September 14th, 2011
Some time ago, someone wrote me an email and said, “I would love to know what motivates YOU!” So I took them up on it and I want to spend some time telling you how I stay motivated.
It is a valid question, this one of what motivates me. After all, each and every day I have to stay on the top of my game, whether because I am giving a speech, marketing my materials, writing to one of the subscribers I have in over 100 countries, or just trying to keep my kids energized!
As I thought about it, I realized again just how simple life can be if you put the right processes in place. I realized that staying motivated revolves around a few basic things that I do. And they are things that ANYBODY can do. So if I can stay motivated, you can too! If you want to stay motivated, try these basics that I use to keep myself motivated:
Read good books and magazines. I am an information junkie! I read all of the time. I don’t care what you say; you cannot be successful without reading! I read books, magazines, etc., all of the time. I read a breadth of information so as to develop myself on a wide variety of topics. Keep reading them on a regular basis throughout the month and not just in reading binges. Listen to good information. Get yourself into some good tapes. Listen to what others have to say. Give yourself a budget to spend on materials that will make you into a motivated animal! Above all, as you listen, apply the truths to your life in your head and they will become what you live! Maintain a positive group of friends and colleagues. I broke this rule yesterday and went to coffee with a real downer. I am still recovering from him! One of the best things you can do is to surround yourself with positive people who will build you up and encourage you to pursue your dreams. They will be honest with you, yes, but they will also challenge you to shoot for the stars!
Focus clearly on my goals. I know where I am going and what I want to accomplish. They are firmly rooted in my mind and heart. Because of this, my mind and heart are in an attitude of motivation all of the time. I want to hit my goals, and since they are present in my heart and mind, I put my energies into them.
Discipline myself to live out my priorities. Most of the time, this takes plain old hard work. We have to discipline ourselves, and as we do, we find ourselves becoming more and more motivated. If we discipline ourselves, it gives us wins and victories, which make us feel good, which motivate us for further action. If we don’t discipline ourselves, we feel defeated and we fall into a downward spiral of despair.
Are you keeping yourself motivated? You can. I know you can because I have seen these principles and actions work in my own life. Take a moment right now and see if you are living out the principles for keeping motivated:
Do you regularly read good books and magazines?
Do you regularly listen to good material?
Do you surround yourself with positive and supportive people?
Do you know and focus on your goals?
Do you discipline yourself to action even when you don’t feel like it?
Commit yourself to these and you will find that you have become a much more motivated person. This is what I do, and why I can continue to motivate others!
Upward and onward my friends!
Tags: motivate, motivate customers, motivation, motivational programs, point rewards
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July 5th, 2011
It’s time to change your mind about money and wealth.
Freedom is more than financial, and living a wealthy life is about more than just making money.
Below are the top 10 principles you need to know when pursuing more money so that you end up with a happy, healthy, and wealthy life…
1. Give More Than You Take
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
To build true wealth, you must help improve other people’s lives as you improve your own. When you give more value than you take it helps everyone around you. Living this way means the growth of your financial wealth becomes a measure of how much you have given to others. Your success becomes an act of contribution.
Always remember, taking value may bring you temporary financial success but it can never lead you to happiness and fulfillment.
2. Live With Integrity
Never cause harm to other people or the environment, encroach on the property of others, or violate moral laws. Never insult, lie, or cheat for financial gains.
Follow the simple rule, “If it doesn’t feel right then it probably isn’t”. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t be comfortable telling your family about.
When faced with the choice between expediency and integrity, choose integrity because no amount of wealth can replace peace of mind and a clear conscience.
3. Find Your Inner Motivation
Building financial wealth is not an easy path. It is a long and challenging journey that requires a deep rooted motivation strong enough to see you through to the achievement of your goal. Superficial motivators like a fancy car or endless vacations sipping umbrella drinks on a tropical beach won’t cut it.
Below are four proven motivators that can help you stay the course long enough to succeed:
- Freedom from daily labor: This will allow you time to connect with family, indulge in your passion, or pursue personal growth so you can live your life to its fullest potential.
