It is pretty easy to see how I used beachbody programs to change my body in my before/after pic.Take a look...
What you can't see or quantify though, is what happened mentally. There are a lot of side effects of getting in physical shape (more confidence, etc...) but that isn't what I'm going to write about.
What I want to focus on right now is one of the 3 "vital behaviors" of a successful beachbody coach. The 3 vital behaviors are as follows: 1. be a product of the product. 2. read at least 15 minutes of personal development every day. 3. invite, invite, invite
The second vital behavior is what I'm talking about: Personal development
Personal development, or self help, is probably the most life changing habit you can start doing (outside of religious and spiritual changes). It doesn't seem like 15 minutes a day could really make that much of a difference but I'm going to try to explain how it worked for me.
When I became a coach, I kind of resisted the personal development thing because I didn't think I had time for it. Then I discovered audible. I started listening to personal development books every time I was driving or exercising. I fell in love with it! I didn't notice any immediate changes other than just proactively thinking about how I can improve myself. After a few weeks my entire thought process started to change.
The way I responded to issues improved. Instead of feeling like a victim, a thing to be acted upon...I started taking responsibility for my situation. I started being a thing to act instead of a thing to be acted upon. That made ALL the difference in the world!
My life stopped being something to just "accept it for how it is", and instead it became something I wanted to design. A life by design...what a novel idea! haha! In my head, my dreams stopped existing as dreams and transformed into possibilities...things to work towards, not just things to think about.
Once these things started happening, I was watching American Ninja Warrior, and I thought it looked really fun. I mentioned it to my wife and she said "why don't you do it?". Almost immediately, a new dream emerged...only this time, it was not just a dream, it was a possibility! So I started training for it. I chose the program (P90X2) that I thought was best suited towards what a ninja would need. Then I built a salmon ladder and a few other obstacles in my garage. I started rock climbing. Then I got Insanity Max:30 because I figured I'd need to be able to push my muscles while my heart was racing.
About the time I got started on Insanity Max:30, I met Karson Voiles. He had been on the show the last few years and he had an AWESOME ninja obstacle course in his backyard. We met up at the climbing gym and he invited me to go to his backyard course. I was ECSTATIC!
I went over to his house and within about 30 seconds of trying it out, thought to myself "I think I may have gotten in over my head!". LOL. The ninja obstacles were SO much more difficult than I had imagined! Only now, as a result of the mental change that occurred due to reading personal development, I saw it as a challenge instead of a defeat. I went back. Then I went back again. Soon enough, the obstacles became easier. My confidence grew.
Then I didn't get the call from American Ninja Warrior. I was pretty bummed out, not gonna lie. My wife wouldn't accept that though. She said "We've both sacrificed too much for you to NOT go to the walk on line". I hadn't planned on the walk on line because of her health situation. She insisted though, so I agreed and took my chances.
I met SO many awesome people in the walk on line. It was an incredible experience. I'll probably write a whole blog post just about that but not right now.
Anyways, so I was #13 in the line. I thought for sure that I'd get on the course. The night of the competition, they didn't let as many walk ons run in the beginning...so I started to fear I wouldn't get on. Then, when they normally let more walk ons run, they only let 3 more. It started looking like I wasn't going to get on. I was devastated. My wife and I had put SO Much into this, including the 9 days I had been in the walk on line. Then after all the regular competitors had run, they let a few more walk ons on the course. They stopped at #12. I just about lost it at that point.
I went to talk to one of the guys in casting and I basically BEGGED him to let me run. I explained how much my wife had to go through just to get there on the off chance that I might get on the course. It was a LOT! Maybe she'll write about it...
So after explaining all this to him, he told me to hang on a minute. Then he came running back waving at me to go towards him! I don't know that I've ever been more relieved! He told me that they were going to let me run!!!! Oh man! It was so exciting! Here is my run:
It was such an awesome experience! I hope this isn't the only year I'm able to do it. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go back next year but if not, I'll keep reading personal development because I KNOW it'll lead to even MORE great experiences!
If you're ready to make changes and you want me to help you, you can find my contact info here: www.ninjastanger.com
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