Five Reasons to Consider Buying a Fitness Tracker This Christmas
I’ve written previously that anyone who isn’t an athlete doesn’t need a fitness tracker and that they are generally a waste of money, because unless you have an athletic goal that you’re working towards, really all it does it tell you a bunch of information that you won’t even use. So what’s the point in wasting money on one?
Read full storyWhy Does Meghan Markle Receive So Much Hate?
Well, Harry and Meghan are at it yet again, gadding about in public trying to look like the saviours the world needs, not that it deserves. Oh wait, that’s Batman. Anyway, their recent public trip to New York has raised eyebrows and caused many a criticism from the media. Then I saw a friend on social media say “I’ll never understand why this woman inspires so much hate.”
Read full storyThe Top 10 Mistakes People Make in the Gym
Photo by Jonathan Borba at Pexels. I’ve been training for almost 15 years at the gym now, and I’ve seen it all. I’ve trained at powerlifting gyms, strongman gyms, 24 hour gyms, beautiful people gyms (where I felt incredibly out of place) and military gyms. Different gyms, same mistakes. Some of these are pertinent for beginners, others you’ll find seasoned vets doing. Here we go.
Read full storyMiserable About Life? The Reason May Lie in Evolution
“People get unhappy because they compare their lives to other people.I believe that’s the root of all unhappiness”. Someone I know said that to me quite some time ago. It’s a reasonably true statement, but when I first heard it, even though I could see that it was true, I felt somewhat underwhelmed. It’s just too surface level, too obvious. Like saying people are fat because they eat too much.
Read full storyThe Foolproof Way to Get a Mentor
School didn’t teach you the stuff you actually need (and this is true even if you’re a doctor). If you’re lucky, you learned how to learn. That will help you because now your education is about to actually start. Do you want to learn this on your own by trial and error or would you like some help? — Ryan Holiday.
Read full storyI Fasted 18 Hours a Day for 7 Days
I’ve been thinking about doing some fasting for quite a while. I’m an athlete and very healthy, but as a 40 year old I can’t ignore the mounting evidence that going without food on a regular basis is very good for you and has a lot of bang for buck when it comes to anti-ageing. Having found myself at home and off work due to heart issues, I figured now was the perfect time to give it a shot.
Read full storyMovie Review: Mortal Kombat
International poster courtesy of IGNhttps://www.ign.com/articles/first-look-mortal-kombat-movie-poster-featuring-sub-zero-and-scorpion. I was a teenager when the first Mortal Kombat was released in theatres. I’d been playing the games since their release and eagerly went to see it with my friend, looking forward to seeing my favourite characters on the big screen. While some of the acting was very sub-par and it devolved into cheesiness at times, overall it was pretty great.
Read full storyDon't Talk to Me About Morning Routines Ever Again
This is definitely more my speed.Photo by THE 5TH on Unsplash. Morning routines have been the darling of the self help crowd ever since Tim Ferriss began asking every single person on his podcast what theirs was. He’d ask questions down to what brand of coffee they’d drink in the morning and possibly even the damn grind size they used for their beans. No detail was too minute to go into, because you never knew where the silver bullet lay.
Read full storyDemi Lovato's Attack on a Froyo Business is Everything Wrong With Culture Right Now
In case you haven't noticed, Demi Lovato seems to be trying to constantly insert herself into the cultural landscape at the moment. When she's not talking about her struggles, her sexuality and her past, she's writing songs about Trump and acting like she's some kind of warrior, saying "I literally don't care if this ruins my career." Ah Demi, you're so brave, I'm sure writing a protest song about Trump is going to kill your career considering the industry you're from.
Read full storyDon't Make This Mistake in the Gym
You’ve been in the gym for an hour, and so far you’ve had a great workout. You’ve pushed it really hard and the fatigue is starting to set in, but you only have a little bit more to do and then you get to cool down and go home. You crank your music volume up to maximum while you try to psych up, throw some chalk on and then walk over to the squat cage. You unrack the bar for the last time today and start on that last set of 5 squats. You count down each rep, telling yourself that you’re almost there.
Read full storyTrying to Prove Your Haters Wrong is a Waste of Time
I listen to a lot of motivational videos while I’m training in the gym. It always gets me in the right frame of mind and improves my ability to power through. Something I’ve noticed though is that they talk a lot about all their doubters and the people that they’re going to prove wrong. Listen to any celebrity talk about their “haters” and you’d think there is this imaginary army of people trying to bring them down, spending all their time seething with every moment of success they have.
