I'll be Home for Christmas

Christmas is just a few hours away... I swear it was just Christmas the other day, well at least it felt like it.

Time just keeps going by faster and faster.  I was talking with a client about this the other day.  We got on the usual "time goes by so fast chit chat" and I was telling her a story about when I was a kid it seemed like the days took weeks to pass and summer could never come fast enough.  NOW, it all blurs together, and if you blink, you miss out on precious moment of life.

On the subject of time going by so fast, in February it will be three years since my Dad died.  I have not been home since.  On Monday, I am going to head home for the first time.  It is something I have been avoiding, but it is time to go.

More on that in a minute, but first a few quick, and very important announcements.

We had an awesome Ustream chat.  If you missed it and would like to watch the replay, click here.  You can also see all the past Ustream's there as well.  On that note, if anyone has any ideas/suggestions about how we can better improve the web chat experience, please let me know.  I am sorry you all have to deal with the commercials.  If Santa is nice to me, this year I will look into upgrading to the commercial free version unless we can find a better software platform.

Holidays Around the World event is going on.  Be sure to take your pictures and post them to the 1 Year 1000 Challenge page.  This was an awesome challenge last year that had 20+ countries and every continent, save for Antarctica, participating.  To learn more about this challenge, click here.

I'd like to start 2013 off with a ton of momentum by creating some year long challenges for us to participate in. These challenges are big ones, and have ZERO chance of being realized unless you all agree to challenge yourselves throughout the year.  The cool thing is it is a win win.  If we all challenge ourselves and give 100% we will all be in store for the best year yet.

1,000,000 that is right, 1 Million Positive Pounds Pursuit challenge.

The name says it all. 

When it comes to your health, everyone should have a goal!

2 of the most common goals are:

1 - Losing Weight
2 - Gaining Muscle

Health and Fitness related diseases are sweeping the globe. The #1 killer in the USA is Heart Disease, the majority of which is preventable through proper diet and exercise.

I have a goal for 2013, to help produce 1,000,000 Positive Pounds of weight loss/lean muscle gain.

 To participate, or to find out more info, join the Facebook group I have set up for this challenge:  Click here to go to the group page

1,000,000,000 Steps Challenge.

We tried to do 1 Billion steps in a month and we did not quite make it.  I still believe 1 Billion is achievable, but lets stretch it out over the course of the year.  There are actually some members of the 1000 Challenge Community that have been keeping track of their steps still.  I am hoping we can combine forces on this.  Please email me to let me know

In 2013, I Challenge Myself To_____ it is that time of year.  No New Years Resolutions, 2013 is all about challenging yourself to achieve your goals.  I have set up a Facebook group to help hold you accountable to achieving these goals.  Check it out here To join the group all you need to do is take a picture of yourself holding a list of your goals for 2013 with the words "in 2013 I Challenge Myself To" at the top

Holiday Discount... in my last blog I mentioned that until Christmas, I was offering 10% off the purchase of all personal training and life coaching services.  Since I have been a little behind on emails, I am going to extend this offer through December 31st at midnight.  This a great gift to give yourself or someone you care about.

Phew, that was a lot of updates :)

Back to what I was saying before, wait what was I saying?  OH yeaaaa, time flies, and it has been nearly three years since I have been home.

I would be lying if I said I was not nervous about going home.  I have been avoiding going since my Dad died, simply because I am not sure how it will make me feel.

Will I be sad?  Will I be angry?  What will the experience be like? 

After my Dad died I went through the normal emotions of grieving, but I was also very angry and ashamed at myself, angry that I was not in a better position financially to help my Mom after.  And ashamed for the same reason. 

Ever since I was a little kid, I always had wanted to grow up and be able to "help" my parents whenever help was needed.  At the time of my Dad's death, I felt like I let both of my parents down.

Fast forward to this moment and the above leads to the nervousness I am feeling now.  I know that going home is not only going to give me an awesome opportunity to spend time with my family, but it is also going to give me a chance to make peace with my Dad's death and that part of myself I have not made peace with yet.

