For the record, I am not a fan of New Year's Resolutions. In fact, my only resolution I make every year is that I make no resolutions. However, that does not mean that I don’t believe in looking at goals I’d like to set and make an effort to achieve them. In this manner, I decided it was time to make Ego Over Matter a regular column again, and to that effect, I have decided to do something I have not done for many years… reinvigorate my quest for 300/400/500.
Now, for those not familiar with these numbers, they are as follows. The idea is that a genetically typical individual, after many years of effort and work, could reasonably be expected to master a personal best power lifting style Bench Press of 300 pounds, a personal best power lifting style squat of 400 pounds, and a personal best power lifting style deadlift of 500 pounds. This was a goal of mine many years ago, and I can honestly say I got about 75% of the way to the goal, but ultimately had to stop due to injuries and other life priorities. Since I made the commitment back in September to join a gym and become a frequent participant, I have now decided that I want to get back into the groove of someday achieving those magical digits.
Every goal has to start somewhere, and every goal, no matter how lofty, has to be broken up into smaller goals. What’s more, those smaller goals have their own daily goals that need to be set as well. Thus, I’m starting out with setting a macro goal, that of being able to do the classic 3/4/5. My more immediate goals are to get back into the groove of lifting towards that purpose, and to condition my body to allow me to start reaching those lifts. Those will require conditioning of ligaments and tendons, and that conditioning will have to take place along with raising the maximum lifts. It also means I’ll have to start lifting heavier weight for fewer reps, something I have not done in quite some time. Thus my first goal is to work through a rigorous strength and conditioning routine, one that will last approximately 12 weeks. The first 4 weeks will be focused on hypertrophy (raw muscle building, emphasis on higher reps and relatively light weights). The second 4 weeks will be focusing on Strength and power, with an increase in total weight lifted and a decrease in repetitions. The third period, for three weeks, I will work towards peaking, with an emphasis on low reps and heavy weight. Finally, one to two weeks where I will not lift at all, but spend the time doing “Active rest” (cycling, swimming, running, etc.). From there, I will start the cycle again.
Every time I embark on a new fitness approach, I have to remind myself that there are of course limitations I have to deal with, and those limitations may slow or even ultimately stop my progress. The things that must be worked into this equation are:
I have an ankle that was broken when I was a teenager (sometime in 1986).
I had a deep laceration to my wrist in 1995 that cut into my bone.
I had a compression fracture to my L5 vertebrae at the junction point between L4 and L5 happen in 1996.
I suffered a tuberosity fracture to my left arm in 2002
While I am hoping that none of these will sideline my progress too much, they are structural irregularities that I have to account for as I train. What’s more, I’ve also been feeling odd twinges in my elbows the past several weeks (and the right elbow has been somewhat dodgy since well before August).
So my goal is to make each Monday my “Accountability day” and to report the good, bad and just plain icky of all that went the week before. Notes will be kept, calories will be counted (and in some cases go well beyond needed maintenance) and I hope real progress will be made. Still, I have no illusions that this process will get me where I want to be in just 12 weeks. It won’t get me there in 12 months. It’s possible it may not get me there in 5 years. Still, I know if I put the effort in and keep track of what I do, I’ll get closer than I am now :).
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Taking on "Personal Management": Can Scouting's "Big Bear" Help Adults, Too?
As a Scoutmaster, I've found it interesting that there are three badges that tend to gum up the works for boys that want to progress from Life Scout to Eagle Scout, and routinely, it tends to be at least one of these three badges that cause the greatest amount of perceived hardship for scouts. These badges are:
Family Life
Personal Fitness
Personal Management
Having been a scout leader and a merit badge counselor for close to fifteen years now, I know why this is the case. Each one of these badges requires an up front commitment, a pretty significant one at that. In addition, each one requires that you commit to a lengthy follow-through, and then tracking that follow-through for three months. In almost all cases, it's this tracking for the long term that gets most boys down and frustrated. Still, for many boys, conquering these three badges makes a huge difference, not just in taking command of the Eagle Scout process, but in taking command of life in general.
