Tag: exercise

My Misogi Challenge for 2025.

I have been intrigued with Misogi Challenges since I was a teenager. Granted, back then, I didn’t know that they were called Misogi Challenges. I just called them Personal Challenges. Or Doing Hard Things. But I like the Japanese name for them better. Because it makes them sound more profound and official and less like a Hold-My-Beer stunt.

What the Miyagi is a Misogi Challenge?

A Misogi challenge is an annual event in which you take on a difficult personal challenge with a high probability of failure. You do this to push your personal limits, develop grit, resiliency, growth and confidence. It also provides good content for your social media network. Especially if your challenge is to step into a boxing ring with 57-year-old Rusted Mike Tyson.

My Misogi Challenges have included:

  • Trying to break the New Hampshire state record in the discus within 8 months of ACL reconstruction surgery. (That was freaking hard.)
  • Eating my lunch outside every weekday for an entire year. (I ate alone a lot in 2015.)
  • Launching a business. (That’s how I started The Weaponry)
  • Publishing a book (That’s how I wrote What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?)

Misogi Challenge 2025

This year, I have given myself a bench press challenge.

For context, I first benched 300 pounds when I was 17 years old, during the summer after my junior year of high school.

My senior year in high school, I benched 335 pounds while recovering from the ACL reconstruction surgery mentioned above.

At the end of college, when I was 23, I put up 423 pounds when I weighed 211 pounds. 423 is an odd number for weight lifting. But I was using heavy-duty, 1.5-pound collars to secure the weight to the bar. And at 211 pounds of body weight, I counted every pound to see if I could double my body weight.

But that was nearly 30 years ago. That was back when Mike Tyson would have destroyed a social media influencer if such a thing existed.

My 2025 Misogi Challenge includes 4 different goals.

  1. Bench Press 300 pounds. This is a fun club to still be in 35 years after I first joined it.
  2. Bench Press 315 pounds. Everyone who lifts weights seriously knows that this is three 45-pound plates on each side of the bar. It’s a milestone for weightlifters. And it looks great on the bar. (But not so great if it is sitting on your chest.)
  3. Bench Press 335 pounds. I love the idea of still being as strong at 52 as I was at 18.
  4. Living to fight another day. I don’t want to push myself in a way that compromises my tomorrow. So I am listening to my body. And if it says, ‘Back off!‘ like those Yosemite Sam mud flaps, I will back off. You have to play the long game.

The Progress

Monday night at 9:15pm, I bench 295 pounds 4 times.

The week before, when I was fresher and lifted earlier in the day, I benched 290 pounds for 5 reps.

My Monday night workout with my undersized spotter.

While these numbers are a far cry from where I was at my best, I have learned that the decades add to the degree of difficulty. I love that this challenge is pushing me to do hard things. When I was in my teens, 20s and 30s I never thought I would still be flirting with these kinds of numbers in my 50s. But then again, I also thought I would be bald.

I plan to share updates on my progress over the next month. I should attain the 300-pound goal next week. And I expect to peak by late July or August. And most importantly, I hope to live to fight another day. Because I have plenty more challenges yet to come.

It’s Your Turn

I encourage you to take on your own Misogi Challenge. They can help you accomplish great feats, like writing books, starting businesses and running marathons. They create exciting chapters of your life, which help make the story of your life more interesting. They push you to expand and redefine your personal limits. And they fan the flames of your competitive spirit.

Key Takeaway

Do hard things. Push yourself. Challenge yourself. A good Misogi Challenge, or difficult challenge by any other name, makes you feel alive. These challenge force your to keep growing. They stoke your competitiveness. They build your resilience and confidence. They help you live a more interesting life. And they help remind you that you can do hard things. Which means that when the hard things come your way, you know you can handle them. Because you’re a badass. And you choose to do hard things for fun.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.And consider subscribing to Adam’s Good Newsletter.

How To Prevent Holiday Weight Gain: Tips to Stay Fit

Happy Holidays! And welcome to the most wonderful time of the year. But if you have ever wondered why this time isn’t so wonderful on the waistline of your Wonderoos, you are not alone.

The November through January holiday corridor is where Americans gain the most weight. On average we gain a little over 1 pound. While the amount isn’t whaley, the problem is that most people don’t lose that weight. When you gain 1 pound at the holidays every year, the cumulative effect will have a negative impact on how you feel about yourself in your birthday suit.

According to Thomas Rutledge, Ph.D., Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, there are 3 things you should do to avoid the annual holiday plumping.

