a gift while i traveled...

so this past week i had the opportunity to travel to virginia for a long weekend. it was a great relaxing time with family! the purpose of the vacation was just to get away. we went with no agenda (except we did plan to visit washington dc one day). i will have to say, going out of state for 5 days and not having an agenda, not having a plan, not knowing what you were going to do each day-- was quite nice. it was perfect just to get up each day and to truly take a moment to appreciate the day ahead. i wont go into a lot of details pertaining to the trip but what i do want to make note of one of the two books i had the opportunity to read while away. as most of you know, if you have read any of these, i am a person who is passionate about many things. one of those things is trying to make more of an impact on the community that i am apart of however that is. so the book that i read talked about the steps to success. how to become more successful in your life. i wasnt quite sure what to expect with the book but i love recommendations and figured id give it a shot! and man, i will tell you what i am glad i did.
so here is my recommendation to you. go read, the travelers gift by andy andrews. it is truly a remarkable book and truly outlines the steps to success in a different yet amazing way! i dont want ruin the book for you in hopes that you go out and read it. but i do want to address one of the things that he talks about. the outline of the book is he has 7 steps to success. the main character travels and he given this "gift" of steps to success from 7 different people. he then explains at the end, once all steps are revealed, that to be successful you must incorporate each action! you cannot be successful by just working on 1, or 2, or 3, but you must truly devote to studying, learning more about, and incorporating all of them!
one step that i will quickly touch on, and i cannot give it justice like the writer does, but the 3rd step in the process is "I am a person of action. I seize this moment. I choose now". how relevant is that with our lives? whatever situation you are in, whatever you face on a daily basis we need to attack it with an attitude of action. we are blessed with many opportunities in our lives and each day--- and for those situations to truly be maximized we make take action and seize the moment. the story that andrews talks about during this step is awesome and basically life changing. its really changed my attitude and thoughts as i approach the day. and thats what life is about. for any of us to truly make an impact, to help others, to challenge others to jump on the wagon--we must take action. this is about at church, at our jobs, in our homes- wherever you find yourself! what kind of attitude do you have? do you have an attitude of attacking the situation? to truly maximize what is in front of you? if not, you need to first ask yourself why dont you? what is holding you back? why dont you want to take action? and then once you have that answer, change! do whatever it takes to seize the moment. and once you do, trust me, you will be on the path of living a life that will impact yourself but more impacting you will be on the path of impacting others.
so enough blabbing, go get the book. seriously. now.

breakthrough.
gabe.

7 days with no tv... Makes one weak?

I sure hope everyone has had an amazing weekend as that everyone is fired up to tackle as attack this next week! What a great opportunity we have tomorrow-- to face another Monday head on and own it like never before... I sure hope that is your attitude about this next week. If you are worried about it, or dreading going to work tomorrow, or whatever it is that you are thinking about-- change your thought! Be ready to make this the best week possible! However that is. I don't care if it's suppose to be the worst week of the year-- don't let that happen. It's up to you. You have the power to make the week whatever you want. And it all starts with your attitude and how you approach tomorrow morning! So be different. Be weird. Be unique. And get pumped up about tomorrow and attack it head on.
Want it to be a different week? Want to challenge yourself? Want to try something crazy. Here's what I'm doing this week-- yesterday I challenge myself to go the next 7 days with zero tv. That's sportscenter, Espn (Thats about all I care to watch) but it also includes any tv show or movie. I'm not going to turn the tv on until at least next Sunday. Why? Because after much thought I feel that I waste to much time in front of it. I mean, what does it do for me? How does watching a tv show that has no sentimental meaning going to help me make this the next year ever? I couldn't come up with an answer. I reasoned that I could spend more time doing other things-- like today instead of watching tv I went on a bike ride- easy enough. But seriously what about you? Think about what you could accomplish if you gave up something as simple as the tv. I am honestly very excited about this challenge. I know it's going to e tough and there will be those temptations but that's where the personal growth is going to take a turn for the better! So for me it's the tv, what's it for you? What can you do different this week? 7 days. That's it. Why not give it a shot and see where it gets you--- you might actually get a little more accomplished and feel a little better about yourself! I don't know-- but until next time.

