Some days are good. Other days are not so good. Sometimes it is obvious which will be which. How much of this is up to us? I believe it varies significantly from person to person. We have the people who wake up singing and dancing for the vast majority of time every morning. These people generally tend to piss off their roommates or even their spouses. I had a friend like this in college. Chris was his name, and every morning he was the happiest guy in the room. I loved hanging around him for two reasons. First off, I wake up pretty down most mornings, and he cheered me up. The second reason was, he attracted people to him, and I enjoyed listening to the conversations. I asked Chris why he was so happy and cheerful every morning, I asked him more than once. His answers were usually a...Read more

It seems there are two sides to every issue today: the right side and the idiots. I want to challenge you not to take this viewpoint. Putting people into boxes is a trick your brain uses to conserve calories. It makes things easy. If you want to burn more calories and improve your view of people and the world, try these three things. Take time each day to think about the day’s topics; how do you feel about them. Try to filter out all the talking points you have heard. Form your own. Are you repeating things you have listened to or taking the time to think through and form your own opinions? Just repeating what you have heard is easy. Thinking through the issues is hard—more on repeaters below. Be comfortable not having an opinion. Most of us do not have the time to have a formed opinion on...Read more

Documentation of the highest I have ever jumped! =-) Having something to work toward is one of the proven ways to stay active and moving forward in your health and fitness. It is that time of year to start planning. We don’t know how much will happen this spring and summer, but events are starting to open up. Time to pick one or a few and start preparing to get back into the race! Talk to a coach about your goals or what events you want to attack this year. I specialize in endurance sports, including Marathons, 5ks, 10ks, Cycling, Triathlon, and Obstacle Course Racing. If you need any help with any of those, let me know! Joshua J Grenell, Endurance Coach SpecialistRead more

One can only battle the waves for so long. Eventually, the waves will win. Burnout happens when the waves win. We can not battle daily.  The key to preventing burnout is to learn to go with the waves or eventually learning to surf. In our work, if the way our day-to-day is set up or if our co-workers are not supportive, every day can become a battle. It may seem like a small thing day to day, but eventually, it will be the thing that takes you, or your business down.  Here are three things to help fight burnout. Destress:  Stress relief is known to be important.  Finding a healthy method is the real trick.  Many use exercise in some form or another.  What is your current method?  Is it healthy?   Change our environment: Knowing that the waves will win, We must adjust our environment to take on fewer...Read more

Who are your Joneses? Keeping up with the Joneses was a common saying when I was young. Maybe this saying is still used. Judging by Seth Godin’s blog this morning, I guess it must be. Where I lived in Wykoff, MN, there was a family with the last name of Jones. So I was pretty confused. I heard people saying they got a new truck to keep up with the Jones! I investigated and noted that the Jones family did not have a new truck. I eventually asked what it meant and then understood that it meant to keep up with those around you. Depending on who is around you, this can be pretty easy or very difficult. You are the sum of the five people you surround yourself with. I think some of us have heard this one. For the most part, it is pretty accurate. Your parents believed...Read more