  1. Increase your physical activity above your baseline level.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at the weight of 3 groups during the holiday season. (With the whoop-de-do. And dickory dock.)

The first group decreased their physical activity. And these Merrymen and Merrywomen gained 50% more weight than the average weight gainers. And they shook when they laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

The second group maintained their normal physical activity, like Steady Cousin Eddies. Unfortunately, this group gained only slightly less than the average of everyone in the study. Who knew?

The third group was “much more active” than normal. Think of that as 50% more active than normal. Which could mean taking 50% more steps than usual, or increasing the number of workouts per week by 50%, or extending their workout time by 50%. Or maybe they rocked around the Christmas tree 50% harder. Or they took 50% more Dreidel Spin classes.

This was the only group that not only did not gain weight, but actually trimmed up while trimming the tree. This is why the Turkey Trot is such a good idea. You burn your calories to earn your calories. This is a great approach this time of year.

2. Weigh yourself every day during the holidays.

In independent studies published in 2018 and 2019, regularly scaling your scale was shown to effectively prevent holiday weight gain. This means that instead of burying your head in the powdered sugar, you should face the scale every day. Because knowledge is power. And if you overdid the eating the day before, today you can underdo it to rebalance the scales. Literally.

I weigh myself every day, and track my weight on an app called Happy Scale. This allows me to see my daily weight loss trend, and take the right actions to correct for small weight gain before it becomes a big deal. (And before I become a big deal.) It also provides positive reinforcements for my good eating choices and physical activity.

Essentially, I am trying to create calorie-negative days through a combination of food intake levels and activity. Weighing myself every day is the best thing I have done to help minimize or eliminate long-term weight gain. I have found there is nothing more powerful than the long-term graphical evidence I have accumulated over the past 3 years of my body weight highs, lows and averages. I have learned to trust my proven process. Because it’s proven. And Groovin.

3) Review Holiday Food and Drink Calorie Information.

Holidays foods and drinks are different. Many of them are plum full of calories, like plum pudding. You should know how many calories are in those cookies, hot chocolate, cheesecake and eggnog before you nog them back. It will help you make better choices, and determine which treats are worth the splurge, Virg.

Here’s A Quick Calorie Content Reference Chart.

Key Takeaway

The happiest holidays are the ones that help you start the new year fitter, not fatter. So make sure to increase your physical activity over the next 2 weeks. Get on the scale every morning for motivation to make good food and activity choices the rest of the day. And arm yourself with caloric information about your go-to holiday treats, so you can budget your calories effectively. By avoiding a one-pound weight gain this and every holiday season, you will reap the benefits for a lifetime.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

8 Ways to reload your spring every day.

A good day is full of actions. Some physical. Some mental. Some social. But the progress you make each day is a result of the actions you take. But one good day is not enough. To live a good, good life you need to create good day after good day, mate.

However, a day full of action depletes your resources. That’s why it is important to reload your spring. (#snickering) Whether you are focused on your career, caring for your family, or training for competition, it’s important to come back day after day with great energy and effort.

To create a long chain of great days of action and progress you have to reload your spring.

8 Ways To Reload Your Spring

1. Sleep: A great night of sleep is the best thing you can do to reload. After a long day of activity, your spring is fully uncoiled. Your energy is expended. Like The Giving Tree, you have nothing left to give. No leaves. No branches. No apples. But overnight something magical happens. A full night of sleep reloads and resets your spring. It makes you ready to uncoil on another day of important actions, Jackson.

2. Eating: All that work you are doing burns calories. When you feel like a hangry, hangry hippo, it’s a sign that your spring is fully uncoiled. When you eat you are putting calories back in your system. You are refueling. As you reload energy into your system with great nutrition you are resetting your spring. Also, make sure to hydrate.

3. Hydrate: Make sure you are drinking plenty of water. Humans are basically walking bags of water. So rehydrate early and often to keep your spring at full hydraulic power. Start your day with a tall drink of water to make sure you hit the day fully recoiled.

4. Exercise When you exercise you are creating a better spring. You are putting more power into it. You are enabling it to uncoil over a longer period without losing strength. Plus, it makes you look more springy.

5. Socializing: If you have extroverted tendencies, you reload by spending time with others. For extroverts, socializing is like Gatorade. (But instead of replacing your electrolytes, it replaces your socialytes.) Make sure to add social activities to your calendar to regain what you have lost.

