The Daily RISE: Recent Episodes
Jon Hall
Podcasts of RISE's daily blogs, videos and interviews which have helped thousands transform their lives and bodies
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"I haven't got the slightest clue how many calories are in it" [Therein lies the problem]
"It was tough, but a huge shout out to everyone who survived the 10-week heatwave of 1976"
Would you like to be stripped naked, placed in a plastic coffin and bombarded with radiation?
You didn't get discouraged that gaining the weight took so long [Read this if you get discouraged by slow weight loss]
"Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves" [Another grandparent saying]
"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man fit, healthy and wise" [He said this one the most]
"A place for everything and everything in it's place" [This isn't about keeping the house tidy]
Flowers on Birthday, Valentines and Christmas are no substitute [What can you do regularly?]
Food week 4: Can you keep it between a 4 and a 7? [Does getting really hungry work for you?]
"Part of me stopped coming so I'd have a reason to cancel" [Worth questioning]
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"It's the most convenient option as well" [Way more likely to happen]
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"I'm surprised you need someone else to train you" [I don't "need" it]
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Lessons from a 4 minute car wash [It's easier to keep up than catch up]
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"We can learn by getting it right the first time" [No one else agreed]
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"Sunday, Bl00dy Sunday" [How do we describe the days of the week / our lives?]
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"None of our trainers have a professional sports background" ["Meaning they are the best chance you have of keeping on track with your fitness goals"]
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I didn't realise how he knew so quickly [How to deal with flabotagers and frustrating "people"]
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You can't you choose IF it becomes a priority or not [Just when and how severely]
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Emma Raducanu didn't believe in herself [And you don't need to either]
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"I just need to get better at back stroke" ["Ask him specifically what he needs to see from you to pass you"]
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Ignore the negative (MTFU) [Should we listen to our emotions instead?]
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We're not quite there yet [We need to know how the brain works first]
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The 7 "big fat lies" you've been told about yourself [And what might work better]
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There are two ways to do it [Eat what you want and still lose weight]
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The problem with the OnlyFans and anti-vax jokes [I didn't read on]
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It was a terrible plan, even though it worked [The Commando bin lorry]
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"Not much has changed but we live underwater" [That's a big change, no?]
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"But you told me you already do them?" [We all do even if we tell ourselves we don't]
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The number one reason we struggle with discipline [What’s the POA?] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever thought “I need to be more disciplined” with something?
I assume we all have.
I know I have.
Do you know what, from my experience (cough nearly 20 years in the game, two times Top 6 at the National Fitness Awards, 13 consecutive months as #1 PT in the UK on Club Training, 5 straight years as #1 facility in the UK on FreeIndex and #1 in Cheshire on Google, Facebook and more and hundreds of verified success stories cough) is the number one reason we struggle with discipline?
We haven’t created a plan to be disciplined to.
Not a real plan.
When we set a vague intention we have nothing to measure against.
Nothing to be disciplined too.
“Eat better”.
“Cut out the crap”.
“Drink less”.
“Exercise more”.
“Worry less”.
“Get up earlier”.
“Get more sleep”.
“Be less bothered about what people think about me”.
“Don’t work so many hours”.
And so on……………
All worthy intents.
All doomed to failure if our past experiences have taught us anything.
When we don’t really know if we’re succeeding or not, we’re left with our feelings.
And our feelings will tell us we’re failing.
When we have a more concrete plan we have something to measure against.
To build confidence and momentum.
Or to learn from and re-evaluate.
As always, no right or wrong.
If vague definitions work for us, that’s awesome.
But if they did we wouldn’t be saying we needed to be more disciplined, would we?
Something more concrete (frequencies, times, locations, logistics, etc) might just be something that we can be disciplined to.
Much love,
Jon ‘Hannibal’ Hall
P.S. If you like the sound of a programme with a proven track record, here’s where you find out more –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
We accept we’ve trained ourselves good [Just not bad] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Think of something you’ve gotten better at?
You know, some sort of skill.
Some ‘thing’ that you do.
That you’ve improved at doing.
How did that happen?
You trained yourself better, didn’t you?
Practice.
Improved gradually over time.
We freely accept that we’ve got better at stuff by training, by practice.
But it’s easy to forget that we might have done the opposite.
Got worse at something by training to be bad at it.
Or, more likely, training ourselves in the opposite.
We’ve gotten really good at making the food choices that, perhaps, haven’t served us well over time……..
By continuing to do them.
Our mind has become better and better at being where we don’t want it to be……..
Anxious, depressed, irritated…………
By us ‘practicing’ being there.
———- I know that there can be more to it than that, but that doesn’t also mean that going there more often doesn’t make it easier to go there again ——–
We get good at missing planned workouts by missing planned workouts.
