Colin R. Stuckert's Blog, page 30

The “Hold Nothing Back” Interview on All Things Fitness And Training

This is an interview I did with Riley from HealthyLemonLife. This was fun and allowed me to share some things that I’ve wanted to share for awhile now. Enjoy.

A little background about yourself?

I dropped out of college a credit shy of an associate’s degree (because I was scared to take speech class) to play poker professionally. When that became too stressful, I opened my first business, a juice bar, inside a large corporate gym. 6 months later I opened CrossFit Estero with my best friend and roommate.

Nowadays, I travel, consult, take pictures and video, and write. My work can be found here: www.aGymLife.com

Any misconceptions about CrossFit?

Hmm, where do I start? The two main misconceptions about CrossFit pertain to injury and that only “fit” people can train CrossFit. First, everyone can do CrossFit. In fact, when you go for a jog, or sit down in a chair and stand up again (know as a squat), you are doing some version of CrossFit. CrossFit is just movement. Sure, there are many styles and programs that you can slap the CF label on, but it’s still all CrossFit. CrossFit is moving the human body in a variety of ways, sometimes with an external load and sometimes without. CrossFit is only dangerous if you move improperly, but so is all human movement.

The reason CrossFit isn’t dangerous is also the very thing that makes it accessible to everyone: it’s just movement. The main difference between a 60-year-old woman and a CrossFit games athlete during a workout will be the weight, volume and movement. If the workout calls for a squat, the athlete might perform repetitions with 200+pounds while the woman can use a set of 5lb dumbbells or no weight at all. If the workout then requires an advanced movement like the handstand push-up, the woman would do a scaled, substitute version of the exercise—in this case, the strict press with the same 5lb dumbbells or a light pvc dowel. It’s all about scalability. If you pick up groceries from the floor, you are doing a form of the deadlift. If you sit in a chair and standup again, you are squatting. If you can reach overhead to grab the bowl out of the cupboard, you can press. And on and on.

For every exercise, movement, or workout on the planet, there is way to scale it up or down. Simply add or subtract weight, reps, or movement. And that is how everyone can do CrossFit and why it is just as safe—or dangerous—as getting out of bed every day and going about your day (assuming you use intelligent movement).

Greatest benefit of crossfit?

Effectiveness. Makes Fitness fun. Camaraderie with fellow athletes. Instills an improvement mindset. I guess that’s a few.

Do you think that for specific issues or goals crossfit is a better fit? If so which ones?

No. A general CrossFit program is perfect for increasing global, universal fitness. Everyone needs a base of great fitness. If you want to specialize in something, do that on top of your baseline fitness.

At what point does crossfit go from productive to inefficient? How do you help other safely train?

CrossFit doesn’t do anything. The trainees and/or coaches are inefficient. Not spending enough time on nutrition, recovery, and mobility creates inefficiency. Having an ego causes inefficiency. Not taking the time to learn the movements to a point of mastery causes inefficiency. Not training weaknesses causes inefficiency and risk. And so on.

I’m a believer in personal responsibility. When someone wants criticizes CrossFit because an athlete injured himself doing “CrossFit” then they’re an idiot. You don’t criticize the NFL when a player gets injured, or the NBA, or the boxing commission, or the Canadian curling association, do you? It just doesn’t make sense.

If you look to history, anything that rose through popularity among the masses was almost always criticized, hated, and campaigned against one way or another until it hit critical mass and become the norm. CrossFit is no different. CrossFit is the future of fitness, and the clones that will invariably come to compete is just economics 101. The trainers and coaches that want to bash CrossFit for because they are afraid of losing their jobs is like the record companies that wouldn’t accept MP3s and downloadable music as the future of the industry and failed to adjust and went bankrupt as a result. Smart coaches are embracing this new form of fitness, getting a certification or two, and adding it to their list of credentials.

What are some of the most common inhibitors you see when people struggle to formulate a fitness plan?

Complicating it. Fitness is simple. Here, use this template all your body dreams will come true:

Lift something heavy 2-3 times a week. Use 2-4 accessory exercises to support each heavy lift. Do lots and lots of reps.
Do something long-distance at least once a week.
Practice skills and drills with a focus on your weaknesses a few times each week.
Play sports, games, and get outdoors as often as possible.
Do some conditioning work of constantly varied modalities like HIIT, sprinting, rowing, swimming, running, biking, strongman, etc.
Walk a lot.
Eat real food that is prepared at home. Nothing processed.
Sleep 8 hours a night or more.
Get 20 minutes of sunlight a day.
Stretch and work mobility
Laugh and spend time with friends and family
Have a purpose.

Work your ass off on all the above. There. Do that and you win.

How can I start doing one thing today that will give me positive long term payoff in regards to my health?

Start skipping breakfast and get used to eating fewer meals. Also known as intermittent fasting (IF).

Best advice you can offer to someone struggling to stick with it, or to find meaning in their fitness routine?

Start mixing it up. Try new sports. Get outdoors. The biggest issue with fitness I see nowadays is people like to pigeonhole themselves into one program or style. Bodybuilders want to be bodybuilders, runners want to be runners, and so on. Aim to be a student of fitness in all its many manifestations. This will make fitness more enjoyable.

O ya… and do heavy squats and deadlifts every single week.

What is your core foundation in business/practice/training?

Test, tweak and figure it out for yourself. No book, article, forum, expert, or guru can tell you what’s best for you. You have to build what works from you through implementation and feedback.

How do you find it is best to motivate others?

Lead by example. When they start asking questions, answer them.

What are the most important values needed in living a healthy lifestyle?

Eating real food. Sleeping. Training Hard regularly. Moving often at a slow-to-medium pace.

Most effective training method(s)?

Squats and deadlifts. Sprints. Swimming. Walking. Gymnastics.

What advice would you give someone struggling to get the results they desire?

Stop eating the shit. The best way to do this is to start cooking food for yourself. My new book can help you with that: www.GymLifeCook.com

How can you tell if you are working out too much?

You can’t sleep. You feel weak and tired, especially during workouts. Many people overtrain and under-recover. This is usually because of crappy sleep and nutrition habits.

What is the greatest obstacle that you personally have to overcome in being an instructor? 

You have to focus 100% and avoid getting sucked into conversations when training clients. And if you don’t look the part, that.

Do you see online fitness as an option in the future?

I do and I don’t. Actually, I probably don’t. It’s like the billions spent on exercise equipment in the 80s and 90s. Do you know the percentage of people that actually used that stuff? Single-digits.

I’m going to assume that online fitness is going to be the same thing. People need to be around people. They need to be held accountable. They need to compete and be social. These are the reasons that CrossFit has done so well. Results don’t come from anything other than being able to stick with the program. That’s it. That’s the secret sauce. Sure, CrossFit the method uses some of the best ways to train the human body, but honestly, that’s maybe a fraction of what get’s people results. Results come from showing up. That’s it.

What inspires you most in a client?

When they change their diet. Do that and you have my undying support.

Best advice ever?

Eat real food. (Look up the Paleo or Primal diet)

Worst fitness advice you have ever heard?

This is a tough one because I’ve heard and seen so much. Here are a couple:

“Don’t lift anything overhead; it’ll ruin your shoulders.”

“Don’t deadlift; it’ll ruin your back.”

“Don’t squat; it’ll ruin your knees.”

“I’m gonna do the elliptical.”

“Lifting weights makes women big.”

“Don’t eat egg yolks.”

“Eat grains.”

“Fat makes you fat.”

Biggest misconception about being healthy and fit?

That it’s hard. It’s not. My health and fitness is really easy to maintain and I’m ripped year-round.

What’s hard is developing habits that get you eating real food, sleeping 8-hours a night, and going to the gym—or exercising—at least 4 days a week.

