I don’t know about you, but yesterday FLEW by. I hope everyone reading had an amazing and well-rested Holiday full of family, friends, and fudge.
Lisa and I kept it fairly low-key, which is exactly how we wanted it. We made reservations at Fogo de Chao Christmas Eve night, which was amazing. But really: how can 16 cuts of all-you-can-eat meat NOT be amazing???
We crushed it.
Then, on Christmas morning, we woke up fairly early to open our stockings and exchange gifts. I pretty much rely on her for my wardrobe. As someone who spends his days hanging out in gyms, my attire generally consists of sweatpants and pretty much the most badass t-shirt collection ever. About the only thing I’m capable of doing as it relates to fashion is making sure I don’t commit the ultimate faux pas of wearing black shoes with a brown belt (or vice versa).
Outside of that I’m a lost cause.
Nevertheless I got a bunch of new clothes yesterday that I sorely needed, along with some odds and ends like a new pair of shoes I wanted, an appointment for a deep tissue massage, and a cornucopia of tea that should last me the year.
And then to top everything off, we headed out to catch the new Quentin Taratino flock, Django Unchained, because you know, nothing says “Happy Birthday, Jesus” than a Tarantino inspired Western filled with gratuitous violence, blood, and Samuel L. Jackson.
It……..was……….AWESOME!!!!
But enough of that. Lets move into the meat (and purpose) of today’s post.
2012 is quickly drawing to close. And as such, like many of you reading, I like to reminisce about the successes and failures (but mostly successes) of the past year.
More to the point: I like to harpoon those sentiments from the past year and use all the lesson’s learned to help formulate and congeal my goals and expectations for the upcoming year.
Many of my friends and colleagues in the fitness industry have already done the same with their respective blogs, so to piggy back off of them, here are my goals for 2013 (The I’ve-Finally-Accepted-The-Fact-That-Kate-Beckinsale-Doesn’t-Know-I-Exist Addition)
Speak (Even More)
Last year one of my goals was to attempt to speak more. More specifically it was to step outside my comfort zone and attempt to take on more speaking engagements.
I’ve read that right behind the fear of dying, the next biggest fear on most people’s list is the fear of public speaking (and having a raging case of explosive diarrhea on a first date).
I’m no different. While I’ve done a handful of speaking engagements prior to 2012, I really wanted to test myself and see if:
1. I could do it.
AND
2. Not suck/fail miserably/destroy the back of my pants.
As it happened, I actually wasn’t too shabby.
In early 2012 I spoke to a group of 25-30 BSC (Boston Sports Club) trainers on assessment and corrective exercise to rave reviews and a standing ovation (which is a slight exaggeration).
In early summer I had back-to-back talks in Edmonton and Toronto.
The former was The Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar which I did alongside Dean Somerset, Rick Kaselj, and Dr. Jeff Cubos. More on this below.
The latter was the PTDC Hybrid Training seminar that I did along with Nick Tumminello, Jon Goodman, Dan Trink, Mark Young, and Geoff Girvitz.
And then just a few short months ago, we held our first annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar, which, outside of Hurricane Sandy raining on our parade, was a huge success.
While I’m still up in the air as to whether or not I see pubic speaking as something I want to pursue to a larger extent, 2013 is already filling up quickly.
I’ve already committed to heading to my alma mater (SUNY Cortland) to speak in March, which is a huge honor. Too, I’ve got several other “gigs” that are in the works, which I don’t want to state just yet in case I jinx it.
Suffice it to say, people want to hear me speak which is surreal, humbling, and terrifying at the same time.
Finally, Like for Real This Time, Deadlift 600
Seemingly, I’ve been blabbering about this goal longer than most politicians have been blabbering about cutting the deficit.
I’ll be the first to admit that 2012 wasn’t exactly an exemplary year for me on the training front. Sure, I still trained – rarely missing a scheduled session – but in many ways I was just spinning my tires and going through the motions.
I wasn’t training with a purpose. Which is ironic given I’m constantly telling other people on this site to get their s*** together and train with a goal in mind.
I guess it was a clear cut case of “do as I say, not as I do.” Which is BS.