We get good at not even booking in Sessions in the first place by not booking in Sessions in the first place.
We get good at being ‘flabotaged’ by those around us by being ‘flabotaged’ by those around us.
And so on.
We’ve gotten good at these things.
So good that it doesn’t even feel like a thing.
Probably happens on auto pilot to some degree.
Not always easy to change, sure.
But, like anything, it gets easier with practice.
Make the other decisions…………
Do the other things……….
————— Take the next step to maximising the change they will happen and you’ll get the results you want from them –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply ————-
And it’ll get easier each time, on average.
We’ve practiced ourselves one way, probably without really realising………..
We just need to practice ourselves the other way.
Much love,
Jon ‘and the ugly’ Hall
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
It’s more expensive to not to take action [It’s not just money] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We’ve mentioned before that the main reasons people give for either not starting with us………..
Or for stopping after a while……….
Are “time” and “money”.
In reality it’s probably a bit of a combination of the two.
People don’t feel they’re using it enough to justify it.
If it was a tenner a month, they’d probably let it roll on with the intention of using it “at some point”.
Like people do with budget gym memberships (the overwhelming majority of budget gym members never go and the whole model is built on that).
So, I get it.
I get that if we feel we’re not getting enough out of it, it’s tempting to save some money.
But it still makes me sad.
Because I know, from experience, that’s it’s more expensive not to take action.
Money is only one measure of cost.
Money is ultimately a tool for exchange of value.
We have costs in all areas of life.
Things we might get and things we might lose out on.
When I talk to people about joining and they express their dissatisfaction about their current state of affairs………….
Their body, energy levels, health and mood………………
And how that plays into their relationships with those around them, their work and more………….
I know the cost of not starting with us, and making changes to these things, vastly outweighs the cost of a take out coffee a day.
Same with members who’ve started and made an amount of progress………….
Who, when they stop, are then pretty much guaranteed to slip back to where they hated being.
We get that there’s a financial (and time) cost to what we do.
As there is to pretty much everything in life.
But it’s always worth remembering that………….
It’s more expensive to not take action!
Much love,
Jon ‘Claim Form’ Hall
P.S. You know the score – the best action you can take to start changing your life is to click this link –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
Which group will you go towards? [Higher or lower?] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I’ve mentioned peer groups in here before.
“Groups of people we will change our behaviour to fit in with”
We all have various peer groups in our lives.
Some that operate at a higher standard.
Some which do the opposite.
If we’re telling ourselves that we don’t change our “behaviour to fit in with anyone” then we’re lying to ourselves.
We don’t behave exactly the same around everyone we encounter do we?
Talk to our kids the same way we talk to our mates?
Behave in front of our parents or work colleagues like we behave on a night out?
And it’s human nature to be pulled towards the different groups at different times for different reasons.
Moving towards the group that operates at a higher standard requires us to up our game.
Moving towards the group that operates at a lower standard means we can lower our standards.
One of those choices in considerably easier than the other.
It doesn’t mean we have to extricate ourselves completely from any groups.
Just maybe look where we’re moving towards and why?
None of our mates live lives that we’d like to replicate?
Is lowering our standards to fit in with them really the answer?
By eating and drinking like they do.
Adopting the same approach to exercise or to meditation or other lifestyle practices.
By binge watching boxsets and doom scrolling until it’s too late to possibly get enough sleep.
By using the same terms they do – “I deserve this, I’ve had a hard day” or “Sod it, I’ll start again on Monday”.
The best peer group you can move towards to help you raise your standards?
It’s right here at RISE.
88 ————– It’s www.myrise.co.uk/apply if you’re ready (scrub that, we’re never “ready”) to make that move ————— 888
It’s why members sometimes don’t come in for Sessions when they’re struggling elsewhere in life.
It can make people feel bad about those other decisions.
It can be easier to move towards that peer group that encourages those lowering of standards (in those areas, at least).
We get that.
It’s easier.
But the easiest path rarely takes us where we want to go to.
Again, it doesn’t mean we can never see some of those people in our lives again (we can and still enjoy their company)……………..
But the peer group we move towards will be the one whose average behaviour we model to fit in.
And remembering that is powerful!
Much love,
Jon ‘of the realm’ Hall
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
I realised how long it would take [Our body is the same] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Last month the family and I spent a week in Northumberland with my parents and sister and her family.
There were two places my Dad really wanted to see.
Lindisfarne, which was pretty cool.
Although he was gutted when he found out my youngest and I got into the castle he’d tried several times to get tickets for and was told was fully booked (you don’t ask, you don’t get).
