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Persistence

February 15, 2012 By

Fort Fisher AquariumYou need persistence in life.  It is a fact to winning in just about everything you do.  If you don’t keep moving forward and moving obstacles you will fail before you get to the finish line.

What brings up this topic is a place in North Carolina.  It is the aquarium at Fort Fisher and I can only assume the other aquariums in the state do this as well.  We visited back in 2006 and upon walking into the lobby you are greeted and asked if you would like to have your picture taken at no charge.  You can see the picture we had taken just under 6 years ago to the left.

This seemed innocent enough and, of course, we knew they would want to sell us a package which we did not buy as we were on a budget for the trip.  However, once we got home I received an e-mail asking if I would like to purchase the picture now.  I deleted it and kept going.  Then I got another one, and another one, and another one.  Just earlier this month I received another one offering my Valentine’s borders and gifts of the picture we took several years ago.

I in no way look at this as a bad thing.  I could always opt out of the e-mails if I decided to.  However, I get to relive the memory of this trip and this moment each time they send out the marketing e-mail.  Their persistence turns into a trip down memory lane for me and you never know, someday I may purchase a high resolution version of the picture.

Bottom line is you need to be persistent if you want something.  Do not annoy and nag but don’t be willing to settle for less than you deserve and push through the rough spots and WIN!

 

Filed Under: Customer Service, Goal Setting Tagged With: , , ,
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Day 38 – Double Black Diamond

February 11, 2012 By

WHEW! For the first time today I tried the “Double Black Diamond” DVD which was over an hour long. Few modifications but all in all I feel I rocked it. Felt good to make it through the whole workout especially regretting it a tad after about ten minutes into it.

DDP takes great care to get you stretched out from the start and prepare for the remainder of the workout. It is more demanding than any of the other workouts in the series that I have completed. I was absolutely soaked at the end of this one. My least favorite parts – Exploding Pushups and Down Dog.

I hate the exploding pushups but they motivate me to try harder and I am getting stronger by doing them. You basically lower down really close to the ground and hold for a set interval and then explode up. I still have some upper body work to do before really getting this down.

Down Dog is not my friend. I am feeling it getting easier and one day soon we may become acquaintances but that is a little ways down the road. I think this has a lot to do with upper body work as well, especially my arm strength so I am not giving up on the dog just yet.

One of my favorite moves from this workout is the Chicken Wing. It isn’t what I would call easy but it stretches you out pretty good. You can see it demonstrated in the video below about three minutes in.

What motivated me to do this today? Well, I got the chance to talk to the man himself Diamond Dallas Page last night (thanks Bambi). We had a brief conversation on how DDPYoga has changed our lives and we are just over a month in. We talked a little about nutrition and changing the way we eat. One thing he recommended that I think you pop drinkers might want to look at is Zevia which is a soda that comes in several flavors but has no calories, no fat, no gluten, zero net carbs, and is low sodium.  It is a bit pricey which can be a turn off, however, if you are trying to eliminate soda from your diet this could be a good step to take for a week or two to wean yourself off of it.

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Savings Snowball

February 9, 2012 By

snowballIf you have researched paying off debt in any form more than likely you have come across the “Debt Snowball” method of paying off debt.  Many people have talked about it but most notably of those is Dave Ramsey.

Ramsey suggests in order to pay of debts quicker and get a psychological advantage in your process you start with your smallest debt and work up to the highest balance debt until you are debt free.  I was thinking a few weeks ago, why not try this with my savings accounts?  And so I have and thusfar has worked like a charm.

I have several savings accounts which gets money automatically transferred into them on a set interval.  These accounts are my budgeted items – you could call them my electronic envelopes.  They are named for what they are to be used for such as car maintenance, clothing, birthdays, Christmas, etc.  I know how much I want in each of these to consider them “fully funded”.

I make a list of these accounts and how much each one needs in it in order to be maxed out at from the smallest one to the largest one.  Now, the money that is budgeted for is put into these accounts with the most going into the smallest one each pay day.  Once that one is fully funded I move to the next one on the list and put the budgeted amount into that account plus what was budgeted for the first account.  We continue this until all of the accounts are fully funded and then everything that was budgeted for them starts going into my emergency fund.

