Two Drinks Deep and Writing for Money
I think my shirt is a bit too tight...
I don't believe in New Years' resolutions. They just seem so pussified, you know? Only lazy guys wait until a predetermined time to take initiative, change habits, or start something new. And the funny thing is, people who make these resolutions rarely stick to them. Hell, it's already January 5th and I bet more than half of the people who've set their goals have already given up.
What a waste of time. What a waste of life.
So instead of setting meaningless goals at the beginning of each year, I like to go back and think about what I've learned. And unlike it's physical counterpart, this mental masturbation actually leaves me rather satisfied and not feeling like a loser.
And that's a great way to start the year.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED IN 2008
-Having someone else design your training program is the smartest thing you can do you for your body and mind.
Sure, sure, I'm a qualified trainer and coach. I've owned two personal training companies and wrote the ultimate fitness and lifestyle guide for guys. Still, it's hard as hell to write your own programming. Most guys focus just on what they're good at which leads to strength discrepancies, injuries, or a sub-par physique. When I needed a kick in the ass, Mike Robertson delivered.
-Biotest is an absolutely amazing company and T-Nation is king.
I know what you're thinking. "He's just saying that because he works for them!" (True.) However, I've been a Biotest customer for well over five years and have always been amazed with not only their products and information, but their innovation, compassion, and ambition.
Check out this quick read to see just how powerful they are.
-It's possible to pick up a girl you've never met in a restaurant by initiating a game of tic-tac-toe on a napkin and making your waitress relay the game between the both of you until you make your approach.
Trust me. I know a guy.
-Learning how to cook is a magic bullet in three different ways:
You get to play with sharp objects and fire. You eat quality food to match your physique goals.
Your girlfriend will love you even more.
-Trying new things can be scary, uncomfortable, simple, and embarrassing. But you've got to do it.
Wakeboarding; rock climbing; skiing; training for the NFL Combine. One I did last year. The other three are things I plan on tackling in 09.
Pray for me. Seriously.
-Rolling around on foam or tennis balls may not be the most comfortable, but your soft tissue quality could be the one aspect of your training that's holding you back.
-After having over fifty print and online magazine articles and excerpts to your credit, you'd think writing would be way easier. It's not.
What have you learned in 2008 that made your life better? Did you try something new? Master a new skill? Sleep with four women at once? Whatever the case, I'd like to know. Drop me a line in the comments below!
And look forward to some upgrades and changes to NGE.com!
Comments for This Entry
-
You've inspired a blog post. Thank you.
Also, looking forward to changes. Those are always interesting. -
Rock climbing is fantastic, if you thought your grip was good, wait until you're half way up your third multipitch of the weekend, then see how it feels.
If you haven't already, I'd recommend scuba diving. Not exactly physically strenuous (if you're in half decent shape), but it's amazingly relaxing. Try it on one of your off days when your muscles are screaming at you, just float there underwater, watching the wildlife swim by. Nothing quite like it. -
I tried following a training and nutrition program for the first time in my life. Just finishing a second. I was mostly just mucking around in the gym without a plan before. What a difference in the results. One of the programs in your book may be next for me!
-
I knew that to be a better wrestler player, you had to wrestle.
I knew that to get stronger, you had to lift heavyweights.
But I never realized, until now, that to become a better writer, you have to write. -
and I still used the wrong form of have. haaaaaa
-
Nate,
Great blog post!
This past year I have learned a lot. Here are a few off the top of my head:
-You have to take chances (even if they make you uncomfortable).
Send that email, go to that seminar, take the hard classes, do what others say can't be done. If you never try you'll never know what could have been. I have taken more chances this year than ever and had more success than ever. Coincidence? I think not.
-Biotest Spike is addictive as crack. (I've never tried crack, nor plan to. However; if I had to guess, this shit is just as addictive.)
-READ, READ, READ.
I have read more books this year than in my entire life. I have learned a ton about training, nutrition, business, psychology, writing, etc. Here are a few authors I recommend to look up:
Rippetoe, Remedios, Thibadeau, Berardi, Schuler, Covey, Carengie, Nate Green, Ferris, Venuto and Waterbury just to name a few.