And Vindolanda.
The “excavated remains of a Roman auxiliary fort” and accompanying museum.
Which I also enjoyed.
There were a load of people there at the time continuing the excavation.
You know the score – tooth brush type tools painstakingly removing the soil bit by bit.
The other day I was trying to dig out the root of an old bush from my garden.
Despite being able to use a spade and fork, it took ages.
Quite a frustrating experience.
It crossed my mind how long it would take to expose it all with a toothbrush.
And my brain hurt.
It gave me a new found respect for the patience of those uncovering ancient remains and artefacts bit by bit.
Even more time consuming than I’d really given it credit for.
But still a fraction of the time it took to get covered up I suppose – hundreds or thousands of years.
It’s a bit like our lean body in that respect.
We often under-estimate how long it will take to uncover that.
To remove all body fat that’s been covering it up.
We want results in days and weeks when, more likely, they’re going to take months or years.
But still a fraction of how long it took to cover it up.
Potentially decades, bit by bit.
And, ultimately, not uncovering it doesn’t really save us time.
We’ll get to six months or a year or three down the line either way.
Short of dying.
And we can either have done what needs to be done and be where we want to be.
Or not.
And future us will look back on the decisions we make in the coming days, weeks and months and either be glad that we made them…………..
Or regret them.
Our call, either way.
8 —————- Every single one of our current members would thank past them for clicking this link and changing their life. Will future you thank present you? –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply ————— 8
Much love,
Jon ‘We’re going to score one more than you. Ingerland’ Hall
P.S. Anyone for that middle name?
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
It’s all worse when you’re bored [Eating, drinking, anxiety, depression, etc] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I came to a realisation the other day.
You know the things we might struggle with?
Eating or drinking too much.
Sedating.
Maybe our mood?
Depression.
Anxiety.
Worry.
They’re all made worse by one thing.
Boredom.
I’m not saying that it’s the entirety of any of those things (before anyone feels the need to reply and say that)…………
But it makes many (if not all) of them worse doesn’t it?
The human brain is a problem solving machine.
And, when it’s not engaged in solving high value problems…………..
It’s prone to creating new ones………….
Or increasing the perceived severity of others.
When we’re engaged in something that we’re enthused about being involved in…………
Those other things are less likely to rear their heads, aren’t they?
When we’re bored, they make their presence known more frequently and more intensely.
Where we often go wrong is by focussing on the wrong problems.
Or none at all.
Avoiding challenge just creates other challenges.
We do what we feel we “should do”.
What we’ve been “taught” is important.
By society, our parents and others around us.
Neglecting the fact that we’re not really all that interested in or bothered by those things.
And it doesn’t inspire us.
Doesn’t get us up in the morning wanting to get our teeth into the day.
Because we value what we’re doing and how it ties into what’s important to us.
Instead we get bored.
And all those other things become more likely!
Much love,
Jon ‘Panda’ Hall
P.S. Pretty much everyone who’s ever joined us has expressed that they’ve had improvements in their eating / drinking, their mood, depression, anxiety and / or worry levels. Check www.myrise.co.uk/apply if you’d like to improve them.
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
“I don’t want to count calories for the rest of my life” [Me neither] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I had a few messages recently that expressed a similar sentiment.
And, as always, I know that if one person is thinking or finding something, they’ll be others.
If a few are, they’ll be even more so.
There was someone asking about what we do who said “I know you’re all about calorie counting”.
A new member saying “I don’t want to count calories for the rest of my life”.
And someone who’d joined but not really got started and only briefly looked at our Learn section saying “I’m not the sort of person who’ll spend all day counting calories”.
Which is fine.
Because that doesn’t need to be done.
I personally never use the term ‘counting calories’.
It has connotations that are off putting for many.
I think of it as tracking our food.
In the same way we might track our financial expenditure if we were wanting get more of a hang on it.
Or track some KPI at work we wanted to improve.
Something measurable that will directly correlate to the results we desire.
We wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending a method which may or may not work ………..
At least not to start with.
———– Calorie deficits always do work ————
What tracking is best for……….
Is to be a gateway into an habitual approach.
A way to set up habits which we find relatively easy to maintain (on average)……..
That we know will work because we’ve checked the data behind them.
3 to 5 days tracking will normally give a really clear indicator as to what changes we could make.
And we might go forward with new knowledge of appropriate portion sizes for us.
Or maybe some tactical swaps we can make.
Or maybe a clearer understanding on what changes are or aren’t beneficial and worthwhile.
Or maybe we track for a bit longer.
Maybe for the rest of our lives.
But I’ve yet to find an approach that doesn’t benefit from a bit of tracking to start.
