Every day we have an opportunity to look through those eyes at a world that is limitless or we can see a jagged version of the world through jaded goggles. It’s our decision.

I’m borrowing my daughter’s perspective for today.

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Usually when I find I’m not satisfied with results it’s because I’m doing something that’s expected of me. Not that something that’s expected of us can’t be satisfying, it’s the reason that makes the difference. I do x because I like it and subsequently it makes Y happy. My mind jumps for joy. I do x because it’s what Y wants. My mind shrivels flaccid and wrinkled.

We get more when we give more. We give more when we like what we’re doing.

What’ll you give today?

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Usually when I find I’m not satisfied with results it’s because I’m doing something that’s expected of me. Not that something that’s expected of us can’t be satisfying, it’s the reason that makes the difference. I do x because I like it and subsequently it makes Y happy. My mind jumps for joy. I do x because it’s what Y wants. My mind shrivels flaccid and wrinkled.

We get more when we give more. We give more when we like what we’re doing.

What’ll you give today?

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Exercise: They don’t exercise they take part in activities they enjoy.
After reading the book Born to Run by Chris McDougall, I had an epiphany. Originally, I started running because of the social aspect and realized that I really loved it but the past 3-4 years I’ve been running to make my ass smaller, which takes all of the fun out of it. The book reminded me why I run–to be part of something special. Club membership includes chafed nipples, lost toenails, and a variety of consequences of pushing your body to the max. If we don’t enjoy the activity, chances are the resistance to it is doing more damage than good. This requires a shift in perspective more than anything else.

At the time that I was running to lose weight I remember fighting through 7-8 kilometers wondering when it would end so I could move on with my day. Then one morning, while running, something happened–I thought to myself ‘I use to love this feeling’. As I was pulling my feet out of the imaginary muck I’d made for myself, I went through the list. Why was it fun? I was in mountain trails, the scenery was great. I felt like I was part of a special club. The group I ran with were all marathoners (I was the slowest), but I was pushing myself to be better–eustress.

Eustress was the answer. Even Aikido provids eustress. ‘So, how do I find flow again?’ I thought to myself, and it hit me–small achievable goals with consistent feedback. I chose time. I decided on the amount of time I’d run for each day and base my pace internally on that rather than trying to maintain a consistent speed with my chrono. At my age I won’t be running in the Olympics so I’ll just have to have a good time with it and now I do. Am I fast? Not like my upstairs neighbor/coach (www.princepari.com) who runs marathons as an elite class runner, but I have fun. And he still supports my training and offers constant, and appreciated, advice.

Time out: Meditation, prayer, or silent time
If you read the FOol at all you know this is what I’m about. The days that I skip this time I really feel it. Ask my family, I’m probably more grumpy and a lot less fun to be around. I don’t think it matters what you do as long as it’s something that brings peace. I use to feel that in order to progress one had to sit lotus and stare at a wall. Then I had children. Music, or river, stream, ocean noises make sitting so much easier to do when there is a cacophony of singing screaming and toys bouncing off the walls in the next room (I don’t think I’ve ever heard toys bounce off the walls in the other room, but I do imagine it when the noise level is cranked up to 11).

Some recommendations for meditation music–Kelley Howell http://www.brainsync.com/ She has a voice like butter. I also own a nice selection of water noises and the Monroe Institute http://www.monroeinstitute.org/ also has some good stuff. Water works like white noise and helps block out noise. The master meditator would say that if I was really good I wouldn’t need the crutches and would use the external noise as part of my path to enlightenment. Well, I’m not that good yet. But when I am I’ll be the first to be dancing around like a crazed monkey. Or not.

Eating 80% of Fill
Consciously eating and eating only 80% of my fill is tough when my wife does that amazing culinary thing she does. Her Midas hands touch food and it immediately melts in my mouth. Luckily she’s seen what happens when I start to put on weight and she doesn’t like the Fat FOol so she makes less in the way of portions and in the Japanese tradition serves food just like the man said–individual plates. Awareness while eating, walking, and washing dishes can be a great vehicle toward better concentration. Try it sometime, chew each bite at least fifty times, breath, and give your food the attention it deserves.

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I realized that when I weigh myself daily there’s none of the American Idol suspense and hoopla as I step up to the scale. So this blog will have to start off a little flaccid. I’ve watched those unwanted grams magically disappear this week thanks to the steps I mentioned on the 11th of this month. This morning I weighed in at 85.2 k that’s 0.3k below my target outcome and almost 2k in a week. A solid diet of no more that 1,900 calories and daily running payed off. I expected it to take a couple of weeks but it seems to have dropped faster. I wouldn’t recommend trying to lose two kilos in a week, but if it just happens it just happens.

Born to Run

This month I lucked out with my Audible credit (audible.com); I opted to pick up the book “Born to Run” http://bit.ly/4vKD5w . An account of a reporter who helped a running legend set up a race with a Native American tribe and some Ultramarathon Heavyweights in the Copper Canyon of Mexico. An amazing listen. If you have a commute to work/school you could do worse, runner or not. This book reminded me why I run in the first place. It’s fun.

