Unlocking Your Inner Strength

I remember back in high school basketball, when I really began pushing myself and studying how to maximize my potential, I was willing to do stuff that other kids simply wouldn't do.

One of the most feared things every year at tryouts, the day after Thanksgiving, was when Coach would have us run an endless amount of suicides.

He was weeding out the weak.

There were puke buckets on the sides.

So, I ran suicides for months leading up to tryouts my junior year.

Let's just say that tryouts were relatively easy for me, while I got to watch in amusement as the others were dying in their suicides.

I practiced tough, which made the 'real life' easy.

This is what you want to do with your everyday living.

In today's episode, I discuss 4 simple ideas that you can incorporate every day to 'steel' your mind.

When I first began competing in bodybuilding back in 2004, I thought I knew a lot.

For my first few contests, I was able to tough it out.

Extreme will power and determination.

But, as you may or may not know, you cannot form a lifestyle out of pure willpower.

Once it really clicked with me that it's all mental, it became so much easier to life fully in my fitness and fasting focused lifestyle.

Yes, there is discipline day in and day out, but I enjoy what I am doing.

I need to be ready at any moment to take care of my family.

Being a Ripped Dad is about being ready to: save your own life, save someone else's life or being able to kick someone's a** when needed.

It all starts in the mind.

In 2014, we ran our very first Ripped Dads contest.

I remember at that time being so pumped to watch the transformations happen and that we had such a niche program.

Well, over the past 8 years, I have grown to love this contest since I am now a father of 3 that knows the struggles of fatherhood and I have seen the impact we can have on dads.

Secondly, I have also come to realize over the years that it's all in the head.

Your mindset is everything….EVERYTHING!

In the latest episode of ULYIS, I discuss 3 things every dad can do, right away, to take their life, relationships and career to the next level.

Any surprise that the first thing I mention has to do with the mind????

How Will We Impact 1,000,000 People

A few weeks ago, I was refining our 1 year vision for Newell Strength and I had written one of the things as, 'To impact over 5,000 local lives'.

The only problem was….it didn't excite me. And if it didn't excite me, you can be sure that my team was probably not excited.

So, I sat there one night and thought about it and BAM!

The 1 year vision in that realm was to impact over 1,000,000 lives around the world.

Now, this might sound impossible, but it's not.

With that thing called the Web and our strategies for social media, it might actually be too low.

But, when Evan, our Marketing Director, asked me during a recent brainstorming session, 'What is the impact? How will we improve over 1,000,000 lives?'

I didn't hesitate in my response….

MINDSET.

That's my thing, and that's what I am going all in on.

Even the Panda is a function of mindset and Mind Map.

In today's episode, I drop 3 critical traits for mindset that you can start implementing right away.

I have been studying success for a long time.

And while success is a personal thing, based on your own definition of success, we can still find clues from those we view as successful.

I have been fortunate enough to have some great Mentors and Coaches in my life.

In today's episode, I share with you the top 5 things that I have learned that have helped me including: time management, reading, tough workouts, association and mindset.

Enjoy!

Two weeks ago, I was interviewed on the Michael Becker show and the main topic was leadership.

It seems to be a common thing that people are interested in, so I thought I'd make a podcast for you, about my views on leadership.

Remember, it starts and ends with you as a leader.

Standing up in the face of fear is easy when you have values that you live by.

And making decisions is much easier when you have rock solid, foundational values.

Take a listen and let me know what you think!

I have been blessed with the ability to help people achieve what they didn't think they could achieve.

And they were right, they couldn't achieve it YET, on their own. They just had to be shown the path.

A big part of how I have been able to do this is through physical fitness. It's a doorway into the psyche of a person.

In today's episode, I cover my KISS training principles, including:

-Train the hip and grip and all will be good

-Train your upper back, a lot

-Train at or near your anaerobic threshold

-Challenge yourself

-The 5 basic movements

Keep it stupid simple (I know, this is my own twist on the KISS acronym).

Enjoy and let me know your questions!

In today's episode, I discuss how my Panda Fasting helps in these areas:

-Weight loss

-Simplicity

-Reduced inflammation

-Autophagy

-Hormones

-Detoxification

-Brain Health

and...gaining more time.

I hope you learn something and put it to use. Enjoy!

2 days ago, the first ever Muscle Camp at Newell Strength began.

It's a 6 week program, designed to put on 3-6 pounds of muscle.

That may not sound like a lot, but I assure you, it is.

If you missed out on this round, don't worry, we will do it again at some point and the 12 specific workouts will be put into a manual that you can purchase.

I had quite a few 'ceremonies' to initiate myself into my 5th decade of life.

It began with a nice trip into my mind and spirit overnight.

Then, I put my body to the test on 4 hours of sleep, fasted for 72 hours, blood donated the night before and the list goes on.

It was an initiation, a breaking down of barriers, killing of my 40 year old self if you will.

Consider creating some ceremonies for your next birthday and an initiation process into that year of your life.

I hope you enjoy the episode!