I find this to be a natural progression if you use the “Baby Steps” as part of your personal finance plan.  It easy to keep up with, you already understand the snowball, and it gives you another set of financial goals whose whole purpose is to keep you from getting back into the debt trap again.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Grimm.

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Money Saving, Personal Finance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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Have you started saving for Christmas?

February 8, 2012 By

Plaza ChristmasIt is almost that time of year again! What? It isn’t? Oh, it is just time to start saving for that time of year. That is what I wanted to discuss.

Every year I see first hand hundreds of people waiting until the last minute to purchase presents for Christmas because they do not plan throughout the year. They wait and wait and at the last minute it is like a ghost that was leftover from Halloween screamed “BOO!” and they are rushing to get gifts or get money for the holidays. Want to have a less stressful season in 10 months? Start saving now!

You don’t have to be stressed this year.  I promise you, if you will follow a few simple steps you can have the easiest holiday season you have ever had.  Everything feels different when you have the money saved, you pay with cash, and you know you won’t have a huge credit card bill come January that may very well stick around until the following Christmas.

All you have to do are a few simple steps:

  1. Write down everyone you want to buy for.
  2. Double check that list.  Are you sure you want to buy something for everyone on that list?
  3. Can you make something for some of those people (including food items) instead of buying them an expensive gift?  If so, move them to the side of the list.
  4. Write down how much you want to spend on each person beside their name.
  5. Total that number up.
  6. Divide it by how many times you will get paid between now and your last pay check before Christmas.
  7. BAM!  You just decided how much you needed to save each pay day to pay in full in cash for Christmas this year and not have the stress of running around at the last minute.

You must be realistic on what you want to spend on each person.  If you make $20,000 a year you need to spend what you can afford.  If you feel bad for this, then let the people know now that you can’t afford it and settle on a mutual amount to spend on each other based on what you can spend.  Don’t let the people who put everything on credit cards tell you how much you should spend on them.

If you want to go a little further figure out how much it will cost for the supplies to make the people at the side your list their gifts and budget for that as well.  Or, better yet, of you aren’t making them a food item figure out how many items you need to make each month to be finished for Christmas and you can save that stress at the end of the year as well.

Have A Merry February Everyone!

More Information:

What Dave Ramsey says about saving for Christmas

Photo courtesy of David DeHetre

 

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Day 31 – Diamond Cutter

February 4, 2012 By

Day 31 and I am feeling alive!  It is said it takes 30 days for something to become a habit.  Well, I am at day 31 and have not missed on day of DDPYoga so far!  Some days are harder then others to make myself do it but I am getting out of the cycle slowly but surely.  I don’t want to sit on the couch all of of the time and this helps to keep me from doing that.

Today for the first time I did the “Diamond Cutter” DVD which is just under an hour.  It works all of your muscle groups and has a few moves I have not seen in the other videos.  I had more sweat dripping after this one than I have in the others.

Here is a preview of the DVD:

I am still having some trouble with down dog.  Can’t get my feet flat still yet but I can see it getting closer to the ground.  Safety Zone I can get deep into now and it is most wonderful to get to that point in the workout.  I really like Human Cannonball and am working to grabbing the bottom of my feet, however, I still have some stomach to get out of the way before I can get there 🙂 .

Anyhoo, 31 days in and I am still going strong.  My wife and I are noticing huge differences with strength, weight loss, and energy.  Let’s see what the next 31 days makes me feel like!

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Anything Is Possible

January 29, 2012 By

Astronaut In Space

About The Picture: Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, mission specialist, participates in an extravehicular activity a few meters away from the cabin of the shuttle Challenger during the STS-41B mission. (April 1983)

So many of us have creative ideas but few go to the “trouble” of finishing out a project or even starting it. I ran across an article on Yahoo News (link) the other day of two high school seniors who wanted to send a balloon and camera in to space. The two of them designed and launched a weather balloon, complete with the first Lego Man in space, and tracked the balloon with GPS once it fell back to earth. They did this for under $400.00!!!!

If someone handed you $400.00 and told you to do something creative what would you do?  What if they handed you $25?  The possibilities are endless but it all comes down to what would you do?

