Month: March 2018

I read an article in Business Insider titled: “7 ways life is harder for millennials than it was for their parents”*.  I half-believed I was reading it in The Onion, but it was a serious article.  The author detailed seven perceived ways that life is hard for millennials.  These included:

1. Millennials are less financially stable than previous generations were.

2. Millennials are saddled with student debt — but a college education is more necessary than ever.

3. Millennial men are more likely to live at home with their parents than previous generations were.

4. Millennials are overwhelmed by the dating pool.

5. Millennials feel as if they have to be “always on” at work.

6. Millennials’ self-image erodes in the face of ever-present social media.

7. Millennials are shelling out more on childcare than previous generations were.

Honestly, it bothered me to read this.  It bothered me for so many reasons, but, in particular, because it fails to understand that all generations face their own challenges, and it negates the accomplishments of the many millennials who have confronted and overcome these challenges.  For the rest, it feeds their excuses.

I considered countering these from a more negative point of view, but I have decided, instead, to look at the positives these present—yes, there are countless positives for this generation.  Millennials have opportunities previous generations never had.  Success comes in capitalizing on these opportunities.

Millennials are less financially stable than previous generations were.  Perhaps, but I seem to recall my grandparents living through this thing called the “Great Depression”.  Yes, the road is initially a bit more rocky for millennials than it was for their parents, but not all of us would-be parents of millennials graduated from college with high-paying jobs.  We, too, often had to take a variety of less desirable jobs to pay the bills until our “dream jobs” came along.  This is life.

Consider the opportunities available to millennials who are willing to take risks and travel the uncharted waters.  In the lifetime of the millennial, technology has skyrocketed.  People are making fortunes developing apps for our hand-held devices.  Information is available via the Internet almost instantaneously.  Many of the parents of millennials sent them to college to escape the factories and mines and physical labor jobs that paid them well but are fast disappearing.  They sent then to school to learn and to create their own opportunities.  Unfortunately, many determined that they were entitled high-paying jobs after completing any number of “soft” degree programs that keep being developed on college campuses.  Those who have planned and taken advantage of the opportunities have done well, however.

Millennials need to be patient and work at achieving their dreams.  With creativity and effort, they will prosper.  As parents of millennials, we have failed them, if we have not taught them to delay gratification, to save for the future, and to have a sensible life plan.  With these, stability will come—albeit more slowly than other generations, perhaps.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento.

* http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-lives-compared-to-gen-x-baby-boomers-did-2018-3#millennials-are-shelling-out-more-on-childcare-than-previous-generations-were-7

There are countless—endless—diets that are marketed on a daily basis.  Despite the fancy names and complexity of plans, there really are only three diets (when considering weight, i.e., body composition, management).  These are: eucaloric, hypocaloric, and hypercaloric.

A eucaloric diet is one in which the intake of calories (regardless of macros, nutrient timing, food quality, etc.) is equal to the caloric expenditure.  On such a diet, one will maintain a relatively constant weight.

A hypocaloric diet is one in which the caloric intake is less than the caloric expenditure.  On such a diet, one will lose weight at a rate of approximately one pound per 3500 kcal deficit.

A hypercaloric diet—you guessed it—is one in which the caloric intake exceeds the caloric expenditure.  Of course, on such a diet, one will gain weight, again, at a rate of approximately one pound per 3500 kcal.

“Weight” is made up predominately of fat, muscle, bone, and water.  Losing water weight is called “dehydration” and is a source of deception on the scale.  It accounts for most of our day-to-day fluctuations in body weight.  Bone density does not change greatly over the rather short time.  It is fat weight and muscle weight that we most want to affect.  To lose fat, one must be hypocaloric.  To gain muscle, one must be hypercaloric.  The extent to which the diet must be one or the other depends on the goals and the current state of the body composition.  For example, if over has excessive fat stores, he or she is (or has been) hypercaloric for some time.  For such a person, training for muscle hypertrophy will not require an increase in calories.  In fact, a modest restriction will allow for a concurrent loss of fat and gain of muscle—though the muscle gain will be somewhat limited.  To lose fat, one’s goal should be to also conserve muscle.  Hence, the caloric deficit should be limited modestly to permit a slow and steady loss of fat (only).  This should be limited to about 1-2 pounds per week or 3500-7000 kcal per week.  More extreme deficits may be initially warranted when the body fat is significantly high, but typically this is the priority over muscle mass in such cases.  The leaner one becomes, the greater the emphasis must be on the specifics of the diet and exercise.