Like any approach to spending less money would benefit from checking what you’re spending now rather than just kinda guessing what changes would work.
You don’t need to track at all.
And you definitely don’t need to do it forever.
But you’d probably benefit from doing it as the starting point for whatever changes you might make.
Much love,
Jon ‘Dracula’ Hall
P.S. You don’t need to be a member with us for the rest of your life either. Although that would be cool if you were. Give it a go for 8 weeks and go from there? You’re protected by that money back guarantee. Apply now at www.myrise.co.uk/apply
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
"I like my food too much" [Don't we all?]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever thought that part of the reason you’re carrying more body fat than you’d like (and / or struggling to lose it) is…………
“I like my food too much”?
I get that.
I love my food.
As, as far as I’m aware, does everyone.
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that’s achieved and maintained a body fat level they’re happy with that’s put it down to “I’m not that bothered about my food”.
So, taking “I like my food too much” off the table………….
Is it worth considering that a more beneficial way of viewing it could be………..
“I like too much food”.
Because that changes that conversation in our head doesn’t it?
We go from being unfortunate at being one of those people who “likes their food too much”………….
To being aware we’re just eating more than we need.
To realising we can still eat stuff we enjoy……….
Just, maybe, a bit less of it at times.
Maybe filling up elsewhere with something less calorie dense?
We can enjoy the right amount of food for us.
It can become solely an avenue of pleasure and enjoyment……….
Rather than that short term…………..
And, potentially, a source of sadness, disappointment and frustration longer term.
Can we just enjoy our food…………
But not have too much of it?
Much love,
Jon ‘Rebranded ‘Too Cool’ on June 13th 1999′ Hall
It depends on A and B [The decision you'll make]
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Have you ever thought you’ve made a decision for “no reason”.
Done something and immediately questioned why you did it?
Maybe regretted it?
I’m sure you have.
Because we all have.
You might have done it last night or be about to do it tonight.
But there’s always a reason.
Despite how it may feel otherwise at times, we are rational beings.
We might question the just how rational the decision was.
But there was a rationalisation there.
Even if we don’t realise it.
And often that rationalisation is a comparison of two things;
A – How you feel now
B – How you think this decision will make you feel
If we think the decision will make us feel better quickly, we’re more likely to make it.
We may be vaguely aware that it’ll contribute to a worse feeling down the line.
But that quick rationalisation has led us to feel it’s worth doing.
So, if we want to make different decisions, we have two variables to play with.
A and B.
We could change how we feel now.
Put things in place so we generally feel better.
More sleep, better eating, regular exercise, relaxation practices, journaling, gratitude practices, etc.
All easier said than done, sure.
But all doable.
If we feel better to start with than we’ll probably feel less need to bridge that gap.
And we can challenge how we think the decision will make us feel.
Accept that there’s a part of it that will make us feel better.
But that it might not lead to a net gain.
It might not be worth it.
Remember, we never make decisions for no reason.
At least underpinning those reasons is;
A – How you feel now
B – How you think this decision will make you feel
Change them and you might just change your decision.
Much love,
Jon ‘Tree’ Hall
"No one wants to pay out 70 grand a month"[Tis a lot of money]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I saw a post on Facebook the other day.
“Everyone wants a million pound business” it began.
“But no one wants to commit to paying out 70 grand a month”.
“Everyone” and “No one” might not be quite true………
But it’s thought provoking, isn’t it?
The idea of owning a business that turns over a million pounds a year, sounds good doesn’t it?
But that million pounds is never going to be all profit to us.
Even if we were to keep a hundred odd grand of it……..
The business would be paying out 70 grand a month.
To grow the business to that level, we’d have to commit to 70 grand a month of wages and other costs.
Most of that to be paid whether we turn over more than that or not.
The benefit sounds pretty great……..
Until we become aware of what comes hand in hand with it.
Much the same as any benefits.
We’re all for working smarter, not harder, of course.
For the big return on investment activities.
For challenging our mindsets that underpin things and are, perhaps, making it all harder than it has to be.
But, yeah – they’ll be things that need to be done to make that happen.
If there wasn’t, it would’ve happened already.
That body we like the look and feel of and that serves us well……..
Will mean changes to the way we eat.
Making different choices.
It will probably involved some form of exercise a few times a week.
Even (especially) when we don’t feel like these things.
If we’re not willing to do these things………
To do the equivalent of committing to 70 grand a month of expenses……..
Then that’s fine.
No right or wrong.
Our lives to do with as we please.
But if we can accept those ‘costs’ (and get comfortable with that)……….
Then we might just find the ‘profit’ we get makes it all more than worthwhile.