Breakthrough.
Gabe.

calling all challengers...

where does time go? man- i tell you what, its tough to find a few moments every now and then just to sit down and to write about whats going on where you dont make it a priority. so thats what i did today. i stopped making excuses and got on here and have a few things to share. hopefully, ill keep this quick but also get my point across.

i ran across this quote today and it caught my attention right off the back:

"Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It's OK to fail. If you're not failing, you're not growing."

can you truly say that is your mindset? but think about the personal growth that you could develop if it was. what if we truly werent afraid to fail? that can be with many things... life, eating habits, workouts, journaling, etc... but thats not my point here, my point here is to even have a chance of "not being afriad to fail" we have to have something to "not be afraid of". how many of us just go through the days with the same ol' routine as yesterday. where the heck is the excitement in that? where is the excitement of trying something new? doing some fun? learning more about yourself? challenging yourself? thats what got me stuck on this 30 day challenge routine for myself (i hope if you have read any of my previous posts that you have caught on to this). tomorrow is the end of my 2nd round of challenges. this go round was fitness related, my goal at the end of 30 days was to be able to 1) do a 5:00 plank 2) 100 consecutive double under jump ropes... when i first started this challenge, i knew they were going to be tough- esp. the plank. but i committed to working on them for 30 straight days in hopes of achieving my goals... and you know what-- im not afraid to fail!! because i know that i have put some time into something and committed myself to attempting these-- and its been fun over 30 days to truly see differences in particular with these two exercises.. so whats holding you back? whats keeping you from challenging yourself? whats keeping you from trying something new? maybe giving up a certain food/drink for 2 weeks, or starting a new workout routine, or starting to journal for 30 days... stop making excuses, dont be afraid to fail- and challenge yourself.. the personal growth that you will see during that time will totally exceed your expectation. and it will keep you from going day in and day out with the same routine because each day you wake up you know that there is a new challenge out there even if its the smallest of changes--- its still something...

im serious though. try something new. see where it takes you. you might enjoy it and actually see positive changes and growth!

breakthrough.

gabe. 

on a mission..and its called life.

its been a while. so welcome back- if anyone is here.
the last couple of weeks have been up and down for myself. ive learned a lot about myself, my friends, and more importantly my family. first, i want to say thank you for everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and condolences sent to our family for the passing of my grandpa. he was a great man- as i heard over and over from many different stories from many different people. i definitely learned a lot more about him and about my family over the last weeks. i knew my grandpa was a devout christian, good man, a hard worker-- what i didnt quite grasp or understand until lately is the fact that he: was a great friend, a man who truly loved his job, someone who put others before him, knew what he wanted to do in life, set goals and set out to reach them, was a mentor, and so many other things. the one fact that so many people told me and the one thing that stuck with me is the comment that "i might not of been your grandpa's best friend, but i tell you what, whenever i ran into him or whenever i got the chance to talk to him, he made me feel like i was the most important person on earth- he made me feel like his friend." wow. for real? how amazing and how awesome is that. im envious of that. i want to strive for that. i want to be able to make people feel that way. my grandpa was a genuine man! i challenge you to do the same. how often do we just go through the motions as we "talk" to someone on a daily basis? how often do we reply to the question "how are you doing" with a quick "im good" and then walk around not thinking twice about it? im at fault- more then once. but thats not what we are called to do. that should not be our mission. our mission should be to reach out to others- "to treat every single person we pass as the most important person in the world-- treat them like our friend". we should take time to listen to them, to truly ask them and to truly care "how their day is going"-- instead of just passing by through the motions. thats my challenge to you. thats my challenge to myself- to strive for that. to strive to be like my grandpa.
so over the last week, i have been thinking about my life- and about my life's mission. what exactly do i want to be? its not so much what i want people to say about me or think about it, its more about what i can do for people. i dont care what people say about me or think about me--- if im living out my mission then that will take care of itself. so i came up with my life mission. i sat down and thought about it- i brainstormed exactly what i crave for, what gets me fired up, what i truly love to do... and i came up with this statement:
"I'm here to add positive value and effectively influence others' spiritual, physical, and mental growth."
thats it. one sentence can sum up what i want to pursue. and thats what im going to do. have you ever thought about a mission statement for your life? if not, do it! right down exactly what you want from yourself. it not only is exciting to do, but its a challenge and it keeps you on track. so stop reading and go and think about it. write it down. post it somewhere. let others know. and then, go out and make a difference. life is a mission and we are called to be on.
ps. one way that im striving toward my mission is im going into the twitter world. so follow me if your on there- i will be sending daily, weekly, honestly whenever i think about it- tweets (is that what they are called?) to motivate, to educate, or just to have a good laugh. but for real, follow me: @gm1ll3r


until next time. 
breakthrough.
gabe. 