And I didn't learn this, this year. It still always applies.
-Don't forget the basics in life.
With training: bench, squat, deadlift. Progressive overload.
With nutrition: Calories in vs. Calories out. Protein, Carbs and Fat (and somtimes Spike). Pre-Peri-Post Workout nutrition.
With relationships: Open your girls car door. Call when you say you will. Be on time. Be honest. Give back. -
Great post.
Stuff I learned:
-Pursuing strength specific goals instead of purely physique goals is a good choice. Keeps me motivated and makes me look better. Who knew?!
-Close grip bench press is my best friend for moving bigger weights on a lift I've always sucked at.
-The best way to get better at anything is to learn from a master. I'm studying a guitarist right now (stanleyyates.com) who is disgustingly good. I've improved a lot just in the past semester.
-Don't be afraid to make a change. They work out sometimes. And if not...
"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience." -Victoria Holt
-Skype is an amazing program
-Macs>PCs? Maybe. -
Got driver licence. Tried out longboard and dirtsurf (i'm still into flowboard). Improved physique and strenght (now i CAN do 20 pull-ups). Read a lot of books. Became one of the best students. Won presentations in english contest.
Last year I've realised why nowadays are called "information era", because the quantity of information I have to acquire dramatically exceeds the time available to me. Damn)
That's just what I can remember now. -
Nate,
Nice photo. I laughed at the title of the photo that comes up when I put the cursor on top of the image. At least, you have something solid behind your t-shirt and it's definitely not moobs.
I like your twist on new year's resolutions by identifying what we learned in 2008. Here are a few things that I learned during 2008:
- it pays to be spontaneous at times. I pulled my first big spontaneous move in my life by taking advantage of flight seat sale and accepting a newly made friend's invitation to stay over at his place during my visit. The whole trip was fantastic; it was great to meet up with this friend, visit the city with him, get to know him more, and see a friendship build. I also lucked out in finding out that another friend from another place was visiting the same city at the same time so we decided to get together when our respective friends were working and left the city for the mountains for a couple days of adventures including hiking, trying out hot springs, and photography. What a great trip it turned out to be.
- it pays to be courageous and to recall a fantastic quote that one of my acquaintance put so bluntly "one's comfort zone is one's disability", which rocked me out of my comfort zone. Because of hearing this, I decided to finally jump in and find out what running is all about by signing up for a running class. Completed the entire 8 weeks. I was surprised that I was able to slowly make the transition to running for the entire 4km by the time we attended our last class. I did so in about 17 minutes.
- it pays to be on Facebook. Because of it, I learned about a conference, travelled to the other side of the country to enjoy the city once again, met up with some old faces and made some new friends. Although we're all spread across the country, we do keep in touch thanks to Facebook!
- it pays to continue exploring outside of one's comfort zone. Shortly after completing the running class, I decided I want to do more with regards to fitness and settled on signing up for 12 1-to-1 personal training sessions at a "learning" gym in the town where I work. So, I've done maybe 4 or 5 sessions so far. I've been doing my exercise homework twice a week. It's great to see improvement in my exercises. Who knew I could go from struggling to do 10 push-ups to being able to do 20 push-ups in such a short time? Who knew that I'd gain a bit of muscle on my chest, biceps, triceps, quads, lats, and abs so quickly. I hope to keep gaining more.
- it pays to think about what I want to achieve. Unlike you, I did create a set of goals for different areas in my life such as health, work, personal time, travel, etc. One of my fitness goal is to gain 20lbs this year. I hope it's doable. Got any tips? I'll see how the process of working on these goals goes as the year go on. I've assigned myself homework to work on them and to review on how I'm doing on a quarterly basis.
By the way, I haven't seen your book in the local bookstores. Are they only available online? I'd like to see what your book looks like and has to offer in person before thinking about purchasing it. -
@Jonathon
Thanks for the list!
Built For Show is in most Borders, Barnes and Nobles, Chapters, and other bookstores in the US and Canada. If your store doesn't carry it, I'm sure you can have them order it.