Much love,
Jon ‘And loss’ Hall
It's not actually power [Scientia potentia est]
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“Knowledge is power”
A phrase you may have heard.
Attributed originally to Sir Francis Bacon.
In his book Meditationes Sacrae from 1597 a quick Google tells me.
It seems he didn’t quite say that (something pretty close) and the first verified usage of the phrase is from a 1668 version of the work Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.
But, who’s counting?
This isn’t a history lesson.
So, is knowledge is power?
Kinda.
In and of itself, it doesn’t do all that much.
Knowledge without action doesn’t get us anywhere.
It’s the action that’s key.
Knowledge allows us to take the better actions.
The ones that lead to better results and / or a higher return on investment for our efforts.
But the action is key.
Always.
I’ve seen people get in pretty good shape not really knowing all that much about nutrition and training, but by consistently doing what they do know.
And I’ve seen plenty of people who are mega knowledgeable in those areas but aren’t in the best of shape.
Knowledge isn’t power.
It’s potential power.
You know enough right now to be getting better results than you are.
We all do.
It would be quite an insult to anyone’s intelligence to suggest otherwise.
Check with us if you want to get more for your efforts, sure.
But action is key.
What’s the next action you can take that will start (or continue) to take you in the direction you want to go in?
Much love,
Jon ‘Sit vis nobiscum’ Hall
REDACTED didn't like it ["He can give it out, but not take it"]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
"You're the first person to tell me that in years" [They said]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I mentioned yesterday that it was our monthly Coaching Day last week.
A chance for members to do an assessment on our InBody 270.
Get a really comprehensive overview of where they’re at now.
And help formulate a plan to start taking that closer to where they’d like to be.
A real plan.
Not just “I’m going to eat better and do more exercise”.
That’s a plan that we’ve all tried many times before with minimal success.
And we’re looking to create a plan that will definitely work.
Because some plans don’t automatically work.
There’s so much conflicting information out there that it’s easy to think we’re doing the right thing…………..
But not be.
If we could follow the plan and it not automatically achieve the result, it’s probably not the best plan.
We may think that we “need to cut out carbs”.
Or “stop drinking”.
Or “drink more water”.
Or “stop snacking”.
Or “have breakfast”.
All of these could be methods that help us get there, sure.
If they contribute towards to creation of a sustained calorie deficit.
But they don’t automatically do that.
We could do any or all of them exactly as planned…………..
And still not lose weight.
That calorie deficit is the key.
We don’t have to track those calories…………
But a plan that will definitely create that deficit will always work better than one that might or might not.
I was talking to a new member at the aforementioned Coaching Day (does anyone ever say “aforementioned” in real life?).
And after some tactical questions as to whether her initial plans would definitely work and why her previous attempts hadn’t, she asked……………
“Are you saying I’ve just been eating too many calories?”
“Yes” I replied.
“You’re the first person to tell me that in years” she responded.
Every approach that she’d been given by supposed experts had been based around some version of demonization of certain foods or ways of eating.
Banned foods.
Certain macronutrients (carbs, fat or protein) being “the enemy”.
Not eating at certain times.
Such approaches can work.
If they create that deficit.
But for this member, and many we encounter, it doesn’t work.
Long term.
We don’t feel we can do that forever.
We end up doing something that we don’t feel we should do.
We feel that we’ve failed.
And ‘write if off’.
With a view to starting again at some point in the future.
Ultimately, whatever approach works best for us is the right one.
Knowingly sub-optimal and done beats optimal and not done.
Always.
But it’s worth remembering that “methods are many, principles are few. Methods often change, principles never do”.
And that we can select the method that works for us but only if it helps achieve the essential principle that will guide the results.
And not losing sight of those principles (or being told them by people who are supposedly there to help us) in the choice of those methods.
Much love,
Jon ‘The worst’ Hall
It's not what you're doing NOW [Lead vs. lag]
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Last Monday we had our monthly Coaching Day.
Where we try and get assessments done for the majority of members.
Some can’t make it that day so do it next time they’re in.
But we try and get most done to see where they’re up to and help set a plan going forward.
For some the results are great.
For others it is, perhaps, an opportunity to draw a line under what they’ve been doing and start making some choices that serve them better.
Sometimes people are disappointed with the results.
Happens everywhere.
More at most facilities if we’re being honest (we are renowned for our results)………..
But most places won’t admit it.
Putting the message out that all their members are getting great results.
Yet having a handful of (if any) success stories to share.
Sometimes we end up having a similar conversation a few times in a row.
Always an indicator that there’ll be others out there experiencing, thinking or feeling the same.
We had a few people express dissatisfaction at not getting the results they’d have hoped for “after everything I’m doing”.