As I was reviewing with my son the components of the Personal Management badge, I came to the stunning realization that many adults that I know do not have much knowledge of, nor do they actively understand, the concepts that are presented in this badge. As I was looking to see if there was some "Madd Money" topics I could talk about and discuss, I realized the whole merit badge pamphlet, while not ideal in every aspect to what *I* would personally teach or espouse (but pretty darn close overall), it's a terrific primer and fodder for conceivably many posts.
Thus in the course of the next few months, I will be going through each one of these topics, not as a way to rewrite, revise or critique the book, but to give my own take on the topics as presented, and perhaps ways where I might differ in approach. Most likely, though, I'll probably share my own experiences working with this badge and what opportunities for growth can be found within its pages. Moree to the point, I'm hoping to spur on some discussions with my son, as he needs to complete this one, too, hopefully in the same time period (as well as Personal Fitness; Family Life we have covered ;) ). So look for the Personal Management topic to appear under a Madd Money entry in the future. What's more, I'd like your feedback on this particular topic and your own approach to it.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Scoutmaster Mike: Nick's Eagle Project Proposal
As both a Scoutmaster and a Father, I have the pleasure and the challenge of looking over and discussing the process of developing an Eagle project with my son. The biggest challenge with his age (he's 12) is that there is a limit to the types of projects he can actually take on. When we went to contact a number of places regarding capital improvements or to do repair and restoration projects, as soon as they heard his age, we got a number of answers that ultimately sum up as "oh, he's too young for us to allow that. Our liability insurance wouldn't cover that".
So what does one do when the spirit is willing, but the flesh it to young to be pressed into service? Well, one looks at other options, of course, but more to the point, one looks to areas where they can do something outside of the boundaries of the organization that he wants to work with, yet still have a way to make a meaningful contribution.
For the last year or so, Nick has expressed interest in doing a project for the Peninsula Humane Society as his first choice. Our dog, Rikku, attends a small dog socialization class there on many weekends, so we as a family often go to the PHC facilities over near Coyote Point. I think it has been this continued involvement with the PHC that helped him decide that this is where he wanted to apply his efforts. What also helped was that, instead of just being a random scout making a call, he was able to say "hi, you remember me, I'm there with my dog on many of the Saturdays. I'd like to do a project to help the shelter". So tip number 1, make sure you can be seen as a known identity; it makes people a lot more willing to work with you :).
Even with the willingness and knowing who he is, there's still that age issue. the Peninsula Humane Society has a rule that actual volunteers that do work on the premises or in the shelters must be sixteen years or older, especially if any of the work is construction or repair related. However, there are many other needs that the shelter has for the animals that don't require any involvement with the premises at all. While looking through their web site, we saw that they had a Wish List of items that would be beneficial to the animals. These items were things like towels, blankets, heating pads, toys for various animals, and some interesting items like clean feather dusters for use with helpoing to rehabilitate young wild birds.
With this, we talked a bit and helped formulate a game plan. The Eagle Project that we will present tomorrow to the Peninsula Humane Society (and later to the Pacific Skyline Council for approval) will consist of Nick organizing, leading and soliciting for items on that Wish List, and conducting a Pet Toy and Pet Needs drive. We will generate flyers and distribute them through schools, churches, and communities with a designated day (TBD) where we will come by with the other scouts in the Troop, pick up, sort, organize and ultimately deliver any and all items received to the Peninsula Humane Society.
Nick is learning how it feels to be inthe hot seat regarding this project. While I am happy to help him organize his thoughts and ideas, I've had to make it very clear that he is the one that must make the calls, make the arrangements, work with the individuals that will help out, and be the point of contact. He's discovering that even a project of this nature takes a lot of preparation and planning, and it needs to be communicated with a lot of different people. So far, I think he's doing a pretty good job with it, though I do find I have to be a bit of a nag and say "hey, did you do this today?" It's OK, I expect it at this age (LOL!).