6. Solitude: If you have introverted tendencies, you reload in your quiet time alone. Don’t neglect this time. It will help you reset and prepare for another day among the Yappers.

7. Reading: Reading reloads your spring through education, inspiration and motivation. (Basically all the ations.) Learning new things helps you find new and better approaches to add to your weaponry. Reading exposes you to people who have done great things and inspires you to do more. Plus, reading provides motivation and reminds you of the reasons you are taking all those actions.

8. Faith: Faith isn’t just for George Michael and Tim McGraw. Tapping into and practicing your faith has the power to reload like nothing else can. Don’t miss out on its power to re-energize your system and bolster your resilience day after day.

Key Takeaway

Success is a result of putting your all into each day and then reloading. The better you are at reloading your spring daily the easier it is to sustain progress and deliver results. Whether you are the CEO of the world’s biggest company or the head of your household, make sure to reload your spring. It’s the key to bringing your best to each day.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

When you feel the heat of inspiration it’s go time!

I have heard countless times that time is our most valuable commodity. I believe this. After all, you can’t buy it. It constantly running out. And despite what Mick Jagger said, it’s not really on your side. (No it’s not.)

But right up there alongside time on the Mt. Rushmore of Most Valuable Commodities are inspiration and motivation.

They light your fire. Like Jim Morrison.

They lead to growth and improvement.

They create the empire state of mind that builds empires. Like JAY-Z and Alicia Keys.

They change the world.

Yet to be effective, both inspiration and motivation require you to act. To move. To do! Do! Do! (Not da-da-da.)

Unfortunately, both forces burn bright for a moment, then the moment’s gone. Like dust in the wind.

Which means when you feel the powerful heat of inspiration and motivation you have to go.

You have to cook while the heat is on, Glenn Frey.

You have to jump on the action you feel inspired to take.

Take steps to start that business.

Start writing that book.

Plan that remodel.

Create that art.

Build the prototype.

Plan that travel.

Create that event.

Get to the gym.

Enroll in that class.

Reach out to that person that could change your day. Or your life.

Acting on the heat of inspiration is how I started The Weaponry.

It’s how I wrote What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?

And it is how I worked out last night at 10 pm after a 15-hour work day.

Key Takeaway

Take advantage of those precious sparks of inspiration and motivation. They don’t last long. But if you take action while your mind is in the red, the impact can be felt long after your time is up.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

10 things to do to increase your personal energy.

There is one thing about me that people comment on all the time. It’s not my very subtle good looks. Or my intelligence. Or my sense of humor. It’s not even about my hair.

I get a lot of comments about my energy. In fact, recently, in a 24-hour span, I was asked where my energy comes from, I was told that my energy is even more noticeable in person than on the phone, and that my energy is just what my fellow elevator passenger needed that day.

Last week as the keynote speaker at an energy symposium in Dallas (thanks to David and Molly Sengstock), I gave a talk on how to energize your life. After my talk, the entire audience stuck around for 20 minutes asking more questions. This was despite the fact that my talk ended at 6pm and there was free alcohol and appetizers awaiting them just outside the room.

What makes this energy thing even more exciting to me is that I am in the last 10 days of my 40s. So as I approach my 50th birthday with energy that makes people comment I expect I am doing something worth knowing.

So lately I have been evaluating my personal energy inputs. I have collected a list of 10 things I do that contribute to my energy. But before we get into them it may also be worth noting that I don’t drink coffee or energy drinks. And I have never drunk alcohol. I don’t know the actual effect of the things I don’t do. So the rest of this is focused on things I do do. (I just dropped a do-do…)

10 Ways To Increase Your Personal Energy.

  1. Sleep. I make sleep a priority. I think of sleep like stopping at a gas station to fill your car with gas. Your sleep is doing the same thing for your body. (Except you can’t grab a Slim Jim and a 64-ounce Bladder Buster soda pop in bed.) Every night you should fill your body with as much sleep fuel as you can. Note: I also like to nap. Especially on the weekends. And when talking to boring people.

2. Eating. I make sure to eat 3 good meals a day. I prefer not to snack. But I have snacks around in between meals to keep me going. Together, sleeping and eating provides a great foundation for my energy. But I have also implemented a policy of only eating until just-full. This helps prevent me from feeling sluggish and chunky. I have lost 16 pounds over the past year with this approach. Being less fat is definitely more good for my energy.