feedin' your body

so here is another post about fitness. its not about motivating you to go workout or posting workout examples for you guys to try-- i want to talk about nutrition, about what kind of food you are putting into your body. theres a quote that states, "tell me what you eat and ill tell you what you are".
i think that is exactly right. in todays society all of the hoopla that is put on fitness and working out can easily be subsidized by what people are putting into their bodies. so what i want to do in this post is to give my top 5 food choices- i dont know if they are the best choices, but they work for me. when your body breaks down food, the macronutrients (fat, protein and carbs) are used basically for energy. so think about that for a minute-- what you are putting into your body correlates with what type of energy you have. take care of your body and it will take care of you. so again, below is my list of top 5 foods-- snacks, dinner, lunch options-- they are what work for me. whats your top 5? let me know!

Top 5 Foods:

1) Peanut Butter
"-Why it's good for you: At least five major studies confirm that eating peanuts can lower risk for    coronary heart disease. So it's no leap to think that peanut butter confers the same benefits. "Suffice it to say that eating peanut butter or peanuts has been associated with lower total cholesterol, lower ldl or 'bad' cholesterol, and lower triglycerides, all of which are associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk," says Richard Mattes, Ph.D"


2) Lean Turkey
"-Turkey is an excellent source of lean protein. One serving of turkey provides more than half your body's protein requirement, with half the fat of beef and 30% fewer calories. Also contains selenium, niacin, and Vitamin B6."


3) Chocolate Milk
"-Studies now show that chocolate milk aids the body in recovery, most importantly the muscles"


4) Beef Jerky
"-Part of the jerky-preparation process involves trimming away excess fat, so jerky may provide a heart-healthy way to enjoy the taste of red meat...Animal protein, such as red meat, contains all nine essential amino acids, making beef jerky a high-quality protein."


5) Sweet Potato (plain)
"They are high in vitamin B6, a good source of Vitamin C, contain Vitamin D, iron and also magnesium."






again, this is just my list of some of my favorite foods/snacks that i have found work for myself. to get some of the best results for this year, keeping tabs and paying attention to what you are feeding your body is huge. take it for what it is.


breakthrough. 
gabe.

'march'in into a new month

whats up people. how are things going? hows the week going? good? great? poor? maybe you're thinkin its thursday, already put friday in the past and youre clocked out and ready for the weekend? whatever it is, today is thursday march 1! thats right, a new month. #3 in the year. currently we are 1/6 of the way through 2012. 16.66% of the year has passed. crazy huh? so the question that i ask is what have you done so far? whats the 16.66% of the year you cant get back look like? did you get anything accomplished? did you stick to any of your new years resolutions that you had planned to? or are you thinking " i have 83.34% of the year left. ill just wait until then to get started. ill wait until then to make an impact. ill wait until tomorrow. blah.. so what i want to do with this post is just check in and see how things are going? if your still doing the 30 day challenge, i wanna see how thats going? (i have 9 days left of no sweets!) what about yours? if you havent started a challenge, scroll down to a few posts ago and check my challenge! its a great way to push yourself and see some changes that you would like to see in a fun and challenging way. 

not only do i want to see how your year is going so far, i want to see what you have planned for this month? what are you wanting to accomplish? do you have any idea? one of the best ways to see things get done is to set realistic goals-- and take steps to get there! we all need to strive to make this the best month so far! it doesnt matter what you did or didnt do in january and february- those are over, done, in the past- but what does matter is what you will do this month. what youll get done today. what you will do tomorrow--this weekend---next week..  we have 31 days to make this the best month so far. weather thats at your job, with your family, with your relationship with God, your workouts, your diets, whatever it is-- they need to be at top notch for this month. in the video below (its a quick 4 minute watch, so please do) the speaker talks about how success is not a one way street. and thats exactly right. to be successful in whatever it takes work! ok, some people might get lucky here and there and "achieve success" in the blink of an eye- but for the majority of situations success comes from hard work. i love the outline he gives when he explains success is 8 principles. passion. work. focus. push. ideas. improve. serve. persist. how are you going to implement those 8 principles in this month? i challenge you to think about, think about what you can do this month to challenge yourself- to strive for something you didnt think was possible or you thought you had no opportunity to do so. success is not a one way street. its a constant trip that we need to be on. when we learn how to develop those 8 principles into our life and every day activities thats when we will have success- and not only have it-- but we will sustain it!

