host posted on June 29, 2009 18:12
My personal Thank You, you who are in the military – and their families – who are sacrificing so much to keep us free. We honor you and thank you for everything you do for us. America is in debt to you. –K.D.
Happy Independence Month, folks!
I marvel at our military. Without question, the military has always been the most effective part of our government, and it comes down to the commitment of the men and women who are serving.
A cousin of ours just started boot camp in the Marine Corps last month. We’re proud of him and enjoy reading his letters and hearing about how his body and his mind are changing through the process of becoming a soldier.
That transformation – from average citizen to soldier - has always fascinated me. I have always respected how a person can go into the military, looking and acting a certain way, and come back trim, fit, and disciplined, all in a matter of a few months. It shows us that massive change is possible in a relatively short time.
I have several books about military training and the philosophies that are used, both at the great institutions like West Point, as well as right there on the battlefield. Many books are now being written about how everyday people can utilize military-like techniques to help transform every area of their lives. Here are a few that I’ve gleaned.
ATTITUDE
“[General George] Patton really inspired everybody with the idea that, when you have gone just as far as you can go, you can still go a little bit further…” -Major Isaac D. White
It’s tough when you think you’ve tried as hard as you can, but with no results. It’s not easy when you’ve spent 40 years eating junk, and feeling like you can’t live without it. But with very few exceptions, you can have incredible health success.
I love one of the Marine Corps’ new slogans: “We don’t accept applications, just commitments.” That has to be our attitude. No “try,” no “maybe if I feel like it.” That attitude would be completely unacceptable in the military. You have no excuses there. You only have excuses right now because you don’t have someone forcing you to keep going. Learn to impose commitment on yourself.
Remember what General Douglas MacArthur said: “It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.”
DISCIPLINE
“SEALs believe that a man driven to the limits of his endurance can withstand the rigors and horrors of SEAL combat. Those who quit [their training] are the ones Navy SEALs believe would quit in their real world missions.” –- from The Commandos
Think of the military and the first thing that comes to mind for most of us is discipline. In bed at a certain time, up at a certain time, training every day rain or shine. From meals to showers to cleaning the floors, military training is about doing what they do, regardless of how they feel about it.
Thankfully, most of us don’t need to impose that level of precision to our daily routines. But all of us can learn from the military’s “never quit” level of discipline.
The discipline to eat right, supplement right, exercise right, sleep well, etc, is what short circuits more health plans than anything else I can think of. Most people, for example, aren’t ignorant of the notion that donuts and candy and pizza aren’t going to improve their health. In most cases, it’s not complete ignorance that causes people to lose their health. Instead, it’s the discipline to stick with the program that they already understand.
I spoke with an exercise physiologist who told me that 80% of her practice is devoted NOT to teaching people how to exercise, but to teaching people how to stay disciplined.
Best advice I can give you on this point: Give yourself no room for failure. Don’t even have the junk food in the house. Pack snacks and meals with you when you go on the road so you won’t cheat. Have a backup plan in case the weather is too awful for outdoor exercise. But do not give yourself any room to make lack-of-discipline your reason for failing.
PLANNING
“Plan early. Plan twice.”
“Three hours to plan, three hours to prepare.”
-Marine Corps planning philosophies
I am the most successful in my health habits when I take just a little time to plan and prepare each week.
For example, I know when I’m going to be on the road, and how often I’m going to be away from meals I prepare at home. If I can just plan to pick up a few more cans of sardines for those days, maybe some nuts and some goji berries, and some protein shakes I can mix with water, I know I’ll be OK. If I neglect this, I cheat on my diet more often than I’d like to admit.
A long lost strategy my wife and I used to use, (and need to use again), is weekly meal planning. If we know what we’re going to eat for each meal all week, we’re able to prepare a lot of it ahead of time. I used to grill all my chicken breasts and boil all my eggs for the week on Saturdays, and just keep them in the fridge until I needed them. We’d cook our ground beef, pick out our veggies for the week, and pick up anything I needed for travel days on Saturday, and be prepared. It keeps everything on track when you do this.
Part of my radio job is commenting on every kind of supplement available. So, when I’m not taking Damage Control Master Formula, I end up having a lot of different pills I take each day. If on Saturdays I can just sack up every day’s worth of supplements in little plastic jewelry bags, it saves HUGE amounts of time during the week. I also make smoothies virtually every day that I’m home. So, I put all my pre-measured berries in one bag, and all my powders in another bag and store them in the fridge. When I make the smoothies, I just throw the contents of those bags into the blender, and in less than 60-seconds, I’m ready to eat.
By the way, your plan doesn’t have to be perfect. Just get as much guesswork out of your regimen as possible. Doug, a military man himself, does this better than just about anyone else I know. He’d rather get going and move forward than to wait until it’s too late. Planning doesn’t mean perfection. It means making things easier.
Don’t neglect the planning.
DEBRIEFING
“The mission isn’t over until you debrief it.” - James D. Murphey, Air Force fighter pilot on the Air Force’s philosophy of mission execution.
This is what I was the worst at doing until last year. I used to just go into each day, even if I’d planned it out, and I’d work the plan without taking the time to examine how well it all worked.
Then I began doing what bodybuilders and professional athletes do; I began journaling. Just writing down what I ate, what I drank, how I exercised, and then writing down how I felt each day, how much weight I lost, and how well I slept made a tremendous difference in my results. I cannot overstate how critical this has been for me.
By journaling, I found out which foods kept me the fullest. I found out which combination of menu items and supplements gave me the most energy. I found out which exercise strategies helped me lose the most fat. Journaling turned good plans into great plans.
Journaling also showed how good theories on paper don’t always translate to good results in the real world. I read a book about how people should eat nothing but fruits and vegetables in the morning hours, and the rest of their foods should be eaten after noontime. Great. I tried it, and WOW did it fail for me. The theory was good on paper and I just translated his strategy within Phase One Diet parameters. But it just didn’t work. I felt hungry and depleted every time I did it. I do better with a heavy, protein-laden breakfast. I like doing smoothies and juices later in the day. Journaling helped me to see this and to concentrate on results, not theories, and it helped me shed a seemingly good theory that just doesn’t work for me.
“Debriefing” sounds technical, but for you and me, it’s just about writing down what we do, finding out what works, and repeating it over and over again.
FINALLY
“Success is how high you can bounce when you hit bottom.” -Gen George Patton
Forget about the failures of the past. We say this a lot because we find so many people are almost paralyzed by their pasts. So you had a good plan, but then you gave up. Over and over again. Fine. Forget about that. That’s not you anymore.
Moreover, you can’t give up when you fail to be perfect today. I’ve dropped out of my whole day’s plans so many times, simply because I cheated with something small. I just thought I ruined the whole day, so I indulged until I went to bed. Maybe someone at the office has a birthday and you grab some cake and ice cream. Maybe the meeting was at the Mexican restaurant with all the free chips and corn tortillas. Maybe you gave in. Forget about it. Just get past it and stick with the plan for the rest of the day. Take an extra walk around the block if you need to. Just don’t let that one episode sideline your success.
During this month of our country’s independence, take time to thank a military man or woman for their service. Take time to recognize how their strategies for success can help us with our health success. Then, why not declare your own independence from a life of being tethered to old habits that produce nothing but short-term pleasure and long--term misery? Read Doug’s books, watch Know the Cause, and use some good military strategies to wage a successful campaign to vigorous health.
Kyle