Sitting FOol

No, I’m not just a running and dieting FOol. There’s still a lot of sitting going on. I realized last year, however, that there’s only so much one can say about sitting without sounding like a transcendental pedant. So, from now on I’ll be writing about more than just sitting. Perched atop an apple crate one night with a gin in my hand, I was having a conversation with my Yoga Buddy–our local watering hole has only apple crates on which to sit, but we’re spared the flaming garbage can for warmth; the place is fully stocked with a modern day heating system. YB mentioned that there’s a lot to be said about meditation but restricting the blog to that could make it a little stale. I think he was right, and I’m no Joseph Goldstein or Jack Kornfield, so here we are with a little bit different content on the FOol. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Peace Always,

The FOol

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Over the course of two days I managed to add 2.5 kilograms (that’s five and a half pounds for the SI challenged) of FOol to my once healthy frame. The snowball was gaining mass and momentum. Could I run it off in the first week of the year? Unfortunately, the more I run the more I eat, unless I’m careful. So here I am two weeks into the year and boasting a robust 87.2 kay-geez.

What does this have to do with sitting? Well, not much other than my ass is getting bigger. So I’m going to share my weight loss secret. Every time I have to lose weight I follow the same ritual. And it always works.

The FOol’s Plan:

Step 1. Prepare

If you haven’t already, go to Livestrong.com and set up an account. If you have an Iphone or an ipod this is even better.

Take the scale out and put it somewhere where it glares at you every morning.

Stock up on brown rice and whole wheat bread.

Find a 1 liter bottle

Tell your spouse or S.O. to not nag for the next week ‘cause your gonna be in a bad mood. (the bad mood is optional it’s really your choice).

Bust out your running shoes.

Step 2: Do

Use Livestrong’s site to set your targets. Eat only the number of calories that you allot for the day. Keep it simple. I try to use common sense rather than figuring what my fat, carb, protein ratio is. I’ve got better things to do with my time. My friends who are professional/serious athletes do this a lot, but I’d rather use the psychic energy and time to do things like read or spend time with my family. When you’re actually over weight breaking your diet down to scientific equations is like giving mouth-to-mouth to resuscitate a disembodied head. Calculate that stuff when your going from great shape to awesome shape. The only exception is if doing everything scientifically is what excites you, then it becomes motivation.

Livestrong does all the work for you. Don’t get hung up on specifics. A general idea of your caloric intake will do. Chances are you’ll be off 50-100 calories. Don’t try to be too perfect.

Record EVERYTHING that passes through your lips. This is an awesome exercise in awareness. You’ll be amazed at how often we just shove things in our mouth without thinking. If you snack record it. If you don’t have an ipod or iphone carry a notebook and leave food on the plate if you eat out. People may be starving somewhere in the world but your not, and eating all of your food won’t solve the world hunger problem.

SLOW BURN CARBS-If it’s white, don’t eat it. Simple. Eat the stuff that your body has to work a little to break down. This will keep you from being hungry and provide your body with a little bit better nutrition. I always eat brown sugar rather than white too.

Drink a liter of water before you eat. I like to mix it with wheat grass or lemon, both help raise the body’s alkalinity.

Step 3: Follow your progress.

Every single morning weigh yourself. If the scale is greeting you every morning you won’t forget. Chances are it will be scary, if you feel the fear, give yourself another option–stand naked in front of the mirror. When I’m over weight the thought alone makes me pucker.

When dropping pounds I like to run anaerobically–run for 30 seconds at 90% and then a minute at 30%, do this at least six times with 3-5 k warm-down and within no time I’m back in the realm of 85 kg’s.

There you are. It’s pretty simple. Everyone is different and different things work for them. This has never failed me. Once I drop the weight I can run longer distances and take a little bit more liberty with food.

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I didn’t write much for the FOol during these last few months because, as luck would have it, I was busy. But I also wanted to look at my business and see how I could improve it, so that the next time the economy flies south for the winter, I would be prepared. The question on some people’s minds I’m sure is, “Did I sit?” Yes, I did. Regularly and probably more intently than I have in the past few years.

Pondering my business forced me to ask myself the question of fulfillment and how it relates to my business. How I focus on my business, my life, and my family as well as where the focal points should be, and when. These were the points that stood out.

Getting stuff done has less to do with discipline and more to do with our motivation.
What’s the difference between motivation and discipline? Motivation moves us; from the Latin motivus–to move. And discipline comes from, Latin as well, disciplina–instruction or knowledge. It’s the difference between a get to and a got to.

Even during the times that I’m working out a lot, making more money, and sitting a couple of times a day, I always think of those activities as get to’s. There is strong motivation behind them in terms of the outcome, but the activities take precedence because I love them and they become part of my life’s purpose. I’m able to find ways to make them about what and who I am. Running becomes more than just running it’s that time to enjoy the morning and concentrate on breathing, move my body. I don’t think I could get myself to run if it was just to loose a few pounds, it’s not nearly as much fun.