3. Exercise. I exercise about 5 days each week. Exercising for energy is a paradox. Because while it is easy to feel like you are too tired to exercise, the exercise itself is energizing and ultimately increases your go. Within the past year, I have added significant exercise resources to my home gym. This includes a treadmill, elliptical trainer, Rogue Monster rack, bench, and about 600 pounds of free weights, and dumbells up to 90 pounds. I found that I had plenty of will to workout, but often lacked the time to get to the gym during normal operations. So the home setup has helped me get my workout on. And all that weight and equipment in my basement should make my house less likely to get sucked up in a tornado.

4. Work I Love. Your work is a major part of your life. Finding work you love adds significantly to your daily energy. When you look forward to going to work, performing the tasks required of your day, and when you are challenged in a healthy and enjoyable way, it fuels you. Rather than dreading work, your work becomes exciting and interesting. You start loving Mondays the way other people love Fridays. Or Applebees on a date night, eating Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake.

5. Smiling. The smile is like the pilot light of the human body. When you put a smile on your face, everything seems to catch fire. Your body feels the energy and responds appropriately. The people around you smile back and add their energy to yours. It’s remarkable. And overlooked. I smile a lot. Smiling is my favorite.

6. Goals: I have a lot of goals. Both having goals and making progress toward your goals are energizing. They excite, inspire and encourage you to bring more to every day. My goals keep me busy and focused. I suspect that my goals are one of the greatest sources of energy that I tap into that others don’t. So get yourself some goals that you really, really want. Like a Spice Girl.

7. Surround Yourself With Great People. We feed off the energy of others. I am no different. I love to be around ambitious, energetic, and successful people. I am inspired by the success and undertakings of others. They push me to do and accomplish more. I am always seeking more world-beaters to spend time with. Their appetite for work, accomplishment, and adventure is like positive peer pressure. Which is better than an appetite for destruction, Axl.

8. Time Scarcity: The lack of time I have left to achieve my goals and experience all that I want provides a great source of energy. It creates urgency in each day. That urgency makes me go. I know that time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future. Which means it is always go-time.

9. Optimism: If nothing else, I am optimistic. I believe that good things are coming. And I can’t wait to greet them. Or make them happen. I believe both me and the world around me will be better tomorrow. That belief is exciting. And energizing. I believe that hard work pays off. I believe I will reach my goals if I just keep working toward them, and I don’t get hit by a bus or a mosquito carrying malaria. I believe that new friends are around every corner. And I believe my friendships are getting better and deeper all the time. Those are great reasons to get out of bed every morning.

10. A Healthy Home Life: I really enjoy my home. I enjoy my relationships with my children Ava, Johann and Magnus. I am blessed with a wife I love talking to and spending time with, even after 23 years of togetherness. A healthy, happy and supportive home life helps feed and reinvigorates you.

Key Takeaway

Tap into your own energy sources. Start with the basics of sleep, food and exercise. Then discover the people, situations and activities that energize you. Set goals you really want to achieve. Work toward them every day. Smile. Believe in yourself, in others, and in the world. Share your energy with others. When you do, it will multiply and come back to you.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

20 Things I Am Glad I Did in 2020.

On New Year’s Eve, I sat down and reflected on the year gone by. The last day of the year is always a good time to look back and learn what worked and what didn’t. In 2020 I didn’t eat any bats. I didn’t break any windows that didn’t belong to me. And I didn’t act like a cranky baby during a nationally televised debate. I like to focus on the positive. So here are 20 things I am glad I did do last year.

Things I am glad I did in 2020.

1. I wore a mask a lot. It’s really easy to wear a mask. And it helps you and the people around you not get sick and die. That’s why Batman and The Lone Ranger both wore one. And they both saved a lot of people.

2. I saved for a rainy day. I have been fiscally conservative with my business, The Weaponry. Which means that I left money (my fiscals) in the business to make sure it could weather challenging times. So when the economy went sideways in March I didn’t panic. Not worrying whether we would be open to see 2021 allowed me to focus on opportunities instead. And opportunities kept coming.

3. I played foosball. During the March-May lockdown, my 3 kids and I played foosball together every night. It was something fun to look forward to each day. It was the only competitive sport we saw during that time. All 4 of us got much better at the game as we bonded and created foosy memories.

4. I went to the beach. In June my family and I went to Hilton Head Island for a week. While traveling and hoteling has some inherent risks, we were cautious, wore masks around others and socially distanced. But the change of scenery was valuable to our mental health. And the beach itself made us forget about life for a while (like in that Billy Joel song, with Davy, who is still in the Navy).