This is the big hurdle when it comes from getting boys from Life to Eagle, so in a way I am happy that he is looking to do this now, and I'm also happy that he is seeing that, even though he is on the young side, with a little bit of creativity and planning, he can make a contribution as meaningful as many older boys make, even if it means the nature of his project will be a bit different than those the older boys would be able to do. Inthe end, what matters is that he undertakes it, leads it, and brings it to a succesful conclusion. While much of that will remain to be seen, I can say with pride he's off to a good start :).
So what does one do when the spirit is willing, but the flesh it to young to be pressed into service? Well, one looks at other options, of course, but more to the point, one looks to areas where they can do something outside of the boundaries of the organization that he wants to work with, yet still have a way to make a meaningful contribution.
For the last year or so, Nick has expressed interest in doing a project for the Peninsula Humane Society as his first choice. Our dog, Rikku, attends a small dog socialization class there on many weekends, so we as a family often go to the PHC facilities over near Coyote Point. I think it has been this continued involvement with the PHC that helped him decide that this is where he wanted to apply his efforts. What also helped was that, instead of just being a random scout making a call, he was able to say "hi, you remember me, I'm there with my dog on many of the Saturdays. I'd like to do a project to help the shelter". So tip number 1, make sure you can be seen as a known identity; it makes people a lot more willing to work with you :).
Even with the willingness and knowing who he is, there's still that age issue. the Peninsula Humane Society has a rule that actual volunteers that do work on the premises or in the shelters must be sixteen years or older, especially if any of the work is construction or repair related. However, there are many other needs that the shelter has for the animals that don't require any involvement with the premises at all. While looking through their web site, we saw that they had a Wish List of items that would be beneficial to the animals. These items were things like towels, blankets, heating pads, toys for various animals, and some interesting items like clean feather dusters for use with helpoing to rehabilitate young wild birds.
With this, we talked a bit and helped formulate a game plan. The Eagle Project that we will present tomorrow to the Peninsula Humane Society (and later to the Pacific Skyline Council for approval) will consist of Nick organizing, leading and soliciting for items on that Wish List, and conducting a Pet Toy and Pet Needs drive. We will generate flyers and distribute them through schools, churches, and communities with a designated day (TBD) where we will come by with the other scouts in the Troop, pick up, sort, organize and ultimately deliver any and all items received to the Peninsula Humane Society.
Nick is learning how it feels to be inthe hot seat regarding this project. While I am happy to help him organize his thoughts and ideas, I've had to make it very clear that he is the one that must make the calls, make the arrangements, work with the individuals that will help out, and be the point of contact. He's discovering that even a project of this nature takes a lot of preparation and planning, and it needs to be communicated with a lot of different people. So far, I think he's doing a pretty good job with it, though I do find I have to be a bit of a nag and say "hey, did you do this today?" It's OK, I expect it at this age (LOL!).
This is the big hurdle when it comes from getting boys from Life to Eagle, so in a way I am happy that he is looking to do this now, and I'm also happy that he is seeing that, even though he is on the young side, with a little bit of creativity and planning, he can make a contribution as meaningful as many older boys make, even if it means the nature of his project will be a bit different than those the older boys would be able to do. Inthe end, what matters is that he undertakes it, leads it, and brings it to a succesful conclusion. While much of that will remain to be seen, I can say with pride he's off to a good start :).
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Scoutmaster Mike: The "Special" Challenges of Leadership
One of the things that Scout leaders try to instill in their boys is the ability to lead each other. Really good Scoutmasters know that they can step back and just let their boys do what they need to do, including stepping back and letting the boys cannibalize each other (within reason, of course; we don’t want to see boys get hurt or be deliberately malicious to one another).