When we looked a little deeper, what was being done hadn’t been getting done for all that long in the grand scheme of things.
After all, our results (in any area of life) are rarely a result of what we’re doing right now.
They’re a result of what we’ve done.
In the past.
Over weeks, months and years.
Where our body is right now isn’t a result of what we’re doing right now.
It’s a result of what we’ve done (or not).
Same with our careers, businesses, relationships and more.
RISE being in such a great position post COVID isn’t a result of what we’re doing now – it’s a result of what we did throughout COVID (and before).
Lead and lag indicators.
The lead indicator is the thing we can do and measure right now.
The lag indicator the delayed result of cumulative lead indicators.
Which is easy to forget.
As a species we love instant (or pretty quick, at least) gratification.
We want results for our efforts now.
And we get that.
But if we stop when the results don’t come……………..
We often miss out on the best results.
Of course, we need to make sure what we’re doing is the right thing to do for the result we desire.
———— Check with us if you’re unsure what that is —————–
But if we’re doing those lead indicators, the lag indicators will come.
Where we are right now isn’t a result of what we’re doing, it’s what we’ve done.
And where we will be in the future will be a result of what we’re doing now.
Much love,
Jon ‘Jaa Gale’ Hall
Even Arnie isn't "a self made man" [Don't go 'Lone Wolf']
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Four years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered a commencement speech at the University of Houston.
There’s a section of it that’s often shared online.
Here it is:
“Now, on your diplomas, there will be only one name on it and this is yours. But I hope that that doesn’t confuse and that you think that you maybe made it this far by yourself. No you didn’t. It took a lot of help. None of us can make it alone. None of us. Not even the guy that is talking to you right now that was the greatest bodybuilder of all time. Not even me that has been the Terminator and went back in time to save the human race. Not even me that fought and killed predators with his bare hands.
“I always tell people that you can call me anything that you want. You can call me Arnold. You can call me Schwarzenegger. You can call me the Austrian Oak. You can call me Schwarzie. You can call me Arnie. But don’t ever ever call me a self-made man.
“This is so important for you to understand. I didn’t make it that far on my own. I mean, to accept that credit or that mantle would discount every single person that has helped me to get here today — that gave me advice, that made an effort, that gave me time, that lifted me when I fell. It gives the wrong impression that we can do it alone. None of us can. The whole concept of self-made man, or woman, is a myth.”
It’s something we often forget.
Particularly when we’re struggling.
We go all “Lone Wolf”.
Tell ourselves “I know what I need to do, I just need need to do it”.
Forgetting that we told ourselves that last time (and the time before).
And that it’s what everyone ever who isn’t achieving what they’d like is telling themselves.
Forgetting that, when we have had success, it wasn’t just down to our own efforts.
It was when we accepted help and support.
When we didn’t allow our ego to get in the way.
We get it.
We’ve been there.
We all have.
But we all know that our best success comes with the support of others.
That taking less help and support when we’re struggling will only make things worse.
That the Lone Wolf always starves.
If you’re already a member and have been a bit “head in the sand” maybe use this as a nudge to start responding.
To accept the help and support that’s there.
Much love,
Jon ‘Hallzie’
You CAN out train a bad diet [But why would you?]
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Have you ever heard the expression “You can’t out train a bad diet”?
If you haven’t, you have now.
And it’s kinda true.
Although, if we’re being honest, you can out train a bad diet.
It’s just incredibly hard.
A massively inefficient approach.
Exercise is often massively overrated in terms of effectiveness for weight loss.
Have a guess how much weight an average sized man would lose by running a marathon (if all else were equal)?
A pound.
One measly pound of body fat.
For running / walking 26.2 miles.
If you had a big Saturday night that added 3,500 calories to your intake (meal out, several drinks and a take out on the way home would easily do it), you could do one of three things.
-
Gain a pound of body fat
-
Run a marathon the next day
-
Knock off 500 calories a day for the next week
Or, probably more a bit easier, option 4:
Make that night out 2,000 calories and knock of 400 a day until the next weekend.
Exercise is great for many things.
Increasing energy levels, toning and / or building muscle, getting a body we like the look and feel of, reducing aches and pains, health, fitness, better mood and mental health, supporting focus on better food choices and much, much more.
It’s rubbish for weight loss.
Compared to the changes we can make in our eating.
Exponentially easier.
Running a marathon vs. a handful less mouthfuls of food a day for a week.
Or even just as much (or more) food but lower calorie density choices.
Remember, you CAN out train a bad diet.
But why would you even want to try?
Much love,
Jon ‘Shamone’ Hall
"So sick of seeing this idiot and his sexist ads" ["On here and YouTube!!"]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You can't go from backwards to perfection [But still we try]
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One of the biggest mistakes we often make when trying to make some changes to our weight, health and fitness is……………….