5. I bought lobster. While we were in Hilton Head my kids asked what lobster tasted like. As a New Englander, I have had a lot of lobstah. It was surprising to realize that my kids had never had it. So one night at dinner I allowed my kids to order the lobster, the most expensive thing on the menu. They loved it, and greatly appreciated the splurge. Remember, sometimes you’ve gotta splurge for the lobster.

6. I organized Zoom calls with friends. I probably had 1000 Zoom calls in 2020. After spending hours each day Zooming with clients and coworkers, I thought Zoom would be a great way to see my friends and family too. My sisters coordinated our family Zooms. But I organized calls with my college track teammates from The University of Wisconsin. I had calls with my high school football teammates. I had many calls with friends from New England, Georgia, California, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Florida and on and on. It was a lot like having friends over for beverages. It simply required someone to take the lead.

7. I kept exercising. During the lockdown, I relocated our home exercise equipment to a more prominent place in our basement and started exercising at home with my family. Now, as my daughter Ava and son Magnus play basketball, my son Johann and I go to the gym and lift weights together several times each week. As a result, I am stronger now than I was 30 years ago. And I am way stronger than I was 40 years ago. (This sounds good until you realize how young I was 40 years ago.)

8. I rode my bike a lot. Bike riding during the pandemic was like going to therapy. (It was also like a song by Queen.) Most nights during the summer I would ride for 30-90 minutes. Not only was it good exercise, it was freeing in a time that didn’t feel so free.

9. We took an epic road trip. At the end of July, my family and I went on one of the 3 greatest road trips of my life. We took 11 days and drove from Wisconsin to Idaho. We visited several national parks, including The Badlands, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Theodore Roosevelt. The trip was an educational and inspirational adventure. It was the highlight of 2020.

10. I sent an email saying we were ready to help. On March 16th, I sent all of our clients an email saying we were up and ready to work remotely. We were fully functional from home on day one of The Lockdown. Our clients were ready to roll with us. We just kept on crushing it throughout the lockdown and the rest of the year. Not only did we pick up more work from agencies that didn’t make it, we ended up having our best year ever by 25%.

11. I gave blood. Giving blood has been something I always wanted to do, but just never started. I come from a family of blood donors. My Dad has given so much blood that I expect he looks like dehydrated fruit on the inside. I finally donated blood this fall. And I will definitely do it again. It is not difficult to do. And I am very proud to have finally checked the box on this oddly elusive life goal.

12. I spoke to college students at 4 different schools. In 2020 I spoke to students at The University of Wisconsin, Marquette University, Concordia University of Wisconsin and Carroll University. Yet I never set foot on any of the campuses. I spoke about advertising, marketing, creativity, business, entrepreneurship and leadership. But I was also able to develop stronger relationships with the professors, lecturers and other school staff members. The academic and business world should be more closely linked. Because we need each other (not knead each other, or kneed each other).

13. I gave bonuses. Throughout the year I was very open with my team about our goals for the year, both before and after we knew anything about covid-19. My team worked very hard to not only keep our business going and growing, but to keep our clients thriving during a very unpredictable time. And when a company does well the team should benefit too. So I was extremely proud to hand out bonus checks on December 30th. Because when the whole team shares in the success you experience more success.

14. I wrote 151 blog posts. I maintained my 3-post-a-week habit throughout the year. I tried to share good news and an upbeat, positive perspective throughout 2020. I hope it helped provide a little light and a little levity in brevity during the unique challenges of the year.

15. I became even more adaptable. The great gift of 2020 was adaptability. It was not an option to reject the opportunity to learn to adapt. It was a requirement. As a result, I learned how to function with new rules, under new conditions, in new settings. I learned what I could live and work without. I became more inventive and open-minded. I saw my children take classes, music lessons, and even athletic practice via Zoom. As they say at Progressive Insurance, you have to be able to go with the flow.

16. I helped people who needed help. I tried to help people who needed the kind of help I could offer in 2020. Sometimes it was encouragement. Sometimes it was business, marketing and entrepreneurial advice. Sometimes it was a bit of work for those who were having a hard time finding work and making money. Because we all need a little help from time to time.

17. I wrote a book. In 2020 I wrote a book. My goal in 2021 is to get it published. In 2022 my goal will be to have someone who is not related to me actually buy the book. More on this in a later post.

