Tag: positive attitude

  • My Daily Attitude Readjustment Project: How A Positive Mind Got Me Out of a Hole

    My Daily Attitude Readjustment Project: How A Positive Mind Got Me Out of a Hole

    I wanted to resurface this deeply personal piece around my daily attitude readjustment project that reflects on my journey of overcoming challenges and embracing a positive mindset. I’ve lightly edited the original article and updated it with additional resources to better support and inspire those seeking to improve their mental well-being. The original version was first published on October 19th, 2019.

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    I have a few confessions to make. I’m not always the most positive person, in fact, I admittedly have pessimistic tendencies, but it’s something I work on every day. This must sound strange coming from the creator of a fitness and wellness brand, but it’s true.

    I’ve gone through ups and downs as I grow as a human, but not too long ago, I dug out of one of my deepest holes yet, and it was my attitude that saved me.

    Facing Rejection and Loss

    I had lost my dream job and was devastated. I lost a best friend too. And as all of this was happening a lot of my contacts were no longer there for me either. I was alone and was experiencing the most amount of rejection to date. I was very lucky to have my family, a couple of very tight relationships, and my health, but a lot of other things were completely going in the wrong direction.

    I thought I had peaked out. Hit my prime and everything was downhill from there. I thought my time had come and it had passed me by. That was the cycle of thought that repeated over and over in my head. And things only got worse from there.

    The Impact of Negativity on Health

    I got sick more often, I felt weaker, I didn’t want to work out as much, and when I did, I was killing myself. I got very sad and ended up in a deep, scary depression. I hid it to some extent and kept producing and fighting to be an inspiration that I always wanted to be, but holding a lot of that negative just doesn’t work. Eventually, things reached a new breaking point.

    I can’t quite pinpoint exactly what my wake-up call was, but I started to realize just how negative I was thinking and allowing it to spiral.

    Related: My perfect day for brain and body performance

    Opening Up and Seeking Help

    This was one of the most difficult things for me to write and share openly because I think it makes me sound like a complete hypocrite or fraud. Then I would beat myself up even more because I would think about how I sound like a brat because there are others with far less or are worse off.

    My attitude needed to change on so many levels.

    “While chatting with a friend through some of these issues, he asked me a very interesting question: ‘When you’re meeting with people, what are they picking up from the conversation?’ ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. He said, ‘How are people feeling after meeting you? What sort of vibe are you giving off?’ I don’t know why these particular questions made me stop and think for a minute about how I was interacting with people, but they did.”

    A lot of my internal struggles and negativity were probably showing without me even really knowing it. You can only hide sadness and depression and anger and resentment so much. It comes through in some way or another. It was after that conversation that I started to seriously reassess my attitude and how it was impacting my progress.

    A Life-Changing Book

    “The same friend sent me a book the very next day, ‘Today Matters’ by John Maxwell. Initially, I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, I’m not a self-help guy! I’m the one who helps other people!’ What an ego, right? But the truth is, I needed help.”

    While the book is loaded with ideas on how to be a better leader, one chapter in particular that stuck with me was all about attitude. As I was reading, I had to put the book down and email my friend a thank you as I held back tears. I was moved. Finally! I felt something in my bones that I hadn’t felt in many years. It was the same exact feeling I got when I decided I wanted to work in fitness, and magazines, and media, and content.

    Creating a Daily Attitude Readjustment Project

    I decided to start my own daily attitude readjustment project. Here it is:

    • This is my daily attitude readjustment project
    • My attitude discipline every day will be to read this document every morning.
    • I will forget all of the bad things that happen to me.
    • I will see the positive in all work assignments or projects — no matter how difficult or daunting.
    • I will look for the positive in people and trust more.
    • I will stop using negative words.
    • I will recognize my depressive tendencies and acknowledge things I am grateful for.

    While I obviously am far from perfect and can’t always shake bad or negative thoughts, at least this morning ritual got me off on the right foot. Some mornings were tough, I didn’t want to read it, I didn’t want to believe its power for some reason, but truth be told, almost immediately after putting this into place, I was significantly more productive, was far less depressed, and more and more positive things were happening in my life.