When you have those habits down pat, it’s cakewalk.

Your favorite quick easy workout?

Tabata push-ups, sit-ups, burpees

Sprinting

Can everyone live a healthy lifestyle?

I feel like this is a trick. The answer is yes. I don’t think everyone can be in the NBA or a Japanese geisha, but besides that, there is no reason a person can’t be healthy.

Best kept fitness secret?

Buy fresh ingredients; cook them and eat them. Then go look at your sexy body in the mirror.

 

Interviewer Bio: Riley lives in Cincinnati, OH and has a passion for all things fitness. You can find her teaching/taking yoga around town, and writing about health and wellness on her own blog and at Share it fitness. When she isn’t working out or writing you can find her planning the next weekend adventure because traveling is the best medicine.

The post The “Hold Nothing Back” Interview on All Things Fitness And Training appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

“The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now.” -Bill Cosby

“The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now.” 

–Bill Cosby

I bet you didn’t know that the way to happiness is can be found in the little gem of a quote you just read. Oh, you didn’t know? Goodie, I get to teach you something today… and that makes me happy.

Anxiety, worry, dread, fear, sorrow, suffering, and regret are all washed away by one simple thing. It’s called “the now.”

Isn’t that cool? Let’s analyze it a bit more.

Largely, the “torment” and “suffering” we humans feel is the result of something that has happened to us in the past or an apprehension of something in the future. If you really think about it, you’ll see that the root to 99.99% of the “problems” we face can be fixed—or reduced significantly—by simply being in the moment.

Our problems, more often than not, are figments of our terribly creative imaginations.

“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”  

                    -Lucius Annaeus Seneca

If you think back to painful situations in your life, you’ll see how they were probably instantaneous in nature—they happened fast and were over fast. Then, you were left to “process” the event over the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Examples include: a death in the family, physical injury, a breakup, losing your job, etc. 

After that, you were left to deal with your worst enemy and only ally: time. Each second of each day was torment. You couldn’t stop thinking about it. You lost all motivation to eat and work, or maybe you dove right into both as a means to cope. And while time was a terrible thing that you had no control over, it’s was also the only thing that eventually brought you solace. As time passed, you got better—maybe stronger or maybe more forgetful. After enough time, you were back to your normal self. Maybe you were stronger or maybe you did your best to swept it under the rug.

The process mentioned above that follows traumatic events in your life is often called the “grieving process.” The thing about this process is it is all inside your mind. It is based on you obsessing about the past in one form or another. By coming to the moment, by bringing your thoughts to the now, you can reduce, and at times, eliminate this pain.

I’m not suggesting you ignore the past. The point isn’t to avoid the grieving process, it’s to speed it up, and to hopefully give you the tools to strengthen the process. The better you can grieve, the more likely you are to come out a stronger, more aware and more appreciate person.

I lost my Dad. I don’t talk about it much. But if it does come up, I always attribute it to making me a better person. I use it as a means to celebrate life, to conquer my fears, to not sweat the small stuff. Basically, it trained me to be a Stoic long before I had any clue what a Stoic was. But in that respect, in the grieving process, I think I was one of the fortunate souls. I know there are many people that never recover from a loss like this. They hold on to the past their entire lives, never fully letting go. And that is why these topics are even more important. 

So how do we completely eliminate the suffering of the past and dread of the future?

Well, I’m not going to pretend it’s easy, it’s not. In fact, it’s a very, very hard thing to do. Further, there isn’t always a simple “answer” that you can do to magically get results. Sometimes the process takes some soul-searching and a lot of testing and tweaking to find what works best for you.

That said, I do have a recommendation that pays huge dividends for almost everyone. It is this: start meditating. Other recommendations include: practice mindfulness, study philosophy—namely Stoicism—and read up on psychology. Each of the subjects will help you become a more aware individual with a better control over your mental state. Ultimately, that is what we all need: mental control.

The key to finding happiness is taking control of your mind. The single greatest way to start doing this is by returning to the now. Focusing on the present is the first step in controlling the racing mind. It takes real dedication to control your brain, but when you do, you’ll have the power to build any life you want.

I’m not a pro at always controlling my mind, but I am much better than I used to be (I used to worry a lot). By using meditation to train my mind, and through studying philosophy and psychology to better understand what makes me “tick,” I’ve been able to take back more control of my mental state. It has allowed me to reduce stress, use unfortunate situations to my advantage, and become a calmer and happier person. 

I cannot recommend these practices enough. They really can change your life. These techniques could mean the difference between becoming your best or living a rushed, hurried and worried life. I’ve lived the latter… forget that. 

Learn from the hard lessons I had to. Save yourself a bit of pain and misery by being prepared ahead of time instead of trying to figure it out after the fact, like I did. Maybe you are lead down a path to learning by one of my suggestions. Maybe you start becoming more aware of your thoughts and it gives you the wherewithal to take back control of them. Maybe you remember to be in the present the next time you spend time with your kids or parents or partners. Who knows, maybe all of the above?

No matter what, use the present to improve your life. It’s as simple as that (and as complicated as that). For now, remember where you are, what time it is, what’s in front of you, what you hear, what you see, and what you taste. Experience your senses. Be in the now.

The more you return to the now, the more control you gain over your thoughts.  Control of your thoughts is control over your life. It’s a big circle.

Be in the now and watch as life becomes better right before your eyes.

Yours In This Moment,

-Colin Stuckert

The post “The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now.” -Bill Cosby appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

Why You Don’t Have Abs: It’s Your Food Dummy

 

Today’s Topic: Training your ass off and screwing it up with your diet

Goal: Get you to make better food choices

How: Mindset shifts, informed decisions, and a damn Crockpot

Training Hard And Not Eating Well

 

I see this all the time:

Athletes work their ass off in the gym (some everyday)
They get stronger and fitter
But they never reach the body results they SHOULD

My box—CrossFit Estero—has over 350+ active members. I have observed many of these athletes train multiple days a week for long periods of time. What I see more than I would like to are plateaus. And it’s always the same body-comp culprits: lack of sleep, drinking too much, and a shitty diet. Diet comprises approximately 80% (or more) of what determines your body composition and health (granted you aren’t doing crack or smoking cigarettes).

People will usually listen when you give them nutrition advice, but very few of them will ever act on that advice. There are many factors why this is so: confusion, false food beliefs, not actually caring, not knowing where to start, skepticism, etc.

In my experience, it usually boils down to two types of people:

Those that seek answers, absorb information, and make changes
Everyone else

I’m hoping to reach the “everyone else” with this article. I want to motivate you, nudge you, scare you, do ANYTHING to get you to take action; small action, large action, any action.

I want you to understand how important your food choices are. I want every bite, sip, or nibble of your favorite junk food to elicit a pang of guilt. Then, with enough guilt and knowledge, you will start making changes.

Mindset is everything

If you can start viewing your food through new eyes, you can start making real changes. It’s all rooted in your belief system. Start thinking of food as a drug. Just like a drug, it should be consumed in moderation. If you take too much of a drug, you will overdose. Like any pill, your food should contain a warning and dosage label. Drugs and food both stimulate a hormonal response in the body.

For better or worse, hormones control everything in our lives:

Happiness
Depression
Motivation
Energy
Sex drive
Weight loss
Weight gain
Anger
Stress

Do you see how food could be pretty damn important? This list comprises just about everything you do in your life and your hormones are at the root of them all. Your food can improve your life or take away from it. It’s as simple as that.

Training is important but diet is where you see body composition results

Food is everything

We all want to look better, that’s a given right? Well, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret grasshopper…you ready for this?

