Day 18 Catching Myself When I'm Off

So my 30 day challenge has been quite an adventure so far.  Yesterday, I started my pattern of letting my commitments fall by the wayside but today I've recognized what I've started doing and I'm re-committing today.  The more awareness I'm building the quicker I'm able to catch myself when I'm off the path and re-connect to what I want for myself.  Here's a reminder of the commitments I've made for this first 30 day challenge:

Items to do Every Day (Non-negotiable):

1. Drink 24oz. of water every morning. (Body)
2. Study Body, Mind, Mastery by Dan Millman for 45 Mins. (Mind/Coaching)
3. Exercise for an hour (Body)
4. Work on Art Pieces for a minimum of 1 hour. (Artistic Expression)

Limits I want to put on myself (Non-negotiable):

1. Only 30 mins at a time at the computer.  A minimum of a 15 minute break until I can use the computer again.

There have been so many things I've been learning with this process...but, it doesn't necessarily feel like learning as much as it feels like remembering.  These lessons I have known all along yet making them practical (to practice-all) has been a wonderful journey and challenge...and it never ends.  

Reminding myself that this is a practice that will continue as long as I live is humbling, especially for a recovering perfectionist.  Moving from a striving for Perfection to a commitment to Mastery has been a great realization and one that I've been getting more and more comfortable with as part my default mindset.  "Neurons that fire together wire together" as my psychology professors would say.  

Reminders occur daily by studying Body, Mind, Mastery.  It's been very satisfying so far and at Day 18 I'm really seeing the benefits of this consistent action.

My 30 minutes has run up on my computer time (and past...grrrr) and the day is too nice to not fully enjoy it.  I'm really enjoying this limit on computer time but need to keep duct tape that my timer to it.  I'm going to do that now.  Have a great weekend!

Day 14 Check-in

What a Journey!

It's been so interesting to see what has been happening throughout this process.  Here's a reminder of what I've committed to...

Items to do Every Day (Non-negotiable):

1. Drink 24oz. of water every morning. (Body)
2. Study Body, Mind, Mastery by Dan Millman for 45 Mins. (Mind/Coaching)
3. Exercise for an hour (Body)
4. Work on Art Pieces for a minimum of 1 hour. (Artistic Expression)

Limits I want to put on myself (Non-negotiable):

1. Only 30 mins at a time at the computer.  A minimum of a 15 minute break until I can use the computer again.

First, I'd like to share some of the things I've noticed and then move on to a new exciting idea that I'd like to share with you.  By drinking 24 oz. of water every morning, I'm finding that my energy levels throughout the day are much more constant and at a higher level than if I don't.  In fact, if I miss my water in the morning, by 11am I start to feel sluggish.  Something that I'd always felt starting in high school at about this time.  Was I always dehydrated?  This is a fantastic habit I want to continue.

Exercising for an hour.  I've been playing small and counting even my walks with my dog as time spent exercising.  For the next 16 days I'm going to make the effort to step up the intensity of the exercise as I know I can handle more.  It's hard to know how the effects are here, but perhaps some of my high energy level has something to do with this.

Working on art pieces has been fun as it's enjoyable to spend time each day being abstract and creative that doesn't have anything to do with my direct work.  There's no more pining to express myself as I'm feeling fulfilled with the amount I'm doing.  Huge difference from when I had the desire and all my energy was wasted thinking about expressing myself instead of doing it.  I've been having fun using the old wax crayons from my grandfathers house and playing with melting them to create effects.  Here's a quick pic of one of my pieces in progress.

The computer is one of the harder places to regulate myself as I do a lot of work from the computer and find myself getting lost working on something.  The first week I carried a timer around and hit start every time I sat at a computer, it worked great and my house projects happened a lot more.  Also, I didn't notice a drastic decrease in productivity as well.  In fact, I had to be more focused when I did get to the computer so that I could get more done.  I must re-commit to the timer.  Perhaps I should tape it on.

There have been the low points, that I'm still addressing.  For example, I'm having trouble doing everything during weekends and when I'm around others all day.

The fun has been in trying to figure out solutions for myself and re-committing to the goals I've set.  Out of these struggles new ideas have come to the forefront.

These new ideas have sprung forth like geysers and old ideas have bubbled back up to the surface.  This time I'm doing a better job of capturing them and putting them into my notebooks and filing system so that I don't have to keep on re-thinking them over and over without making progress.