To try to go from “going backwards”………….
Straight to ‘perfection’.
Forwards and 100 miles per hour.
From eating and living in a way that’s caused us to gain weight, lose energy, etc…………
To trying to “eat like a nutritionist” and “train like an athlete”.
And, when we don’t feel we can maintain that, to return to the ‘backwards’ approach.
We get it.
Faster progress is more exciting.
Easier to remain enthused about.
Creates motivation.
When we “see it working”.
And we’re all for fast progress.
But………..
What usually makes the fastest progress………..
Is the knowingly sub-optimal approach………….
That we, on average, maintain.
Fast enough to feel is worthwhile.
Not so much we feel any sort of need to “stop”.
Much love,
Jon ‘In the name of love’ Hall
P.S. Yesterday’s middle name was Treat Williams. An American actor apparently. He was in Once Upon A Time In America.
"You're not a dog though?" [I've thought of another one]
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Yesterday’s blog was the original one I intended to write about my dog.
Monday’s was a bonus I thought of whilst writing that one.
As is today’s.
Yesterday I talked about walking and training my dog when she was hungry.
As she responds better to treats then.
Treats.
The little bits of food we give dogs.
But also often how we describe certain bits of our own food as a justification for eating them.
Usually something more calorie dense.
Often sugary.
Maybe alcoholic.
Something we’ve termed as “unhealthy”.
But are justifying as a “treat”.
Because we “deserve it”.
After a “hard day”.
Which I get.
Life’s not always easy.
The human mind’s job is to make us feel better.
And the things we put in our mouth are often the quickest way to improve how we feel.
At least temporarily.
Unfortunately, they can then lead to the opposite.
A bigger reduction in how we feel overall than that short term gain.
It doesn’t mean we can never eat or drink those things.
No food or drink is inherently fattening or bad for our health.
It’s the overall balance of the week.
But, could we challenge that way of seeing things?
Is it a “treat” if we have some version of it every day?
Is it a “treat” if it contributes to us feeling worse overall?
Could it just be some food and drink that we have an amount of?
That we enjoy, sure.
But it’s just food and drink.
Could we “treat” ourselves with something else we only get pleasure from?
Watching our favourite programme?
Buying something we want?
Doing something else we enjoy?
You might argue that we’d do that anyway.
But, chances are, we’d have eaten or drank that thing anyway at some point.
It’s just how we frame it.
How we choose to see it.
Remembering that the words we use drive our thoughts and feelings which drive our actions and behaviours which drive our results.
If calling certain foods and drinks “treats” has worked for you, that’s cool.
If it hasn’t, is it worth questioning it?
After all, we treat dogs with food.
Much love,
Jon ‘Williams’ Hall
P.S. Hard middle name that. Any one?
Always walk when hungry [The opposite to shopping]
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Yesterday’s blog about my dog was supposed to be a different one.
This one.
When I started writing it, it ended up veering off.
So, here’s what I originally intended to write.
I usually try and take the dog out for a walk first thing.
For a few reasons.
-
Gets a walk in the bag early doors
-
Calms her down a bit for when the rest of the house start to get up
-
She’s much more responsive to treats before she’s had breakfast.
When she’s hungry she’ll be more up for doing training with treats being part of the benefit for doing the requested behaviour.
Walking her when hungry is the best time to do it.
Kinda the opposite to food shopping.
Doing that whilst hungry is usually the worst time to do it.
Things “jump into” our trolley.
Tasty looking things.
Things that will probably make the difference between us hitting deficit or maintenance calories this week………
And us ending up in a surplus.
Losing or maintaining weight.
Versus gaining it.
Shopping when not hungry will probably mean we make better choices overall.
And, even better, not shopping in a shop will probably lead to the best choices.
A couple of minutes after a meal thinking about the coming week………..
And doing an online food order………
Will, for most, lead to the maximum chance of the average food choices we make being ones that will take us in the direction we want to go in!
Much love,
Jon ‘My wife clicks, I collect’ Hall
P.S. Sometimes I try and subtly insert the links in these blogs. Sometimes not so much. It’s late on a Sunday night and I’m tired. If you’d like to lose 10 to 20lbs in the next 8 weeks whilst forming lasting healthy habits, without doing boring exercise you hate and giving up your favourite foods, all for the cost of a take out coffee a day, here’s where to go –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply
The worst advice we've ever received ["You can do it for free on YouTube"]
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Approaching two years ago the family and I bought a dog.
We went to see the puppy litter when they were very small and made our choice.
