Creating Optimum Balance

"Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance." Brian Tracy

I am writing for me but you can listen in.
Thanks for joining me while I write to myself. A few years ago I needed to get my life back in order. I had all the tools but I suddenly found myself 30 lbs. over weight, exhausted and didn’t even realize it. So I decided I would write a fitness and diet plan for myself. I had previously owned a very famous gym, was involved with amateur and professional bodybuilding, read all the books, been to all the seminars and had a great background in this area. The amazing thing to me is how this turned into a life plan. I realized that every area of my life affects my energy and health, not just my diet and exercise program. I hope a little insight into my personal journey helps you as much as it has helped me.

My own wake up call
One day I walked into my kitchen and there on the refrigerator was a cartoon picture of a middle aged guy in boxers with one sock on and one sock off, over weight and bald. He was looking into the mirror and what he saw was a muscular, vibrant, handsome young man with a full head of hair standing there in his bathing suite flexing his incredibly muscular body. I thought it was absolutely hysterical until I realized my wife had put that up there to get my attention.

Yikes, that was me! Yes, I still lifted weights and had some muscle but I’d let my diet go. I didn’t move very much, running, biking or any type of cardio vascular exercise was non-existent and yes I was fat, tired, depressed and getting nowhere fast. I was taking a nap when ever I could and didn’t have the energy to do anything I didn’t have to do. I was looking in the mirror and looking back at me I saw a vague memory, not reality…I was fooling myself. Fortunately I didn’t fool my wife and she loved me enough to prod me into action. She knew I didn’t want to live the way I was living and she was willing to do something about it.

I am not a fitness model, someone with great genetics or a straight A student that everything came easy to. I am an average guy with common challenges that has had the opportunity to study and pursue my passions. I would like to help you through this web site by using my passion for fitness and living a vibrant life to help you save many years of trial and error in these areas of your life. Why reinvent the wheel when you can implement what has taken me 30 years to learn? During your own exciting journey, I just hope to be a good coach and friend while pointing you in the right direction.

Where are you right now?
Let’s get right to the point. Anything in life worth pursuing will require some investment of energy on your part. Most people don’t fail in life because they lack the ability, the intelligence or the skill; they fail because they run out of emotional, physical and spiritual gas while climbing their ladder of success. They simply don’t have the energy to succeed. You can have the best education, outstanding skills, be highly intelligent and possess all the ability in the world and still fail! That’s right you can have it all and still fall flat on your face. It happens every day! The reverse is also true, you can be lacking in those attributes and still become a raving success. Don’t you know someone like that? They shouldn’t be successful but they are? Success lies not in what you have but in what you DO with what you have. You must have the energy to fuel your passions, abilities and skills in order to be successful. Period! End of story!

Is lack of energy stopping you from fulfilling your destiny? Are you too tired to do all the things you want to do or worse yet, all the things you need to do? Are you living a life of passion or just going through the motions? If you can relate to not having enough oomph to get through the day, no less fulfill your destiny, you are not alone.

People from all walks of life are too tired to pursue their destinies. Their spirit may be willing, but their body and mind are tired. Success requires energy! Energy is the fuel to ignite passion and passion is the engine of success! Read that again and again until it sinks in because it is very profound if I do say so myself. Everyone is created to operate at peak performance and to pursue our passions, yet lifestyle choices can stop you from really living. Right choices will quickly give you energy to live a life of passion! Isn’t that encouraging? All you need to do is change a few things and you can have the life of your dreams.

Success comes from what you do, not from what you have.
Let me share someone’s life history with you. This was a man who:
At the age of 21 he failed in business.
At the age of 22 he lost a state legislative race.
At the age of 24 he failed in business again.
At the age of 26 his sweetheart died.
At the age of 27 he had a nervous breakdown.
At the age of 34 he lost a congressional race.
At the age of 36 he lost another congressional race.
At the age of 45 he lost a senatorial race.
At the age of 47 he lost a race for vice-president.
At the age of 49 he again lost a senatorial race.
At the age of 52 he was elected President of the United States.
This man was Abraham Lincoln.

Could he have become President of the United States if he didn’t keep on keeping on? This man did not give up. He was also very energetic and fit. He kept pushing forward in life until he succeeded. He must have been very passionate about what he was doing. He was willing to put in the required energy to pursue his dreams and to change a nation. I bet old Abe also changed himself in the process. Abe Lincoln is an example in perseverance and determination. He may not have been the smartest, most educated or best looking man of his time but he certainly used what he was given and didn’t give up on his dream. I kept this timeline of Abe Lincoln’s life over my desk for many years to help me persevere through some tough times; you may want to do the same.

Tonic for increased energy?
Even back in the 1950’s people were starting to see the need for increasing their energy. Lucile Ball was there to help. She may have been the 1st fad T. V. diet guru. In a memorable episode of I love Lucy, she manages to get a role as the "Vitameatavegamin girl" and is tasked with trying to sell the public a tonic that has healthy amounts of vitamins, meat, vegetables, minerals - and the less healthy dose of alcohol. During a number of rehearsals, Lucy has to drink some of the dreadful-tasting tonic. Due to the high alcoholic content, Lucy begins to get drunk and slur her lines. By the time she goes live with the commercial, her lines "Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular?" become "Do you pop out at parties? Are you un-popular?" and then she chugs the Vitameatavegamin bottle to the roaring laughter of the studio audience. Let’s start looking at what the real “tonic” for increased energy, health and vitality is!
Fuel your body for spectacular health and energy.
I truly believe that you need energy to be successful in every area of your life, not just at work but at home, in your community, etc. Just as the lack of energy, vibrancy and strength permeates all areas of your life in a negative way, having energy can transform your life into something spectacular. You can have all the tools and abilities in the world but if you don’t have the energy to use what you have, you are dead in the water!
You can’t drive across the country on half a tank of gas. You would expect your car to stop short of your intended destination because it didn’t have enough fuel to make it. In fact, you wouldn’t push your pet to stay up all night, feed it fatty foods and let it smoke cigarettes would you? You certainly wouldn’t expect it to be spree and healthy if it did. If you wouldn’t treat a pet that way, then why do you treat yourself that way? What do you have against you? I know you don’t do it on purpose, none of us do. But what happens is that our bad decisions stack on top of each other and then one day we wake up and we are not happy with where we are or what we see. Worse yet, we don’t know what to do! Be Active North Carolina wants to change all that for you forever. We want to make sure you and your organization have the recourses to live a healthy, energetic and successful life.

A simple lifestyle change in the way you feed your body and mind, exercise and rest will prepare your body for success. It will give you tons of energy and make you look better which will, in turn, fuel your confidence. Diet and exercise don’t need to be consuming in order to work. They just need to be consistent. We will help you develop a simple plan that will dramatically increase your energy and have you looking better and feeling more vibrant. This will give you the energy and the confidence to go out and create the life of your dreams and achieve outstanding success in all areas of your life without running out of gas. You will now have the energy to fuel your passion and live the life you always dreamed of living!