Last week, my son, Nick, had the experience of doing his presentation “without a net” so to speak, and as I was watching him present to the youth, I decided I had two options. The first would be that I could do crowd control, and do the inevitable “hey, pipe down and listen” that is inevitable with 12 year old boys… or I could step out of the equation and let a little bit of “tough love” settle on the experience. After about ten minutes of the first approach, I decided that I really was doing a disservice to these boys having to always be there and shout them down to pay attention, so I decided to announce to them that I’d be outside if they needed me. In other words, I was going to leave them to their own devices for a bit.
Well, as you might guess, I was outside for about five minutes, when out comes my son and looks at me, pleadingly “will you please tell [fill in the blank] to sit still and pay attention?!” It was quite an interesting thing to see, my son coming out and being exasperated at having to try to hold the other scouts attention… the same issue I deal with every sing week (LOL!). I don’t want to make this sound trivial, because I could tell he was frustrated, and a little bit angry at how things were going, but I also had to let this transpire this way because it was a valuable lesson in leading others.
What I decided to do from this experience was to have every boy be in the situation where they would have to present to each other what they were working on, with the idea that I would be there for the first few minutes to help set the tone, but also to know that I would step out after I was finished. This gives the boys a very clear message… if you want to act boisterously and disrespectfully to your fellow scouts, don’t be surprised if they treat you the same way.
This week, another boy will be center stage, and he will have a presentation to make to help the boys meet their requirements and advance in rank. The next week, another boy will be responsible, and so on and so on. It’s my hope that these rotating presentations will have a “calming” effect on the boys, because everyone will have walked a mile in each other’s shoes :).
Tuesday's Scoutmaster Minute:
Jim Rohn once said: “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons!”
Too often, we think that we can just do something at the spur of the moment. We can ace a test we haven’t studied for, we can make a lot of money in a short amount of time, we can carry a large boulder a great distance, but none of these things can happen without preparation. Sometimes, the preparation makes things easier than they would otherwise be.
We may find putting away ten dollars every day for forty years to matter very little, only to be surprised that that $10 a day could be equal to $1,000,000 40 years later (general rules of compound interest and a mderate 8% rate being used here ;) ). Earning $1,000,000 in a single year, though, or even less time, may be next to impossible.
We may not be able to carry a 1,000 pound load of rocks on our back, but we can carry one or two pounds of rocks several hundred times with great ease. Each of these shows the benefit of discipline and good habits in the achieving of long term goals.
At some point, we will not be able to do the big lift or get the big reward if we have not diligently been preparing for that day. In the end, we can prepare to succeed, or we choose to not prepare, and thus prepare to fail.
Last week, my son, Nick, had the experience of doing his presentation “without a net” so to speak, and as I was watching him present to the youth, I decided I had two options. The first would be that I could do crowd control, and do the inevitable “hey, pipe down and listen” that is inevitable with 12 year old boys… or I could step out of the equation and let a little bit of “tough love” settle on the experience. After about ten minutes of the first approach, I decided that I really was doing a disservice to these boys having to always be there and shout them down to pay attention, so I decided to announce to them that I’d be outside if they needed me. In other words, I was going to leave them to their own devices for a bit.
Well, as you might guess, I was outside for about five minutes, when out comes my son and looks at me, pleadingly “will you please tell [fill in the blank] to sit still and pay attention?!” It was quite an interesting thing to see, my son coming out and being exasperated at having to try to hold the other scouts attention… the same issue I deal with every sing week (LOL!). I don’t want to make this sound trivial, because I could tell he was frustrated, and a little bit angry at how things were going, but I also had to let this transpire this way because it was a valuable lesson in leading others.
What I decided to do from this experience was to have every boy be in the situation where they would have to present to each other what they were working on, with the idea that I would be there for the first few minutes to help set the tone, but also to know that I would step out after I was finished. This gives the boys a very clear message… if you want to act boisterously and disrespectfully to your fellow scouts, don’t be surprised if they treat you the same way.