All Rights Reserved

18. I read Rich Dad. Poor Dad. to my kids. I have now read the book to all 3 of my kids. The financial literacy the book teaches is simply not taught anywhere else. In fact, the first two kids I read the book to this spring both asked to buy stocks and have done extremely well with their investments. I highly recommend that you read this book if you haven’t. Read it to your kids if you have kids. And if you don’t have kids, don’t have kids! They are expensive. Especially if they like lobster.

19. I switched dentist. My former dentist was fine. The kind of fine that will lull you into accepting a lesser experience for a long time. But our delayed dental care of 2020 encouraged my wife Dawn and me to reconsider the dentist we have seen for the past 3 or 4 years. We love the new dental practice we found. In fact, I had a chipped crown replaced and I literally didn’t have a moment of discomfort. Don’t settle for fine. Seek outstanding. And get your teeth right.

20. I said yes a lot. I had many requests for my time and talent in 2020. I was asked to help, to get involved, to serve and to contribute in many different ways. Yes was my default. I felt like the world needed more yeses in 2020. Perhaps I did too. Yeses help you grow and make the world a better place. Yes, even if you are the owner of a lonely heart.

Key Takeaway

It is important to reflect on your year, your actions and your attitudes. Note what is working for you and what is not. Learn and grow as you go. Be deliberate in your actions. Embrace a life of continuous improvement. It’s the best path to the best you.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

5 Things I do to keep my work energy high.

Being an entrepreneur is as close as I will get to knowing what it was like to be Bruce Lee. Because entrepreneurs face a nonstop onslaught of challenges that come from all angles. It requires you to remain sharp and on your toes. And that is just to play defense.

Getting Offensive

But like Deion Sanders, entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of simply playing defense. Since I first launched The Weaponry, my advertising and idea agency, I have been constantly on offense. It is how you create something out of nothing, and then grow it into something worth talking about. It requires vision, focus, persistence. And a whole lot of energy.

Pure Energy

I am a naturally high-energy human. But my job, like yours, will take as much energy as I have to give. I have lofty goals that will take a tremendous amount of work to achieve. That’s why I have been focused lately on keeping my energy reserves high by taking care of myself physically. Here’s what I am doing.

The 5 Things I Do To Keep My Energy Up

1. Sleep 

Sleep is the key to great energy. If you do just one thing on this list, I recommend  saturating yourself with sleep. It is how the human body recharges. Most Americans sleep far too little. Then again most American’s aren’t thinking about operating at their optimal level. #StateFairObservation

photo of two women lying on grass
I probably don’t look like this when I sleep. But I like to think I sleep pretty, on a log, in the woods.

I am an Early Owl, which is a cross between an Early Bird and a Night Owl. So I naturally feel great early in the morning, and energized late at night. I enjoy staying up late feeding my curiosity. Which is why I now have a curiosity curfew.

However, I recognize that I feel much better with good sleep. So I have been trying to get to bed by 10:30 or 11pm so I am well rested when my non-negotiable alarm goes off at 6am. I have found 7.5 hours to be my prime sleep number. Although when I plugged it into a Sleep Number Bed I found 7.5 to be waaaaay too soft.

2. Eating

We all know that we get better energy by eating better food. But right now I am focusing not just on what I am eating, but when I am eating. Eating at the right times helps me keep my energy levels where I need them to perform at my best throughout each day. Bill Cosby taught me this lesson in a Public Service Announcement on TV when I was a kid. And we all know Bill Cosby had enough energy to pave his own 4 lane highway to hell.

tray of food beside body of water
This is an overly romanticized view of breakfast. My actual breakfast has far more Frank’s Red Hot. I put that shiznit on everything!

I typically eat breakfast (and I always eat breakfast) at just about 8am. But I have often pushed my lunch back to 1 or 2pm, because I have been on a roll at work. But I am making a concentrated effort to create a hard stop for lunch at noon. Because it helps maintain a more consistent energy level throughout my afternoon. And it prevents me from becoming a hangry, hangry hippo. I have also tried to eat dinner between 6pm and 7pm. My family’s hectic evening schedule often tempts me to push off dinner until 8pm or 9pm. But when I wait that long I feel like a skateboarder who took too long between kicks and lost all momentum. Don’t be that skateboarder.

young man on a skateboard
Eating is like kicking while skateboarding. Do it regularly or you’ll lose your momentum.

3. Drinking  

I am working on more and better hydration. Water is my go-to drink. I have heard that you should start your day with a drink of water to wake up your machinery. So lately I have been starting my day with a tall glass of water, first thing, before I start writing in the morning. I can tell it helps get me flowing faster.

pexels-photo-113734.jpeg
This is a fancy pic of fancy water. I drink the generic stuff that comes out of the tap and it works the same way.

