chat roulette (just kidding, waste of time). You will be surprised at how much better you will become at small talk and how much more interesting you can be just by chatting up normal people. Note: don’t be the overzealous guy that tries to make the world his friend, but try to be genuinely interested in other people. You never know when you might find helpful advice. If you really struggle here, try to have a few go-to questions or use situational context to help you out.

The four points above are small examples of habits that can help you control your body image and self-confidence. I would love to hear what methods others use in their day to day lives.

Adios!

-Aiden

 

What I Learned from my First Half-Marathon

Posted by on January 9, 2012 No comments

“There are clubs you can’t belong to, neighborhoods you can’t live in, schools you can’t get into, but the roads are always open.” – Nike

About a year ago, I ran my first half-marathon. I was really inspired to do it by my Mom, who had run two and was coming up on her third — at age 50. She had never run a half until she was age 48. I figured if she was “man-ing” up and doing it, I could too. There were quite a few things I learned that day:

  1. The variety of people is astounding. There were multiple times when I looked over to see someone older and/or who appeared to be worse physical shape than me absolutely blow by me. It was very humbling. I had seen this before with swimming, where I am the equivalent of a toddler in the pool. While this point is seen in running, I think it applies to all aspects of life. Everyone comes from such a different background, lifestyle and perspective. I wish I could see what everyone is thinking as they go along.
  2. 13.1 miles is a long way – I have mucho respect for those who do 26.2 and other feats of endurance. There were points where I felt like I could run forever and points where I thought that my legs were going to fall off. I would be interested to study what causes the transition from “running high” to “running low”.
  3. I enjoy crowd experiences. There is a sense of belonging and singular purpose when you are in the middle of a large pack. When you live in a large / new city, it is easy to feel “alone while surrounded by people”. Humans have a need to connect, no matter what age or social status.
  4. You must eat – without eating your body does not move. I was crushed after about 75 minutes during training when I did not eat.
  5. The importance of stretching – I did a little bit of yoga after long runs and my recovery time decreased substantially. As a guy I’ll be the first to admit that I strongly dislike stretching. It is like flossing — not fun to do but necessary. Foam rolling was also great for recovery.
  6. Vanity can send you a long way – I bought new shoes and new clothes for that day (break-in your shoes before running!). It was vain but I felt great when running and enjoyed the “reward” of getting to wear all my new Nike swag and headphones during the race. I also noticed I picked up my speed in front of large crowd of observers. A Men’s Health article in May 2004 stated: “Quit your complaining–having people around can boost your bench. Researchers found that men are able to bench-press an average of 41 pounds more with spectators than when they lift alone. ‘An audience can motivate guys,’ says Matthew Rhea, Ph.D.” Apparently I’m not the only one who benefits from a little vanity!

Athletics is a great way to learn life lessons.

Aiden

The Power of You – What I Love About Gatorade’s New Commercial

Posted by on January 3, 2012 4 comments

I’m not a big television watcher. On the scale of Adam Carolla to not having a television, I fall somewhere in between. However, in the middle of watching the Stanford vs. OSU game at the gym today, I was fortunate to catch the Gatorade commercial above. I think it is a fantastic ad for a number of reasons:

  1. It highlights personal responsibility – Too many people buy into false marketing that elite products will make you an elite player. This is simply not true. While an elite golf club might help Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson (or John Daly) hit a ball a few yards farther, if you are unable to hit a consistent shot the difference is negligible and you could have spent the money on lessons that would be much more likely to pay dividends.
  2. It has Abby Wambach in it – The US was so close!
  3. The message is clear – Far too many television ads have their message diluted by trying to do too much. The message in the ad is clear, relatable and memorable.
  4. It reminded me that nothing can replace hard work – in High School, we had a kid on our team who wore every type of protection imaginable. It was to the point where he almost looked like a Cyborg, with double knee and ankle braces, elbow pads, taped wrists, protective padding underneath his pants and shorts, full long-sleeve Under Armour and a custom $300 mouthpiece. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for protecting yourself and staying injury free. What was interesting about this particular kid, was that he was always hurt. All the protection in the world didn’t make up for the fact that he neglected to work hard in the gym, do proper flexibility training and eat properly. As the ad says, “Your moisture wicking fabric isn’t enough.”

There are a number of other great sports related ads and videos that I like. Maybe an idea for another post.

Aiden

The Power of Accountability – How You Can Use it to Your Advantage

Posted by on January 3, 2012 2 comments

A wise man once said: you measure what you can track. In order to be a more productive and focused person, learn to track yourself. Here are a few ways to track your day-to-day activities.