One of my most exciting ideas is directly applicable to this blog and involves bringing my personal development to another level wherein I'm able to not only serve myself but also put information out there and share my experiences with those interested.  Even if I only help a few people I feel as though I will have been of service and more satisfied than if I just did it for myself (also, it's a good motivator for me).  So what is this exciting idea you ask?  Having gone through the practice of reading a book consistently for the first 14 days, I've realized that every book shares a certain philosophy.  Thinking about a philosophy is one thing, but acting upon a philosophy is another thing all together.  My new idea is to focus on a book for 30 days and extract the key principles and ideas while at the same time putting those ideas into action.  During this time I will journal my experience through blogging.

My goal is to be able to transform these ideas into practical aspects that I can use in my life and at the same time share these big ideas and my experience of them.

I'm going to start with Body, Mind, Mastery by Dan Millman.  Stay tuned...

Six Days in...Philosophy in Action

Day 6 into the 30 day challenge.

Already, I have slacked :(

A quick reminder of the philosophy I am looking to put into action....

Items to do Every Day (Non-negotiable):

1. Drink 24oz. of water every morning. (Body)
2. Study Body, Mind, Mastery by Dan Millman for 45 Mins. (Mind/Coaching)
3. Exercise for an hour (Body)
4. Work on Art Pieces for a minimum of 1 hour. (Artistic Expression)

Limits I want to put on myself (Non-negotiable):

1. Only 30 mins at a time at the computer.  A minimum of a 15 minute break until I can use the computer again.

A strong start on day 1 and 2, completing all of my items.  During these first two days I noticed the most pronounced change occur with the limits that I put on my computer time.  The amount of practical things I got done skyrocketed.  All the tasks were quite enjoyable and partially because they are all things that I want to be doing.  Morale was great.

Weekend days 3 and 4 were a 30 day challenge disaster.  I spent the weekend traveling and coaching a roller derby tournament that my girlfriend was playing in.  We ended up winning the tournament but I missed my obligations.  I didn't work on any art or study my book.  The exercise I got was minimal as I wasn't actually playing myself.  The temperature had to be in the 90's and humid inside the rink though and I drank enough water to meet my goal 10 times over and I got a fantastic sweat on...so at least it was a good cleanse for the skin.  Computer was a non-issue as I didn't spend much time on it at all.

Reflection on days 3 and 4.  I need to be able to keep these tasks at the front of my mind every day.

NEW Strategy: Print out my tasks and paste them on my fridge and leave them on my desk so that every day I need to fill one out.

Let's see how this correction will help.

Day 5 was extremely busy as I was catching up on all the work I didn't do over the weekend and had a number of meetings to attend and Floorball to run. The bad habits from the weekend seeped into my first day of the week.  I'm hoping the new strategy will help with this.

Day 6 is today and I'm back on the train.  Whenever you fall out of your commitment you have 2 choices.  Re-commit or Quit.  I choose to Re-commit.  Which reminds me of one of the songs that another derby league had for their intro this weekend....2 Legit, 2 Legit to Quit.

I'll let you know how the new strategy goes and heres some of the artwork that I created in the last 4 days....

Onward and upward!

Philosophy in Action Round 1

Time to start the experiment of building some Fundamentals as this is what Philosophy in Action is all about.

First things first, Here is what I want to Master.

1. Myself (Body, Mind, Emotions)

2. Coaching (Allowing others to reach their fullest potential)

3. Artistic Expression (work through my stumbling blocks through art)

Items to do Every Day (Non-negotiable):

1. Drink 24oz. of water every morning. (Body)
2. Study Body, Mind, Mastery by Dan Millman for 45 Mins. (Mind/Coaching)
3. Exercise for an hour (Body)
4. Work on Art Pieces for a minimum of 1 hour. (Artistic Expression)

Limits I want to put on myself (Non-negotiable):

1. Only 30 mins at a time at the computer.  A minimum of a 15 minute break until I can use the computer again.

Alright, so I have 5 things that I want to do Every Day for the next 30 Days.  It's currently Oct. 2nd. and 30 days from now will be Sept. 1st.  I will be checking in periodically to let you know my progress, what I'm learning, and I'll share some of the art I've been working on.

Make it a great day!

Putting Thoughts into Action

Hello all,


So it's been a while since I posted.  There has been a lot of Philosophizing and not a lot of Action. I am writing this in order to keep myself accountable for putting the philosophy I have been reading into action.  Balance is now needed at this point in the cycle and it's time to Envision a solution to adding practicality to all of the philosophy that has been studied.


My Goal: Focus on creating non-negotiable habits for a minimum of 30 day periods.


My Inspiration: Masters of their fields before me.


My Hope: It provides a journal of change to inspire others as well as a means to keep myself accountable.


My Desire: To live the truth that I Create for myself.  Be the person I would like to be.


In this series of posts I'll be checking in to keep you updated on my projects and progress.


Let's see what happens!

Beyond the Game (Hockey and Life)

So it's been a while since the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks but yesterday I was reminded what an impact that had on hockey fans and people around the world....and perhaps in a very different way than you might expect...

I arrived at the local rink early yesterday to cut some sticks for a training ladder and prepare for running that nights practice when one of the kids in our youth organization found me.  He had arrived early and sounded nervous but eager to talk with me because "people your age don't usually hang out with kids like me."  It was flattering and we were very early so I thought it would be fun to play some bubble hockey with him.  He was excited and was also better at bubble hockey than I would have imagined.  Sure, I'm 26 and in my prime but he's a well tuned kid with some good hours of bubble hockey experience and it showed in his 3-1 thrashing he handed to me.  After finishing the game we sat down and talked some school and hockey.  I found out that Detroit was one of his favorite teams and that Vancouver used to be one of his favorites until this year.  When asked why he replied "I liked them until the riots after the final."

Now this may not have struck such a chord if it wasn't for the fact that it reminded me of a similar incident that happened while I was in Canada this Summer at the Andrews Hockey Growth Programs in PEI.  Wally Kozak, a great coach and motivator, was giving a talk to the kids at the Andrews Hockey Showcase and asked them what they remembered the most about the Stanley Cup Finals this year.  The kids in this group were about 8-11 and the first kid raised his hand and said "the riots."  The second kid said "some of the goals" and then another kid piped in and said "yea, the riots were awful."  To both Wally and my surprise this younger group keyed right into the major social problem that stemmed from the Stanley Cup more than anything else. 

With subsequent groups that all became older and older, when asked the same question, they focused on more of the hockey and less on the riots.  It was an interesting observation and one that Wally used to be able to spread some light on the things that matter most.  The values and life lessons.  In discussing these things further I found myself becoming more inspired to focus on the deeper lessons in sports.  I'm even attending a life coach certification in January to become even more well rounded and aware of the ways to help people develop their potentials and see the connections between sport and life.

The Vancouver Riots are a great talking point and opportunity to teach a lesson that can help people realize that deep connection between our character on and off the rink.  A way to learn how to not just do what others are doing because other people are doing it.  A way to learn that we have the choice to do what is right and not be a part of a "riot."  

Let's go back to my little hockey friend at the rink yesterday.  I feel very lucky and thankful to have had that opportunity to teach.  Earlier, he had been telling me how his teacher threatened to send him to the principle that day because he was feeling hyper and decided to sing songs during class like yankee doodle dandy.  After he had made the riot comment I used this as an opportunity to tease out some of the ideas of how people can act.  I asked him how he thought the riot started?  He wasn't sure, but it was "probably because some people were mad."  I agreed and told him about the snowball effect and how things can become quite out of control if someone doesn't say anything and let's some out of control behavior go.  I asked him what would happen if the teacher let you sing during their lesson and then other people started to sing and then everyone was singing and doing whatever they wanted.  We agreed it would probably get pretty crazy and out of control.  Finally, we talked about how we can be a leader and that we have a choice to do what feel and think is right or to do what other people are doing.

A great chance to allow a child to follow his heart and make good decisions....I love my job.  

How Do I Find Flow and Stay Present?

Ah Men's league hockey. A place to get some exercise, play a sport I love, and have some camaraderie with the guys. It's a place where I personally enjoy learning more about the game and now that I've gotten to a point where the challenge is reasonably low for me I've started to find new ways to develop myself. Learning to stay more in the present has been an underlying focus for myself in recent times and this past week has presented two interesting challenges:

1. Allowing myself to stay mentally present despite a physical pain.
2. Paying attention to my arousal level in order to find Flow

While these two challenges may appear much different on initial appearance they both deal with the staying present and performing despite adversity.

The story starts when I hit the gym for the first time in a number of years and weight lifted in order to get stronger. It was a Tuesday it was a leg day. My gym partner, Josh, taught me a great lesson about squating that made me realize the great importance of a good physical trainer*. Immediately after the workout they felt strong, limber, ready to go. However, as night came I knew I would be in some trouble.