4. Exercise 

My energy is higher when I exercise regularly. Even when I am exhausted at the end of a day, making time to exercise helps me elevate my energy. As a result I enter each new day with a deeper energy reserve when I exercise regularly. #RichardSimmonsStyle

man jumping in mid air holding blue ball above his head
This is kinda what I look like when I exercise, because I also work out under fluorescent lights.

5. Downtime  

You need downtime and rest to restore your energy, passion and love for what you do at work. I take weekends completely off from work whenever I can. I take vacations with my family. I try to spend a considerable amount of time when I am not working not thinking about work. I do this by becoming totally engrossed in other activities that range from reading to boogie boarding. The downtime helps me increase my enthusiasm for my day job when I come back to it.

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Boogie boarding is one of my favorite downtime activities to do with my family, including my daughter Ava.

Key Takeaway

You are your most important business machine. If you want to accomplish great things you have to keep yourself running in top condition. While money may make the world go round, it is your energy level that helps you get that bread. So take care of yourself. And make sure you have the energy to take on the kind of work your ambitions demand.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this story, please share it with them.

A lesson from the most important plates in the weight room.

I love to workout. Lifting weights is the core of my workout routine. When I started lifting weights as a high school freshman it changed my life. Suddenly I had a way to burn off my teenage energy supply. I enjoyed it so much that I added 65 pounds during my 4 years of high school without getting an inch taller.

Today

As an adult who no longer competes in anything athletic-y I still love to lift weights. My teenage energy has been replaced by the energy created by the opposing forces of adulthood. But the energy is still there, and still needs to be burned off.

man in black reebok shoes about to carry barbell
The best way to make stress go away.

The Plates

For most of the past 30 years I thought of the large 45-pound plates as the most important plates in the weight room. When I was a high school freshman I couldn’t wait to put 45-pound plates on each side of the barbell when I was bench pressing. By my senior year I could put 3 of those bad boys on each side. During college I could bench 4 of those on each side, and squat well over 5. Those 45-pounds plates were milestones. And they were all I focused on.

several rogue gym plates
There’s a lot on your plates. But which ones are the most important?

A Different Perspective

Today my thinking has changed. The 45-pound plates may be the most high profile pieces of iron in the gym. But they are not the most important. Not even close. The most valuable plates in any weight room or home gym are the littlest. The 2 and a half pounders.

2.5 pound
These little guys make big things happen.

The 2.5-pound plates are the key to progress. Every time you workout you need to push yourself a little bit more. Just a little. And that small, consistent push keeps you growing and getting stronger.

Mini Magic Makers

When you put one of those little 2.5 pounders on each side of your barbell you can increase your total load by 5 pounds. Not a lot. Just 5 pounds. But that is how progress is made. Little by little. Consistently. Like a slow and steady, sustainable march forward. You can’t jump 45 pounds at a time. But the 2.5 pound plates will build you a bridge to your next major goal.

Beyond Weights and Plates

All of our personal and professional improvements comes through slow and steady progress. Small steps add up to big steps. That’s why there is immense value in incremental improvements. The small steps are sustainable. They are the building blocks of success. And they are the foundation upon which all forward momentum is built.

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Small steps are a big deal.

Key Takeaway

Small improvements are the secret to success. Together, your small improvements add up to the quantum leaps and major breakthroughs that others notices. But giant steps forward are really just little steps blurred together. Focus on the little steps. They will take you where you want to go.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message please share it with them. 

3 easy things you can do to prevent stress gunk.

Entrepreneurship is like joining the Stress Of The Day Club. Because entrepreneurship is hard. But motherhood and fatherhood and living in the hood are also hard. That’s because life is hard, and stressful. No one is immune. And not to spoil the ending, but none of us will make it out alive.

Stress Gunk

We accumulate stress during regular operating hours every day. If we are not careful, that stress leads to the accumulation of a funky gunk. That gunk prevents us from performing at our best. In turns us into cranky pants. It also prevents us from being able to handle more stress.

I have found 3 things that help me eliminate the stress gunk in my trunk. Together these 3 ingredients form my de-stress recipe. Or destressipe.