Checkout the video of the Lego Man going in to space. I would have liked to have seen the complete decent but this is amazing what these two teenagers were able to accomplish on such a small budget:


Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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Day 25 – Chugga Chugga Choo Choo

January 29, 2012 By

It has been 25 days since starting DDPYoga.  Last time I checked which was a few days ago I was down 15 pounds in three weeks!  It feels good and has improved my life in multiple areas.  I am not as tired throughout the day nor as hungry.  I have much more energy in general.  My wife has seen marked improvement in an injured wrist, back, and knees and has seen a change in her energy level.

On top of the DDPYoga I have also made food changes.  I am not one for a diet in any way.  In previous years when trying to go on a diet or cut out things I would do really well for a week or two and then crush all of my work in a day and then I would revisit the concept of a diet the next year or whenever I felt like I was not doing my best.  This time has been quite different though.  I have made alternative choices rather than completely eliminating a flavor or two.  Here are some basic changes:

  • Tea: I drink a lot of tea.  Every now and then I will have a pop of some sort but for the most part I am a tea drinker and we generally put two cups of sugar in a gallon.  I like the southern style sweet tea as you can tell.  All we did to modify this was put in a cup of sugar and a cup of Splenda.  We get 1/2 the calories and about the same taste.  Eventually we will cut out a little more sugar for the alternative but we are taking baby steps.
  • Water: I try to replace one glass of tea a day with a glass of water.
  • Popcorn:  I ate quite a bit of popcorn before doing DDPYoga but now I do it regularly at night as my snack (yes, I know it isn’t good to eat that close to bed – that is the next baby step to eliminate).  Candy and potato chips can be high in fat and calories.  However, the popcorn I eat is only about 225 calories if I eat the whole bag.  This is less than that of a candy bar.  Not only am I losing the calories but it is 94% fat free (approx. 4g of fat).
  • Fruit:  I have also switched out snacking on junk to eat mandarin and navel oranges.  These can be high in sugar but they don’t have all the other processed junk in them and run about 80 calories (source).  One can fill you up for quite a while.
  • Yogurt:  I am not a huge yogurt fan but I have found some that I really like the taste of.  I tend to stay around the ones that have 100 calories in them as I get a lot of flavor and feel full for a period of time without a lot of downside.  Most yogurt also has good bacteria in them which helps in other areas.

Those are some of the bigger changes.  I know there is still room for improvement within even those changes and I will be working on those as well.  Baby steps my friend.

A lot of friends have asked about the program and all I can give is my opinion.  However, Dallas recently added a 30 day money back guarantee on the program if you are not satisfied.  So, you now have nothing to lose.

Filed Under: DDP Yoga, Fitness Tagged With: , , , , ,
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Lack There Of

January 22, 2012 By

We all have ran into poor customer service at one point or another.  Whether it has been a clerk that didn’t say thank you to the rep on the phone that you can tell doesn’t care what you’re complaint is.  However, what surprises me most are the businesses that are quickly losing market share but continue on the downward spiral of the most basic thing they can do to keep customers in their stores.

ApathyI was recently in a national video rental chain and had a small problem.  To put in in perspective it was all of 99 cents.  When I called the clerk’s attention to it I was simply told that the wrong sticker was on the game and they took the game from me and walked off to replace the sticker.  This was innocent enough but this was the second of three problems I had with this store from three different clerks in a five day time span.

It is common knowledge that it is easier and more cost effective to keep a current customer than to try to gain a new one.  In this case, brick and mortar rental businesses are losing rapidly to online rentals, streaming, and kiosk services.  Why go to the store and pay $1.99 for one night when I can go to iTunes and pay $2.99 and not have to get into my car?  Valid question.  The reason we do it is for selection, price, and for the family to get out of the house a little bit.  Often we need to pick up one or two grocery items which are also convenient to this particular place.

Of all three issues I had in the last few days two could have been fixed with “I’m sorry.”  This would have cost the company nothing, I would have been satisfied with that response, and we all would have moved on.  Now because of the workers at this location not being trained in proper customer care I had a decision to make.  And my decision was to not go back to any of their retail stores.  I would much prefer to pay a little more at a small businesses in the area or rent online than to deal with people who are not there to care for their customers.

The bottom line in this whole thing is “I’m Sorry” would have went a long way and kept me as a weekly customer.  It would have cost the company nothing – no free rental, no refund, no cash.  I would have felt that I had received service from the clerk.

