WHAT'S IN THE SAUCE?

Have you ever wondered why the successful are they way they are?  Have you ever seen someone and thought, "well, if they can do it, so can I!"  But only to let that dream fade away?

I heard, long ago, a quote that said, "The successful are successful because they are willing to do what the unsuccessful are unwilling to do!"

Does your New Year's Resolution list look exactly the same, year after year, with only the year being different?  I want to let you in on a little secret.....here are 5 Characteristics of people who get what they want:

1.  BELIEVE you can!  Do you...really?  There seems to be a shortage of confidence these days.  If you need some, go get some.  It's as close as making a decision that YOU CAN!

2.  Get past your past!  Luke 9:62 says, "Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." The point here is keep your eyes fixed in front of you.  Yah, maybe things in past have been not so good or maybe things in the past have been great.  Either way, let them stay there and use then only as learning tools to move forward.

3.  Set the right kind of goals for yourself.  I plan on doing a whole blog just on Goal Planning later this year, but for now, when talking about the RIGHT KINDS OF GOALS FOR YOU, put them through a little test or certification.  A guy I know has developed a process he puts his goals through called, SMAC Certification:
S - SPECIFIC; are your goals very specific?  It's vague to say, "I want to lose weight."  Specific would say, "I will lose 10 lbs. by March 15th."  Be Specific!
M - MEASURABLE; They say what gets measured gets done.  Do your goals have an element to them that you can track and measure?  If not, change it up.
A - ATTAINABLE; This just means you have a 50/50 chance of hitting your goal. Don't set the bar so low you can step over it and don't set it too high you will never have a shot at reaching it.  I like to say, live the life of a rubberband:  a rubberband is NOT at it's greatest potential until it's been stretched!
C - COMPATIBLE to your vision; Do the goals you want to accomplish line up with your values? Roy Disney once said, "When your values are clear, decisions become easier."  If you goals and the action items you need to do to reach those goals go against your values, then question your goals.

4.  Connect with your WHY.  What motivates you?  You will lose your way when you lose your WHY.  Be connected with what is at stake.

5.  START!  An old Chinese proverb says it this way: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today."  A year from now you'll be glad you started today!

So, really there is no SECRET SAUCE, just 5 simple things that you have a choice of either doing them or not.  So, choose wisely today and make this your BEST YEAR YET!

MY CHEERLEADER....BE ONE, HAVE ONE

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.  Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

Who's your CHEERLEADER?  Better yet, whose CHEERLEADER are you?  I think we all need someone in our corner....like Mick was to Rocky....or that we need to be in someone else's corner.  Sometimes being a CHEERLEADER, or being the "corner person" for someone else gets messy.  Life isn't always perfect and sometimes we find ourselves in a mess, whether it was self induced or an attack from the outside.  Either way, it's good...NO, it's GREAT to have someone who is with you through it all.

I have one such person like that (and I hope I'm the same way back to them); my wife, Chris.  She is the epitome of CHEERLEADER.  First, she was one growing up in Junior High and High School.  It didn't stop there.  I truly believe she has been gifted as an encourager.  In the Bible, the book of Romans, chapter 12, verse 8 (New Living Translation) says, "If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging."  THAT right there is Chris.  

Over the past 30 plus years we have been married, she has been by my side through great times and not so good times...all the while letting you know that it's going to be ok and that you can do it.  I could site so many instances where she has done that with me, but let me just say that each time it is genuine and very needed.  

She's not just relegated to cheering me on during competitions, but that is what I want to tell you about here.  A few years ago I took up running and have since got really into it.  I did my first 5k and first 10k in the fall of 2012 about a week apart, then I had this crazy idea to train over the winter and run a half marathon.  She was right there telling me I could do it...even though the farthest I had ever run was 6.2 miles and that was the one time I ran the 10k. Also, to make it a bit muddy, back in 2008 I had surgery to remove 75% of the meniscus in my right knee, but once again, she's there telling me, "You've got this!"  Well, I got through that half, and then another and then another and then my first full marathon in April of 2014.  Since then I have many other half marathons, 6 other full marathons and many, many miles of training....with her traveling all over the place with me cheering me on and ringing her monster cowbell.  That cowbell has become a part of our race travel check list.  It has such a distinct sound that I can pick it out over all the other noise, and when I hear it, it is a reminder of the one who is in my corner.

