Crafton Wallace at Jabz Health and Fitness

So I’ve been a member of the gym I go to for over a year now and I’m glad I made the switch when I did. Before joining Jabz Health and Fitness, I worked out at a Lifestyle Fitness, also for about a year. Both gyms are good, but are very different in many ways.

For me, when I got back into a dedicated workout routine, Lifestyle Fitness was fine. It was a fairly large fitness center and offered quite a few amenities (pool, tanning, spin classes, day care, and a great locker room with a private entry sauna). It was a gym where all levels of members walked the floors, each with their own set of goals, both long and short term. There was a certain social aspect that I imagine appeals to most, but I am the type of person who likes to go in, get my swol on, and leave. After 8 months or so, a certain social level started to develop there and I began to notice members weren’t so focused with their workouts, but were more focused on chit chatting and gawking at any new guy or girl that walked in the door. The motivation I had started to drop off a little bit and a change of scenery was in need. My workout partner mentioned that he had stopped by his old gym, which was once a Gold’s Gym, and suggested to go check it out.

Upon walking in, I sensed a level of intensity that was very appealing. There was a certain smell the gym had, the lighting seemed to be just right, the machines looked used but not busted up…rugged if you will. The free weights were more than adequate, and to top it off…there were several dedicated spots for boxing, cage fighting, and MMA training. This is exactly what I was looking for, without even knowing it!

Recognizing The Comfort Zone

After a few months of solid results, the gym decided to move some stations around. At first, this was an annoyance because I just got familiar with where everything was at. I then began to realize this was a good thing, as for it allowed me to find machines that I’d normally wouldn’t use. This was a good thing because after a year or so of the same routine, I began to notice I was over training and not switching it up enough.

Sometimes when we hit plateaus and things become stagnant, we need to switch things up a bit. I’m a firm believer that if we don’t do it ourselves, God will do it for us. When we stay inside our comfort zones too long, we begin to become oblivious to our surroundings and often lose sight on what we’ve been keeping our eye on the entire time. I feel that the “workstation relocation” was a good thing and it made me realize that I needed to change things up a bit, both inside the gym and out.

When you realize that you are in need of change, what works good for you and how do you go about doing it?

Abs at Jabz – Why “Switching It Up” Helps is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

“How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself – so always think positively” – Norman Vincent Peale

One of the first “motivational” books I ever read was one by Norman Vincent Peale. His book titled Power of Positive Thinking was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1952 and sold over twenty million copies to date. Dr. Peale formulated a three-step process for positive thinking: the first step involves prescribed exercises, the second attaining divine power, and the last urges to eliminate negativity in your life.

When faced with a problem, it’s natural for most of us to feel defeated or to feel negative. Problems inherently breed negativity. But unless you just arrived from Neptune, you’ve already heard that a negative attitude will never be compatible with attaining happiness and success. Get stuck in a negative groove, and the negativity will radiate into everything you do.

Dr. Peale believed how you think about a problem is more important that the problem itself. Today, his philosophy has been translated into “thinking out of the box,” which is nothing more that looking at things from a unique perspective. When you’re able to do that, you can find new ways to resolve your problem. And, at the same time, your enthusiasm and positive attitude toward your job are reinvigorated. It speaks to your faith in yourself. If you’re able to think positively and eliminate negativity, good things are going to happen to you.

What type of exercises are you currently using to help turn negative actions into positive ones. How have the results been?

The Power of Positive Thinking is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

Once you’ve set your goals, don’t make the mistake of assuming that the road to realizing your carefully crafter planned for success is going to be smoothly paved. Life doesn’t work that way. Instead, you will probably be faced with a street filled with potholes. This is why you have to anticipate those potholes and construction signs. Learning from and adapting to change is part of the journey.

Most of us have heard of Tony Robbins, the powerful motivational speaker and best selling author. Tony Robbins knows full well about a journey that involves changing and adapting. First, his family name isn’t even Robbins, it’s Mahavorick. And he was not always the buff presence he is today. Believe it or not, there was a time when he was overweight and depressed. But he got motivated (by another motivational speaker) and developed a unique neurolinguistic program that is the basis of his philosophy and teachings. His famous fire-walking seminars teach participants the strategies of control: mind over body and logic rules over pain.

His message is to always keep your wits about you. When unexpected obstacles block your path, use your head. Don’t let a little thing like a hot coal burn your feet. Keep walking, with your goal of completing the path uppermost in your mind. Later, you can look back and say, “Ouch! Boy did that hurt! But it’s over, and I won!”

Potholes and Construction is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

There are some good ideas…and some bad ideas. Ken Hakuta should know, as for he is known as “Dr. Fad” and made quite the name for himself when he introduced the Wacky Wall Walker to the U.S. market. It became one of the best-selling fad toys of all time. Hakuta earned over $20 million while selling 250 million rubber spiders over a period of just six years!

Ken Hakuta can also attest that what may seem like a bad idea to somebody may be viewed as a great idea to somebody else. Everybody knows of an idea or concept that they’ve heard about and thought was not going to go anywhere (heck, look at Twitter!) and then, wham! – several years later the organization not only succeeded, but the idea spawned other related ideas and the business grew exponentially. Think of the Pet Rock, Chia Pet, and any other of stress management desk toy.