This week, another boy will be center stage, and he will have a presentation to make to help the boys meet their requirements and advance in rank. The next week, another boy will be responsible, and so on and so on. It’s my hope that these rotating presentations will have a “calming” effect on the boys, because everyone will have walked a mile in each other’s shoes :).
Tuesday's Scoutmaster Minute:
Jim Rohn once said: “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons!”
Too often, we think that we can just do something at the spur of the moment. We can ace a test we haven’t studied for, we can make a lot of money in a short amount of time, we can carry a large boulder a great distance, but none of these things can happen without preparation. Sometimes, the preparation makes things easier than they would otherwise be.
We may find putting away ten dollars every day for forty years to matter very little, only to be surprised that that $10 a day could be equal to $1,000,000 40 years later (general rules of compound interest and a mderate 8% rate being used here ;) ). Earning $1,000,000 in a single year, though, or even less time, may be next to impossible.
We may not be able to carry a 1,000 pound load of rocks on our back, but we can carry one or two pounds of rocks several hundred times with great ease. Each of these shows the benefit of discipline and good habits in the achieving of long term goals.
At some point, we will not be able to do the big lift or get the big reward if we have not diligently been preparing for that day. In the end, we can prepare to succeed, or we choose to not prepare, and thus prepare to fail.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Scoutmaster Mike: The Importance of Being Prepared
As I am actively involved in both Scouting and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it should come as no surprise that I look forward to reading words of encouragement and inspiration from Charles W. Dahlquist II, more often referred to as "President Dahlquist" by me and many others, as befits his role as the general Young Men's President of the Church. In addition to that role, he is also a member of the National Boy Scouts of America Executive Board, thus he combines two areas I care about greatly. This is a long winded way of saying "when President Dahlquist talks, I tend to listen!"
President Dahlquist gave an address at LDS Business College regarding the Importance of Being Prepared. Needless to say, as a good Boy Scout, I tend to enjoy my favorite outdoor organization's motto get repeated often and publicly. I particularly enjoyed the areas that he focused on for this talk. His notions of preparation covered a number of different areas, and in this particular devotional, he made a point to address spiritual preparation along with temporal preparation.
This quote struck a chord in me, and I want to share it here:
“Do we wait until challenges come along to become prepared?” President Dahlquist asked. He cited Alma 34:32, “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.”
He then gives five challenges:
1. Remember you are a child of God, in all times and at all points and walks of life.
2. Stand in holy places, or "being where we ought to be".
3. Learn to control your thoughts:
Mosiah 4:30: “…if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.”
4. Learn to do things that are hard to do. “Don’t just scoot by. Stand up. Do things that are hard!”
5. Give service. “Service is not a project; it’s a way of life,” said President Dahlquist.
I feel impressed that, in these challenging times we are currently facing, these are words that all of us could put to good use. I certainly will give it my best shot :).
President Dahlquist gave an address at LDS Business College regarding the Importance of Being Prepared. Needless to say, as a good Boy Scout, I tend to enjoy my favorite outdoor organization's motto get repeated often and publicly. I particularly enjoyed the areas that he focused on for this talk. His notions of preparation covered a number of different areas, and in this particular devotional, he made a point to address spiritual preparation along with temporal preparation.
This quote struck a chord in me, and I want to share it here:
“Do we wait until challenges come along to become prepared?” President Dahlquist asked. He cited Alma 34:32, “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.”
He then gives five challenges:
1. Remember you are a child of God, in all times and at all points and walks of life.
2. Stand in holy places, or "being where we ought to be".
3. Learn to control your thoughts:
Mosiah 4:30: “…if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.”
4. Learn to do things that are hard to do. “Don’t just scoot by. Stand up. Do things that are hard!”
5. Give service. “Service is not a project; it’s a way of life,” said President Dahlquist.
I feel impressed that, in these challenging times we are currently facing, these are words that all of us could put to good use. I certainly will give it my best shot :).
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