The overall majority of diet effectiveness is caloric balance (roughly 50%, according to Renaissance Periodization).  So, beyond managing calories, diet is much more a matter of personal preference.  Find and do what works for you.  Avoid, however, diets that severely restrict certain foods or deviate from “normal” foods.  Diet should be long-term—not trendy, short-term changes.  Eat, overall, healthy and regulate food intake and physical activity to meet your goals and performance needs.  There is nothing complicated about diet.  Success is all in the implementation.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Sometimes I find the words I want to say have been better stated by another…in song.  I’ll let these lyrics just sit with the reader.

“Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight

Preacher man don’t tell me heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know what life is really worth
Is not all that glitters in gold and
Half the story has never been told
So now you see the light, aay
Stand up for your right. Come on

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight
(Repeat)

Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev’rything, and make ev’rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah!

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight
Get up, stand up. Life is your right
So we can’t give up the fight
Stand up for your right, Lord, Lord
Get up, stand up. Keep on struggling on
Don’t give up the fight

We’re sick and tired of your ism and skism game
Die and go to heaven in Jesus’ name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light
We gonna stand up for our right

So you’d better get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight
Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight”

–Bob Marley and the Wailers

“Get up. Stand up. Stand up for your rights. Get up. Stand up. Don’t give up the fight.”—Bob Marley

I heard an interview the other day with a young person making the statement: “We won’t stand for….”  It struck me how the language sounded wrong.  Should she not have said: “We will stand against…”?

I am often a bit of a grammar snob (though I get caught myself in poor grammar and misspellings, from time to time).  I understand the statement the student was trying to make, but I see a significant difference in positioning—whether intended or not.

To “not stand” implies a passive approach.  It says: “I am against this, but I don’t want to fight”.

To “stand against” is to get into the face of the enemy.  It says: “I will fight, whatever the personal cost.”

The differences are subtle, but I perceive there is a significant difference.  We, as a society, need to stand against evil—not merely protest that something be done—not demand legislation against what evil does.  Take away evil’s weapon, and it will pick up another.

So often, I have seen videos of people standing by steaming images of someone being harmed.  Rarely, do we see someone taking the risk to stand up and step in.  When we do, it is because someone else chose to film another’s heroism rather than take a stand.

“We won’t stand for…” speaks of entitlement—i.e., “You have no right to do this to me.”  “We will stand against…” speaks to empowerment—i.e., “You will not get away with this.”

We have lost our sense of personal responsibility.  We need to learn to stand—together, if possible; alone, if necessary.

Carpe momento!

I like to think there is a purpose to everything.  I believe we are all connected on a Spiritual-Physical level.  I believe that God is at the center of this connection.  Believing this leads me to believe the Scripture that reads: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  “All things” means the good and the bad.

I came a blog that suggested that believing this verse leads one to NOT: get angry, feel offended, lose one’s self-control, become jealous or envious, lose courage, become bitter, bear a grudge against anyone, complain about anything, become dissatisfied, avenge myself, take what belongs to others, do anything that is false or deceptive, become restless when something is going on, revile in return when one is reviled, dislike anybody at all, get upset, feel it is hard to bear when one has to suffer reproach, think that anything is annoying, think that anyone or anything is standing in my way, feel that one is ever unfortunate, feel that one has been deceived, desire better earthly things, or feel aggrieved that one has received the spouse that one has or that one has no spouse.  I read this and thought to myself: “SERIOUSLY??”

Now, on some points, I agree.  I concur that some of the points are accurate (e.g., take what belongs to others, do anything that is false or deceptive, or revile in return when one is reviled), but the others are a matter of human nature and that we want good things to happen to us.  It is normal to get angry, be dissatisfied, etc.  For the most part, we grow in our ability to control these when we struggle.  The is the “good” that comes from our hardship.  As well it is the good and the bad that bring us together—that allow us to experience our connectedness on a deeper level.

Believing that all things work together for good, does not mean we will feel good about the crap going on in our lives and around us.  It simple gives us the anchor to weather the storm.

