A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The raffle requirement for the Whole Life Challenge this week is a lead into the lifestyle practice for next week! Pictures! Sometimes life IS better with when a few pics are snapped. 

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Starting Saturday February 25th YOU will take between 3-5 pictures each day

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That's right! pictures. Some of you might be saying, "I don't need to take pictures to remember things, I am really good at taking mental pictures." I am the same way, trust me.

However, over the recent past I have been more and more diligent about taking pictures of fun things that I see, do, or experience and have been finding myself looking back. When I have actual pictures to look at I find myself creating stories around those pictures and those stories are fun to share with friends and family. Creating stories around photos may sound silly but can be powerful down the road. If you have Facebook (I am not normally a big social media advocate) but I do like the "memories" feature that comes up on the time line, it's fun to recall events and people, and places that are brought up in those images. 

So for 7 days practice taking 3-5 photos of fun things that you do, places you go, or maybe even food you make. Anything that you think is cool, snap a photo of it. Maybe even share a photo or two on Facebook/WLC site/ or even this blog! lets see what you are doing!

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This picture is from last weekend When I was out sailing with friends. We raced in Redondo Beach with some bouy racing after a really big storm on Friday with heavy winds and rain. Saturday seemed to be better and conditions seemed to hold until we finished racing and were headed back into Kings Harbor (in Redondo Beach) when the surf starting picking up and the wind picked up a bit as well. After waves crashing directly over the breakwater, and no slips being available, we decided to sail back to Marina Del Rey as the sun set. An experience I'll never forget and one of the most exhilarating feelings I've ever had. I wish I had more photos to explain the trip back the Marina but you can use your imagination. We were climbing 15' open water swells with a reefed main and #4 jib sail (smallest sails) and going 7.5 knots upwind (very fast) while the sun set and after. Soaking wet when we arrived in the marina from water washing over the boat, we were ready to head to bed as quickly as possible. 

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One Goal From The End of The Game

Welcome to the start of The Whole Life Challenge! Each week we focus on a new lifestyle challenge and this week is GOALS! Do you practice writing your goals? or are they just some mystical dream that you think of every once in a while, then they wisp away just as quick as they came up. 

Goals are a health practice that is often overlooked as something that seems nice to do but doesn't really make an impact in the caziness of daily life. I see goals fitting under the realm of personal development, and personal development is a key to a happier, healthier life. 

Starting on week one (Saturday Jan 21st) you will WRITE DOWN a short term goal (up to 1 year), a middle term goal (1-3 years), and a long term goal (3-5 years) and you will RE-WRITE these goals everyday over the next week. 

The idea here is to create a vision for yourself here. They say when you write something down on paper, it changes the way you see it. Think about learning. As crazy as it may seem, when learning new skills or material, writing the material you are trying to learn down on a piece of paper actually improves your retention. Really want to nail it down, try writing it down everyday for a week. I can almost guarantee that that material is going to be on your mind a lot more often. 

Now translate that idea to your goals as you're thinking about them on Saturday. Spend a solid 15-30 minutes (maybe more) writing down these 3 goals. If you have more than 3 that you would like to write down, then more power to you! (but lets try to keep it under 5 to keep your focus pretty solid, and not overwhelmed) 

After you have your Short, Mid, and Long term goals, you will re-write those goals every morning for the next 7 days! I will check back in with you next week to see how this exercise worked for you. Did you find that your goals changed slightly over the week, were your goals getting easier to remember, were you starting to think about steps to achieving each of your goals, did they inspire any change in your actions? Can't wait to hear from you. 

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On top of the weekly lifestyle challenge, remember to complete the other areas that you can get points throughout this next 8 weeks, nutrition, exercise, stretching, water intake, sleep, and reflections. be sure to check in with the Whole Life Challenge website if you are confused on how you score each of these categories. 

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Whole Life Challenge pre-workout explaniation video

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The People in Your Life

“You proven, you’ve been tested, and you’re welcome in this brotherhood. Doesn’t matter the color of your skin, doesn’t matter where you’re from, none of those things matter because you’re now part of this team. Everybody treats you with respect. ”

— Chriss Smith Jr.

This past weekend at a gathering with friends, BBQ and sunset at Sycamore Cove

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This week I want to talk about the importance of community and relationships on your overall health and wellness. I have two short videos for you as well. The first is from the CrossFit Journal and the second is from my surf adventures this past week. 

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As most of you know I have been in a long distance relationship with a girl that is very close to my heart, Elizabeth Lutz. In the time we have spent apart from one another I have learned a tremendous amount about the importance of community and the importance of "solidarity". The ability to belong to a community who cares about you as a human, who wants you to pursue your best, and will be there along the way to help you back up and encourage you when you are less than your best. 

I find that this group of people does not have one name or one place or even one goal but you can find communities that you can plug into who invest in who you are and who you will be. One of these examples is clear from the video that you are going to watch, a CrossFit community is one where you can be completely vulnerable and receive tremendous benefit from the people who share in their passion to stay in shape.

Another one of these communities is a small group or a church gathering group. A place that you can meet and share your greatest accomplishments and your biggest inadequacies to a group of people who will invest just as much in your well being as they will in their own.  You can find accountability and desire for growth.

The last community that I want mention is your co-workers and your work community. When placed in the right situation for a well ran company, people come together and strive for common goals and push each other to realize dreams. They see potential in you when we don't always see it our self. They make the understanding that life is greater than the company you work for and that who you are is not the same as what you do. 

I believe that each of these groups interlace and intertwine so that the each can provide all the things I've mentioned through community and not just the obvious.

They say that you are the average of your five closest friends, now go out there and surround yourself with amazing people, dive into their lives and be vulnerable. You will thank yourself. 

With the help and support of several communities that I am a part of, I have learned so much about my relationship with Elizabeth Lutz and I firmly believe that even though we have spent months apart, we are closer than we have ever been before. 

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Surf all Day

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Last Tuesday night I got to stay on a friend's sail boat in Ventura, wake up with the sunrise, and surf all day. We drove north early in the morning with tea and bagels in hand to try to find where the swell was the most exposed. We stopped at a spot in north Ventura called Pitas where we spent 4 hours surfing before getting out on a bed of rocks in low tide, and scambling to the car to get some lunch. After lunch we drove back down the coast until we met up with another friend and surfed at Leo Carrillo for 2 more hours at sunset! what and amazing and exhausting day. I captured just a little bit of the day at Leo, enjoy! 

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Movember: Men's Health Awareness

Thanks Josh Chan for the awesome photo

This week is about a little different kind of health. It's about men's health and how badly men can treat themselves (usually not on purpose of course). I have started a group on Movember.com and would love for you to join and spread the awareness or donate to help me reach our goal.  

The Movember Foundation is an organization that utilizes it funds really efficiently that go directly to programs that impact men's health. Check out their site at: www.movember.com

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In the United States alone, the male suicide rate is 3 to 5 times that of female. 

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Men seek psychiatric help 3 to 5 times less often than woman. 

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I have participated in "no shave November", and "mustache November" and "Movember" the past several years trying to raise awareness for men's health. But I only participated in the fact that I didn't shave my face or I grew a dirty mustache, which is totally fine and surprisingly I got to have A LOT of conversations with people about men's health, or the lack there of. 

So this year I decided to get a little more involved and sign up to participate on a team that I created and make an audacious goal of raising $500 in addition to getting to talk about men's health. I do need Mo'Bros and Mo'Sistas to help me spread the word and get involved so I would love it if you joined my team or shared this post on Facebook or through email. If you would like to join my team (no donation required) click the button below. 

Go see a doctor, talk about your feelings, do YOUR part to learn how to be healthier. Let's close the gap and live as long as women. 

BE A MAN.

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The state of men’s health is in a crisis. Men experience worse long-term health than women and die on average six years earlier. Prostate cancer rates will double in the next 15 years. Testicular cancer rates have already doubled in the last 50. Three quarters of suicides are men. Poor mental health leads to half a million men taking their own life every year. That’s one every minute.

Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends are facing this health crisis and it’s not being talked about.

We can’t afford to stay silent.

The Movember Foundation is uniquely placed to address the crisis at a global level. We’re funding ground-breaking programs all over the world and engaging with men where they are to understand what works best, to help make change happen sooner.

Our goals are big, but the impact of doing nothing is bigger. We need to act.

By 2030, we’ll reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25%.

This is all taken directly from the Movember page and I hope you are willing to man up and help men talk about their health. 

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HERE IS WHAT I NEED FROM YOU

IF YOU JUST WANT TO DONATE

IF YOU JOIN MY TEAM

- click the donate here button above 

- sign up to join the team through the button above

- read about the programs that Movember funds and how they allocate ALL of their money

- share this post on facebook or email

- make your donation and share on facebook or email and encourage others to speak up about men's health! 

- come enjoy the event at the end of the month 

- feel my smile as I thank you for making a difference for a cause we can all get behind

- grow your mustache or beard and commit to talk about men's health whenever questioned about your hair

- if you feel so obliged, you can donate to our team as well. The more steam we get rolling, the bigger impact we can make. 

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Malibu 5K run get outside and play

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This past Sunday I got the privilege of running the Malibu 5k with several friends and co-workers at an absolutely beautiful venue. Afterwards I got to stick around and lead some foam rolling for race finishers via Lululemon. Running isn't always fun, but with friends and this view, it could be a lot worse. The beautiful smell of early morning, saltwater, and slightly sweaty people really just makes me enjoy life more.

It is held at Point Mugu, also known as "The Rock" where they created a road though the mountain and shut down the old road that went out and around the rock on the cliff-side.  Enjoy these photos and just imagine the saltwater smells, warm sunlight on the skin, and the heavy breathing post-race that makes you feel alive.