- Capacity to share: Contribution is a powerful motivator because the more you have the more you can share. Wealthy families have significantly empowered social and environmental causes through the charitable foundations they’ve created. Maybe giving is your reason for getting.
- Personal growth: When you’ve achieved financial freedom you will have more time to pursue personal freedom and achieve true wealth.
- Capacity to inspire: Your success will inspire the people around you to follow in your footsteps and pursue their dreams. By achieving true wealth you will have the chance to help people break free from the shackles of financial mediocrity.
4. Have The Courage To Find Your Own Path
As social beings, we are afraid to do things differently and independently. However, wealth won’t be achieved by conforming to the majority. Wealth comes from doing things that others don’t so you can acquire the wealth they never will. It comes from following your own unique path in life.
Dare to be different. Be brave enough to take on new paths and learn new skills so you achieve your goals — even if it causes you discomfort.
5. Discipline Is The Key
Wealth isn’t built overnight. Get-rich-quick is a lie.
Instead, financial wealth results from many little things done right that accumulate and compound over your lifetime. This is good news because it means anyone can do it. There are no magical answers or sudden strokes of luck required. Instead, success depends on simple daily habits like saving, investing, and re-investing. It depends on regular investment education through reading and listening to podcasts that develop your financial and business intelligence daily.
When you have discipline you take regular action that produces regular results. Without discipline you will fall prey to the leading wealth killer – procrastination.
6. Live A Modest Lifestyle
The foundation of wealth is delayed gratification. Spend less than you can afford so you can invest the difference for greater value in the future. Materialism doesn’t bring happiness but it does keep you from achieving wealth. It will keep you attached to the superficial rather than connecting to the deeper motivation that drives you to achieve wealth.
Don’t be fooled by the consumerism myth that being wealthy is about living a conspicuous lifestyle. Most self-made millionaires live modestly — that is how they built their wealth. The truth is lifestyle conflicts with wealth building. Your resources are limited and can only serve one master.
7. Create Supportive Environments
The path to financial freedom is not easy. Few succeed even with the best laid plans because life incessantly gets in the way by throwing up obstacles and distractions. The key to success is focused, consistent and unyielding action. To achieve this objective create a support system that maintains your focus as you work toward wealth.
Properly designed environments will literally pull you toward your wealth goals. Structure your relationships, financial habits, daily routine, family and work environments to support and reinforce you plans. Eliminate contradictory environments that distract or drain your resources. Shaping your environments is the most efficient path to achieving your goals with the least effort required.
8. Nobody Builds Wealth Without Leverage
Leverage is the key principle to building wealth. You will achieve greater results in less time when your efforts aren’t limited by your own resources.
Below are the 6 types of leverage you should consider using:
- Knowledge Leverage: How to work smarter — not harder.
- Financial leverage: Other people’s money.
- Marketing Leverage: How to connect with many for the same effort as one.
- Systems and Technology Leverage: How to get more done with less effort — automation, streamlining, standardized protocols.
- Time leverage: Other people’s time — employees, volunteers, assistants.
- Network Leverage: Other people’s connections.
You will never build wealth by trading time for money, and you will limit your success as long as you’re limited by your own resources. The key principle required for breaking through the obstacles that curb your success is leverage. It literally separates those who can build wealth from those who never will.
9. Manage Your Money Like A Business
Treat your money like a business because that’s exactly what it is — a growing wealth management business. Employ proven success principles in your wealth plan similar to a traditional business plan as follows…
- Competitive advantage
- Risk management
- Strategic planning
- Accurate record keeping
- Accountability milestones
You wealth plan should include all of these business principles while also incorporating your unique skills, interests, and resources so that it’s custom fitted to your personal life situation. You wouldn’t expect to succeed in business without a plan so why should wealth be any different?
10. Use Money Responsibly
You don’t own wealth: you’re merely its temporary guardian. Everything must pass including you and your money. Since you can’t take it with you the only alternative is to use it wisely while you are here and give it carefully upon death.
Always remember that money is a flow that passes through your control while you pass through this lifetime. Whether or not you use that temporary power wisely will determine the legacy of your life.