Food determines your body

I don’t care if you have amazing genetics and can look ripped on a cupcake diet, you will pay for your poor food choices one way or another. Sure, you hear stories of NFL stars eating fried chicken all day and performing like machines; they are the exception, not the rule. And being jacked doesn’t mean one is healthy anyways. Your body is a machine that requires a certain level of maintenance, fuel, and loving care. And just like a machine, if you abuse it or neglect it’s maintenance, it will break down and end up in the junkyard (aka graveyard).

We all know the type of people that have the ‘skinny gene’ and regularly eat junk like it’s going out of fashion. Well, unfortunately for them, they are destroying their bodies and promoting cancer and disease and it’s going to catch up to them eventually. Think back to those girls that were perfect in high school. We all can know the type. I bet you can go on Facebook right now and find that many of them are now overweight. That is a diet that didn’t adapt to match an aging and deteriorating body. Your body eventually breaks down from misuse; it’s inevitable.

You are what you eat. You’ve heard this a thousand times, so why then are you still eating goddamn pop tarts? You want your ass or stomach to look and feel like gooey cherry-red filling?

[Face Palm] 

He eats clean

Colin’s “Three Most Important Food Rules”

(yes I referred to myself in the 3rd person, what of it?)

1. Eat Real Food

2. Cook something damn it

3. Utilize slow cooking 

Awesome steaks now at Target

1. Eat Real Food

It shouldn’t include chemicals or synthetic alterations
It shouldn’t last weeks, months, or years
It should be prepared well and respected
It should have been alive recently
It should be unprocessed
It should go bad if it sits on the counter

What this looks like:

Animals, Seafood, Tubers, Sweet Taters, Veggies, Fruits, Nuts, Seeds, *Pastured/Grass-Fed dairy products

What this doesn’t look like:

Grains, Beans, Lentils, Bread, Processed sweets, cookies, cake, juice, soda, artificial sweeteners, margarine, seed oils, refined sugar/salt

Eat Real Food That is Unprocessed Or Altered

Further reading on the subject: What is The Paleo Diet, How To Eat Clean With The Paleo Diet

Real home-cooked food

2. Cook something damn it

If you want to control what food you are eating (and you freaking should) then you need to do most of your eating at home where you have the control. Restaurants use cheap crap ingredients to save on food costs. They inflate meals with unnecessary calories and junk to make the food taste better and become more addictive (sugar, salt, msg, etc.).

Listen, I’m not demonizing all restaurant food. I love to eat out, but it’s best to choose places that serve local ingredients and focus on the food quality because the fact is: Most restaurants suck and most “eating out” food is extremely unhealthy.

Let’s compare the two:

Restaurant food:

Pros: Relatively quick (depends), no clean up or prep
Cons: expensive, processed, terrible for you, makes you gassy, makes you fat

Home cooked food:

Pros: Cost effective, healthy, clean/unprocessed, tastes way better if done right, the key to a six-pack
Cons: Shopping, Clean up, Prep

Further reading on the subject: Cooking Like A Badass

Reaching a high level in anything requires consistent action steps. You key is turning these steps into habits and staying consistent with them long enough to reach your goals. You want to build these habits into your being so that they are a part of who you are and what you do—they should become part of your identity.

With enough effort, you will eventually build a lifestyle, health, and body that you are proud of. And the first and foremost way to get there is to focus on your food. Never underestimate its importance.

3. Utilize Slow Cooking

A complaint I hear often about eating clean is the amount of time it takes and I do agree with this to an extent. This is why we must use techniques such as slow cooking, batch cooking, and leftover-saving to make our diet easier to maintain.With any new endeavor, simplicity is king.You want to focus on getting food to your table the easiest way possible.

Enter slow cooking 

Slow cooking is easy, can produce amazing meals, and requires minimal shopping, prep, and clean up. Buy a slow cooker and start using it. It may be the missing ingredient in your food program. Recommend book for slow cooking.

Further reading on the subject

Easy and makes plenty of meals

Review

1. Eat Real Food

2. Cook something damn it

3. Utilize slow cooking

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to go “all or nothing”.  It all starts with one step, one change, one habit, one meal, one dish, one anything.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” -Chinese proverb

Start making changes immediately:

Eat out less often
Start cooking more often
Slow cook ONE MEAL (and then another and another)
Skip dessert one time, then two times, etc

No one develops a new habit overnight. It takes time, and sometimes a lot of it. The key is to get the importance of the ingredients ingrained into your brain. After that, you will start making better decisions and your results will creep in.

Don’t procrastinate: you either start today or you never will. Telling yourself that you will start your diet tomorrow is nonsense; you are lying to yourself. There is no tomorrow, next year, or later. There is only now. Get your ass in gear and make your food important now and forever.

Yours in Fitness,

-Colin Stuckert

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The post Why You Don’t Have Abs: It’s Your Food Dummy appeared first on Improve Your Fitness and Life Through Training, Mindset, Psychology, Nutrition and Philosophy.

Your “All or Nothing” Mindset is Destroying Your Results

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

-Lao Tzu

We are creatures of habit.

We have routines that we have developed our entire lives. Certain ones come and go—like flossing or drinking soda—and some stay with us for most of our lives—like brushing our teeth and showering.

Sometimes these habits are developed through dedicated effort and other times we pick them up as we go about our lives. Some of these habits help us become better human beings while others destroy us… slowly or quickly.

We tend to cling to our habits because they are ingrained in our being—we don’t think about them, we just do them because they come naturally. Conscious thought is needed to develop a new habit or to break an old one, and conscious thought is hard. In fact, most people do everything they can to avoid it.

Habits and Time

There was a popular book written in the sixties that asserted, based on the author’s research, that the minimum time required to develop a new habit is 21-days. This got tossed around a bit before eventually becoming “common knowledge” in the form: “It takes 21-days to develop a new habit.”

But that’s inaccurate…

The research showed that, on average, it took anywhere from 21 to 90 days for a person to develop a new habit. Yet the majority of people still believe that it takes only 21 days to develop a habit.

The 21-day to develop a habit “rule” isn’t a bad place to start though. For many of us, if we are able to commit that long, we have a much higher chance of keeping it up long enough to make the habit stick. The problem is people get frustrated when they aren’t “perfect” and they let that be an excuse to give up. But this makes no sense. Part of the reason that habits can take so long to stick is because we all go through waxing and waning periods before a habit finally solidifies into routine. Instead of trying to be perfect, try to be consistent. That means, if you miss a day, week, or even month, you get started ASAP!

Developing new habits and/or breaking old ones takes time.

This will not be a linear, day-to-day process. You might do well for a while and not-so-well for a while. But forge on you must.

If it takes you 6 months to quit smoking, you will save yourself years of health problems in the future. Is 6 months better than never? Don’t assume you’ll get it done in a few weeks or months. And if it takes you 2 years, isn’t that better than smoking for the next 20?

The same goes for all habits good or bad–If you get it done eventually, that is 100% better than never.

How to get habits to stick

Let’s say you join a CrossFit gym. Now that you are paying more than your last gym membership (maybe a lot more), you will probably feel urged to “take advantage” of it by going to classes regularly. And since most of the other members are going 3-4 days a week, you feel even more pressured to go and “fit in.”

This would be loss aversion used to your advantage (and it’s one of the ways that the CrossFit model has been so effective at getting people results).

Anytime you can trick yourself into sticking with it, you should. Your goals, results and sticking to a program or habit is all based on one thing… psychology.

You can use psychology to your advantage or you can shoot yourself in the foot and let negative psychology screw it all up, it just depends on how you approach it. If you can psych yourself into staying motivated long enough until you develop the habit, than you’ve succeeded because your habit will then go on by itself without any more conscious thought. But if you get discouraged because you aren’t perfect with your schedule, than you might give up (statistics say you are likely to give up.)

What I have found—and the point of this piece—is that many people fall into the “all or nothing” mindset trap in which they have trouble sticking with anything because they assume they have to be 100% perfect. And what happens is the end up quitting completely, or a net of 0% towards their goals. (It sounds pretty dumb when you spell it out, doesn’t it?)

Think about it: 

Is 50% better than 0%?

Isn’t 10% better than 0% and 1% and 2% and 6%?

Is 40% better than 30%?

70% is better than 60%, right?

You get the point yet?

Your goal should always be: a bit better. Not perfect. Aim to make incremental improvements instead of huge improvements. By taking this approach, you’ll be able to celebrate more often because you will celebrate the incremental wins, no matter how little or often they come. This will help you avoid failure by setting your mark too high and missing–like most do.

Wherever you are now… Start now. Make your goal consistent and improvement. Celebrate each whenever you can. If you fall off, get back on.

If you haven’t trained in a week, month, or year, than think of yourself as “fully rested” and get ready to do some work. Always look at the bright side of your situation. After all, that’s all you can ever do. You can always and forever change your perception of your situation (See Stoicism) to your benefit.

Habit Rules

Change your perception of your situation and you will have yourself primed for the ideal habit-creating or habit-breaking scenario. Combine this primed mindset with a few “habit rules” and you’re on your way to making real progress:

Know that habits take a long time to stick. (Much longer than 21-days in most cases)
Your progress will not never be a straight up line of perfection. Accept that two steps forward, one step back might be part of the process.
Drop the all or nothing mindset. 1% is 100% better than 0%. As is each other % higher than the last.
Change your perception to see your situation the best possible way you can. (Example: I worked hard for a month, then fell off for a month. Well, you are still ONE MONTH AHEAD of where you used to be. Tell your mind, which wants to focus on being one month behind, to STFU.
Developing or breaking habits takes conscious thought. Set reminders, use your calendar, sticky notes, whatever, to stay aware of what you are doing.


The Path of Least Resistance

As a human being, you are made to seek comfort and avoid pain. It’s hardwired into your brain after growing up in this day and age.

You and I both prefer the path of least resistance for better or worse and our subconscious will always try to steer us in that direction.

This shows up in all aspects of our lives, not just physical pain or discomfort. We prefer to maintain our comfortable lives because this best protects us from embarrassment or judgement. Our Ego prefers it.

Let me tell you about the Ego: he’s a shriveled old man that thinks he’s done it all in life. He thinks life is just fine the way it is. He thinks things will just happen if he sits back and waits long enough.

That little bastard is wrong and you need to grab him by the neck and show him who’s boss.

Your ego is risk-averse and prefers anything that is safe and easy. Basically, he keeps you the way you are, and when you get older, he’s the reason your body and mind break down through atrophy. He’s safe and comfortable to the point of regression.

When you are told that you should get “outside of your comfort zone,” it means you should break free from Ego’s grip. It’s the only way you can grow.

I believe that Humans are meant to forever grow, like a redwood tree. Even when your body starts to atrophy, you can continually be growing your mind (and aging of your body, the way everyone else does, is based on your choices–which are largely dictated by whatever society deems appropriate–and is not predetermined for you the same way it is for everyone else).

Either way, you will not grow your mind and body if you sit back and let the shriveled old man named “Ego” dictate your life. When Ego takes control, you become a shriveled old man or woman. If you let go of Ego by loosening the reins of control he has over you, you will unlock a world of possibility in your life and habits. The way to avoid atrophy and take control over your growth is to constantly push yourself outside of your comfort zone.

It’s like Arnold said, “Change comes past the burn.”

By detaching yourself from Ego, you’ll be able to…

Take risks and experience the rewards
Become better physically and mentally
Laugh heartier, make people love you more, polarize and attract those that think like you
Live a better life in every possible way
Be an individual and not accept the status quo
Be a leader
Become the best version of yourself possible (self-actualized)

If there was ever a guide to life it would be this…

Take risks. Fall. Get up. Succeed sometimes. Learn always. Grow forever. Be self-aware. Die fulfilled and ready.

Living an awesome life requires the same mindset as creating and breaking habits. They are closely correlated and you can work on both at the same time. But both are only possible by doing what isn’t comfortable, by taking risks.

Action: Let go of the Ego that keeps you safe and the same. Become aware and think consciously about what you are doing. Use this awareness to push yourself to growth by doing whats uncomfortable.

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

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The post Your “All or Nothing” Mindset is Destroying Your Results appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

Learn How To Cook Any Ingredient In Minutes Without A Recipe

 

My new book! I’m really excited about this project. I know that it can help you take your cooking and nutrition game to an entirely new level! Grab a copy on Amazon here!

They say abs are made in the kitchen…. and they are right. The problem is most people don’t know where to start.

If you Google “chicken recipes” you’ll get 42,900,000 results in less than a second. So which one?

Let’s say you choose one, now you have to make sure you buy all the ingredients, have all the proper tools and know all the lingo so you can follow the recipe perfectly. And honestly, how often does it ever taste as good as it looks in the picture? Ya… not often.

There’s a lot to learn and a lot to screw up in the kitchen and if you don’t know where to start, it can all seem very complicated…

That’s what I want to help you with. I’m here to show you how cooking can be dead simple. When you can simplifying cooking, you’ll quickly realize it’s not difficult or mysterious or anything like that at all. You might even enjoy the process!

To key to demystifying the process of cooking is through learning “technique.” Here is an example from the book:

This is the Eggs Recipe Technique style #1… or as I like to call it, “fast scrambled eggs.” This is the technique I often use when I’m not in the mood to cook as it takes no more than 5 minutes to go from raw ingredient to final product.

What I love about eggs is how they take on just about any flavor or ingredient you can think of. In the video example below, after I plated the eggs, I went to my fridge and grabbed whatever I could find to “finish” out the dish. In this case I found some pine nuts, goat cheese and an avocado.  I “finished” the dish with a bit of each ingredient and bam!! A healthy, yummy and fast dinner was ready for my consumption. And the process from raw ingredient to hot plate is one I’ve used hundreds of times over. This is the power of technique…

Unlock The Power Of Cooking Technique And Never Again Suffer Through A Boring Meal

Learning cooking technique gives you the ability to cook any ingredient without a recipe. Yes, any ingredient. The fundamentals of cooking never change. The best way to cook a chicken breast is the same it’s been since we’ve been cooking in a pan on a stove. 

By combining the ingredients you have on hand with a little “know-how” in the kitchen, you unlock infinite recipe combinations–and all without a single cookbook. Plus you get to enjoy the final product.

And the crazy part is you can learn each techniques in 10 minutes or less… it’s that easy!

The beauty of cooking technique is you learn it once and then you use it forever. And that is goal: To learn how to cook any ingredient and make it taste good.

I firmly believe that if I can get you to learn at least three of the basic cooking techniques in this book, you will have the unlock the flood gates to your health and fitness results. When you enjoy the food you prepare, you have the ultimate power in choosing what you put in your body. And in case you didn’t already know it, food is the key to your body. It all starts with nutrition. By learning how to cook, you become the absolute ruler of your results. 

What you will learn from this book:

A simple technique for cooking chicken perfect every single time. (And never again have to eat a “boring” chicken breasts.)
How to always develop a “crust” on your steak.
How to prepare fish to perfection in less than 10 minutes… every single time.
A way to fall in love with your veggies. (And watch your kids do the same.)
Why salt isn’t “bad” for you like most think… if you always follow my “seasoning” procedure.
How to cook an egg 5 ways. (And how you’ll regularly want to eat “breakfast for dinner.”)
The most important aspect of making a healthy dessert.
A technique for making large meals with only the push of a button.
The basic techniques that I use to do 99% of my cooking.

Also included are downloadable PDF procedure lists of each technique so you can easily print them out and keep them in the kitchen. Here is one free:

The Gym Life Book of Cooking Technique isn’t an extensive culinary textbook or a recipe book full of countless recipes. It is a fast read that quickly gets to the point of teaching you the basic way to cook food. You’ll learn the basic techniques that I use to enjoy single digit body-fat numbers year round! (And trust me, I eat like a king.)

Give yourself the chance to learn one of the greatest skills you can posses and enjoy the multitude of benefits that come with it. All found in the skill of cooking.

Grab a copy on Amazon for only $2.99 today!

Yours in Fitness,

-Colin Stuckert

The post Learn How To Cook Any Ingredient In Minutes Without A Recipe appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

New Book: The Gym Life Book of Cooking Technique

 

My new book! I’m really excited about this project. I know that it can help you take your cooking and nutrition game to an entirely new level! Grab a copy on Amazon here!

They say abs are made in the kitchen…. and they are right. The problem is most people don’t know where to start.

If you Google “chicken recipes” you’ll get 42,900,000 results in less than a second. So which one?

Let’s say you choose one, now you have to make sure you buy all the ingredients, have all the proper tools and know all the lingo so you can follow the recipe perfectly. And honestly, how often does it ever taste as good as it looks in the picture? Ya… not often.

There’s a lot to learn and a lot to screw up in the kitchen and if you don’t know where to start, it can all seem very complicated…

That’s what I want to help you with. I’m here to show you how cooking can be dead simple. When you can simplifying cooking, you’ll quickly realize it’s not difficult or mysterious or anything like that at all. You might even enjoy the process!

To key to demystifying the process of cooking is through learning “technique.” Here is an example from the book:

This is the Eggs Recipe Technique style #1… or as I like to call it, “fast scrambled eggs.” This is the technique I often use when I’m not in the mood to cook as it takes no more than 5 minutes to go from raw ingredient to final product.

What I love about eggs is how they take on just about any flavor or ingredient you can think of. In the video example below, after I plated the eggs, I went to my fridge and grabbed whatever I could find to “finish” out the dish. In this case I found some pine nuts, goat cheese and an avocado.  I “finished” the dish with a bit of each ingredient and bam!! A healthy, yummy and fast dinner was ready for my consumption. And the process from raw ingredient to hot plate is one I’ve used hundreds of times over. This is the power of technique…

Unlock The Power Of Cooking Technique And Never Again Suffer Through A Boring Meal

Learning cooking technique gives you the ability to cook any ingredient without a recipe. Yes, any ingredient. The fundamentals of cooking never change. The best way to cook a chicken breast is the same it’s been since we’ve been cooking in a pan on a stove. 

By combining the ingredients you have on hand with a little “know-how” in the kitchen, you unlock infinite recipe combinations–and all without a single cookbook. Plus you get to enjoy the final product.

And the crazy part is you can learn each techniques in 10 minutes or less… it’s that easy!

The beauty of cooking technique is you learn it once and then you use it forever. And that is goal: To learn how to cook any ingredient and make it taste good.

I firmly believe that if I can get you to learn at least three of the basic cooking techniques in this book, you will have the unlock the flood gates to your health and fitness results. When you enjoy the food you prepare, you have the ultimate power in choosing what you put in your body. And in case you didn’t already know it, food is the key to your body. It all starts with nutrition. By learning how to cook, you become the absolute ruler of your results. 

What you will learn from this book:

A simple technique for cooking chicken perfect every single time. (And never again have to eat a “boring” chicken breasts.)
How to always develop a “crust” on your steak.
How to prepare fish to perfection in less than 10 minutes… every single time.
A way to fall in love with your veggies. (And watch your kids do the same.)
Why salt isn’t “bad” for you like most think… if you always follow my “seasoning” procedure.
How to cook an egg 5 ways. (And how you’ll regularly want to eat “breakfast for dinner.”)
The most important aspect of making a healthy dessert.
A technique for making large meals with only the push of a button.
The basic techniques that I use to do 99% of my cooking.

Also included are downloadable PDF procedure lists of each technique so you can easily print them out and keep them in the kitchen. Here is one free:

The Gym Life Book of Cooking Technique isn’t an extensive culinary textbook or a recipe book full of countless recipes. It is a fast read that quickly gets to the point of teaching you the basic way to cook food. You’ll learn the basic techniques that I use to enjoy single digit body-fat numbers year round! (And trust me, I eat like a king.)

Give yourself the chance to learn one of the greatest skills you can posses and enjoy the multitude of benefits that come with it. All found in the skill of cooking.

Grab a copy on Amazon for only $2.99 today!

Yours in Fitness,

-Colin Stuckert

The post New Book: The Gym Life Book of Cooking Technique appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

The “Safe” Route is Never The “Best” Route

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” 

-Aristotle

Sure, comfort is nice; it’s warm and cozy. And there’s nothing wrong with living a warm and cozy life, right? 

I guess… if you say so…

A cozy life doesn’t have huge ups and downs. It’s even-keel. Mellow. Average. Safe. And for some people, it’s exactly what they want (like a Baggins).

Hell, sometimes I wish I was this way—life would be easier, anyway.

The problem with a cozy life is (besides being boring as hell), you aren’t ever going to do or experience anything extraordinary. Also, and this is my personal opinion, I don’t think you are prepared at all if shit goes haywire. 

Think about it: since you are so used to maintaining your comfortable little bubble, and since you never “test” yourself or put yourself outside of your comfort zone, you are, by definition, mathematically designed to break when you invariably find yourself staring down one of life’s little tornadoes headed your way. 

And trust me, life throws us ALL in the wake of these vicious, seemingly innocuous yet extremely dangerous, tornadoes from time to time.

So really, by living a simple, “comfortable” life, you are actually setting yourself up for failure. Still, most people think they are avoiding the bad by playing it safe.

Yea… that never actually works.

The fact of life remains: To experience the “highs” of life, you have to also experience the “lows.” It’s just par for the course. There is no avoiding it. However, you can have some say in it. What you can do is be as prepared as possible.

So how do you prepare for life? How do you become stronger mentally so you will survive all life throws at you?

By getting your hands dirty!

Fall down and scrap your knee like you did when you learned how to ride a bike.

Say “yes” and take the risk: Start that business; Ask her out; Tell him you love him; Stand up to your bully. And on and on and on.

You might think the “safe” route is the “best” route, but you’re wrong. The “best” route is actually the one that looks–or is–dangerous. Refer to the title of Ryan Holiday’s new book: “The Obstacle is The Way.”

The easy path sets you up for failure, for atrophy, for danger. It’s temporary avoidance. 

The hard path is where the results are, and even, where comfort is. The hard path makes you grow, makes you resilient, and allows you to weather the storms of life instead of being swept away by them.

Remember, “easy” and “best” never align.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

-Robert Frost

Do it!

In life, you need to take risks and become better through failure. It’s the toll you must pay to cross the bridge into the garden of greatness. It’s also how you protect yourself from life’s unfortunate, and inevitable, circumstances.

Taking the path of more resistance requires bold action. You risk embarrassment, pain, and in some cases, death. 

In the words of Hellen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

If you want to live an exceptional life that is full of abundance and unique experiences, you’ll have to take risks. It comes with the territory.

You will have to fail often and hard. Then, you’ll have to pick yourself up and try again. 

Those who reach success are the ones who have the grit to stay the course when it winds them down unknown paths. 

Don’t atrophy, don’t waste away, don’t set yourself up for failure by seeking out comfort.

Constantly challenge yourself mentally and physically and you’ll develop the power to have a say in your destiny—instead of being at the whim of whatever life throws your way. 

When you are experiencing pain, torment, or anguish, know that you are preparing for your destiny. You’ll survive the trial and come out stronger. Then, you’ll use what you learned as a means of appreciating the present and being better prepared for the future. 

This is the ebb and flow of life. As you conquer trials and tribulations, you build strength and wisdom that makes you a better person till the end of your days. And my point is this:

Seek this out instead of trying to avoid it!

When something stands in your way, use it as a guidepost as the way to greatness. 

-Colin Stuckert P.S. If you aren’t already a kindle reader, grab a free account here. There are a ton of free kindle books in the kindle store and many are actually quite good.

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post The “Safe” Route is Never The “Best” Route appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

Use Your Worst To Become Your Best

“People have a death grip on what they think reality should look like and all stress comes from life not fitting your pictures.”

-Peter Sage

Think about the last time something didn’t go your way.

Got it? Good. 

Now, whose fault was it that you didn’t get your way?

Was it a co-worker or your boss?
Was it your spouse?
Was it your brother?
Was it your sister?
Was it some old person driving slow?
Was it some jerk?
Was it some punk?

If you are like most people, you’ll have someone or something to “blame” for the reason you didn’t get your way.

Now, as a hypothetically exercise, I want you to “blame” yourself for it not going your way. Think of the ways you could have acted differently. 

Maybe you weren’t prepared? 
Maybe you could have kept your opinion to yourself? 
Maybe you should have taken another course of action?

Figure out a way that it could have gone differently based on you and you alone. (This is an exercise—you don’t have to agree with what you come up with.)

Next—try your best with this one—try to rationalize the actions of the person you “blame” as if you were in their shoes. Find a way to make what they did—or didn’t do—“OK” or “not as bad” in your mind.

Now, let’s visit a Stoic principle. The Stoics believe:

The only thing that you can control in the universe is yourself—your thoughts, actions, responses, feelings, etc.

According to the infallible logic of the Stoics, the only person you can “blame” is yourself because it is only yourself that you  can control. And since blame is only an opinion we form about a situation (perception), and serves no purpose other than to ignore the Stoic principle of personal responsibility, you would be wise to adjust your perception to one that will allow you to benefit.

Life presents you ample opportunity to learn. You just have to open your eyes and recognize these situations. The situations in which you hold the most resentment, pain and regret are often the bearer of life’s greatest lessons. You must be willing to wade through your emotions to see things for what they are. Most people are not able to do this, and as a result they miss out on the wisdom that is hidden beneath the surface (they also miss out on a chance to end the suffering that is attached to these regretful situations).

Decide that you want to harbor hate and attribute blame. 

OR

Decide to learn and become better—“what could I have done differently,” “why do I think the way you think,” “am I too sensitive,” “am I irrational,” etc.

With enough practice, your default response can become: “What could I have done differently?” This is the difference between choosing how you respond to life instead of letting life do the choosing for you.

Any pain you experience in life, and whether you learn from these situations or not, is your choice. Instead of blaming the world, learn from it. 

Were you wronged? Great, you now have a valuable tool for improvement.

Maybe you become more careful with who you trust. 
Maybe you stay in lighted areas instead of taking the back roads. 
Maybe you choose your words more carefully.
Maybe you study for the exam instead of making excuses why it’s “not part of the curriculum.”
Maybe you accept your friends and family and all their “shortcomings” instead of lecturing them on how you think they should be.

No matter how terrible a thing is, you can always garner usefulness from it.

Learn from every situation. 

Fault is useless. Blame is useless.The only thing that matters is how you respond.

Action: Drop the blame game. The only person that you hurt is yourself. Learn from your worst situations and become wiser for the future. Let go of the torment of your mind that wants to hold on to blame and justification. This will release the lessons hidden as well as save you a ton of mental pain. Remember, reality is merely perception. You decide how it looks. Your circumstance can be an opportunity or a prison… the choice is yours.

Choose wisely for your life is at stake.

Yours in using your worst to become your best,

-Colin Stuckert

The post Use Your Worst To Become Your Best appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

I write often about motivation, the fleetingness of life, and how to become a better person in mind, body and spirit. When I read a quote like the one above, I think the same ideas and I’m urged to get it down on paper so that I can share it with others and hopefully help them in some way.

They say writers write because to not write is painful. I agree.

The problem is, it becomes difficult to write often and not feel redundant. I often feel like I’m repeating myself over and over when I write on similar subjects.

And this is my conundrum: What can I say that is new to both you and me yet will still provide the intended effect?

Of course, I could just take the safe route and get you motivated the “standard” way. Nah, I don’t want to do that. I want to make it new for both of us (selfish, I know).

Let’s try a little thought experiment that will hopefully kickstart something for the each of us: Think back to a time in your life when you improved something.

What was it like? Did it take a long time and mountains of struggle to make the change? Or did it come relatively easy? Now, think about what your motivation was like leading up to the change. Were you forced to change by an outside pressure or did it come from your own will because you were “fed up” with the way things were?

For each of us, the answers to these questions will be different. Change never comes the same way for any of us. Because of this (and since you aren’t going to actually share your story with me—unless you want to), I’m going to give you some advice on the retrospective process in general so you can add this tool to your developmental toolkit.

Try this:

Grab a pen and paper or open a word doc.
Start writing some notes as you brainstorm the questions above—and anything else that comes to mind—about your experience the last time you made a major change in your life.

Some examples:

How long did the process take?
How difficult was it on a scale of 1-10?
At the time, was change uncommon for you or did it come easy?
Did you make progress then regress soon after? Was it a two steps forward, one step back type of process?
Have you made more changes in your life since then?
Does change now come more easily to you or is it still about the same?

No one can hold your hand through a process like this. You have to put in the work to pull out the reward. If you want change, if you want control, if you want a better life, you have to work for it. You have to reflect and learn through the process.

My advice for you today is to put in some work thinking about your life, your past and where you are going for your future. This reminds me of another quote by another thinker:

“An unexamined life is not worth living.” –Socrates

Einstein suggests you should keep moving to keep your balance while Socrates suggests your life isn’t even worth living if you haven’t taken the time to “examine” it.

What do these two quotes have in common? This:

To move, you need direction. To obtain direction you must examine where you have been and where you are going (you need a plan).

Chart a course—through examination, thought, retrospection—and start peddling in that direction without stopping for fear of falling off the bike. Then, as you are peddling, correct your course with the subtle steering of the handle bars (back to examination).

Maybe I’m mixing my metaphors here? That’s ok. In fact, I prefer it. This way you’ll be forced to think a bit harder and it will leave a stronger memory imprint on your brain.

Proper writing “rules” say a writer should always reiterate his main points towards the end of a piece. Nope, I ain’t gonna do that. You know what I’m getting at. You know you should spend time thinking about your past so you can better improve your future. You also know (or should) that anything worth having takes effort. You know all this stuff. All that’s left is doing something about it.

Spend time thinking about your life.

That’s all for today.

Have a great week filled with fitness, food, friends and family. Don’t sweat the small shit like the barista getting your coffee wrong or the guy in the Hummer cutting you off in traffic. None of that shit matters… ever. Stress is just a figment of your imagination from you thinking life should be different from what it actually is. (Hint: change your perception and life changes with it.)

Lately, I’ve been using a powerful tool that I came across accidentally about a month ago. This simple question can help you change your perception of the bad situations in life. The next time something doesn’t go your way and you are worked up, stressed out, or otherwise engaged in negative energy in some capacity, ask yourself this question:

“At the end of my life, when I look back, is this what I want my life to be made of? Is this how I want to remember it? Is this how I want to spend my time?”

(Insert your own condensed version of the lines above, but you get the point.)

I’ve been using this question when having to deal with a mountain of drama in my life and business in the past couple months. It’s really powerful.

Yours in Living An Examined Life That Is Moving Forward In A Positive Direction,

-Colin Stuckert

Get the Free Gym Life Downloads by Joining the Gym Life Club

100% Free!

