Get organized

Have you ever been to an event that had a bunch of people working, but no one seemed to know what was going on?

I recently had that experience and it was very frustrating trying to find anything or check out. I even saw 8 people by the check out area and not one could offer any help. Why is it that people coming to an event seem to know more of what is going on than the ones working the event?

If you want to run successful events you have to educate your workers. This is not something that needs to be challenging, but going over the layout, the flow, and how to field questions can easily help make the event more successful. Managers also need to get more involved by walking around and seeing how things work, or don't work. If there is a problem, address it. Do what has to be done to make it an enjoyable experience for the customers.

Spending time to make sure that the event layout makes sense and that your workers all know what their job and expectations are will go a long way to ensuring that your event is successful.

Active recovery

That soreness that you feel after a hard workout is actually caused by small tears in your muscles. These tears occur so that when they heal your muscles are bigger and stronger than they were previously. This is also the reason that working out the same muscle groups on subsequent days is not recommended.

That is not to say that exercise should be discourage when you are sore. It just means doing something different. Doing some easy cardio to get your heart rate elevated and promote blood flow is a great way to reduce that soreness. Moving your body gently forces the muscles to work again and that can promote increased motion around the joint. If you are feeling extra stiff spend some time stretching after your cardio. That will help to lengthen the muscles and relax those tight areas. 

Leadership

What does it take to be a good leader?

It is not enough to be intelligent and a hard worker, you have to inspire others to work hard, too. It seems to me that there is a lack of good leadership these days.

People are getting so busy that they are focusing so much on themselves that they are forgetting about others. Take the time to have a meaningful connection with people, it will pay off down the road. Just showing others that you care and take an interest in their life will get them to trust you, and you cannot be a leader without trust.

You have to demonstrate that you have the interests of others on your mind and that you will work hard for them. When someone feels appreciated and knows that there is someone they can count on they will feel more secure and perform at a higher level.

In order to learn about others and what they have to offer and what their opportunities are it is important to listen to what they are saying. Do not count the seconds until it is your turn to speak, actively listen to what is being said and ask questions to ensure that you are completely understanding them. Afterwards, work on an action step. You had a conversation, now it is time to do something about it. It does not have to be a big step, but some sort of follow up is essential if there is going to be a change.

Guiding others and helping them aspire to be their best is a worthwhile endeavor. When you help someone else grow and prosper, you in turn grow and prosper. Nurture your relationships and help others be the best they can be.

Be honest. Communicate efficiently. When you talk with someone keep your comments brief so that there is no confusion and no muddying of waters. Having challenging conversations is not easy, but they are essential to make sure that there is no misunderstanding down the road.

Spending time perfecting listening, communicating and taking action will improve leadership ability and lead to being someone others want to follow.

Fitness anytime, anywhere

Do not let access to your gym dictate your workouts; with a little imagination you can achieve results anywhere.

If you are traveling or pressed for time try going for a run or a hike. This is a great way to burn some calories, get your heart up and soak in some vitamin D. If you need an extra challenge, kick up the pace for some intervals, run some stairs or choose the steeper trail. This will force your muscles to work harder and accelerate your gains.

You can also rely on an old standby for resistance when you're in a pinch; your own weight. Body weight circuits can be very challenging and effective for maintaining your strength with limited time. Try doing circuits for as many reps as you can in 4 rounds, or 20 seconds per workout:
squat jumps
pushups
alternate lunge jumps
plank to pushup
alternating lateral lunge
mountain climbers

You will be surprised how challenging that workout is and how effective it can be for challenging your body.

Now, get out there and have fun!

Coaching

When I think of myself as a coach and what I hope to achieve, it involves the development of my clients. I find out what our starting point is and then we set goals of what we hope to achieve. Then I lay out a framework that will allow us to meet those goals.

I use the same concept for teams and individuals. I create a plan that will maximize our ability to reach our goals. Along the way we reassess our position to see how well our plan is working to meet our objectives and make any necessary changes.

In order for myself and my clients to be successful we have to continually improve. We need to be stronger, more efficient and better week in and week out. Ideally, this improvement is linear over time, but there are times when things are easy and times when it is hard. Pushing through the hard times encourages mental toughness and inner strength and serves as a learning experience that will improve our overall understanding.

I work to educate clients about the choices they make and how those choices affect the realization of their goals and how to understand the impact of their decisions. I do not believe in dieting, or exercise days, but in a lifestyle. By creating and adopting a lifestyle it is easier to maintain focus and realize full potential.

It is vitally important to develop others, to allow them to grow and learn new skills. These new skills will improve self esteem and self confidence in every realm of their life. There will be mistakes along the way, but by learning from mistakes we can ensure that our development continues along the right path.

As a coach I get great satisfaction when people I work with improve their life and reach new peaks. Encouraging and fostering the development of clients will lead to their long term success in health and life.

Go play

It is becoming rare these days to see kids playing outside. I don't mean the organized play through a sport, but the grab some friends and a ball kind of play.

I do not see them riding bikes, throwing a football, playing catch or anything. I may see some younger kids on a playground or shooting some hoops, but even this is less frequent than I would like to see. Whatever happened to going outside to play? What has replaced it? Are people starting to work from a younger age and just don't have the time? Are they inside playing video games? I don't know what has replaced playing, but I do know it is a shame. Not only is going outside a great way to exercise, get some vitamin D and develop some skills, but it is a great way to socialize with others.

I can only hope that play is not lost and has not been replaced by organized activities. There is absolutely nothing wrong with leagues and competition, but there still needs to be time to let kids, and adults, just have some fun.

Go play. Go grab a ball, a stick, a glove, whatever, and a few others to do something with. Go play. Get outside, enjoy the weather, burn off some steam and excess energy and most importantly, have fun!

Overload and recovery

The goal of any workout is to push your current boundaries by applying a stress. This is termed overload and refers to the neuromuscular coordination, recruitment of muscle fibers, cardio respiratory system and proprioceptive system that is stressed during a particular workout.

When you push above your current level there is muscular breakdown. This is the soreness you feel after a hard workout. This soreness is the breakdown of the muscle fiber. As it regenerates it rebuilds itself through the recovery phase.

It is essential to give your body a chance to repair after a workout. This includes active rest, sleep, nutrition and listening to your body. In order to make consistent gains you need the stress applied through overload, but you also need the downtime and rest in order to give your body time to repair. 

A single workout is not going to achieve all your goals, but it is a step in the process and by having adequate recovery after the workout you can ensure that you are going in the right direction.