It will also determine if you lived with true wealth.
The goal for true wealth is not just financial success. It is about leading a balanced and fulfilling life that honors your deepest values. It is a about a life well lived.
As John Wicker wisely pointed out, “Wealth is not in making money, but in making the man while he is making the money.”
When you follow these ten key principles you will grow your financial wealth, and more importantly, you will grow personally.
That’s what true wealth is all about.
Tags: employee rewards, motivate, motivate customers, motivate employees, motivational, motivational programs
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May 10th, 2011
Sales is an emotional roller coaster, and unless you figure out how to manage those emotions and keep yourself motivated, you’ll have a difficult time succeeding. This is particularly true during a downturn. The economy struggles and unemployment rises. Many companies cut back, there are fewer jobs available, and pressures to perform are greater than ever. It’s easy to lose our motivation.
However, even though the world around us may be dreary and depressing, that in no way reduces our personal need to do the best we can. That means we all have a responsibility to stay motivated.
It is amazing what a difference a few degrees of attitude adjustment can make in our performance. Try this little exercise. Tell yourself these things: “Business is terrible. All of my customers are struggling. Nobody wants to see me, and when they do, it’s just to complain.” Wallow in those thoughts for a moment, and note how much energy and enthusiasm you have.
Now, think the opposite: “I have great opportunities. My customers need me more today than ever. I have valuable solutions for them. It’s a great time to have this job.” Roll those around in your mind for a while. Note how much energy and enthusiasm you have.
As you reflect on this exercise, it’s clear that your energy, enthusiasm and drive to succeed come as a result of your thoughts. Here is one of the most powerful truths known to mankind: You can control your thoughts.
Going Beyond “Positive Thinking”
Succeeding in difficult times depends a great deal on our motivation. Staying motivated requires us to take charge of our thoughts.
I’ve heard dozens of salespeople say, “I’ve tried positive thinking. It just isn’t me.” I agree that it is difficult to patch a bunch of positive thoughts on top of an essentially negative personality. The issue is deeper than that. Let’s, therefore, examine the deeper issues.
At the heart of motivation lies a pair of powerful beliefs that you must embrace if you are going to successfully motivate yourself. Without a wholehearted commitment to these foundational beliefs, all the techniques and tactics for self-motivation are like spreading wallpaper over crumbling plaster. It may hold temporarily, but it is soon going to deteriorate into a mess.
Here’s the first foundational principle: You must believe that you can do better than you are now doing. The second is this: You must accept that it is your responsibility to do so.
It’s simple and commonsense, but, the more I observe people and salespeople specifically, the more convinced I am that the majority of people do not share these core beliefs. Rather, they are in the habit of making excuses for their situation. They believe fate, not their actions, determines their success. They believe success is for someone else, not them. They never really grab unto the first of these foundational principles.
Others believe that they can achieve greater degrees of success. They embrace the first principle, intellectually, but they never internalize the second. They become content with their situation and remain in pre-established comfort zones. They look at their manager as the person who is responsible for their success, or lack thereof. Maybe it’s their parent’s fault, or their spouse’s, or… the list goes on.
Whether you are struggling with a lack of energy that accompanies a bad day, or you’re depressed and frustrated with your lack of progress on a larger scale, examine your core beliefs first. If you really accept these two principles, you have the keystone in place to become highly motivated.
Having said that, here are a couple proven techniques you can use to keep yourself motivated day-to-day.
Have a Compelling Purpose
Have something you are working to accomplish. This can be an important and compelling goal like saving enough money for a down payment on a house. When you are working toward something like that, your emotions of the moment tend to be a lower priority than your drive to achieve. If you are trying to make money for a home for your family, so what if you’re tired or depressed? You get out and do it.
The same is true for having a compelling purpose. I believe that every salesperson should be able to articulate clearly his or her purpose in life. I once began a ten-week sales training program with a requirement that everyone write a two-sentence “life purpose.” Why? Because it gives power and focus to everything you do. In your job as a salesperson, there will be many difficult times when things don’t go your way. You may lose a big deal, or be unable to get anyone to return your calls. At times like these, it helps to view them within the context of a larger perspective: your life purpose.