step up and step out this month. do something that you have wanted to do for a long time but never thought you could. dont wait for the opportunity. create yourself! and when you do, thats when you will see a breakthrough. 

until later. 

breakthrough.

gabe. 

the key to success.

success. what is it? how do you describe it? what word would you use to talk about success? how does a person become successful? who is a successful person? what makes that person successful? i could go on and on about success and ways to describe success and possibly even talk about my philosophy on what makes a person successful and what doesnt. but i wont bore you with that- what i want to hit on is something thats been on my mind for the last week or so. and thats the fact that there is a process a person must go through to have success. and whatever is at the end of a process, its different from person to person, is what you can consider a success.
that process also what i consider the key to success is preparation. sounds easy huh? but how often do we try to skip this step in our world where its always the thought of "i want more, more, more, more and i want it now". seriously. how often have you been victim to that? how often do want something without actually working for it? and if youre lucky, you might achieve "success" but where in the world does the satisfaction come from for actually working for it. actually going through of process. going through the bumps in the road and jumping over obstacles. actually dedicated yourself to something to make sure you sure it all the way through. thats where we fall short. many times. we forget about the process of preparing for something. during that time you can learn so much about yourself, grow so much stronger as an individual and even enjoy steps you have to take.
a quick example.

1) Lin-sanity. how many people know exactly what im talking about when you read that. if you dont, google it for a more in depth explanation. but ill do my best couple sentence approach. jeremy lin--he is an nba player for the new york knicks. a couple of weeks ago he was never heard of, never spoke about, etc. no one even cared about this guy that sat on the end of the bench. he was on the verge of being cut...aka losing his job. then all of the sudden he got this chance- he got an opportunity of a life time and bam---SUCCESS. but if you know anything about it, if you have watched espn, been on any websites out there, would you even think that he would of been successful? how did he get there? do you think he seriously just sat around... no he was prepared. he worked his butt off. he went through the steps that people do not always see. we get to watch the process at the end. we get to see him score 38 points against the lakers on espn. we get to see him put up incredible numbers people havent seen in years. but my point is this: jeremy lin was prepared. the because of his preparation, when the opportunity came knocking-- the dude stepped in and took care of business because he was ready! thats the point... preparation is what makes you ready. its key to success. if he wasnt prepared we would not even be thinking twice about him or have the cool nicknames like "super LIN tendo" or "all he does is LIN". prepare the right way and success will come. (if you dont believe me that jeremy lin was preparing the right way, take a look at the video)

as i was reading my book this week i read a quote that i wrote down for my "quote of the week" and has had a pretty cool impact on myself. heres what it said.
"success is a function of persistence and doggedness and a willingness to work hard."
how sweet of a quote is that? i love the word doggedness. which means a showing tenacity. when i read that word i just get pumped up. it has that type of effect on myself. if i was to ask you how would you describe your preparation for success how would you describe it? would you use the word doggedness? i doubt anyone would. but how awesome would it be if we could. thats the attitude we need to take. success wont come easy. its going to take persistence, its going to take willingness to work hard, and you can bet its going to take a doggedness approach.
if you have never thought about preparing or never thought about how to describe your steps to success-- change it. change how you approach your daily activities. if its your job and you want to be more successful. its going to take persistence, its going to take willingness. if its your fitness and you want to see bigger and better results-- change your approach- attack your next workout with a doggedness attitude. this is the way to get work done. this is the way to see results. you have to be work hard. you have to be persistence.
you have to be prepared.

breakthrough.
gabe.

ps. how is your 30 day challenge going? have you even started? if not why not? i know a few people that have caught on and started up their own and i love it! that gets me jacked up! i love seeing others stepping up and challenging themselves-- making steps toward achieving something. even if its the smallest change or challenge- its still something. continue to pursue it. continue taking the steps to achieving what you have set out to achieve. no sugar, no pop, exercise, whatever it is-- stick with it. if you havent got a 30 day challenge going, check out my previous post and join in. its fun. its challenging. its a way to see yourself make some changes that you want. and most of all its rewarding.
i already have a plan for my next 30 day challenge. i seriously cant wait for it to start. until then. prepare.