1. Exercise

When I started lifting weights when I was a freshman in high school it changed my life. I tend to have a lot of energy. But when I lift weights it helps me burn off my excess, pent-up, or silly energy. Stress is a form of energy too. You can use it like a workout supplement to move more weights or endure longer endurancey things. The key is to workout until you’ve burned off the stress energy. It’s a great way to prevent your mind and body from going all Chernobyl.

2. Sleep

Sleep is your giant reset button. It is what helps replenish your store of energy, your tolerance for craziness, your focus, your stamina and your eye boogers. Whenever I get 7 hours of sleep at night I feel like I am unstoppable. I often nap on the weekends too. Because it is an investment in a better me. When I don’t feel quite right, sleep is my go to prescription. Because it is how your body naturally regenerates the best you.

3. Church.

Stress often causes us to lose perspective. Or maybe it is the loss of perspective that causes the stress. Either way, attending church is the best way I know to regain a healthy world view. I believe there is a greater power than me. And I don’t just mean the IRS or Dwayne Johnson. I’m on Team Christian. But I believe all of the major religions provide great perspective and guidance on how to be a better you and live a better life.

I try to attend church regularly. It helps me refocus, refresh, relax, feel supported, and forgiven for my mistakes. Communion also makes me feel a bit like a cannibal when I eat and drink JC. But that’s a different issue.

Key Takeaway

There are stresses, frustrations and losses that accumulate every day. We are drained by daily setbacks. So we have to prevent the stress gunk from building up and fouling our systems. The key is to figure out how to reboot, regenerate, and respond positively.  Exercise, Sleep and Church are the back-to-basics keys that can help you find your balance again when you start to weeble or wobble. Try these proven approaches. They just may make you feel like a better human.

How to warm up your entrepreneurial spirit.

Admit it, you would really like to own your own business. Most of us would. But getting started is a gnarly tangle of question marks.

  • Do I have what it takes?
  • What do I do first?
  • Do I have the appetite for risk?
  • Should I find a partner?
  • If my business doesn’t take off quickly do I give up food, shelter or clothing first?

Curious-but-careful types turn to books for answers to these questions. While you can read about entrepreneurship all you want, you can’t actually become an entrepreneur without taking action. Which means the best thing to do to warm up your entrepreneurial spirit is practice taking entrepreneurial action (without spending or losing money in the process).

The Challenge

I offer people enamored with the idea of entrepreneurship a simple one week challenge. If you bail on the challenge in the first day, it is a sign that you should not be a sailor on the entrepreneur ship. But if you complete the challenge, not only have you exercised the right behavior, you’ve primed the pump for the next step too.

So here is my challenge to you:

Adam Albrecht’s Unpatented One Week Entrepreneurial Warm Up Exercise.

  1. Pick a good starting day that offers flexibility in your schedule. Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays work well.
  2. Every time you think of someone, reach out to them. Send an email,  text or a call them. Shoot them a message on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. Write the impulse down if you can’t send a message at that moment. But send the message that day. If there is a reason that person popped into your mind let them know. *only contact each person once, even if you think of them multiple times during the week. You don’t want to creep them out.

3. Write down the number of days in a row that you completed the mission.

The 3 Reasons You Should Try This Exercise:

1.Entrepreneurship is about turning thoughts into actions. Everyone has thoughts, ideas and impulses. But most of the time these impulses dissipate before they become actions. This exercise helps you transform your moments of inspiration into actions.

2. Entrepreneurship also requires you to actively maintain your network. That means investing time, thought, action and care into other people. It also involves expanding your network. Which could mean reaching out to people you don’t know, or don’t know well.

3. Entrepreneurship requires persistence. You have to keep at it day after day. Even if you really enjoyed a day or two of this exercise, don’t try to launch a business until you can string together a full week of successful impulse activation. 

5 Things You Will Learn From This Exercise:

1. What it is like to activate your thoughts.

2. Whether or not you can activate your thoughts with consistency.

3. Your connections with others will grow stronger.

4. The recency of your communications with make others more likely to think of you again in the near future.

5. Human interactions often set off a chain of interesting positive events. 

Key Takeaway

In entrepreneurship action is everything. In order to invent Facebook you actually have to invent Facebook. And it starts by doing the things you’ve thought about doing but haven’t done. Entrepreneurship requires you to spend a good chunk of your time outside your comfort zone. So practice getting over that discomfort by reaching out to friends and family you haven’t contacted for quite some time. By the end of this Unpatented One Week Entrepreneurial Warm Up Exercise, you won’t have spent any money on your business idea. But you will have created a more fertile environment for it to grow.