Choose Your Thoughts
Proactively put positive thoughts into your mind. Make a point of taking charge of your mind and the kind of thoughts you choose to think. Wise and thoughtful people for ages have discovered an extremely powerful principle: Your actions arise from your thoughts, and you can choose your thoughts.
Controlling and managing your thoughts is one of the basic tenants of Zen Buddhism, for example. In the Christian context, the apostle Paul said, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Philosophers, educators, and thinkers of every generation conclude the same thing.
But the power of this truth is not reserved just for philosophers. Salespeople can use it as well. The reason you may feel depressed or anxious is because you are thinking depressing or anxious thoughts. Change your thoughts, and you can change your feelings. Change your emotions, and you can change your behavior. Change your behavior and you can change your results. It’s not as difficult as it may sound.
Take Action
Do this: invest in a couple of audio programs filled with good, positive stuff, or find something at the local library. As you drive between appointments and on your way home from work, listen to those tapes or CDs. You’ll find yourself thinking positive thoughts. Those positive thoughts will lead to a more positive attitude. That attitude will manifest in more focused actions. Those actions will lead to better results.
There is no limit to the amount of positive, educational material available to you. If you are not regularly exposing yourself to some of this, it is because you are choosing to not be motivated.
Succeeding in difficult times requires you to take charge of your motivation. Now is the time to take this most important step to becoming a true professional.
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December 27th, 2010
I have many friends. Call them what you like – friends, acquaintances, colleagues, partners, allies, vendors, customers, confidants, teammates – I aim to build close relationships with everyone I know. It makes doing business fun and it makes living worthwhile. Oddly enough, earning the friendship and the trust of all those I deal with has contributed more to my success than perhaps anything else. It took my kids to point that out to me.
My daughters and I read stories to each other every night before bed (and sometimes, when I’m on the road, we read via Skype). Recently we stumbled upon an insightful book called A Bargain for Frances, by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban. It’s a classic sales book in disguise. Frances’s friend Thelma is a conniving and shrewd businesswoman (yes, I know she’s only five years old) who is masterful at creating demand and uncovering buying motives. Thelma takes advantage of Frances by selling a used tea set for far more than it is worth by misrepresentation. When Frances realizes what has happened, she devises a plan to undo the transaction and succeeds (although somewhat mischievously).
Thelma quickly understands that Frances has gotten even and remarks, “From now on I will have to be careful when I play with you.”
“Being careful is not as much fun as being friends,” says Frances. “Do you want to be careful, or do you want to be friends?”
Whoa. That question hit me hard. Real business, real growth, real partnerships, real relationships, and real friendships can only occur where trust exists and the necessity to “be careful” is absent.
I began to look at the people in my life and ask myself whether I am “careful” or “friends” with them. I discovered that I am both, but that the people I truly appreciate, trust, and wholeheartedly devote myself to helping give me an unspoken and unconscious feeling of safety. I wonder if you make your friends and customers feel safe.
I have a very close friend that has never been “careful” with me. This friend is part advisor, part confidant, part teammate, part opponent, part advocate, and all appreciated. Not having to be “careful” has resulted in higher quality output, higher revenues, and an abundance of enjoyable interactions (and transactions!).
Here are some of the qualities of a true business friend:
Willing to help. Sometimes it’s advice; sometimes it’s grunt work. Either way, friends lend a hand without hesitation.
Willing to argue. A friend knows when you need to be challenged and does not need to worry about hurting your feelings.
Willing to use tough love. Sometimes saying “no” is the best and the right thing to do for a friend.
Willing to defend. When you come under scrutiny, a friend always has your back.
Willing to criticize. A friend understands that criticizing your ideas or your work is not the same as criticizing you.
Willing to compliment. A friend does not have to be “careful” about giving you the upper hand or advantage by telling you when you do well.
Willing to believe. A friend accepts your claims and promises without waffling.
Willing to refer. A friend does not consider referring you to others a risk and provide testimony for your claims.