The next day was a running day for Josh and I was very very sore. Deciding to go on the run demolished what little left I had of my legs and the rest of the day and following days made me realize that it would be nice to have a handle on the wall to help me sit down on the toilet. Felt like an old man. My legs were toast (aka. annihilated, dead, hurtin').

Hockey still had to be played though and that night it was with a group that allowed me to be a step slower as play was more laid back. The lack of knee bend slowed me down. It slowed me to the point that one of the guys who was in his high 70's (and yes 70's and still plays better than most) gave me a run for my money. No wheels. With my speed stymied I had to rely on my hands. The times that I tried to get lower for speed I found my legs giving out. It had been a while since I lacked my range of motion and at that time I further understood the importance of staying fit. Mentally, I was struggling. My mind was screaming at me to just hit cruise control on a snails pace and I fought to not let the inner negative voice take over. I changed out thoughts of doubts into positive thoughts of encouragement. It was not an easy task and I felt good for being able to quiet my mind and not get too wrapped up in a pain fixation.

By Friday my legs had still not recovered. They could hold weight though, which was a great step in the right direction. However, I found that Friday posed a whole new set of challenges. My physical body was uncoordinated, it lacked the fine motor coordination to move where I wanted when I wanted. It was another fight, this time me against my body control, or lack thereof. The night was spent trying to regain coordination but it resulted in losing the proper focuses needed to play hockey. I found myself making poor decisions as my awareness of those around me on the ice deteriorated. Thankfully I'm finding a whole new set of things to work on. The whole night was a struggle and in the end my progress to stay in the present felt minimal as my body would not cooperate out of fatigue.

Sunday night comes. It's my personal men's league game and my legs have recovered. Arriving at the rink early I found another team missing some players so I hop on for the game before mine. They had 1 sub and I knew that I would be staying on the ice for the full 60 minutes but said "why not?" The drop of the first puck was won right back to me where I tried to make a pass up to my wing; intercepted. I backed up using some crossovers and gave away where my momentum was going and they broke right in to have a nice shot opportunity. Later that shift a pass came from my defensive partner and I fumbled it, collected it, and tried to make a futile move on a rushing forward. Really frustrated with myself I asked "what the **** is going on." My mind wasn't in it, my body wasn't in it, what can I do?

That's when I remember a conversation I had with my friend, another Josh, who is attending school for sports psychology at Ithica, about staying present and getting myself to be in "Flow" (aka. in the zone). We discussed the power of being present during play and ways of managing arousal levels. At this point I had the realization that it was boredom that was occuring and that I was at the low end of the arousal spectrum. In order to snap myself out of it I gave myself some specific task goals. I said, "hey Steve, I'm going to score one right now" and not 30 seconds later I read the play well and intercepted the pass through the middle, picked my spot and ripped it home. Skating back to the center ice for the drop of the puck Steve looks at me and says with a smile "guess that's the power of intention, right?" I just laughed knowing how true his statement was.

From that point on I played with intention. Playing with the right focuses let me stay in the moment and play at a high level. After winning my own game 3-2 with the second and third goals coming from a great desire to score, the goalie from the other team said that I looked very focused and that he could tell I was in the zone.

Being able to find the best spot between boredom and anxiety is what allowed me to get into flow and something that I will need to continue to be aware of as I play and grow.

Ways I was able to be in "Flow" and stay present:

1. Recognition of what state I was in. (Bored, In Flow or Anxious)

2. Assessing which techniques to use. Such as Self-Instructional Talk(task focusing), Cognitive Restructuring(negative thoughts out, positive thoughts in) or Relaxation Training(didn't need to use this week but would be for calming down when too pressured. See post script)

3. Using these techniques to keep in Flow and Present.

Hope this blog post gives you some ideas and if you have any questions post them in the comments section and Go Bruins!

P.S. - Watching the Bruins at the start of Game 2 against Philadephia this year(2011) I noticed that the annoucers made the great comment about the Bruins needing to "slow things down and start making their passes." The flyers came out....flying....and the speed and pressure made Boston cough up the puck and make poor decisions and plays. By trying to relax and slow things down they were able to start making their passes again and found their stride to gain the win. Atta boys.

*Getting my weight more on my heels while doing squats and leg presses forces the proper muscles in my legs to work. I had been using my quads and adding to a more imbalanced strength system in my body by being so much on my toes. Probably a contributing factor to a sciatic nerve problem that I developed and has since passed.