Food – Write down what you eat! The fact that you must hold yourself accountable to what goes into your body can completely change the way you eat. The difference between writing “Ate large cheeseburger with french fries” and “Chicken salad with water” will inspire you to eat better. Note: don’t get too detailed in this method at first. Keep it general and start to work down till you get used to the process. A great tool for tracking what you eat is MyFitnessPal.

Get a wristwatch. I love my Ironman Timex watch. While it definitely does not attract girls at the bar, at work and in the gym it is my friend and teacher. I track how long it takes me to do all types of things — eat lunch, go to the bathroom, bang out a spreadsheet or type this article. You would be amazed at how much time you spend doing ancillary tasks. Talking to a co-worker might cost you two minutes to save everything you work on, another minute to walk over and see them, a five minute conversation, and then you may decide as you walk by the vending machine that you need some water and a snack (easier to resist if you write it down!). By the time you are done with all these tasks you have now lost fifteen minutes. The emergent task planner is a great way to track the day to day activities you are involved in.

As a follow-up to point two – don’t get lost in the “I must work 100% of the time all the time” mentality. You are not a machine, even if your hard work in the gym is starting to make you look like it! Even some of the best investment bankers, lawyers and engineers I know aren’t able to do this. You MUST schedule breaks. The point is that you waste a lot of time on tasks that you sometimes don’t think about.

Write down (on the back of your emergent task planner) the money you spend that day. This is similar to the write down what you eat. By making yourself accountable, you are much less likely to spend $2 on a candy bar, and even more less likely because you also have to write down the calories in that bar. Win-win.

When combined with structure, accountability can help you be healthier and happier in 2012.

Aiden

How to Stress Less and Recover From Screw-ups

Posted by on January 2, 2012 No comments

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.” - Dale Carnegie

Here are a few tips to help manage stress:

  1. Become self-aware – I was never the type to struggle with severe test anxiety in college. But I did get the jitters and stomach nervousness typical of a college student trying to succeed at a test. The key is to realize this is a natural response. This sounds silly but try envisioning that you are a superhero, and the feeling of alertness and stress is a superpower. This superpower can channel amazing feelings and absolute clarity if you let it wash over your body. Pretend this superpower came from a drug you took and enjoy the feeling. You can now use this focus to do what you need to do.
  2. Realize that no matter what happens, this too shall pass. Studies have shown that humans drastically overestimate the loss or dread they are likely to experience and vastly underestimate the resolve of the human spirit. Think about this: Do you still have your eyes, ears, legs and arms?  Would you sell any of those for any amount of money? I know I wouldn’t.
  3. Realize that you are not the first to mess up – did you cheat on your wife in a government building as the most powerful man in the world? Did you accidentally build a satellite with the wrong unit of measurement? Did you do something that will put you in jail? If the answer to that last question is yes, you probably messed up and probably should be on a different website. The point is, the smartest and most successful people screw up all the time. They just keep going and don’t dwell.
  4. Recognize that every experience is a learning experience – The hardest moments of my life are the moments I look back and say that I learned the most or that I am a stronger person because of it. I draw on some of my worst childhood experiences consistently in my professional life as reference points and “guide posts” to the actions I should take.
  5. If you’re unsure what to do next, make a list – list out every single concern you have. Don’t worry about prioritizing or assigning importance to a task. Just get it all out on paper. In the second column, write down one simple step you can take to make the situation better. Even if it is something small, make it something you can take action on. In the third column, write a way that this experience can be seen as a positive. This is usually the hardest step but dig deep and think. This task accomplishes a multitude of things – it gives you guidance, actionable next steps and gets you thinking about your problems in a different way. Now take actions on the items in column two and see what happens. Your situation should improve.

If all else fails, go for a run. While running, intentionally try and feel the stress and “run away from it”. Keep going and remember that good things happen to those who persevere.

Aiden

How to Take Care of Yourself in 2012

Posted by on January 2, 2012 No comments

“You don’t know what ya don’t know”.

Taking care of yourself is not hard. The key is structure. Here are a few tips for hacking your lifestyle structure.