Willing to defer. A friend knows when you are best suited, most qualified, and apt to make the right decision. Your advice counts.
Willing to invest. Time, money, sweat, energy. But mostly time.
Willing to give. A friend gives without expectation. No keeping tabs.
Willing to take. A friend receives without psychic debt. Gratefulness without the “I owe you one.”
There are many more qualities of a friend, but children’s books have taught me another lesson – fewer words and fewer pages do not mean less impact. In fact, this time it was quite the opposite.
Tags: customer incentives, incentive, marketing incentives, motivate customers
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February 9th, 2009
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be motivated to achievement by such a lofty goal as benevolence? I must confess, however, that in the early years of my struggle to succeed, my motivation was a lot more down-to-earth. My reason for succeeding was more basic. In fact, it fell into the category of what I like to call “nitty-gritty reasons.” A nitty-gritty reason is the kind that any one of us can have — at any time, on any day — and it can cause our lives to change. Let me tell you what happened to me.
Shortly before I met Mr. Shoaff, I was lounging at home one day when I heard a knock at the door. It was a timid, hesitant knock. When I opened the door I looked down to see a pair of big brown eyes staring up at me. There stood a frail little girl of about ten. She told me, with all the courage and determination her little heart could muster, that she was selling Girl Scout cookies. It was a masterful presentation — several flavors, a special deal, and only two dollars per box. How could anyone refuse? Finally, with a big smile and ever-so politely, she asked me to buy. And I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to!
Except for one thing. I didn’t have two dollars! Boy, was I embarrassed! Here I was — a father, had been to college, was gainfully employed — and yet I didn’t have two dollars to my name.
Naturally I couldn’t tell this to the little girl with the big brown eyes. So I did the next best thing. I lied to her. I said, “Thanks, but I’ve already bought Girl Scout cookies this year. And I’ve still got plenty stacked in the house.”
Now that simply wasn’t true. But it was the only thing I could think of to get me off the hook. And it did. The little girl said, “That’s okay, sir. Thank you very much.” And with that she turned around and went on her way.
I stared after her for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, I closed the door behind me and, leaning my back to it, cried out, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I’ve had it with being broke, and I’ve had it with lying. I’ll never be embarrassed again by not having any money in my pocket.” That day I promised myself to earn enough to always have several hundred dollars in my pocket at all times.
This is what I mean by a nitty-gritty reason. It may not win me any prize for greatness, but it was enough to have a permanent effect on the rest of my life.
My Girl-Scout-cookie story does have a happy ending. Several years later, as I was walking out of my bank where I had just made a hefty deposit and was crossing the street to get into my car, I saw two little girls who were selling candy for some girls’ organization. One of them approached me, saying, “Mister, would you like to buy some candy?”
“I probably would,” I said playfully. “What kind of candy do you have?” “It’s almond roca.” “Almond roca. That’s my favorite. How much is it?” “It’s only two dollars.” Two dollars. It couldn’t be! I was excited. “How many boxes of candy have you got?” “I’ve got five.”
Looking at her friend, I said, “And how many boxes do you have left?”
“I’ve got four.” “That’s nine. Okay, I’ll take them all.”
At this, both girls’ mouths fell open as they exclaimed in unison, “Really?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ve got some friends that I’ll pass some around to.”
Excitedly, they scurried to stack all the boxes together. I reached into my pocket and gave them eighteen dollars. As I was about to leave, the boxes tucked under my arm, one of the girls looked up and said, “Mister, you’re really something!” How about that! Can you imagine spending only eighteen dollars and having someone look you in the face and say, “You’re really something!”
Now you know why I always carry a few hundred dollars on me. I’m not about to miss chances like that ever again.
And to think it all resulted from my own embarrassment, that when properly channeled, acted as a powerful motivator to help me achieve.
How about you? What nitty-gritty reasons do you have waiting to challenge and provoke you into change for the better? Look for them, they are there. Sometimes it can be as simple as a brown-eyed girl selling Girl Scout cookies.
