Leading Off

Quick question: What do Rickey Henderson and Tony the Tiger have in common? Two answers probably immediately come to mind—both of which are not what I have in mind:

1) Speed: While Rickey and tigers can both move pretty fast, something tells me Tony ain’t exactly your average tiger when it comes to speed (maybe it’s the subsequent sugar crash from eating frosted flakes).

2) Big Heads: While both do have big heads—whether figuratively (think “Third-person” Rickey) or literally (tigers are simply huge), that’s not what I’m getting at either.

“This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

My answer: Both get off to a good start.

Rickey, a leadoff hitter, tried to start an inning by getting on base. Tony’s forte is breakfast—trying to start the day off right by giving you some energy via food.

(Note: as a PN Lean Eating Coach, I cringe when using “Tony the Tiger” and “getting off to a good start” in the same sentence. However, just hear me out.) 

Not so great...

 A recent workout found me lifting a significant amount of weight more than the previous week’s. Almost all variables were the same. Nutrition, rest, exercises (it was week 2 of my program), time of day, etc… The one thing that was different though, was my first working set.

For my first set I used slightly less weight than the previous week—and I nailed it. It went up much crisper, cleaner, and quicker than the first set of “Week 1”. The result? One hell of a lifting session.

I know there are physiological reasons for this, but I’ll tackle this from a different angle since that’s not my specialty yet (I still have more time to pick Eric and Tony’s brains.).

We’ve all read/heard things about how “dieters” eating breakfast are more successful losing weight than those who skip it. While I have mixed feelings on that, why can’t we apply that concept to other areas to be successful?

Consider the following:

·      Pitchers that get the first strike/out of the inning will increase their success rate of not giving up any runs that inning.

·      Golfers that hit a drive landing in the fairway will likely shoot better for the hole than those that slice it into the rough.

·      Someone wearing nice clothes with a fresh shave and haircut on a first date will have a better chance of getting a second one than someone looking like Shaggy. (Unless of course, your date is Velma)

I know that some of these situations are out of our complete control, but why not at least try to set yourself up for success in any way you can? If possible, “rig” your situation for a sure victory. Here’s how:

General Template:

·      Determine your task, obstacle, etc…

·      Find the contributors to it.

·      Based on the contributors, make your first action so stupidly simple. (I get bonus points for alliteration, right?). On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the easiest to do), it should be a 9 or 10.

Specific Examples:

·      Want to improve the quality of your nutrition? Start the day with something that’s both quality and EASY to make. It can be the same thing every day if you want to ensure it’s easy for you to do. Something that works well here is to “Wake and Shake”. (No fellas, it’s not going to the bathroom.)

·      Have a big “to do” list at work? Start with putting those letters in the interoffice mail so you can check that off as “complete”.

·      Want to begin to make exercise a consistent part of your life? Instead of setting a goal of 5 days per week, go for a minimum of 2. If you get more than that, fantastic. If not, no worries. Your goal is still only 2.

·      Want to finally speak to that gorgeous brunette with crystal blue eyes at the party later that night? First practice just saying “Hi” to a few random strangers you cross paths with during the day.

We’re all accustomed to ‘think big’ and focus on the end result. In this case, try changing your thoughts to “What’s the smallest thing I can do?” The reason to start “easy” and “small” is because of the momentum it’ll build. Consider a small snowball rolling down a snowy hill. How big can it become?

Success begets success—condition yourself for it.

Lights. Camera. Action.

  

Imagine the following situations:

·      You’re walking down the street. Everyone—and I mean everyone—is staring at you with unblinking eyes.

·      You’re at the gym. Just before starting your set, you realize no one else is doing anything but looking at you. Yes, even those immersed in Entertainment Weekly.

·      You’re at a 5-star restaurant. You think you’re sharing an intimate meal with someone special…only to realize “intimate” must mean everyone in the joint—form diners to busboys—is watching as you both dig in to your entrees.

What? Does bring in a proverbial fishbowl freak you out?

"I have this funny feeling that we're being watched..."

Fine. Then think about one of the first times you were told you were being watched by video camera. Maybe it was a substitute teacher in 4^th grade telling you the principal was watching the class. Maybe it was a parent pointing one out in a department store. The former could have been the result of a class acting up when their usual teacher isn’t there. In the latter, you may have started to get antsy and whiny from a full day of shopping for clothes. Whatever the case, it was likely brought to your attention to induce some sort of behavior change.

A few months ago I started shooting some video of myself at the gym doing some sets. My initial reason was to share some of my training with my LE coaching group. However, I found an unexpected benefit. I noticed my form instantly got better.

“Why was this?” I thought at first. I didn’t get any instant coaching on my technique. And while I know my form is off sometimes, I know the “how to” and the key coaching points. I soon realized the only thing different was the thought of the camera on me.

The weird thing is, I still had the ability to delete the video if I wanted.  Just the thought, though, was enough to change my behavior and make me more conscious. Maybe the improved form wasn’t “natural”. But given enough times, it would be.

I’m not saying everyone should go out and start filming themselves all in the name of improved technique. But what if we went through workouts as if we thought we were being filmed? No. Let’s take it a step further. What if we started living as if we were on camera?

Aside from football season, I’m really not a betting man. But here are some things I bet would happen:

Gym:

·      Improved technique

·      Put weights away

·      Wipe sweat down instead of just looking at your back and head imprint and walking away.

Eating:

·      Begin with normal size portions of food on your plate

·      Slower eating

·      No urgency to finish everything

Life:

·      Reduced conniptions

·      Wash your hands every time after using the bathroom (I can’t believe I have to write this)

·      Increased general respectfulness (holding doors, using words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, etc…)

If we just use the examples above, odds are that you’ll become a better overall person with improved gym performance and more mindful and civilized eating. If we sum that up even more, you’ll see improvements in health, performance and body comp and improve your chances of getting into Heaven. Oh, Heaven doesn’t appeal to you? Well there’s also a chance that an attractive member of the opposite sex will be watching as you help that woman whose arms are filled with groceries. To each their own.

Ron Howard is a smart guy. To pull off Opie and Richie Cunningham, you have to be. He also was onto something with The Truman Show. That film had Jim Carrey unaware his entire life is being filmed and the subject of a TV show.

 

Since filming yourself all day long is darn tough to do, I propose you artificially create that scenario. Channel back to your childhood and pretend a bit. Pretend that you’re being filmed. Take note of your actions. Is there a difference between what you’d normally do and how you acted when “on camera”?

I know for sure I have some differences and I plan on addressing them. Fortunately, like the movies, I’ll know I’ll have retakes until I get it right.

Quiet on the set.

"Traffic Jam Reaction"—Take two.