Define Your Roles-act them out as part of your purpose
Before my daughter started preschool I would schedule two hours in with her in the morning (scheduling the time in ensures that we’ll do it). Many of the park moms thought I was a stay at home dad and that my wife worked, which is almost unheard of in Japan. This time with my daughter was the high point of my day and it was my Dad Role. I had the opportunity to influence her and we would go to the park with absolutely no agenda. Then I would go to my office from noon and use the energy I had just built from a get to on another get to. I’d put my copywriter hat on and write, and the cycle goes on.

Failing to have a plan will inevitably put you in someone else’s.
It’s happened to all of us we go along with something because we’re not sure what we want and wham the next thing we know we’re in a situation we don’t know how we got into or how to get out of. Knowing our outcome desired outcome is something that people have been driving into me since I was a teenager. We have to get emotional about the plan. I laugh when I hear of companies hiring an outside consultant to devise a corporate strategy. Chances of employees feeling invested in a corporate strategy that they had nothing to do with are probably pretty slim. Whether it’s losing weight or increasing income or sitting daily we have to be invested. It has to fit into our purpose. If we’re not emotional about it we are likely to find ourselves following the crowd only to wonder how things got so fucked up.

Throw away your task list.
Yes, many gurus of GTD would be calling me a blasphemer. If you have a task list look at the reasons you have those tasks. I was watching a “motivational video” where this man was talking about all the stuff he had to do and how stressed he was about it and the moderator started helping him group items together to make it easier to digest. The things he was stressing over made me laugh a little. This man obviously didn’t have children. He had to finish is business plan, make his vision board, enroll in some Power of Wow class, and on it went. If your stressed about making your vision board, JUST DON’T F’n MAKE IT. Stressed about taxes, or the upcoming deadline, I’ll give you. Stressed about getting your morning run in or making a vision board. If that’s not fun either find away to make it a get to or drop it.

I actually schedule a couple hours a day in with my daughter a day. People think it’s kind of weird that I write it into my schedule. But I do it so that I know that the purpose is to spend time with my daughter. If she wants to go to the park we go to the park if she wants to watch a DVD we watch a DVD. It’s time well spent and I know not to schedule meetings in during the time slot.

Find your purpose and enjoy your roles.
I challenge you to find your purpose this next year and make your life a get to!

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Be true to yourself. It was said by Socrates as “Know Thyself” and Shakespeare as “To thine own self be true.” as well as hundreds of others; but how well do we know ourselves? One of the pinnacle stages in my life as a “human animal” was learning that thoughts are just thoughts and have very little to do with who I am. We can count on thoughts running amuck and won’t ever really control them because the brain was designed to link experiences with ideas so we can process the world. It’s a great function but it’s not who we are, it’s a function of the machine. We can, however, learn to ignore them, like a well meaning buddy telling us how to live our lives.

Being happy and being at peace are choices we make. They don’t just happen thanks to happy thoughts or a promotion or a nice vacation. Peace and happiness can be found in even the worst situations by grounding ourselves. Stressful times often offer me the most opportunity for finding peace and happiness. But, we can’t ignore the reality that’s positioned itself before us. To do so would be a waste, a waste of experience.

Learning to disassociate from the mental phenomenon.

Let’s say I’ve lost my job, my wife is leaving me, and the world seems to be a veritable Sani-Hut. Can I find peace in the of the scree of this disaster? Yes, but it will take some work, and no more work than it really takes to wallow in misery. I don’t think it will happen by telling myself that it’ll all get better unless I actually believe it.

Being honest.

Honesty with oneself is difficult. It’s disheartening at times and always disillusioning. The latter is always good, for when we’ve brought the illusion down in a tumbling cloud of dust and bricks, we can rebuild, but only after we’ve accepted our reality. A reality that most of us have chosen. Acceptance is more that just acknowledging, it’s owning up to the reality as ours. No blame just acceptance.

Sitting is an excellent vehicle for acceptance. When everything is racing through the mind sometimes separating, pulling ourselves away, is easier than focusing on how many similarities the situation has with a Hoover. When we focus on separating feeling from thought from reaction from emotion the cloud of dust begins to settle. Clarity. Equanimity. I don’t think one has to be a Power Sitter to experience this either.

I’m not a big fan of Self Talk, telling ourselves that our world is perfect even though we don’t believe it; a world where Bambi, the hunter, and the Big Brown Bear live together sharing the same food dish. Are we being honest? The world is perfect but we have to find the perfection in it. Everybody has methods to maintain their equilibrium from NLP, to sitting, to good old fashion alcohol. These are tools, your tool is your choice. But do we ever step back from the tree and look at the forest to see if the tool is really functioning on the mental function.

Sitting has always worked for me. Is it perfect? No. But it’s as close as I’ve gotten. The beauty of sitting for me is that it’s the stricture from which creativity is birthed. I find this true with Aikido as well. I’m able to narrow my focus to a point of freedom. This doesn’t seem make much sense but I’m pretty sure those who share this experience with me know exactly what I’m talking about. We all have aspects of our lives perceived or seemingly very real that cause angst. What tools do we use to cope? To we have the kahuna’s to experiment?

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