Good Morning (or afternoon, or evening), my friends! After a long break, I am getting back to working on the site. In this process, I have been spending time reflecting on myself, my goals, and what my purpose is with the messages I put out. This thinking brought me back to my reason “Why”. The post this week will talk about my past and my original reason “Why”, will discuss how I am refining that concept now, and will include my workout for this week. So to kick off the new week on the positive, this is The Workout of the Week. This is The Redefine Your Why Workout.
Where To Start?
To start, if you have not read the site previously, I will write a bit about my life. My past is what lead me to where I am, and is part of why I do what I do.
As a kid, starting around age seven, until my early teens, I was overweight. I was bullied because of my weight. This filled my mind with anxiety about weight, body image, and self-worth.
Moving to Fort Wayne
When I was twelve years old, my family moved away from our small rural Minnesota hometown of about 1,200 people, to Fort Wayne, Indiana, a town of over two hundred thousand people; where my dad attended the Lutheran Seminary. I was scared to move, but I thought maybe moving to a new town would get me away from bullies.
I was an awkward and anxious kid. My first day of seventh grade was in a school with new people, but I quickly learned that my restart was not bully-free. Kids in Indiana made fun of and bullied me, just like kids in Minnesota.
Sit-ups, Every Day
I decided I needed to do something and started doing sit-ups every day. I hit a growth spurt and slimmed down by age thirteen. In seventh and eighth grade I got involved in soccer and basketball. I played freshman football my first year of High School. I got in much better shape but still was a bit awkward. The bullying slowed down, but never totally stopped.
An important lesson I learned was that I could take better care of myself and that if I worked I could keep weight off and be in better shape.
Tenth-Grade
After my dad finished his Seminary training, and after the completion of my freshman year at High School, we moved to Le Mars (about 10,000 people) Iowa where my dad did a year of Vicarage; his last training before becoming a Pastor. My tenth-grade year was great. I played JV Football, and I dressed on the varsity football team. I had found a few good friends, had girls that were interested in and liked me, and eventually got a great girlfriend.
A senior “star” football player didn’t like me because I “worked too hard in practice” and showed him up by consistently outworking him. He and his other varsity football buddies made it a point to harass me quite a bit. I always stood up to them on the practice field and consistently annoyed them with my hard work. The Coach, Jim Boyd, loved my hard work and let me dress for varsity games. It was great for my confidence.
Moving Again
My time there was limited though. After a year, we had to move again. We moved to an even smaller town, Alta, Iowa which was about an hour away. I had to leave my friends and girlfriend and start over again. My dad had become the Pastor of a small country church there. This is where I finished off my high school years. I had about thirty kids in my Senior class.
My Junior and Senior years of High School were ok. I made some great life-long friends. I was involved in sports and got decent grades and was mostly happy.
However, I encountered my biggest bully there too, I will call him J.D. for this message. J.D. would follow me with his little group of miscreant followers, and whenever given the chance would torment me. In the halls, they would surround me, shove me against the lockers and tell me they were going to “kick my fat-@SS”.
I had always been taught to turn the other cheek and I never really stood up to them. They always outnumbered me and only those times when none of my friends were around to mess with me. When they were alone and would pass me in the halls they didn’t do anything and ignored me. But when in numbers, they would pounce. Most of the time I just took it and acted like they didn’t bother me. Not standing up to these guys left a mark on my life. I never slew that dragon. It gave me a feeling of low self-worth.
J. D. and the group would leave me alone for a while and eventually got pretty bored with me when they couldn’t get a rise out of me, but the threat was always in my head. I was always watching my back and waiting for their next attack.
After High School
After High School, having no idea what to do with my life, I tried college at a cheap community college. Until then, I had earned As and Bs in school without ever learning to study. Not knowing how to study, I quickly started failing in college and eventually just stopped going to class. I dropped out at the end of my first semester.
Factory Job
I decided to go out on my own and try to make my way working for a while. I got a factory job working on an assembly line where we made freezers. The job was like a prison. I would do one of four tasks on the line for twelve hours a day. I would wake up every day with numb fingers and sore arms from all the repetitive work. It did not take long to realize this was not the job for me!
Selling Vacuums
Next, I got a gig selling vacuums. This job was fun and exciting. The company owner was an inspiring leader who taught me some great lessons about myself and sales. While I loved his morning pep talks and the adventure of sales, I was not good at selling vacuums and quickly ran out of money.
Go To The Big City
I decided to move to the big city (Minneapolis) and try to get a regular job. I went to a staffing agency and got a job working in a warehouse. My boss Rick was a great mentor who taught me all about inventory, warehousing, and supply chain. Rick made me his warehouse lead and I enjoyed that role for about two years until one day the company suddenly let Rick go. When that happened I was bitter and eventually quit the job shortly after.
Early to Mid-20s
By this time I was in my early 20s and spent most of my spare time partying and drinking beer. All the beer made me put on weight and lose motivation. I had a terrible attitude, and poor habits, and got into some trouble. I did find another warehouse job and was doing well there.
My Dad
When I was twenty-five, my dad died unexpectedly. He was only 53 years young. It was a life-changing traumatic experience. It is the worst thing that has happened in my life. After, I fell into a depression and sank to the bottom. My dad’s death was hard.
It made me strong though.
I decided I was going to turn the worst thing that happened in my life into the best thing that happened in my life.
And then I did just that.
Turn The Worst Thing That Happened in Your Life Into the Best
I started teaching myself how to play guitar. I started reading books. Lots of them.
Eventually, I said to myself “if I can teach myself music, and if I can read all these books … and if dad went back to college at 40 years old … maybe I can go to college and create a new life for myself too”. So at age 28, I decided to go back to college.