When you have a customer who has a problem what can you do to make sure they are satisfied?

Filed Under: Customer Service Tagged With: , , , , ,
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Day 14 – 2 Weeks In

January 18, 2012 By

DDPYoga LogoIt has been two weeks since I started the program and I am happy to say I have yet to miss a day!  I feel better and have more energy throughout the day and that is saying something. I have lost 11 pounds as of this writing, gained strength in my knees, am able to touch the floor, and can almost put my leg straight out while holding it in the air.   These are things I couldn’t do when I was 16!

The workouts that I have completed are as follows:

  • Diamond Dozen – The backbone of the workouts.  It is basically the teaching DVD showing you what you will be doing in all the other workouts.  Good to come back to as a refresher or when you need a slow day to keep up the pace.
  • Energy! – This is on the same DVD as Diamond Dozen and is your next step.  Gets you stretched out and on the journey to do the other workouts.
  • Fat Burner – My favorite so far!  Gets the sweat going and has minimal resting.  I really feel like I have accomplished something here.
  • Red Hot Core – My enemy so far.  This is one I will battle back and forth with as I have found it to be my hardest.  This is the one that is the goal to conquer at this point.
  • Below the Belt – Only did this one once so I won’t comment just yet.
  • Stand Up! – This is a great DVD if you have problems with getting up and down off the ground.  Use this one to gain strength to allow you to do the workouts where you are up and down.
  • Wake Up – Good for stretching those muscles out when you first wake up or if you need a quick workout.  Not a lot of sweating going on here but can get you up and pumped for the day.

I believe that this program works if you do it.  You have to commit yourself, go for it, and own it!  Doing it here and there isn’t going to accomplish much.  You’ll have to do it and stick to it.

Like I said in a previous post, the guide book gives you a full program including nutrition.  I am not using the nutrition portion other than for suggestions so I cannot comment on how well this part has done.  I am slowly moving into eating better which mostly includes opting for healthier choices when eating (oranges instead of chips, natural white popcorn instead of butter popcorn, Splenda instead of sugar).  I have also increased my intake of water over what I was drinking and I am making myself eat a small snack during the day to keep my metabolism up.

Lastly, there is TeamDDPYoga.com – if you don’t have a support system at home here is one waiting to be your workout family.  From the time you sign up you get other people posting messages to you, telling you about their story, and giving you the chance to ask questions and get help when you need it.  We all need a push every now and again and this is a great community waiting to help you do that and there is no charge to sign up.

I’ll see you again in about a week and until then if you are interested in getting the DVDs and doing this along with me you can purchase them here.

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Day 9 – Back 2 Back

January 13, 2012 By

Today was the first day I did back to back workouts.  I went through Fat Burner and followed up with Red Hot Core.

I went through Red Hot Core last night for the first time and it was an epic failure.  I have not done that many crunches in over ten years and it whooped up on me pretty good.  However, tonight I was able to keep up with it much better after doing Fat Burner and was able to do most of the workout.

Several of the positions I had to modify or was only able to do about half of what was called for but I can feel myself getting stronger and can see within a week or two being able to do the number of crunches called for without issue and quickly following that up without modifying.

I am happy to report that it has been 9 days since I started and I have not missed one day and have lost over 7 pounds in the process!  Now, to keep this thing going…

 

Zig Ziglar

“Remember that failure is an event not a person.”  Zig Ziglar

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Leap Year

January 13, 2012 By

Leap Year2012 is a leap year so you have an extra day to accomplish something. What are you going to do? How are you going to use this extra day to enhance your life or that of your family?

Don’t let this day go to waste where you are questioning why you have to go back to the same boring job or wondering how you are going to pay the credit card bill. Take steps on February 29th to push your envelope and begin a game plan where you find the career you love, you make the plans to get out of debt, or you start the journey to completing the goals you have for this year.

Filed Under: Goal Setting Tagged With: , , , ,
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Are You Rich?

January 13, 2012 By

It is an often used cliche but just because you are not wealthy does not mean you are not rich.  Richness has to do with things in your life and not necessarily material possessions.  One of the definitions of rich is “of great value” (ref).  Check out “10 Ways to be Rich Without being Wealthy” by Kevin at Out of Your Rut.

