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11-28-2005, 07:24 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Prime Motivator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Stewartstown, PA
Posts: 9,572
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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.
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11-28-2005, 07:27 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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Landing Is An Issue Dept.
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: East Coast
Posts: 775
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So if I'm one of the first 100 people to the gym I'll gain an extra pound of muscle or lose an extra pound of fat for free? 
__________________
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
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11-28-2005, 07:29 AM
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#3 (permalink)
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Clubhouse Bouncer
Join Date: May 2003
Location: FlyinM's House of Pain, Virginia
Posts: 3,908
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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.
__________________
Those that can't do teach. Those that can't teach consult. Deserve aka Gabe
'8 replies before the gutter! Good job Clubhouse!!!!!' Ninjabookey
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11-28-2005, 07:51 AM
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#4 (permalink)
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Fit Chick
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PA
Posts: 4,174
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Thanks John...I really needed that today [img]smile.gif[/img]
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11-28-2005, 07:55 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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Apparently I'm Popeye
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 4,491
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Excellent MMMM again John. Thank you! It's like you're reading my mind.
__________________
My training log
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” - Mahatma Gandhi
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11-28-2005, 08:10 AM
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#6 (permalink)
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Outdoor Guru
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Little Rock, AR
Posts: 6,254
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Fitness Black Friday - January 2nd! JP's busy season will be starting after Christmas!
__________________
*** Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground! With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another.
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11-28-2005, 08:16 AM
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#7 (permalink)
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,088
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Nice one, Mahler.
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!]
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11-28-2005, 08:38 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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Landing Is An Issue Dept.
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: East Coast
Posts: 775
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That's true castufari. Although my gym was pleasantly empty on Friday morning after Thanksgiving [img]smile.gif[/img]
__________________
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
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11-28-2005, 09:10 AM
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#9 (permalink)
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 61
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Great post Mahler, and great timing, too. I can't count the number of times I've fallen victim to thinking a day at a time.
Thank you.
__________________
Fall down seven times, get up eight. -- Japanese Proverb
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11-28-2005, 11:29 AM
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#10 (permalink)
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Mountain Flower Lady
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Near Montréal, Québec
Posts: 3,204
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MAHLER.. I've put "commitment and focus" in my signature.. to remind myself that I do believe in those things. thanks
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11-28-2005, 02:59 PM
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#11 (permalink)
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TdF Freak
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 3,122
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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!
__________________
"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
Don't let your meatloaf.
26.2
2008 Half Ironman Training Log
2008 Training Blog
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11-28-2005, 03:03 PM
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#12 (permalink)
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GU '12
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: N.J.
Posts: 3,970
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As always, a great post Mr. Mahler. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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11-28-2005, 03:16 PM
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#13 (permalink)
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Dedham, MA
Posts: 754
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Quote:
Originally posted by TrainingGirl:
Thanks John...I really needed that today [img]smile.gif[/img]
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I second that.
__________________
"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."
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11-28-2005, 07:33 PM
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#14 (permalink)
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Team Ninja
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Sugar Creek, MO
Posts: 6,125
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Quote:
Originally posted by CtA318:
quote:
Originally posted by TrainingGirl:
Thanks John...I really needed that today [img]smile.gif[/img]
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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!
__________________
Keep your eyes on YOU; don't let the achievements of others dictate your obsessions. -- Alan Aragon
Log: 2008 is gonna ROoOoOoOCK!!!
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11-28-2005, 08:04 PM
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#15 (permalink)
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 1,167
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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
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11-29-2005, 09:21 PM
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#16 (permalink)
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Local AR Realtor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Posts: 1,180
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Another good motivator John. Thanks again!
JJ
__________________
Your accomplishments can only be as big as your heart.
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11-30-2005, 08:02 AM
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#17 (permalink)
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Scooter
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Arkansas Hills
Posts: 2,512
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Man, what a way to start a new week and get back on track with my regimen. Thanks for the uplifting words, John!
__________________
Gifted SmartAss Master Class Graduate
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11-30-2005, 08:42 AM
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#18 (permalink)
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Clubhouse Bouncer
Join Date: May 2003
Location: FlyinM's House of Pain, Virginia
Posts: 3,908
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Is that some type of pun, Jamie? [img]tongue.gif[/img]
__________________
Those that can't do teach. Those that can't teach consult. Deserve aka Gabe
'8 replies before the gutter! Good job Clubhouse!!!!!' Ninjabookey
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