I spent the next six years working full-time and going to school online, part-time, in the evenings and weekends. I worked about 45 to 50 hours a week and studied another 30 or 40 hours per week.
I stopped drinking gradually after being in school. Then completely stopped from 30 to 36. Now I will enjoy a beer or glass of wine sometimes. Sometimes, maybe a little more often. But it’s something I try to regulate and be responsible about.
The Class That Changed It All
My first college class changed everything. The class was called Thought Patterns for a Successful Career. The material used a textbook and video lessons written by Lou Tice of the Pacific Institute. It taught the concepts of positive thinking, visualization, and the fundamentals to use those tools to set and achieve goals. Without the lessons of this class, I would not be where I am today. Any success in college flows back to this class that changed my way of thinking. I still have a copy of the textbook on my laptop, and occasionally go back to it for inspiration. I use the principles every day.
Putting Those Techniques Into Practice
I put the techniques learned in Thought Patterns for a Succesful Career into practice. Through hard work, dedication, passion, and perseverance, six years later I finished school with two degrees; an AAS in Business Logistics and a BAS in Business with an emphasis on Supply Chain Management (Summa Cum Laude).
At the same time, I worked my way up the job ladder from doing every warehouse job they would teach me, to being a customer service rep and team leader, and then to a professional Supply Chain Buyer.
Positive Motivation, Healthy Eating, Consistent Exercise
I discovered positive motivation, healthy eating, and the benefits of consistent exercise. I could have never gotten through college without positive motivational messages being a part of my daily life. Les Brown, Tony Robbins, Eric Thomas, Earl Nightengale, Napolean Hill, Mel Robbins, and hoards of other motivational speakers became my mentors. Whenever I felt like giving up, I would look up a motivational video on YouTube to get back to my center and find the power to keep going.
I got a spin bike and started riding daily. I started studying exercise routines and spin bike classes. I found Yoga videos on YouTube and started trying Yoga for stretching and as a way to stop back pain.
I took an elective class about nutrition that changed my relationship with food. I discovered healthy eating.
Doing these things lifted my mood and gave me the tools to develop a positive growth mindset.
I truly believe there is a correlation between positive thinking, healthy eating, and consistent exercise that helped expand learning pathways in my brain. Could eating right, exercising, and positive thinking make me smarter? I cannot say for sure but I know I owe my success in college to these things.
After College
After college, I had all kinds of free time. I didn’t know what to do with it. So I started thinking about my purpose.
The Purpose
By changing my life through studying, eating healthy, and exercising, I developed a positive attitude. I learned that I could move beyond my own perceived limitations. Beyond the perceived limitations that other people always put on me.
I wanted to share that message and help other people.
And that, my friends, is the Why for which I started GoodAttitudeFood.com.
Personal Trainer Certification
Once I started GoodAttitudeFood.com, I decided to pursue a Personal Trainer Certification. I knew if I was going to write about exercise, I needed to have more knowledge on the subject. I became an ACE Certified Personal Trainer.
Then Covid
After getting certified, I started applying for part-time personal trainer jobs. I went to about 10 interviews. I thought I had a job at an Anytime Fitness teaching group exercise classes, but the job fell through.
And then the Covid-19 pandemic started. Gyms closed. Getting a job in a gym or training people in a facility became impossible for a while.
I became disheartened, lost some motivation, stopped writing The Workout of the Week posts, and fell back into some old habits. I lost the motivation to work out. I put on about 30lbs, lost my positive mindset, and came to hate the place where I lived. I sank pretty deep for a bit.
The Comeback Starts
In April I moved to a new apartment. The new apartment has a gym, space in my apartment to do yoga and other exercises, and immediate access to nature trails. It is a place where I can start another comeback.
If there is one thing I have learned on my journey, it’s that a setback is a setup for a comeback!
Work on my Why
Over the last two-plus years, I have come to know that I need to do work for my purpose to be happy. I need to be working on and in my Why. I need to be eating healthy foods, exercising, and to be working on a positive growth mindset. In short, I need to work on The Workout of the Week posts.
If just one single person reads this and decides they too can change their life, all the work is worth it. Even if no one ever does, it keeps me honest and working towards the goals I put down in the posts anyway.
Now I am working to redefine my Why. I am not 100% sure what my next steps are, but I am finding purpose again in writing the posts.
Gaining Momentum
Now in my new place for about two months, I am gaining some momentum. I have lost 10lbs, have gotten back to healthy eating habits, have gone out and met a few new people, and have finally started working on the site again!
I will keep redefining my Why and use it to find the next steps down this path.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
Simen Sinek – Start With Why
Right now, defining the Why is something like … “To help people use principles of hard work, consistent exercise, a positive attitude, and healthy eating habits to change their lives and a develop growth mindset”.
This Week’s Workout Schedule
A workout schedule is one of the best ways to start a routine and stay on track. This week I will be doing Yoga, HIRT Circuits, Resistance Band Tabatas, Heavy Bag Tabatas, Spin Bike workouts, Rucking, Riding my Mountain Bike, Disc Golf, working on mediation, and I might even fit in some Pickleball!
For more details on these workouts, check out the past posts!
Like this one: https://goodattitudefood.com/the-sandbag-workout/
Or this one: https://goodattitudefood.com/the-art-flow-for-your-brain-workout-v3-5/
Wrap it up
There you have it, my friends. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you will join me next week for another post. I am truly grateful for every person who takes the time to read the post and visit the website and hope what I write will have a positive impact. If you have been struggling recently with things, maybe it’s time to look at your Why and start from there to get some ideas on how to move forward. Until next time, be the hero or heroine in your story!