The post “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein appeared first on Learn Fitness, The Paleo Diet, And Cooking Like A Badass.

The Gym Life Intro To Philosophy, Stoicism, and The Pursuit of Knowledge

Philosophy gets a bad rap. That or people don’t really get it. I think it’s a bit of both.

Either way, this is unfortunate because the fact is: Philosophy can change your life. 

What do we learn in school?

For the most part, we learn how to pass tests and how to be good at and finish school.

Without going down the rabbit hole that is the education system, I think we can both agree that school is meant to give you credentials and (supposedly) skills that you can use to apply for more education or to get a job.

And no where in this system, which consumes the first half, third, or quarter of our lives, is the subject of happiness and how to get it. Happiness just isn’t part of the curriculum. Even philosophy, which is the subject best posed to tackle the happiness, is usually taught in a way that is based on memorization of dates, names, and concepts and with little coverage, if any, of real-world application.

In a perfect world (or in a slightly better one), schools would offer classes like: “Being Happy 101″ or “Advanced Happiness For Happy People That Want More” or “Finding Work That Makes You Happy.” And so on.

Think about it, what does understanding history, math, vocab, statistics, random facts, science (the kind taught in schools), geography, or biology have to do with teaching us to be happy–which for many of us, is our primary goal in life?

Sure, each of these subjects could maybe help you find happiness if you had even the slightest clue how to go about it. Subjects like psychology and sociology can help us better understand people and ourselves, which in turn might increase our happiness levels due to a reduction of misery dealing with each. History teaches us lessons about people and society that, again, might provide an upward tick on our happy meter due to a better understanding of this game we call “life.” But no matter how you skin it, the way you and I were taught growing up in the standardized school system has NOTHING TO DO WITH FINDING HAPPINESS.

I’m not blaming the education system…

I think it’s more of a societal fault than the school’s. As a whole, Americans don’t talk about philosophy. We don’t really talk about much other than complaining about something or who the final contestants on American Idol are. And while that’s depressing to consider, I think the prevalence of religion has had a lot to do with the lack of philosophy in our culture.

If you look to Asian cultures, even within the form of organized religion, you find many practical philosophical teachings from the likes of  Buddha and Confucius (two of the greatest philosophers to have ever lived). Certain Asian philosophy seems far more practical than the type of religion we find in this country. And again, I’m not bashing religion, I’m just going on what I’ve seen (and experienced myself growing up Episcopalian).

Most people don’t know this, and it’s not highlighted enough in Christian teachings in my opinion, but Jesus was quite the philosopher. If you look to some of the many surviving quotes and teachings of the man (and not just the Bible), you’ll find a plethora of practical philosophy that tends to mirror much ancient Greek philosophy. In fact, the foundation of Christianity was heavily influenced by Greek philosophy.

Jesus Quotes:

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.

“So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”

“What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.”

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

I’d assume that there’s plenty of practical philosophy in most organized religion if you dig enough, but from what I’ve seen, too much Western religion is based on judgement and ‘don’t do this or you are bad‘ type of teachings. Personally, I don’t think this helps people much. What happens is the devoted types will live a restricted life built on rules, regulations and shame that keep them repressing their natural human urges. The rest will try it out for awhile but eventually quit as they start making their humanly mistakes and the shame becomes too much to bear.

I’m not here to talk about religion… in fact, for obvious reasons, I rarely talk about it. If you are religious, maybe this will inspire you seek out some of the philosophical underpinnings of your chosen faith. Or maybe you can learn some practical Greek philosophy–like Stoicism we are going to cover below–to add to the practical side of your life. Or both?

I do think it’s possible to converge religion and philosophy into a cohesive operating system for life, but as it stands nowadays, I see too little time spent teaching people practical ways of finding happiness as a fallible, human being that suffers from all the things that humans do like jealousy, fear, anger, perception, judgement, status, etc.

This is why we must pursue philosophy!

Philosophy aims to tackle the many problems associated with being human and everything that comes as a result of living in a society with other people. What people need is real-world, practical, implementable, actionable, and step-by-stepable (that’s probably not a word) ways to lead better, happier lives other than the standard get a job, make $75,000 a year, raise a family and fully fund your 401k.

Enter Philosophy… Specifically, Stoicism

This will probably end up as a series on Stoicism and philosophy because far too much to cover in one sitting. My goal with this is to get you started on philosophy. Through philosophy, you’ll most likely find yourself becoming interested in various topics that might lead you down different paths of study. My advice for you is to embrace this! Real education, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the pursuit of knowledge that excites and intrigues you and that you seek on your own without a boss, teacher or professor making you. This is what I hope to elicit in you.

I encourage you to embrace this as a “finding yourself” type of self-awareness journey. Your goal is to learn things about people, life, psychology, and philosophy as a means to be a happier, more effective, and healthier person.

You don’t know where this could take you (that’s part of the fun), but if you trust in the journey, you’ll have a great time. Follow what interests you. Start with a book or two and keep pulling at the threads of the shirt. (Book recommendations).

Before we begin, you should know that with every recommendation comes the expectation that you will do further study—no single lecture, book, article, or person can teach you everything. It’s like starting a new fitness program—it’ll take time and consistent effort.

Philosophy is a broad topic that will open your mind to an entirely new world, but it requires constant study. Let it lead you to other topics, like psychology, meditation, and mindfulness. Let it lead you to becoming a more aware, and educated, person.

Start developing a passion for the pursuit of knowledge. Aim to learn a little bit every day. Never become complacent or think you know it all. To stay on top of your mental development, you should read daily, ask questions, and learn from life, experiences and people every chance you get.

Where To Start?

The most influential philosophy in my life—and one that I use every day—is Stoicism. You can start here or wherever you like, but make sure learn eventually learn the basics of Stoicism as it’s one of the most practical philosophies out there. What’s neat about philosophy is it tends to beget more philosophy and the seeking of knowledge. Through this pursuit of knowledge, you’ll stumble on other writers and thinkers that spark your interest.

The Philosophy That Changed (and explained) my Life: Stoicism

Stoicism was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in early 3rd century BC. The Stoics believed that one should live their philosophy and showcase it through their actions. A Stoic lives his philosophy through his actions (and not just through talk or lecture like many philosophers of the day). The foundation of Stoicism is based on individual responsibility. You figure this out by asking yourself, “What can you control and what is out of your control?” The Stoics believed that emotions based on anything one cannot control—anything “external”—would results in errors in judgement.

To the Stoics, thinking logically is the only way to approach life.

If you can control something, then you know what you need to do… so you do it. If you can’t control something, then you don’t waste time being “upset” about it… you accept it as is. Stoicism is pragmatic and logical. For this reason, it has far-sweeping implications for people living in today’s modern world.

Stoics utilized logic to formulate their thoughts and actions. 

The basis of Stoic logic is the understanding that all things are meant to be, and the only things one can control is his own thoughts and actions. Because of this simple—yet powerfully effective—mindset, I have found it to be life changing. It just works.

Examples:

Someone wronged you. What’s done is done. Accept it and don’t associate with this person again if the situation deems it unwise to.


You lost money. It’s gone forever and being upset about it won’t bring it back. Learn how to prevent loss the next time and use it as motivation for working harder.


Someone speaks badly of you. You cannot change other people’s mind about you but you can change if you are upset about their opinion. As Epictetus said, “If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, “He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.”


Life is “unfair.” There is no “fair” or “unfair” in life; there is only opinion. Change your opinion, and miraculously, life changes with it. Instead of being upset and feeling “unlucky” that you lost (insert thing), be fortunate that you are alive and have your health (or your spouse, kids, family, etc.)

Modern society has many of the same problems that the ancient Greeks did. Humans still deal with many of the same things, just in different flavors. There is still killing, rape, famine, stress, financial problems, political issues, drought, slavery, injustice, etc. Of course, most Western societies have become relatively “safe” since the times of Socrates and Marcus Aurelius, but the thing about humans is, regardless of the time period, we have a knack for creating all kinds of “problems” for ourselves.

There will always be pain, death, suffering, and much agony in the human experience, but there will also always be the stress we create for ourselves like gossip, drama, fear, and so on. And because of this, we will always and forever need a philosophy rooted in logic.

When you understand the laws of nature and mankind, and you accept them, you develop a kind of wisdom about it all. You don’t try to fight or stress over every little thing that doesn’t go your way. You calm the %*$& down. Life is easier and wayyyy more enjoyable. And that is the fundamental benefit to Stoicism (and philosophy).

The goal of Philosophy is to live better.

By learning the hard way, through life’s way, I’ve come to understand the difference wisdom and knowledge, happiness and indulgence. I was lucky to find Stoicism because it gave me a means to better explain the ideas I had learned by surviving through some of life’s trials. It allowed me to further my understanding of life and myself.

Stoicism isn’t a fancy—I’m Stoic and you aren’t—type of philosophy that sounds good on paper. It has practical purposes that are applicable to your everyday life. You can literally live a better life by adopting a Stoic mindset.

The Stoics used psychological techniques to keep one’s mind and ego in check and to avoid slipping into the traps of externals (which now more than ever, our society is addicted to). A couple of these techniques that I use often are called “negative visualization” and “voluntary discomfort.” We will cover those a bit later.

The Stoics believed that all men are equal and that we are all citizens of the world. Thus, a Stoic should readily help his neighbor (this further drew me to the philosophy). They believed in being objective to anything that happens in life. The Stoic view of an unfortunate event is that it was meant to happen as nature intended, and if something was meant to be, why choose a negative emotion in response when you can just as easily choose a positive one—or a neutral one?

Logically iron-clad.

The Stoics asserted that emotion and feeling is always a choice. You choose how you respond to the world. If there is one thing you take away from this book—and that can change your entire life—it is this concept:

You decide how you respond to the world. IT IS YOUR CHOICE AND YOURS ALONE!

Always ask yourself: What can I control? Then, when you find the answer, focus your thoughts and actions based on it.

You can’t change the past but you can change your thoughts about it (which is kind of like actually changing it). You can’t change other people but you can accept them for who they are. You can’t predict the future but you can change how you think about it, prepare for it, and live in the present to better unravel the future you want–and regardless of what happens in the future, you will accept it because that is what nature intended.

The Problem With Logic

A logical mindset is in stark contrast to the the emotional mindset we live with as humans. It takes a ton of practice to be able default to logic instead of emotion. This brings me to the most common misconception of Stoicism. You might wonder, “If I’m always logical, won’t I become a heartless, non-feeling shell of a person?”

No you won’t.

Being “Stoic” isn’t about not feeling. It’s about curbing the highs and lows enough so you can focus on what you can control instead fo being swept away by blind grief or joy. This helps you accept personal responsibility and avoid falling into the trap of chasing externals for fulfillment. Maybe you give up a bit of joy, but would that not be worth it to reduce, or nearly eliminate, your suffering? If you asked me that, it would be an easy “yes,” and I’m a pretty positive person by nature.

When you operate from the mindset of choice no matter what life throws your way, you have the powerful to be eternally happy and content instead of being held hostage to the whims of other people, things or occurrences. Do you see how logic can be powerful? It can grant you total control of your existence. Nothing can phase you unless you allow it.

When life doesn’t go your way, you make the choice to focus on the positive or to wallow in a corner feeling sorry for yourself. I don’t know about you, but I will always choose the former.

Externals

A key tenant of Stoicism is to recognize when something else has control over your thoughts and emotions so you can take back control. When you put happiness in externals, you become a slave to them. Your happiness is no longer in your control, it is decided by something or someone else.

By taking back control you are able to better accept that whatever happens, happens. This helps eliminate fear of loss (which is how so many people live every day of their lives). What’s ironic about this way of thinking is you end up appreciating the things you have even more so because you don’t “expect” them to always be there. By understanding that what you have can be taken away, you appreciate it more. In fact, the Stoics have a technique for promoting appreciation called Negative Visualization.

Negative Visualization

I think about death often; my death, my family’s death, friends. This isn’t because I’m morbid or morose, it’s because I’m the opposite. I think about death often to “trick” my mind into seeing life for what it really is: fickle, transient, soon-to-end, not determined, not guaranteed, etc. This helps me better appreciate what I have.

In negative visualization, as the Stoics recommend, you visualize your death, or the death of a loved one, or losing something else you value greatly like your house or bank account. You picture losing said object so you can contemplate how you will feel should it happen. You try to visualize the loss clearly so you can feel the emotion.

This practice does two things. First, it makes you appreciate what you have even more. It refocuses your attention on the object that you had probably been taking for granted. Try this the next time you hang out with a specific family member. You’ll invariably be more in the now and feel more appreciation and connection to the person.

The second benefit of negative visualization is it helps you realize how fickle life is and how often you take it for granted. Most of us “expect” life to always go our way. We assume we will live to old age and have a family and accomplish all of our goals. By reminding ourselves of what life is really like, we become more grounded in our thoughts. We learn to be in the present and appreciate what we have instead of being distracted and upset by the many things that vie for our attention.

This technique is so powerful that I think it’s a disservice to those you care about to not use it for them. (I hope it’s your loved ones you think about and not just “stuff” like your car or house. If stuff is the first, or only, thing that comes to mind then that might be a sign to take a hard look at your priorities in life.)

Negative visualization can also help you in everyday situations when something doesn’t go your way, like a car accident or dropping a plate on the floor. Anytime an unfortunate situation happens to you, think: It could always be worse. Most of the things in your life that you give importance to are laughable after visualizing the loss of your spouse or child.

Negative visualization helps you better appreciate what matters to you while also reminding you of the things that don’t matter at all.

Consider: How inconsequential would the things in your life become if you had to deal with the death of a loved one? Or, if you were diagnosed with cancer and had a year to live?

These questions are necessary, and to ignore them because they are “inconvenient” would be a grave mistake.

Consider: You get in a car accident and your car is totaled but you walk away. Would you be grateful that you are alive? Would you be thankful that you survived with your life or maybe that your child in the backseat was unscathed? Sounds obvious, right? Well, how often do people come out of car accidents yelling, screaming, and throwing a fit? Pretty often from what I have seen. Get some freaking perspective!

It’s time to get some perspective. The next time you want to cry over spilt milk, wake up and realize it could be much, much (much) worse.

Negative Visualization Technique:

Imagine losing something important to you.
Visualize how this hypothetical loss happens. Be vivid and specific in your mind.
Let emotion enter your being as if it did happen. Take this as far as you like, this is personal preference.
After the practice, rejoice in the fact that you haven’t lost said object. Go hug them and tell them you love them or write them a letter.
The next time you spend time with them, appreciate them more. Give them your full attention, tell them you love them, forgive them, let go of resentment, etc.
Revisit this practice when you find yourself drifting in your priorities. It will realign you.

I know this is a lot to take in, especially if philosophy is new to you. Give it time and consider buying a book or two one something that interests you from this article. Like I said above, let your curiosity lead you down the path to knowledge. Check out my article: 5 Books That Changed My Life and my Recommended Books Archive.

You don’t have to only study Stoicism or only philosophy. Go where your interests are. Just pursue knowledge and try to find the solutions to the problems and questions that you have in your life. Maybe you have relationship issues you would like to better understand. Buy a book and learn about it. Maybe you need more confidence. Buy a book and learn techniques for becoming more confident. And so on.

Yours in Living a Philosophical Life of Practicalness,

-Colin

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