  1. For healthier eating – Don’t buy it. Food that is in your house, apartment or condo will be eaten. Even that bag of Teddy Grahams that you occasionally snack on. A handful here and a handful there will add up quickly. Even if you eat just 200 extra calories a day, you are ingesting 1400 calories per week and 72,800 extra calories per year! Print out a list of groceries to buy at the grocery store and only buy those items.
  2. At the grocery store – Fortunately, I am not a picky eater. Throughout the past six years I have whittled down a system that works for me (and it is easy!). The key is frozen foods. At the grocery store, I always buy protein powder, skim milk, fresh fruits, frozen fruits, frozen vegetables, canned beans, frozen chicken and light cheeses. Your breakfast: a protein shake with fruit. Snack on fruits and vegetables that you have heated up in the morning and stored in tupperware containers. Pack a lunch with chicken and more vegetables. For snacks in the evening have another protein scoop mixed with milk or peanut butter, bananas and water. For dinner cook up some veggies, fruit, bread and maybe a turkey burger or fish. Even if you’re like me and gorge on fruits, who cares. I have never heard of anyone getting fat on fruit. If you get hungry, drink black coffee or chew gum. Both have been shown to improve mental performance in certain instances.
  3. Develop a morning routine – This varies from person to person. The key is something that you like to do and will make a routine. For me, I wake up around the same time every morning and go for a quick jog (15-20 minutes). This jog usually is not fast or extremely challenging, but it helps me wake-up, get some blood to my head and get my positive hormones going. It also makes me appreciate the city I live in. Afterwards I mix a protein shake and throw on some (insert link to favorite audiobooks) positive or interesting audiobooks. PS – I always listen to audiobooks when I run. It helps me “get lost” in my run. I am sure to take a fish oil and multivitamin. I then shave (purchased an Art of Shaving kit, which I really like). Be sure to apply some facial moisturizer and floss. Think of your morning as the upward slope at the beginning of a rollercoaster: each positive thing you do builds your confidence and “same-day momentum” higher and higher. As you do each of these things, the rest of your day will be easier to approach. If you’ve done all these things, you should be much more prepared to face the day.
  4. Learn how to use technology – The technology explosion of the past five and especially the last two years has made life so much easier for those that have learned how to use the new technology. I utilize a number of programs to help manage my life. With a cell phone, iPad, laptop computer and work computer I am almost always connected. I use a suite of Google products: Gmail, Google Chrome and Chrome to sync across all my devices. Anytime I have a thought I write it down in Evernote. Anytime I have something to do I record it with Remember the Milk. Inbox zero makes e-mail management easy and tools like Mint.com track all my finances. In short – if you have a need for a service there is probably an iPhone app or internet product that can fufill your needs.

Aiden

How to be a Man – Important Qualities of a Man

Posted by on January 2, 2012 No comments

“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it.” – Bear Bryant

  1. His word. A man never sacrifices his word and integrity. It is the one thing that can never be taken by another. A man tells you he will do something, and he does it — no question.
  2. Treats women with respect. A man stands up for the fairer sex and does not belittle or attack women for his own personal gain. This by no means insinuates that women are always right or that he should take personal abuse, but he uses his head and realizes that good manners are important.
  3. Shows up on time. A man should not be late. Lack of promptness is disrespectful. If you struggle with timing, use the “work backwards” approach. If you need to be somewhere at 5:30, start at 5:30 and deduct the appropriate time blocks for travel. Factor in traffic and time to gather whatever supplies or materials you will need.
  4. Takes care of himself. A man cannot take care of, or lead others if he is sick, overweight or reliant on drugs, alcohol or other vices to get him through the day. There are many ways to take care of yourself.
  5. Has a hobby. This can be anything — exercise, sports, fantasy football, martial arts, collecting things — whatever it is that makes you feel engaged. Some have argued that sports and exercise are not a hobby. I respectfully disagree. Lifting weights or playing sports is a fantastic hobby that requires discipline, consistency and fosters human interaction.

Being a man ain’t easy. At least you don’t have to do this.

Aiden

Motivation to Run – Why I Love Running

Posted by on December 28, 2011 1 comment

“Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz

A key to better running is to change the way you think about running. This took me years to figure out, but the more I thought about why I love to run the more I realized that my thought patterns drove my success and willingness to get out there and go. Here are a few things I think about when running that make it more enjoyable:

  1. Just go and get out there. Even on the days when I haven’t slept as much as I would have liked or I’m feeling slow, I think to myself “I can do anything for ten minutes”. Like a slow-moving train, my ten minutes becomes twenty and my twenty becomes thirty.
  2. Don’t judge yourself. You are surrounded by judges in the office and in the world. The road, path or (if you’re lucky) trail is not one of them. One of my roommates from college turned me onto this quote: ”The iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The iron will always kick you the real deal. The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But, two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.” – Henry Rollins. I believe the road is the same way.
  3. Realize you are doing something natural. We are social, physical beings who were designed to move, roam and hunt. Today’s world involves moving some papers, roaming the internet and hunting for the best K-Cup coffee. Instead of thinking “I’m slow, this sucks, I don’t want to do this”, try thinking “This is what I was born to do”. It sounds silly, but it works.

There are just a few of the many reasons I love to run.

Aiden