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February 2nd, 2009
How to Stay Motivated by Dr. Denis Waitley
Be willing to say to yourself, “I´m on the right road. I´m doing OK. I´m succeeding.’ We too frequently become adept at pointing out our flaws and identifying failures. Become equally adept at citing your achievements. Identify things you are doing now that you weren´t doing one month ago… six months ago… a year ago. What habits have changed? Chart your progress.
Doing well once or twice is relatively easy. Continuously moving ahead is tough, in part, because we so easily revert to old habits and former lifestyles. Over the long run, you need to give yourself regular feedback to monitor your performance and reinforce yourself positively. Don´t wait for an award ceremony, promotion, friend or mentor to show appreciation for your work. Take pride in your own efforts on a daily basis.
Keep the end result in sight. Always see the big picture of the ultimate goal you´re working for and the benefits that come with it. During World War II, parachutes were being constructed by the thousands. From the workers point of view, the job was tedious and repetitive. (Like making “cold calls’ on the phone or in person.) It involved crouching over a sewing machine eight to ten hours a day, stitching endless lengths of colorless fabric. The result was a seamless heap of cloth. But every morning the workers were reminded that each stitch was part of a life-saving operation. As they sewed, they were asked to think that this might be the parachute worn by their husband, brother or son. Although the work was hard and the hours long, the women and men on the assembly line understood their contribution to the larger picture. The same should be true with your work. Each thing you do benefits the health and well being of adults and children throughout the world, not just generally, but specifically. These are the visions that drive us through tedious details to the top.
Set up a dynamic daily routine. Getting into a positive routine or groove, instead of a negative rut, will help you become more effective. Why is the subway the most energy efficient means of transportation? Because it runs on a track.
Think of the order in your day, instead of the routine. Order is not sameness, neatness or everything exactly in its place. Order is not taking on more than you can manage, without still being able to do what you really choose. Order is the opposite of complication; it´s simplification. Order is not wasting a lot of time trying to find things. Order is avoiding a lot of recriminations because you didn´t do something you promised. Order is setting an effective agenda with others, so neither of you is disappointed. Order is doing in a day what you set out to do.
Order frees you up. Get into the swing of a healthy, daily routine and discover how much more control you´ll gain in your life.
Seeds of Greatness by Denis WaitleyProblems are a normal part of change. Things are changing so abruptly that there are going to be problems you face. So you must look at failure as an event, not as a person. I’m not a failure. Maybe I’ve had a failure or a temporary inconvenience. I’ve had a stumbling block, and the idea is to turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone, and step on it instead of stumble over it. So look at failure as the fertilizer of success.
Greet People with a Smile By Denis Waitley
Greet others with a smile and look them directly in the eye. A smile and direct eye contact convey confidence born of self-respect. In the same way, answer the phone pleasantly whether at the office or home, and when placing a call, give your name before asking to speak to the party you want to reach. Leading with your name underscores that a person with self-respect is making the call.
Tags: motivate customers, rewards, sales promotion
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January 7th, 2009
I started my career in the fitness industry almost 15 years ago working with the general fitness population that desired to lose weight, tone up and get in shape. I quickly learned it’s difficult to coach people to change their habits. True motivation must come from within. Even the best road map to fitness will not necessarily be followed.
I was a competitive runner at the time and often encouraged my clients to join me for a 5K race. Many of them had never completed a race in their lives, and I took it for granted that for them, simply finishing a race was an accomplishment in itself.
We are all familiar with the post race “glow.” This is the blend of endorphins and achievement that motivates us to keep racing and reach new levels of fitness. For many of my clients, this 5K led to another. Then they ran a 10K, a half marathon and a marathon until there was a complete change in lifestyle. Not only were they able to achieve their fitness goals, but they developed a change in attitude with a sense of pride and a new realization of their capabilities. This also caused me to switch my coaching methods and ultimately to start my own endurance sport coaching company.
I noticed my athletes–no longer clients–began to immerse themselves in their race culture. They enjoyed learning about their sport and studying new ways to improve. We often discussed the latest equipment or an article in Triathlete or Runners World.