Read full story5 Outdated Pieces of Career Advice You Should Probably Ignore
Dear god, this is some clueless advice right here. Office politics are everything when it comes to success in the corporate, military and even academic world. Anyone that tells you otherwise is hopelessly naive or flat out lying to you. That doesn’t mean you should involve yourself in office gossip mind you — because gossip and politics are two different things. One is essential, the other is playing with fire.
Read full storyThe Newbie Guide to Protein
So you’ve decided to go on a health kick. You’ve thrown out all your junk food, joined a gym, and now you’re wondering what other changes you might need to make. Since you’re exercising, you totally need to start drinking protein shakes, right? It’s a natural human trait, to start a new thing with enthusiasm, and rather than getting the basics right, you look at people who are years ahead of you and want to do what they’re doing. It seems intuitive, that if someone so much better than you is doing something, then you should just do it. It doesn’t really work that way though, especially in this case.
Read full storyIf You Don't Measure It, You Can't Manage It
I’ve seen variations of that statement for many years now, always applied to the realm of business with regards to sales, employee performance and a bunch of other metrics. The idea is pretty simple, but incredibly useful in far more contexts than just the business world. It’s useful because data doesn’t lie. You can try and explain it away or come up with justifications, but when you examine it you see the truth of the matter, and are forced to either make a change or continue on your way and act as though it doesn’t exist.
Read full storyDon't Fall for the Current Influencer Trend
If there’s one thing that makes me roll my eyes as I scroll Instagram, it’s the fit chicks and inspiration ambassadors that litter the place with their BS messaging. They’ll take a strategically bad shot of a part of their body (strategic meaning they say it’s bad, but it’s not actually bad) and talk about how everyone has imperfections, how we need to love ourselves more and that we need to give ourselves a break if it all feels a bit too hard. The message seems so right, because it tells us everything we want to hear: that life is hard, that it’s not our fault we don’t have the results we want, and the solution is to just forgive ourselves and be happy.
Read full storyDon't Let Your Boss Write Your Future
Let’s be as real as possible — the business world is a crapshoot when it comes to advancing your career. You need just as much luck as you do work ethic and skill, because even though you might be the best at what you do, unless things go almost perfectly for you in the world of office politics, you might find yourself stuck in a position for many years longer than you’re happy with.
Read full storyThe 3 Practice Methods That Will Accelerate Your Skill in Any Field
I wrote recently about ways to make your training sessions more effective. This was sport specific and for those who have already been training for some time. But what about people who have just commenced with any hobby or pursuit that want to get better as quickly as possible— be it painting, judo or even podcasting? We used to say “practice makes perfect” until of course some “thought leader” had to come along and modify that to “no, perfect practice makes perfect.” As though no one knew practice is supposed to be high quality beforehand.
Read full storyThe Secret to a Remarkable Life
6 months ago my wife and I ate two very different meals at different restaurants within 24 hours. The first, dinner, was date night. We’d been looking forward to going out and eating some nice pasta alone (our daughter was at her grandparents), so we went to a small local place that was always busy. We both settled on a linguini with bacon, prawns, garlic, chilli, olive oil and parsley. I’d made something similar a few days before after watching Chef on Netflix and it was totally bangin, so we sat with our wine and waited for our delicious pasta to arrive.
Read full storyDon't Get Defensive Over Abrupt Feedback
When I got out of the army, one of the most striking details of the working world for me was how nice everybody is. Everyone is so monitored in their language that no one ever comes close to saying what they mean, so performance issues go unchecked until they are really noticeable, people don’t resolve workplace conflicts and Sally from accounts just continues to ride roughshod over everyone because no one can bring themselves to tell her to pull her head in.
Read full storyDon't Try to Hide Things From Your Employees
I’ve seen a number of people fired since I entered the workforce over 25 years ago. Most of the time everyone who has half a brain can see it coming — the person clearly didn’t want to be there, maybe there was something shifty about them that people clearly recognised, or maybe it was apparent to many that their standard of work just wasn’t high enough and wasn’t improving. Regardless, it was clear their days were numbered because they just weren't up to it.
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