Always be on the lookout for new ideas that appeal to the masses. As you go about your daily life, look through a different worldview at the jobs people are doing around you. Are there ways we can be doing these jobs more easily? Are there certain aspects of an industry that you find fascinating? Do you find yourself attracted to businesses and markets that help people? Are you seeing something that will make people’s lives easier? By answering these questions, you might be able to brainstorm and think of something unique that the market will respond to in a very positive way.

Ideas, Trends, and Fads – Both Good and Bad is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

I have come to realize that people on a fast paced “career track” often burn the candle at both ends. I should know, I was once one of these people and I thank God that it didn’t take me very long (oh about 10 years or so) to figure out that I needed to change a few things in my life. These fast paced individuals are programmed to believe that if they work harder and longer, that they can eventually get ahead, solve the problem, or close the account. But let’s face it…none of these things will happen if you’re exhausted.

One of Dale Carnegie‘s bestselling books,How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, is about stress management. In fact, based on quite extensive research that I did, it was the first book written specifically on the subject. Mr. Carnegie wrote it because he was sick and tired of stressing out everyday over his position in life and wanted to put a stop to it. So he looked very closely at what it was he was worrying about, how it affected him, and came up with a method on how to stop it.

One of the first realizations was that stress and worry cause fatigue. So Carnegie’s strategies for combating include this very simple technique: lie down for an hour before dinner. He translated those hours into the course of a lifetime to get the technique called “5,467 times more effective” than a cocktail.

Today it seems that it’s even harder to find a free hour. But we are able to, and can adapt. Find the time to take a break, even if it’s for only 20 minutes. It will suffice. You’ll be amazed at the wonders it will do for your stamina and your overall peace of mind.

Stop Worrying and Start Living is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

If you consider yourself to be one or more of the above mentioned in the title of this post, then I think it’s safe to say that we all have one thing in common. We have identified that we want something in the world to change, and we listen to our inner voice to find a way to do it. I recently started to read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich again and started to analyze the habits of the of about 500 successful businessmen. After in which, realized a shocking conclusion. Successful people are the individuals that have the ability to tap into their very own unconscious mind through an very intense level of focus, thus allowing for a very free flowing thought process to occur. These people are able to look outside the box, discover and invent products and services that never existed, apply them in such a way that the real world can gladly prosper from them!

Our unconscious mind is an untapped storage bank that is full of all kinds of information. We get an inkling of how powerful it is when we get gut feelings or experience hunches. Hunches are the answers to questions that we pose to our inner voice. Something that I found is that we do not want to dismiss our hunches as crazy concepts. Instead, we want to ponder about them, look at them from every angle possible, to be open minded to all the possibilities that they offer.

Our inner voice is active and available to us every day and every night. We can’t consciously control it, but we can steer it in the right direction. By positioning words, ideas, concepts, and/or feelings into our internal thoughts, we can give ourselves the ability to access our subconscious and reap the rewarding benefits.

Dreamers, Visionaries, and Idealists. is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

Here is an interesting article about some former Google employees leaving to build social networking sites.   This was found on the Mashable and it offers an insight into the importance of building your brand or products community.  This continues to be the secret success for online companies as well as traditional companies.  As Seth Godin describes in his book Tribes, once you have a loyal “Tribe” following you and your product there is nothing you can’t achieve. But how do you do this?  In my opinion, it starts with being authentic. Second, have to build trust.  Finally, you have to provide a product or service that can go viral.  Are your customers proud to talk about your product and promote it to their friends and family?  If you can answer yes to all three you are well on your way to having a smashing success on your hands.

For an outstanding article summarizing some of greatest Lessons Learned from Seth Godin, just click on the hyperlink.

Are You Building Your Community? is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

Something that I have come to realize is that there is a whole slew of memes that are interconnected in the area of money and success. But these memes are about keeping us from achieving money and success, instead of helping us obtain it. They are very widespread today, and a huge majority of the population is tainted with them. These memes are gladly accepted and replicated because they allow people to validate their lack of progress in their life goals. I’ve found that some of them are:

❚ Money is bad.
❚ Rich people are evil.
❚ It is spiritual or noble to be poor.
❚ Big entities are bad; underdogs and the little guys are good.
❚ You have to sell your soul to get rich.
❚ Rich people lie, cheat, and steal.
❚ Rich people have lots of money, but they also have many additional
problems. Being rich isn’t worth it.
❚ Money causes good people to go bad.
❚ If you deny yourself now, God will provide true prosperity in
the afterlife.

It might be hard to believe that something a teacher or parent said to us when we were six years old is preventing us from getting a promotion today, but it could very true. We may doubt that a TV show we watched when we were younger could be causing our friendships, relationships, and/or marriages to suffer 20 years later, but that might be the case. We may find it hard to believe to think the books we’ve read or the movies we’ve enjoyed could be causing us to get sick or manifest disease.

But in fact, this is exactly what is happening to millions of people. And most likely you or I could be one of them. As we are exposed to these people, institutions, and environments, we are likely to be infected by thousands of potential memes. Just as exposure to raw sewage can cause us to be infected with germs, microbes, and other nasty things, prolonged exposure to the data-sphere (meaning TV, radio, movies, books, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and e-mail) will infect us with many nasty viruses of your mind if we’re not careful what we chose and what we do with it.

Memes are as real—and deadly—as biological viruses. Just like computer viruses, memes parasitize the host (our minds), replicate, and spread to others. And just like other viruses, an epidemic of memes is sweeping through our society today.

Memes is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big