Participating and competing in endurance events became a hobby and way of life for them. Many planned trips around upcoming races and involved their spouses and families in their sport. Others moved on to different endurance sports such as adventure racing, duathlon, triathlon and road cycling. Today we have more options than ever before and participation in endurance sports continues to grow.
Setting and achieving goals is a powerful thing. If you tell someone to spend an hour on a stair stepper, it is more of a sentence than a goal. But crossing a finish line is a real accomplishment–and you get a T-shirt. People need challenge in their lives and endurance sports deliver. Unlike team sports, the achievement is individualized and the individual gets to own the finish, PR or placement. Success can be found at any level and at any age.
There are very few physical barriers in life. I witnessed this in my last race as I watched a double-leg amputee briskly crossing the finish line. Our barriers are mainly mental, and we often need a small personal fulfillment to start the process of change. Setting a reasonable and attainable race or event goal can jump start this process. I have personally witnessed sedentary individuals achieve a complete physical transformation in as little as one year.
The Fittest of the Fit
Something else happened to my athletes along the way. They got fit–really fit. Preparing for a specific event provides the motivation to train longer, frequently and more intensely. This intensity pays dividends off the race course as well as on. Recent evidence shows those who exercise intensely have a significantly lower risk of disease compared to their moderately exercising counterparts, including diabetes and coronary heart disease.
A recent study of 44,500 health professionals showed coronary heart disease risk was reduced by 18 percent in men that walked 30 minutes per day. But men who ran for just one hour per week decreased their risk by 42 percent. The men who engaged in any form of vigorous exercise enjoyed a whopping 30 percent risk reduction. Unfit men who became fit had a 52 percent reduction in risk of CHD.
A Stanford study of runners found those who run often enjoy a relatively disability-free life. Contrary to the popular belief that runners “wear out” their bodies, runners enjoyed a lower disability score at every age level and delayed disability in performing everyday activities by nine years when compared to non-runners.
It stands to reason that the more fit a person is the less risk they will have of developing certain diseases. But it appears that vigorous exercise has specific health benefits. Intense exercise burns more calories and does a better job of keeping weight off. Intense exercise also depletes glycogen stores. This increases insulin sensitivity and decreases the risk of Type-2 diabetes. High intensity exercise also increases cardio respiratory fitness which is directly linked to coronary heart disease risk reduction.
What about the risk of sudden death during intense exercise? It is very low when those with congenital heart defects are removed. The risks associated with being overweight and sedentary are far greater. However, it is important to visit your doctor when starting an exercise program, increasing your exercise intensity or when any cardiac symptoms occur when exercising.
Any exercise is good for the body. Like many things in life, the more you put in the more you will get out. I recently participated in a challenging race that included two rough trail runs up a very steep incline of almost one mile. I was amazed at the fitness level of some of the athletes competing in their 50s and 60s and the fitness and mobility disparity between these athletes and others in their age range. If I had to pick one objective for my own training, it would be to still enjoy competition at their ages. To have this quality of life is a true athletic achievement
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January 5th, 2009
In 1996, Armstrong was 25 (and ranked the No. 1 cyclist in the world) when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain. Doctors gave him less than a 50-50 chance of survival.Two years later, after a miraculous recovery, he got back on a bike but quit a race in Paris.
The following year (and the next 6), he won the Tour de France and retired as the only person to win it seven times. In September 2008, he announced his intention to go after it again this July.
Be willing to say to yourself, “I’m on the right road. I’m doing OK. I’m succeeding.” We too frequently become adept at pointing out our flaws and identifying failures. Become equally adept at citing your achievements. Identify things you are doing now that you weren´t doing one month ago… six months ago… a year ago. What habits have changed? Chart your progress.
Doing well once or twice is relatively easy. Continuously moving ahead is tough, in part, because we so easily revert to old habits and former lifestyles. Over the long run, you need to give yourself regular feedback to monitor your performance and reinforce yourself positively. Don’t wait for an award ceremony, promotion, friend or mentor to show appreciation for your work. Take pride in your own efforts on a daily basis.
Tags: customer incentives, motivate customers
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