And, hell, if you don't want it at least there would be a copy at the store then! :)
-Nate -
Okay, I'll take a look at Chapters and Indigo's (up here in Canada) whenever I'm near these bookstores in the next little while.
Sorry, I'm the kind of guy who likes to see what I'm getting before buying something. Please don't be offended by my preference to see your book in person. -
I didn't learn too much in 2008. The year did, however, serve to reinforce a number of things I knew, but was too damn stupid to admit. Most important lessons:
-You only live once. Chances are you could do with a LOT more crazy, exciting shit in your life, and you're wasting perfect opportunities by being lame and boring.
-Stop complaining. The only person that cares is your mom - everybody else will either laugh in private, or start avoiding you. Or both.
-Learn from the best. Want to ski? Learn from medalists. Write? Read the classics. Improve oral sex technique? Watch lesbians. The pros have much to teach us.
-Coffee is the nectar of the jittery gods of education.
Rather than making resolutions to be more active, more social, and more adventurous, I jumped in my car, hooked up with old friends, got plastered in the company of seven lovely females, and spent the next three days getting laid, drinking, and lifting heavy things 300 miles away from home. Returned home, to what has so far been a very successful start to the school year. A bit stupid, a bit reckless, and unlike all of 2008, worth every damned second. -
Thanks to a few things I have learned from you
such things as how to approach someone at a seminar,
how to ask someone you look up to if you can help them as I did with you and your builtforshow.com resources.
Dont be afraid to go talk to someone or send the email.
You have to write to get better at writing.
SPIKE IS MY NEW CRACK.... The shotguns are amazing.
biotest is probably one of my favorite supplement companies.
I have taken alot of steps forward in this past year and cant wait to take even more.
some of the things I want to do in 09.
learn to dance (salsa and hip hop)
skydive
make 6 figures a month
write for t-nation and also a mens magazine
go to europe
go surfing (again)
buy a bmw m5
buy a house
Become an even bigger expert in the fitness industry
join yanik silvers maverick adventures
and plenty more but dont want to outdo your blog ; )
Jeff Jowers -
Really good post... although I almost always do a New Year's Resolution or two myself. I certainly do not wait until January 1st to make changes in my life, but it always serves as a very convenient date to take stock and figure out where you stand. In a way, it's similar to your post above: you are looking at what you learned in 2008. I do a bit of the same and figure out what I want to do better going forward.
It's like my personal version of changing the smoke detector batteries when I change the clocks: just a convenient reminder, especially when life gets hectic. -
I agree that New Year's Resolutions are best for setting things you want to try or have always wanted to learn or do. I set 3 a year that seemed to fall into "things my mom would never let me near as a kid" and last year I did 2 of 3:
- learned how to ride and bought a motorcycle
- took a gun safety class and purchased a handgun
the one I didn't get to do and have wanted to for years will go on my 2009 list: go scuba diving. I've always wanted to do that.
So this year's list is:
- try scuba diving
- learn spanish (or begin to learn actually)
- take a Search and Rescue class (hard to find one local enough to commute to)
and Nate I cannot agree enough about foam rolling/trigger point work. Funny thing is that I have books by Waterbury, Cressey, and others and when you mentioned it on your personal workout log I dug up all that old info. Even in just this short amount of application with it I will never look back. -
1) making running your #1 priority - and weight training 2nd - makes you soft.
2) sampling quality micro brews is still a fun activity.
3) stretching properly - and paying close attention to form - allowed me to do deadlifts pain free. -
haha Nate! Yeah man, I'm getting to I'm doing more and more writing and you're right - it's a learning process, but doesn't get easier - Hope you had a good New Year, bro -
-
Great posts guys!
And an interesting point was brought up about setting goals.
While I don't write "New Years Resolutions" I do have a running goal sheet that I split into three parts:
Intrapersonal (habits I want to adopt or stop)
Interpersonal (family, relationships, friends)
Business (writing, blog, book)
I try to update every couple of weeks just to reaffirm what I'm doing.
-Nate -
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this post. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well.
COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
Lance Goyke 2:25am Jan 5, 2009