I often have periods of deep dissatisfaction and restlessness.  I get angry.  Though I strive to live “I am third”, I often feel used and taken advantage of.  My sense of Purpose is often challenged.  Nevertheless, it is the belief that all things work together for good that helps me through the anger, the dissatisfaction, and frustration.  I, of course, desire better earthly things.  Who doesn’t?  Still, I am satisfied in trusting that it just isn’t my time.  Good will come when it suits my Purpose.

I had the thought, recently, that perhaps learning to deal with the struggle was the purpose.  I may not like where I am, but not liking a current situation does not mean one has suspended his or her trust that good will come.  We just need to trust our path.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“To be candid, some people have given positive thinking a bad name. I can’t stand to hear some gung-ho individual say that with positive thinking you can just do ‘anything.’ If you think about that one for a moment, you recognize the absurdity of it.”—Zig Ziglar

I prefer the idea of “possibility thinking”.  I have read Think and Grow Rich (Norman Vincent Peale) a couple of times in my life, and, frankly, it causes me to think of Rodin’s “The Thinker” in the movie, The Night at the Museum—“I’m thinking.  I’m thinking…”.  Positive thinking is the first step, but success requires action.  I believe “’Can’t’ never did anything”.  I believe we can do anything we desire, but it doesn’t happen with positive thinking alone.

I appreciated Robert H. Schuller’s books on Possibility Thinking.  He broke down lofty goals in smaller attainable parts.  We can do anything –given time, opportunity, and, above all, effort.

Jesus spoke that if you have “faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move” (Matthew 17:20, NIV).  Now I am not naive to believe that I can stand at the foot of a mountain and tell it to move and it will move, but I know that, given the need and desire, I can move the mountain a stone at a time.  I don’t believe that it was Jesus’ intention that we should run around commanding the geography to change.  The point is that we can do that which we are called upon to do—that no obstacle should stop us.

I think that, if I had to depend on “positive thinking”, I would be permanently stuck where I am.  I do, however, know that where there is a will there is a way.  I just have to deliberately act.

We are in a time of great social struggle.  (Honestly, what age has not been?)  We want change.  Words and wishes, however, will change nothing.  We must act.  And action begins with personal change.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

“To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.”—James Allen

One of my favorite reads is always As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.  It is a book that has been in print for 115 years or so, but it is none the less relevant today.  We are, indeed, as we think.

We must think with purpose.  We must live with purpose.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.  As James Allen wrote: “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

Carpe momento!

“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”—James Allen

This week, I have students presenting their “Coaching Philosophy” papers.  It is an assignment in a Foundations of Exercise Science course that was inspired by my reading InSideOut Coaching by Joe Ehrmann, a few years ago.  They are asked to read a motivational coaching book and consider the coaches they have had and in what ways these affect how they will “coach” others in their careers.  The list of coaching books tends to be pretty typical—John Wooden, Lou Holtz, Tony Dungy, Mike Krzyzewski, et al.  It is always interesting to see how the assignment affects the students.

We are all coaches in some fashion.  We are all asked to motivate others in our work or our homes, even if we are not involved with a sports team.

I have had many good and bad coaches ages ago, when I was an athlete.  Likewise, I get to observe the coaches my children have, as well as read the philosophies of the many legendary coaches.  Each teaches me a little something about motivation.

InSideOut Coaching introduced me to the concept of “transformational” versus “transactional” coaching.  Likely, we have had a variety of “coaches” in our years who fall somewhere along the continuum of transformational to transactional.  Likewise, we will probably find ourselves in relationships that fall along the same continuum.

Being “transformational” is Spiritual, as one of my students pointed out (more or less).  It is recognizing that sports and vocation are for the purpose of building others.  Transformational realizes that there are others besides self.  It is “I am third”.

According to Joe Ehrmann, “coaches” must ask themselves four questions:

1. Why do I coach?

2. Why do I coach the way I do?

3. What does it feel like to be coached by me?

4. How do I define success?

It isn’t about the wins or losses.  It is about making others better for the sake of society as a whole.  Coaching or otherwise, we can transform lives.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“When people need love and understanding and support the most is when they deserve it the least.”—Lou Holtz

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NIV)

Everything in its season.  Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!!