Saturday, January 30, 2010

4 lessons learned about ATTITUDE

This silly jump box (aka BLUE monster) taught me a few lessons this week about 'ATTITUDE'.  First, the timeline leading to the lesson:

Tuesday - Working out at LifeWise Fitness, I point to the box and ask the owner, Che Torry , what that box was for and he said for folks to jump on.  I told him there was no way I could jump on that box. 
Wednesday - Participate in Basic Conditioning class with Che as the 'coach' for the class and he had us doing box jumps in increments on an aerobic step.  After class, I looked at the blue step above (you know, the one that I said I could not jump on!) and brought it over to the equipment we were jumping on.  Low and behold...the blue step was about 4" LOWER than what we were working out with that night.  I just looked at Che and smiled, quite sheepishly.
Friday - Did my regular workout and then brough over the blue step.  I still found myself nervous, but did jump on it a few times.  I even wanted proof.  See video here:


If you cannot see this in your reader, CLICK HERE for the video.

So, what were the lessons learned:
1)  Attitude (Positive or Negative) is a CHOICE.  I chose on Monday to say that I could NOT jump on that blue box without even trying.  "If you think you can, or you think you can't...you are probably right" - John Maxwell
2)  Most of our fears are unfounded - I was nervous to jump on the box.  The challenge is to funnel the energy we place in our fears into the task at hand.  We tend to fear the worst.  Rather, try to think of the best!
3)  Having a 'coach' is important - A good coach will push you just a little bit farther than you will go on your own.  (You can replace the word 'coach' with 'friend', 'accountability partner', 'teacher', 'mentor' etc.) 
4)  Practice what you preach - After I jumped on the boxes on Wednesday evening and saw that it was higher than the BLUE monster, I was disappointed in my negative 'choice' on Monday.

So, what is your current 'BLUE monster' and what is it going to take for you to CHOOSE to say that you CAN?!  Time for me to reflect on that...

3 comments:

  1. Great points John! I often find I need to hit the attitude reset button every once in a while because I'm so caught up in the daily firefights that the negativity builds up. Then all I see are all the reasons we can't accomplish our challenges we face.

    Also, has anyone requested a steroid test for you? I don't remember you jumping like that in the gym in Fort Wayne! Must be those special "Jimmy" shoes from Seinfeld!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bryan, Hitting the reset is important. Attitude is not just a choice, but also contagious.

    As far as the jumping height...it MUST be the Jimmy shoes! Back in high school my trainer, Mr. Brindley, would call me 'dimes'. Said he couldn't slide a dime under my feet when I jumped! (You can share this with him, Mom!!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess you won't be called Dimes anymore. You should send that to Bud Scroggins and Dave Reitter!!

    ReplyDelete