I finally hit a tipping point last month, and reached out to fellow CP coach, Greg Robins, to see if he’d be willing to write my programming for the foreseeable future.
Essentially I came to the conclusion that I needed to outsource my own programming.
I’ve long stated that the hardest person to train is yourself. Humans are creatures of habit and we like what we like. I’m no different, and when it comes to writing my own programs, I always put in those exercises which I like or one’s I’m good at.
I’ve been following Greg’s programming for the past 3-4 weeks, and it’s been awesome. I write anywhere from 20-30 programs per week (sometimes more depending on the week/time of year), and it’s been such a relief to NOT have to think about my own training.
Greg tells me what to do, and I do it.
The goal is to go for 600 by March. I’ll keep everyone posted.
Release/Write My Own Product
2012 was a success in a lot of ways.
I actually was able to make some toast without burning down the apartment complex I live in. I stayed up past midnight once. And, I tried my first cup of coffee if you can believe it.
But one of the things I was most pumped about was that I finally had my name affiliated with a fitness product: Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body.
Hint: you should check it out.
On that front, and as I mentioned above, I went out to Edmonton to speak alongside my MIRU compatriots (Dean Somerset, Rick Kaselj, and Dr. Jeff Kubos) for the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar, which coincidentally enough will be released as it’s own product in a few short weeks.
So in a way, 2013 will already be off to an awesome start from a product release standpoint.
That said, one of my larger goals is to produce my own product that features Me, Me, and Me.
It’s a daunting thought to say the least. To put yourself out there like that is pretty scary stuff, but I “think” I’m at the point in my career where it’s time. My inner dialogue has been on repeat for years telling me that I’m not ready, and that no one in their right mind would want to buy a product for me.
It’s something I’ve had to work really, really hard to conquer……but I’ve finally reached a point where it’s time I put my big boy pants on and write/produce a product.
I’ve already got the ball rolling, and you should be hearing more about a little sumthin, sumthin sometime in early 2013.
Travel to Europe
Sadly, I’ve never been off the continent. Yeah, I’ve been to Puerto Rico, but that’s sorta cheating since it’s still – technically – considered US soil.
Going to Europe has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and appropriately ties in with my above goal to do more speaking engagements.
Sooooooo, just to throw it out there: if there’s anyone in Europe interested in listening to a bald, kind of diesel, obsessed with Norah Jones strength coach coming to talk about lifting heavy things let me know…….;o)
Get Photoshoot Lean
On par with hitting a 600 lb deadlift, I also want to see what it’s like to get photo shoot lean.
Back in 2009 I did something vaguely similar, which I titled Operation Sexification (sorry Roger Lawson).
I spent six weeks following a rigid training and diet plan to see how lean I could get within that time frame. I got pretty freakin lean. But like an asshat, I didn’t really go out of my way to document it, nor did I take any pictures. Namely because I did it in the dead of winter and was whiter than a Maroon 5 concert.
So, once I hit my 600 lb DL, I figured it would be kind of neat to get photo shoot lean and document that as well.
We’ll see. I’m still up in the air on this one because I wouldn’t want it to come across as some narcissistic endeavor.
Is it me or is it hot in here? *takes off shirt*
Get Alicia Keys to Subscribe to my Newsletter
That would be sweet!
Speaking of Newsletter – Actually Write One!
If you’ll glace to the right of my website you’ll notice an area where you can sign up for updates/newsletter.
This was a feature that I added to the site LAST year, but have yet to actually utilize.
I’m what you would call a technology nincompoop. Meaning, I still don’t have a smart phone, and I still prefer to actually hold a book rather than download one.
While people have been signing up for my newsletter all along, and I have been collecting emails, I’ve failed to actually write one because the software scares the living s*** out of me.
But alas. In 2013 everything is going to change. Rest assured that I WILL start a newsletter and everything will be right in the world.
So stayed tuned for that as well.
And That’s It
While I could go on and list other goals like pass the cinnamon test, buy a new car*, wrestle a grizzly bear, or challenge myself to NOT black out every time I read something from Tracy Anderson, I think the above list is a great starting point.
Now that I’ve written them down, it pretty much means I HAVE to complete them. Right?
You’re damn right!
What are your goals for 2013?
* = or a tank. Yes, a tank!