    The Power of Consistency

    I started working more, making more money again, and my workouts were getting back on track. Fast forward and I even derailed from reciting my daily attitude readjustment messages, and sure enough, I noticed I started going negative again. So I started back up, and felt immediately better.

    It’s actually quite unbelievable how a paragraph of words can alter my perspective and as a result start moving in a positive direction again.

    A Suggestion for Everyone

    I highly suggest everyone starts their own daily attitude readjustment project.

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  • How I Conquered My Epilepsy

    It’s something I’ve recently started talking more about, but still many never knew. It was something I hid for years as I didn’t want to be laughed at. I wanted to be normal, and most of all, I didn’t want to be a burden towards anyone.

    At the age of 17 I had my first Tonic-Clonic seizure (used to be called Grand Mal) the worst possible kind you can have. This is the only full seizure situation I vividly remember leading up to that moment yet, every one I’ve had since just always made me ask, ‘Why Me?’

    I had just finished playing a video game and went upstairs to put on my night clothes; I put them in the bathroom which I never do. Then I walked into my twin sister’s room, looked at the TV, and told her that the people in the TV were coming out at me. Next thing I knew I woke up in an ambulance. My immediate family knew, but most didn’t, and all I could focus on was my senior year of high school football. I was told as long as it could be controlled I could still play. Oddly enough, I never had a seizure during the day, or ever during my high school or collegiate football career. They would always happen after the season or when I was highly stressed. Deep down I was scared out of my mind more than people know. Being scared everyone I go to sleep, wondering if you’re gonna wake up or not is something I think of daily.

    Never letting it stop me, I pushed forward to playing college football and even played at a level after that when many couldn’t. I was a rare case with my seizures. They would only coming at nighttime, but there was always something that hit me in the back of my mind telling me I wasn’t feeling normal. I was always having to pop pills every morning and night. I’ve been on 4 different medications since 17, and all have had some type of effect from weight gain, bloating, no appetite, uncontrolled temper, to even backing up in my body and not going through my kidneys properly which led me in the hospital for 1 week. At that time, I lost 11 lbs in a week. My dilantin level was a 42 and shouldn’t go past 10. I had double vision and slurred speech until my body re-calibrated itself. Doctors told me my seizures should be and would be worse if it wasn’t for how in great of shape I was in at that time. At that moment, I dedicated my life to being in the best possible shape I could be mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

    It has been a journey and work in progress. I laugh and smile as much as I can,  it’s my natural defense mechanism.  And I religiously stay active everyday as I feel it keeps my sanity. If I miss a day it takes me out of my element. So working out for me is not for aesthetics, ripped abs, or to run a 4.5, I do it for my health, my wife, my son, my family, to live to the fullest and the best of my abilities to be there for my almost 2 year old, Zane. It’s what I call NON-NEGOTIABLE… nothing will make me miss a workout even if it’s 10 minutes of mobility or a body-weight finisher.

    I’m telling my story while fighting back my emotions to show you that even as an expert in the fitness community, I too fight the same battles you do. I too struggle and strive to be an inspiration of greatness day in and day out, but most importantly, I’m just like you and nothing will stop me.

    To this day, I have run countless Spartan Races as I’m a SGX Coach, competed in CrossFit, been a part of the Training For Warriors (TFW) Guinness Book of World Records Deadlift competition, and still so much more to accomplish. Even with all the adversity that’s been put in front me, I’ve never backed down as way too many people rely on me to be on my A-game. And I’ve got more lives to impact for the better.

    Even on my worst day I won’t be defeated. To me, even though Epilepsy is a life threatening disease (#1 silent killer next to cancer), it’s a superpower that allows me to relate to many that thought couldn’t. I’m telling my story to show you that I’m no different, I just choose to continue the good fight. Living the code daily is the mantra and I’ll leave you with this Japanese proverb.
    “JOZAI SENJO” Which means, ALWAYS PRESENT ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF LIFE.