Is your "sound" of encouragement distinct to others?  Are you words, words of encouragement or defeat?  My wife has shown me what it truly means to "cheer" when the circumstances look bad or really good.

Be an encourager...be someone's CHEERLEADER today!  You'll be glad you did!

Have Cowbell...will travel!

NEW YEAR'S (re)SOLUTIONS

Here we are.  4 weeks into the new year.  Did you set New Year's Resolutions?  How are you doing with them?  Like most people, we have wishes and dreams to shed a few pounds,  tighten up the budget, get on a budget, same extra money for that dream vaca.  But something happened on the way to February....LIFE.

Years ago, our local newspaper published an article about marathon running.  It highlighted a specific individual who (unbeknown to me) was somewhat of a local running legend. At the conclusion of the article, there was a "marathon training schedule."  I was intrigued.  I thought, "I'm going to run a marathon....SOMEDAY."  Although it wasn't the "New Year" I resolved in myself that I, Tim Peterson, would one day run a marathon!  So I kept the newspaper and over time it moved from one location on my desk to another.  It was like an old friend that every now and again would show up, we would "talk" and then it would go back to it's rightful place on the pile.  Until one day.  "One day..."  you know the day, the day when you finally look at something and say, "who am I kidding? I won't...can't...shouldn't...etc.."  I was out of shape and used excuses as to why I wouldn't ever run a marathon.  So, I tossed that article in the trash, along with a part of me,  my dreams.  That one decision to give up my dream of running a marathon had a profound impact on me that I wouldn't realize until some time later.

Ok, so here we are, DAY 29 of 2017.  Have your resolutions go by the way of my newspaper?  Has life or circumstances stepped in and given you blow after blow like a boxer to a speed bag...and you are the speed bag?  

What do you say we hit the "reset" button?  Instead of feeling bound up by a "resolution" let's look at our goals as New Year's Solutions.  If we truly are going to have our BEST YEAR YET what plan do we have?  Here are a few quick steps:

• First, determine to set achievable goals
• By achievable, I mean anything that you have a 50/50 chance of hitting
• DON'T have a list of 20 things....keep it manageable at 4 to 5
• These would be the goals that when you come to the end of the year, you look back and say, "because I accomplished, "X", I had a FANTASTIC year
• Focus your actions on what you can control
• You control if you work out; eat out; what you eat; how you spend; etc
• Have check in points along the journey
• Give yourself a time period, like 12 weeks (which is a whole other subject for a future blog) so that you can measure your progress.  See where you are at and then adjust, if needed, and proceed forward
• START!

It's not about setting artificial "resolutions," it's about finding a solution and going after it!

You don't have to wait for the calendar to flip or anything else.  Get going....you'll be glad you did.

By the way, I squashed the negative self-doubting.  I didn't start with 26.2 miles in mind, I just started and it has led to me picking up running and have since completed 7 full marathons with more to come. 

Whatever it is that you want, get a plan and control the actions to implement to make this your BEST YEAR YET!

After completing the 2016 Chicago Marathon

DAY 28...WAIT, WHERE ARE THE FIRST 27?

Just got done with a GREAT 5 mile run in the chill, (some) snow, and wind.  I was trotting at a very non-fast pace.  Just wanted to get my training miles off the treadmill today.  Before I left, my lovely wife and resident Cheerleader, Chris, and I were having a discussion about 2017 and maximizing each day.  

I told her about my idea of putting together my thoughts, daily, and sharing how each day of my BEST YEAR YET (2017 version) is going.  Although, we are 28 days into the New Year, her one word response, "START!"

START is an interesting word to me.  Some say the starting is the hardest.  Some say to start is easy, but to continue to completion is the hardest.  I see both.  But the key, I believe, is to START!

The road to _______________ (fill in the blank: health; dropping a bad habit; starting a good habit; education; etc) begins with the decision to START and then taking that step.

So today, 1.28.17, is my START to capture, on a daily basis, what is happening in my BEST YEAR YET.  Maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to relate to some of the happenings that are going on with me and those in my tribe, maybe not.  But I think it's going to be a fun ride to a destination that we won't know yet, but I am happy to travel to!

ARE YOU IN?

On a quick side note:  just got tagged on twitter by my oldest.  GREAT way to begin capturing my BEST YEAR YET!  By the way, he's a good follow on Twitter (@joshtweeterson)....and me, @_timpeterson for that matter!