Filed Under: Life Coaching Tagged With: , , ,
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Day 5 – Self High Five (Yeah, I went there!)

January 9, 2012 By

Diamond Dallas PageToday was day five.  I started this morning with “Wake Up” and did “Fat Burner” this evening.

“Wake Up” so far has been the hardest.  Why?  Because I had to get up at 5:15am to do it!  After years of not exercising or getting up early except on the rare occasion this made it harder.  The thought kept coming in my head that I can always do the workout in the evening.  However, I would not let myself settle today.  I knew I had to get up and get going no matter how difficult it was and I am glad I did.

“Wake Up” stretches out your muscles and joints after laying down all night.  It helps keep the soreness away throughout the day.  It is quick, only about ten minutes, and it starts off with you laying in bed so you really don’t even have the excuse that I don’t want to get up because you don’t have to!

“Fat Burner” made me sweat more than the other three discs that I have done.  I am more sore after doing this DVD but more proud of the accomplishment of doing it and feeling the work getting done.  After a few days of this I feel like there will be significant progress made.

After only 5 days I am delighted to say I have dropped 6 pounds in the short amount of time.  I get asked if I am on a diet when I talk about the workout and the truth is not really.  I have made some better choices, eaten smaller portions, and all in all just made a conscious effort to watch what I am putting in my body.  I am not following the nutritional guide that comes with the set because if I don’t eat what I want I end up denying myself to the point that I break and eat more than I would have.

My focus right now is making better choices in general and limiting portion size.  Though, I did make some scrambled eggs based on Dallas’s recipe and bought some quinoa but have not tried it yet!

Filed Under: DDP Yoga, Fitness Tagged With: , , , ,
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Woo Woo Woo… You Know It

January 7, 2012 By

Zack RyderIf you watch WWE you know who Zack Ryder is. What you may not know is that he should be an inspiration to anyone who has goals and dreams in life.

I am going to be honest, prior to about March I didn’t know anything about Zack Ryder.  He was a name that came up every now and then on TV and then he would come out, lose, and would disappear.  Not much going on is it?  However, in February of 2011 Ryder uploaded a video to YouTube that would change the course of his career and make him a household name.

Zack had started his own campaign to further his career –  it was make it or break it time.   He laid it on the line.  In his web series on YouTube, Z! True Long Island Story, he would take jabs at himself about being on the back burner, almost getting over with the fans, and being put on ice by the higher ups.  This series led to him amassing over 10 million views and over 118,000 subscribers in under a year.

Along with starting his series on YouTube he is also very active on Twitter connecting with fans.  At the time of this writing he has over 444,000 followers and was listed as one of the top 100 most influential sports personalities to use social media by  Sports Illustrated.

Now, why should he be an inspiration?  He realized he could be more than what he was being used for in the WWE.  He knew he had value and knew the fans would enjoy his work.  He was willing to put everything on the line to show the executives and writers that he could carry the ball.  In short: he had goals and a plan.

Ryder could have had a victim mentality.  He could have kept asking the executives “When are you going to do something for me?”.  Instead he asked himself what he could do to help himself – he then went and did it.

Zack is a perfect example what you can do when you have a plan and are willing to take a risk to get what you want out of life.  He took it upon himself and proved he had it.  In December of 2011 he was awarded the United States Championship which I hope is just a stepping stone in his career.

Take Aways:

  • Have a goal with a plan.
  • Be willing to take some risks.
  • Get rid of victim thinking and figure out how you can position yourself where you want.
  • Go for it!

You can find Zack Ryder at the following sites:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/LongIslandIcedZ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZackRyder
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/longislandicedz

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Day 3 – Feeling Good

January 7, 2012 By

Just finished day three of DDPYoga and it keeps feeling better.  I am still having to modify (it is only day three) but things I had to modify yesterday and didn’t have to today.  Getting sweatier to so I can only assume this is a good sign 🙂

I am still doing the Energy! workout which is the recommended one right after The Diamond Dozen.  It utilizes The Diamond Dozen heavily with a few moves you will learn during the workout.  It stretches your body out and feels good.  I have heard some joints pop that have needed it for awhile – not in a painful way mind you.

Keep in mind I have done this each day for the last three days.  The recommended plan for a beginner is every other day 3 times per week.  I have modified this myself due to my planning and daily routine.

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