Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 92 – Black Friday
Good morning, guys.
For the guys from the states, I hope you all had a calm and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.
Over the weekend the buzz words in the retail industry were “Black Friday.” This is the day that traditionally is the busiest shopping day of the year. That is not necessarily true, but the name evolved from retailers who operated at a deficit or “in the red” most of the year and started to realize a profit and operate “in the black” due to heavy sales on the day after Thanksgiving.
Our lives and our fitness goals often operate on the “Black Friday” principal. With all the best intentions we start a project or a program. Soon, however, we find that we are operating “in the red.” We postpone workouts, miss a few altogether and sometimes just plain quit. Perhaps we fail to make the gains we expected and lose interest. Or maybe we fall off the wagon with our diet and nutrition. This is my personal problem, especially around the holidays. All of this is done with the idea that we can turn it around and catch up later in the year. We begin operating at a deficit, telling ourselves that tomorrow we will get back on track. Tomorrow will be our Black Friday and we will start to make progress again.
It is so easy to lose focus; so easy to lose sight of our goals when we have lives that are complex beyond even our own understanding. There are demands from all sides on our time, our resources and our willpower and never more than around this time of year. These cause us to function a day at a time, just to get by; just to make it through to the next day. No one is immune to this virus that penetrates the defenses of our mind and spirit. But, getting along a day at a time causes us to function at a deficit because it only focuses on the next day and not the ultimate goal. In putting off things, we are actually depleting our resources and operating “in the red.”
It takes real effort to keep this from happening and it isn’t an easy task. The payoff in tackling the long term goal and continuing to operate “in the black”, however, is that it makes the day-to-day stuff easier to handle. The big stride for the long-term goal helps you to take the little steps from one day to the next without breaking a sweat. It takes commitment and focus, but is worth the effort. You must make your own Black Friday and stop living your life at a deficit.
So, when is Black Friday?
How about, today?
And everyday.
Have a great week.
= = = = = = = = = =
In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Staying in the black is especially hard this time of the year. It requires focus and dicipline not to let the extra distractions completely derail the progress made up to this point.
Another real winner, John.
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Those that can't do teach. Those that can't teach consult. Deserve aka Gabe
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Rest and relaxation can be a powerful “nothing” to propel us to greater achievements. Mahler
Stop listening to your wiener. He may want to go for a swim, but you haven't checked if the waters are shark infested yet. Ninjabookey
EC: You don't get a discount, you get more crowds at the gym. My gym has been a zoo lately, the staff are going nuts trying to help everyone out. [dear Y staff, keep the newbies in the machine area please!]
Mahler - thank you. Perfect timing. I think it's about time someone dug up the Bob post from T-Nation for the holidays as well!
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"It's what you've got inside that matters. The details and technological things will take you only so far. You still have to pedal the bike. Some people are always looking for the magic secret. There's no secret. Just bust your ass." -Dave Zabriskie
As always, a great post Mr. Mahler. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Originally posted by TrainingGirl: Thanks John...I really needed that today [img]smile.gif[/img]
I second that.
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"When he was six, he believed that the moon overhead followed him. By nine, he deciphered the illusion, trading magic for fact, no trade-backs. So this is what it's like to be an adult? If he only knew now what he knew then."
quote:Originally posted by TrainingGirl: Thanks John...I really needed that today [img]smile.gif[/img]
I second that. [/quote]Ditto!!
This is an incredibly tough time of year for eating right. Thanks for giving us an image to keep in mind!
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
Good reading, Mahler. I admit that most of my motivation comes from this website since I don't have a gym buddy or someone to share these things with. Thanks for the much needed boost.
__________________ We are only human so long as our thoughts are humane
John, somehow I missed this one last week. However, I'm glad I looked back and read it this morning. After a weekend in which my diet was probably the worst it's been in 2 years, these words ring particularly true.
Quote:
Or maybe we fall off the wagon with our diet and nutrition. This is my personal problem, especially around the holidays. All of this is done with the idea that we can turn it around and catch up later in the year. We begin operating at a deficit, telling ourselves that tomorrow we will get back on track. Tomorrow will be our Black Friday and we will start to make progress again.
Today's my Black Friday. Onward.
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"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
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