I share this private part of my life with you all because I wan to remind you all that I am human, flesh and blood, just like all of you.  We all struggle at times, we all experience many different emotions, and we all deal with life, and death, in our own unique way.  Sometimes it is easy, or convenient, to dismiss what I have to say, or what I try to teach and bring to the world; because "I am not like you because I do not know what your life is like."

I may not know you and I may not know what your life specifically is like, but I know humans, and I know what the human experience is like.  We are all in it together, happy/sad, rich/poor, healthy/sick, all of it makes up the many fabric's of our lives.

So yes, I am a little nervous about going home.  It is an unknown for me, but I am also excited, excited to see my family, excited to revisit my roots, excited to have a few down days, excited for mine and my Mom's date to see The Hobbit, and excited for the opportunity to grow and move forward in life.

I wish you all Happy Holiday's and Merry Christmas.

Life is only ever going to be what you make of it...

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

12-12-12

 Waaaazzz UUUUUppppp everyone!


I hope you all enjoyed 12-12-12 as much as I did.  I really love doing challenges like that one, they are so simple, yet so profound if you look a little deeper.

Before I get to that a couple quick updates

Merry Christmas!  Between now and Christmas I will be offering 10% off all Life Coaching and Personal Training programs.  That includes my Zero Limits Boot Camp program.  This is a great gift to give to someone special to you or to yourself.  Email me to sign up or if you have any questions.  Be sure to mention the 10% off promo from this blog

On the subject of Christmas, next week I will post the Holiday's around the World Challenge.  It will be the same format as last year.  This was such a fun event.  Check out the photos from last year

Start thinking of your goals for 2013.  I have a cool new accountability idea to achieve those goals that I will be sharing in the next few days.

12-12-12 has come and gone.  And while these days are fun because we can create cool challenge out of them, they really are no different than any other day, are they?

So why do the challenge on 12-12-12, why not do it on 12-15-12 instead, if the days are the same?

12-12-12 and similar days to it, provides a unique opportunity to bring awareness to a very valuable lesson.  We all love cool little things like this when the numbers on the calendar line up, or when we look down at the clock and it is on 2:22.

So what is the point of 12-12-12 Jesse?  What are you babbling on about?

The point, and the real challenge within the challenge, was to take a moment and just be aware what you are doing.  To be mindful of your life and deliberate in your existence.  You see so many of us run through life so fast that we never stop to "smell the roses."  The moment that you took on 12-12-12 was your moment to "stop and smell the roses."  Think about it...

Some of you resolved to make the day special for different reasons.  Some of you took time off work to treat yourself to something special.  That is great and that is smelling the roses.  It is making time for you.  Putting the busy hustle and bustle on hold to just be present, to be aware of who you are and what you are doing.

Some of you were working that day and more specifically at 12:12pm, but even while working, we still have the opportunity to stop, take a breath and be aware of what we are doing at work.

How many of you go to your job and are on auto pilot, going through the motions, with your only awareness of time being when the day is done and you are free to go home?

So to participate in a challenge like the 12-12-12 challenge forces us to stop and again, be present.

That is the reason I love doing these challenges, it gets us all out of the routine of life and makes us, even if for a moment, present and aware of life around us.

Some of you chose to spend the time with friends and family while some of you chose to honor the memory of loved ones lost.  Some of you chose to celebrate birthdays, while others simply took note of the time and in doing so connected with hundreds of people from all around the world who were doing the same thing.

Life goes by so fast.  So often we reach the end of a day, or a week, and we cannot remember one significant thing that happened that week, unless it was something negative, why?  Because we are not making an effort to be present.

Every day can be a 12-12-12 Challenge Day, every day there is an opportunity to be present, to experience more of what the world and life has to offer.  To be present does not cost money, the only thing it requires is just a moment, a moment where you allow yourself a vacation from the routine and permission to just be.

Thank you everyone for participating.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse