Goodness Greatness

You're absolutely freakin' great, but don't flatter yourself, you're not great all the time. You're not even great most of the time. It would be impossible for anyone to be great for such a long period of time. But you can be great for a second, a minute, five minutes or even a half hour. Greatness comes and goes, and a lot of the time people forget that deep down inside, they really are truly great.

You can be great just by complimenting someone at work and letting them know that "hey, I do realize that you exist!" ... or by allowing someone to cut in front of you on the highway or in line at the grocery store. You can even go far out of your way by carrying bags for an older man or woman, or calling a friend just to say "hi." Maybe you're way of being great is by rocking it at the gym and getting a killer workout in, or finally accomplishing a simple task or job that you've been putting off for a long time. Life is unrealistically short, and when all is said and done, what matters most is how you've been great to those around you, those who care for you and those you care about. Shit, I'm 32 years old, on my way to 33, and I've spend way to much time NOT being as great as I can. We all have reasons why we don't reach our "potential greatness." The good news is, it's never too late to be great.

Bottom line, there are hundreds of ways to rock and be great. And there are millions of ways not to be great. Will you be defined by one act of greatness, or more? I'd like to think that true greatness is measured by an infinite number of small acts of greatness. Otherwise, we'd spend decades of our lives being, only to be remembered for 5 short minutes.

What great thing(s) will you do today?

I've Got a Ginormous Problem! ...

So I've got a huge problem. What is my problem? Well ... while I was sitting at home with my boy Bernie (my 3 month old yellow lab, who is the most adorable animal alive, in my eyes), I was thinking about today's training sessions, as well as yesterday's. Now before I get into what exactly my problem is, I need to tell you that when I train with my clients, I typically tend to work them pretty hard ... actually, very hard. I push them all during each workout to the point of fatigue, and sometimes exhaustion. Carol is well aware of this ... she let me know this when she yelled at me one morning a couple weeks ago! I was like, "Oh wow, Carol!" I'm still convinced that she really likes the core exercises we do every session =)

On to my problem ...

My problem is that I think I have the absolute BEST clients a personal trainer could ask for. So now you're probably like, "and that's a problem?!" Maybe I don't really have a problem, I guess. Despite the numerous challenges that I put my clients through, they always put forth a GREAT effort. Last night I was working with Shannon and I think she literally wanted to push me out the door when I left! She did a leg workout that would make most people pass out. Yet, she pushed forward, completed every exercise and didn't complain even once. Her effort was awesome ... and today she probably is cursing me out every time she tries to sit down ... Sorry, Shannon!

Today, my day started with another leg workout for Mark. Mark has been training with me for quite a while and we're trying to add muscle mass to his entire body while trimming the fat at the same time. It's been challenging, and by the end of May, we should have his body fat percentage down to around 10 - 12%. Anyway, Mark's effort was outstanding. We've been hitting a new high on his squat in his recent leg workouts, and today was no different. 215 lbs. for 4 reps ... great job, Mark!

After Mark, I worked with Kristen, whose main goal is weight loss. We'll be weighing her on Friday, where we'll find out exactly how much fat she's shed over the past month. Today was, without a doubt, her best effort to date. I can see Kristen's self-confidence growing, and I can't wait to get her where she wants to be.

Last but not least is Father Joe! Father Joe has been working with me for just over 2 months. He's my first priest, and I didn't know what to expect. He's turned out to be a pleasure to work with. Like my other clients, Father Joe's effort is awesome as well! He hates doing leg days, and today was a leg day. He finished all of the exercises I had planned, and even did more weight on some sets! The other thing I like about Father Joe? ... he brings me baked goods (gluten-free and healthy of course), and extra bags to clean up Bernie's lawn decorations!

And I didn't even mention the clients that I didn't train yesterday or today! Mike G., Carol, Kelly, Doug and MaryBeth are just as awesome!

Heck of a day, I know.

If having awesome people as clients is a problem, then I've got one hell of a big problem!!!