What’s On My Mind - November 2023

This Month’s Health Challenge
Extremely Limit Added Sugar and Sugar Substitutes

A Myth that Needs to be Busted
Confidence Issues Resolve with Body Composition Improvements

Common Themes from my PE Class Survey
I surveyed the high school class I coach and gathered and answered common questions.

A Book/Article/Podcast/Video that I’d Highly Recommend
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

Quote of the Month
“You already know what the right thing to do is. You just gotta do it.” – Jocko Willink

This Month’s Health Challenge

Extremely Limit Added Sugar and Sugar Substitutes

Halloween is behind us, but the candy may still be around and the best thing you can do is get rid of it!!! Instead of relying on willpower (a losing game), our environment is extremely powerful and can work for us or against us. One of the primary strategies I use to build a life consisting of healthy habits is to design my environment to make the things I want myself to do as easy as possible and put as many barriers between me and the things I do not want myself to do. With candy on the counter, you have to win a battle with it every time you see it. Candy in the pantry is easier because it’s more out of sight and out of mind, lowering the amount of battles you need to win. The problem is the game is rigged. The candy is there until you lost the game and eat it. The only way to win is to get rid of it. Having to drive to the store for candy really drives plays our our laziness making it that much more likely we can survive a craving.

A Myth that Needs to be Busted

Myth: Confidence Issues Resolve with Body Composition Improvements

To make this quick, let’s take a look at an extreme - bodybuilding. Bodybuilders arguable have the best body compositions of any cohort on the planet, yet “the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in bodybuilders is high and comparable (if not higher) with the general population” (Study: Comparison of the Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Performance-Enhancing Drug Users and Nonuser Bodybuilders). Confidence and a positive self image should be driven from within and it seems that the more someone seeks and leans on outward validation for their self worth, the more unstable one’s confidence seems to be.

What I believe is that confidence comes from understanding that you, exactly as you are in that moment, is good enough for that moment. That’s not an excuse to not try and improve over time, but growth is a balancing act of identifying and working on weaknesses and improving while simultaneously accepting that in this moment, we are who we are and that is good enough. More on this topic and more in the article I wrote on the Common Themes from PE Class Survey linked below.

Common Themes from PE Class Survey

In addition to my other roles, I coach a high school, functional fitness PE class. The class has been an incredible experience for me. The class is a mix of students grades 9-12 and staff from the school creating what I feel is an amazing opportunity as the school not only breaks the mold of what a classic high school PE class is, but allows students to workout side by side with staff members. I recently sent out a survey to get a feel for what the students felt was going well, maybe not going so well, and to give them an opportunity to ask questions. From their responses, I noticed some common themes that were extremely similar to what I run into with my adult clients. I put together an FAQ response to their survey, but also thought people following along here may find value in my responses, so wanted to share.

Note: These are not actual quotes from people, just instead general quotes I created that I felt captured common thinking.

“I get lightheadedness/dizziness during the shorter workouts and feel like I need more cardio/stamina.”
“I need to improve my body composition, so I have more self confidence.”
“I need to work on my core strength”
“I’d like to eat better, but don’t really know how to do that.”
“How do you stop procrastinating, stay motivated, and get yourself to do things when you don’t want to do them?”

A Book/Article/Podcast/Video that I’d Highly Recommend

With the invasion of Ukraine and the recent attack on Israel and the Gaza conflict, unfortunately war is top-of-mind. The book Extreme Ownership not only is an amazing self-help / business strategy book that has helped upgrade my thinking in my everyday life, but because Jocko and Leif are providing insights based on their experiences with the Navy Seals (primarily in Iraq), the book also provides deep, very real insights into the realities and challenges of war. I do not have a military background and this book was the first book I had read that provided very real insights into that world and I found it very powerful, enlightening, and perspective shifting.

This book helped me see the power in staying focused on only things that are in my control and being positive and proactive with my role in everything in my life. There are countless thoughts that still impact my daily life.