Bryan Parady's Blog, page 27

That Last Bit

We’ve all been there, we feel like we have nothing left to give, that every ounce of energy or time has already been invested and if it doesn’t pay off now then we are through.

Sound familiar?

The truth is when we feel like that, it’s time to push even harder.  The saying it’s darkest before the dawn is very true.  When things are just beating you to the ground, that’s not the time to throw in the towel and give up, it’s the time to kick butt all the more.

Have you been dieting and working out but aren’t seeing the results?  Keep pushing, and push even harder.

It’s not just about results, those will come naturally, it’s about doing what you have to do to be proud of yourself, to be confident in yourself.

It’s you putting in the sweat and tears it takes to climb your mountain.  The view from on top is a given, you don’t have to make that happen, you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and telling that mountain it’s not going to beat you. Because it’s not.

Get On It

Getting in shape, and getting your life on tract dietary wise takes work.  You will have days you want to give up and give in.  But the better you is waiting.

Regardless of what level you are on, you should always strive to be better.  There is always something more you can do to be better when it comes to fitness or diet.  The main thing is you don’t want stagnation. You don’t want to get to a place where you are not moving forward anymore.

So sit down with a pad and paper, your tablet or whatever you take notes on.  Set some goals.  Figure out what it is that you want.  What is the end goal?  You can’t start if you don’t have some kind of goal in mind.

Once you have your goals figured out.  Then what?  You may not know where to go from here.  The internet is filled with info on healthy eating, on time saving tips to cook good, or on different workouts from all different levels, beginner to expert.

What helps you?  Do you need someone to keep you accountable?  Do you need to post your goals somewhere you can read them every day?  Do whatever it takes and don’t stop.

So how are you planning on starting?

Time Sucker

What things suck your time? A lot of us would say work or school for sure. Those are definitely time consuming necessities, but what about things that aren’t necessities? I hear people all the time saying how they don’t have time for thing, or if they only had more time they would do this or that. Then afterwards they will talk about how much they are loving this show or that show, or how they binge watched an entire season of something over the weekend.

You have time. You just have to make time for things. It takes sacrifice, it takes having to give up some things but you do have time. Every single person has the same amount. Those who just work their 8-5 jobs, and do nothing else and those who pursue their dreams, build businesses, become the best at something.

Einstein had the same hours in a day as you. Henry Ford had the same amount of hours. Abraham Lincoln, same amount of hours. Every person in history who we revere or look up to was given the same amount of time, and if anything we have many modern conveniences that make our life easier, that they didn’t have.

So next time you find yourself saying you don’t have time. Stop yourself and examine. Because you probably have a whole lot more time than you think.

So Long Laziness

It’s crazy. I go to the gym a lot, and yet I still have a love hate relationship with it. There’s a lot of days I just don’t want to go. It’s easy not to. It’s easy to find an excuse of why we don’t have time. But in the long run it’s still just laziness.

Same with eating. It’s easy to be lazy with eating sometimes. We rarely eat for health anymore, we eat what tastes good, regardless of how it is affecting our bodies.

So if you want to get in shape what do you have to do? Overcome obstacles. Like everything in life worth having it takes some work.

But it’s really not that hard when it boils down to it.

Gyms are on every corner and you can get a membership for not much money. Civic centers often offer equipment to it’s citizens for no charge. The internet is full of places to learn exercises. Whether you are just googling youtube videos on gym workouts or going to a place like bodybuilding.com to get a more thorough understanding of workouts, there are plenty of resources available.

Diet isn’t as hard as most people think either. It’s mostly easy fixes to start out with. Cut out soda, limit yourself to a couple sweets a week. Don’t eat any white breads or grains.

Don’t grab a candy bar and mountain dew at the gas station, get some juice/milk and a banana or granola bar. It’s not like healthy choices aren’t an option it just takes getting yourself out of the mindset of having to eat junk food. Don’t have time to cook some healthy meals during the week? Pre-cook your meals on the weekends and freeze them. Then just heat them up during the week. Not only is it cheaper, it’s healthier.

There are plenty of options out there to get fit, it’s a matter of deciding to do it. You can do it, it’s just mind over matter.

So next time you are feeling lazy remind yourself you can do this, and get to it.

Be Bold

Life is not for the faint of heart. It’s really not. Life can kick your butt sometimes. It can beat you down when you try to step out and achieve things in your life. It can drag you through the mud when you thought it was going to be downhill all the way.

You see, going after high goals or dreams is made to look like something that is accomplished quickly and easily according to Hollywood. They make it to where the bad stuff lasts only a few minutes and then you get everything in the end and it’s not hard.

But real life doesn’t work like that. Real life is tough. Achieving your goals is hard work. It takes a lot of determination and a lot of grunt work. It takes getting slapped around and continuing to go forward. It’s not easy work, but it is rewarding and it grows you, in ways you don’t ever realize till you are done.

So be bold. If you are setting off to achieve your goals and dreams don’t get disillusioned by what the media and the world will tell you. Friends may say you are crazy. Family may say don’t be dumb and take risks, and Hollywood will say it will be an easy road.

None of these are true. It will be tough, but you’ve got this. You were born to do great things. It’s in your DNA. Don’t deny it, don’t hide it. Go after it with all you’ve got.

What Do You Want To Do? Really.

What do you want to do with your life?  I mean really?  It’s something you’ve probably dreamt of ever since you were little.

It’s something that’s so important to each of us as individuals and yet it’s something that we probably spend very little time on.

Maybe you are at a place where you don’t really know what you want anymore.

Or maybe you know what you want but aren’t sure how to get there.

Or maybe you are on your way to what you want to do but you’ve hit some roadblocks.

Spend some time today by yourself, put on some soft music, turn the phone off, and pour a cup of coffee or tea.  Get out some paper and write down what you want in life, write down some ideas you have of getting there.

Take some time today to rediscover who you are and what you want.

It’s At Your Fingertips

Literally the world is truly at your fingertips. We have so much opportunity in this world if we are willing to work hard for it. We can do anything we set our minds to .  We have the capability to learn whatever it is that we want to learn.

Is there that person you haven’t mustered up the courage to talk to?  Call them.  Why not?  Do you want to wonder ‘what if’ forever?

What about that country you’ve always wanted to go to?  Why not?  Get your passport, save some money and go.

Wondering if you could ever get your dream job?  Start finding out what it takes, and don’t stop at no.

Don’t lay down and give up the fight ever.  It’s at your fingertips.

Have you wanted to start that business?  Get a business plan together and go for it.

All great things take risk, they take chances, and they guts.  But you have all the necessary tools.  So go for it and take the plunge.  The world awaits.

Why Not?

I’m sitting here in Pensacola Florida on a military base.  A year ago if you had told me I would be here I would have said you were crazy.  But life has a crazy way of going where you least expect.

I’ve been on a search for some time now of how to pursue my dreams and the military was the path and stepping stone I chose to get me to where I want to get.

A lot of people were surprised when they found out.  After all what 29 year old who is married with a child, has a great job and a comfortable job would choose to do something like that right?

I won’t lie it’s been hard, very hard at times.  Many days I miss my former life.  I miss my family, my home, and my job even.

But I have to keep the end goal in mind.  I have to remind myself why I’m doing this.  What I want to do with my life 10 years down the road and how this will get me there.

It’s not all paved with rainbows and everything doesn’t go perfectly right like in the movies.  But it’s a journey.  And I am glad I took it.  Because I’d always wonder what if.

So no matter where you are in life, I encourage you to seek out what you truly want in life, what is going to get you to where you want to be.  It’s never too early or too late to start.

So You Want An Adventure?

Everyone says how they want an adventure, and deep down we all do.  We were created and destined to live life large and live life as an adventure.

The problem is we stop believing that there is an adventure out there.  So we compromise.  We begin to think that sipping Starbucks and listening to our favorite band on spotify is adventurous.  We think shopping at the mall and trying to pick up a new date is adventurous.

But in truth we give up far too easily on our adventurous dreams.  We give in to what other people say about life, about what we should or shouldn’t do.  We believe the lie that there isn’t more to life that mediocrity, and so we become content with mediocrity.

Stop listening to what the world thinks you should do, or what someone has told you.

Do you have a crazy dream?  Go for it.  The most innovative people are those who were once called crazy.

Have something that you get extremely passionate about when you talk about it?  Get a degree or job in that field and chase after it.

Live life to the fullest.  Takes risks, be bold.

Stacked Against You

Sometimes the world seems like it’s against you. That the walls are caving in and that someone is out to get you.

In reality none of this is true. No one is out to get you. No one is making your life miserable or sad or anything of the sort.

Things just seem to want to overwhelm you sometimes. But al that is, is your brain trying to tell you to give up, to give in, because most of what we are exposed to in life is people failing and giving up. We see movies and hear inspirational stories during the olympics who have overcome insurmountable odds.

We cry when we hear these stories and think “how awesome”. But in our own lives how often do we choose the easy path? How often do we give in to tiredness, give in to our desire to eat chocolate cake, order fast food, or to binge on some Netflix show? We give into these “simple pleasures” all the time and then wonder why we aren’t making progress.

To make progress and to “beat” life, we have to be committed to the larger goal. We have to keep our eyes on the finish line and not give up the things we know are true.

To become better at something whether it’s your job, a dream you have, your physical condition, whether it’s at some skill that you want to perfect, all these things take sacrifice and hard work.

You can do it, and indeed you were meant to. So stick with it and do the things that are difficult.