New Look, New Goals, New Questions

Motivation 85 Comments

People don’t change. That’s what they say, right? But who are they? And who are you, as a free thinking Renegade to listen to them anyway?

Perhaps heeding the words of someone a bit wiser, like the great American poet, Henry Rollins would be a better idea…

“I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.”

This has been a guiding principle throughout my life; reinvention and constantly trying to better myself.

That’s what the snake tattoo on my arm represents in the traditional Japanese mythology. The snake is always shedding its skin and evolving. To remain stagnant would be the same as dying.

You can never remain stagnant, my friends. The quest for self improvement is not something that you can take a break from. It’s an every day, all day thing.

I’m a different person than I was five years ago. And I will be a different person in another five years; as will many of you, I’m sure. Because I know you guys get it and want it to excel more than most people do.

Like Jets head coach, Rex Ryan says, “Every day, everybody needs to strive to get just a little bit better.” And even though I’m a Giants fan, first and foremost, I hear those words in my head every morning when I wake up.

Like anything else it takes daily practice and reminders. You don’t become a better musician or athlete without practicing on a regular basis, hour after hour. Nor do you become a better, more productive, more successful (financially and emotionally) person without ritualistically practicing each and every hour of the day.

This daily routine includes associating only with positive people and eliminating all negative forces from your life. It includes having a schedule that you follow without allowing outside forces to steer you off track. It includes making lists, meditating, training, listening to motivational music or recordings and reading a select number of good books and blogs that you derive motivation from (like this one, hopefully).

New Look, Same Attitude

With that in mind I’m proud to introduce our brand new site to the Renegade Nation. Special thanks goes out to Derek, Alex and Eoin for all their help and the great job they did. This is the third version of the site since we started it back in 2006 and by far the best, in my opinion. Onward and upward.

I’m loving the overall look and feel and am really digging some of the cool new upgrades we’ve added. I hope you guys do to and would appreciate any feedback.

2011 was by far and away the best year ever for the Renegade Nation. Readership steadily grew into the hundreds of thousands, we had more new training programs released than any year before, there were live events, we brought more high profile, big name clients into the family, we were voted as one of the top 100 most influential forces in fitness right up there with trainers who appear on TV in front of a much larger audience… But that was nothing.

2012 has to be even bigger. Inspired by my friend Craig Ballantyne, I have made it my mission to bring the Renegade way to one million people and help them reach their strength and fitness goals while improving their productivity and helping them live happier, more successful lives.

But I can’t do it alone. I need your help.

I need you guys to constantly get better every day and I want to hear about it… on the blog, through email, on Facebook and Twitter, in person, everywhere. That will serve as my motivation.

No one can do it alone. We all need a support team. And you guys are mine.

I’m accountable to you guys and you’re all accountable to each and every other Renegade out there across the globe.

Moving Foward

Growing the Renegade Nation to one million strong is my big, hairy, audacious goal for the next few years. Short term I will continue hustling in the pursuit of numerous short term goals including the expansion of Renegade to the West Coast, of which I will keep you all updated on later in 2012.

As for my own fitness goals going forward I have some things I need to work on. Firstly, I’m a horrible traveler. I end up either not eating because there are no healthy options, or eating junk food because I put off eating for so long that I make myself sick and have to eat whatever’s in sight. Not cotton candy, mind you, but stuff I normally wouldn’t eat. I need to make a much better effort to be prepared and keep my nutrition on point when I’m on the road.

I’ve always had difficulty sleeping for as long as I can remember. This year I made it my goal to work on and dramatically improve that. I did and am sleeping a lot better but there are still some steps I can take to improve it even more. I need to train earlier in the day and finish eating a bit earlier every night. I also need to make sure all work related stuff is completely off my mind by a certain hour. When I do those things I sleep better. Now I just need to make them unbreakable habits.

Finally, I need to continue to temper my enthusiasm for training. In the past I have gotten injured plenty of times because I couldn’t control myself and just love training so damn much. Over the last year I’ve gotten significantly better at this but there is still much room for improvement and I will be constantly working on it.

How Can You Get Better?

To wrap this up I have a few questions for you:

What is your biggest weakness that you need improve upon?

What is holding you back from reaching your goals that needs to be eradicated? Think long and hard and be brutally honest with yourself. We can’t fix something if we’re not willing to identify it as a problem and put it out there for all to see.

Lastly, what are your biggest fitness/lifestyle goals for 2012? Not bullshit New Years resolutions, but real, attainable goals that you can and WILL conquer in the next 12 months.

To kick the new blog off right let’s get 100 comments from some fired up Renegades who are ready to kick ass, take names and change the world!

Thanks again for all of your support.