After much inter-family negotiation we selected one and a mint green collar was placed around her neck.
For a little while she was then going to he called Minty.
But we settled on Jessie.
When collecting Jessie we received some of the worst advice we have ever got.
We asked the breeder about dog training classes.
“You don’t need lessons” he began.
“You can learn it all off YouTube”.
Whilst I’m sure he’s right and that some people have trained their dog to a high standard using free YouTube videos……..
We didn’t.
Simple as that.
We wasted those integral first few months training her to a degree, but not enough to get the results we desired.
We then started lessons which were interrupted by COVID.
And we haven’t got round to restarting after the last lockdown.
Her behaviour is reasonable now.
But it’s hardly amazing for getting on for two years worth of effort.
We would’ve made so much quicker progress (and saved much frustration) by getting expert help from the beginning.
Like we would in many areas of life.
It always makes me sad when people don’t start with us (or do a bit, then stop) with the intention to “have a go myself”.
After nearly 20 years in the Fitness Industry I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone that’s got better results that way.
It’s the slow, hard way versus the fast, easy way.
Or, at the very least, faster and easier.
If all people needed was to know how to do some workouts, then that might work.
A couple of months with us and they’d learn some.
Or they’ve been able to get them for free on YouTube for 15 years.
Much like dog training.
What a dog training course and our programme brings is a set appointment that we’re expected for.
That we can still cancel, of course.
But that we’re way more likely to do than just “do some training” or “go to the gym” at some point.
It brings the focussed support of an expert who’s helped many people like us achieve the results we desire.
The accountability.
The support systems.
The being in a group of like minded people on the same journey.
The conditions and environment that maximise the growth and maintenance of motivation (we can’t create it, but we can make it more likely).
I regret not starting dog training lessons earlier and being more consistent with them.
The results we have now would’ve been arrived at much sooner and we’d be even further on.
Don’t make that same mistake!
Much love,
Jon ‘By sheer coincidence our friends ended up buying a half brother of Jessie’s who they called Woody’ Hall
They're not only not 'mutually exclusive' but they're actually directly correlated [Helping people and earning money AND healthy living and fun and enjoyment]
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When you work in an industry where the average person earns less than minimum wage when you look at their hours………….
You sometimes get comments when you are, shall we say, more successful than that.
The comments have slowed a lot since we first started and it was a new concept people weren’t so familiar with………….
But we still get them.
About us “making money off other people’s unhappiness”.
Or “profiting off people’s struggles”.
I sometimes reply to such comments (on social media) with something like;
“It’s great that you’re independently wealthy and don’t need to get paid for what you do. I’m not that fortunate and have bills to pay and kids to feed”.
They usually don’t reply to that.
Or if they do, they point out that that’s not the case for them and they do their work, in part at least, in order to get paid.
Like we all do.
Because we can have multiple reasons for doing what we do.
One doesn’t eliminate the other.
Us wanting to do this, liking to help people and changing people’s lives…………
Isn’t mutually exclusive to getting paid to do it.
If anything they’re directly correlated.
A person’s income in a product of how many people they help and how much they help them.
We help a lot of people and are really good at it.
If someone else does something kinda similar to us but doesn’t make much money from it…………
They’re either helping less people or are less good at helping them.
Neither of those things are good for the customer.
Not mutually exclusive – directly correlated.
Like living a healthy lifestyle and enjoying life.
We’re often tempted to think the opposite.
That healthy living is boring and restrictive.
That it’s at the expense of fun and enjoyment.
That we’ll have to force our way towards a slimmer body and better health by stopping doing what we like doing, using willpower and living a life we don’t really want to.
In reality the opposite can be true.
A life we enjoy more doesn’t need to be mutually exclusive to healthy living.
It can be a direct product of it.
More energy.
Less aches and pains.
A body we like the look and feel of more.
That can do more of what we want it to do.
Or even things we hadn’t even considered before.
That let’s us down less.
That keeps us going throughout the day.
That supports how we feel.
Our mental health.
Our mood.
That stands an increased chance of lasting longer.
After nearly 20 years of doing this I don’t think I’ve met a single person who’s adopted an overall healthier lifestyle on a continued basis……….
And has regretted it.
Who has felt their life was in any way “lesser” for it.
Only those who briefly dip their toes in and out in a way that’s very much about restriction and going without do.
Like doing this to help being and getting paid for it are not only not mutually exclusive………….
But are directly correlated…………
So are living a healthier lifestyle and enjoying our lives!
Much love,
Jon ‘coriolis effect’ Hall
90% didn't do any more business with Lee [Emails, innit?]
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You may have heard of Lee Shore.
Either from seeing his before and after on social media.
Or from his regular appearances on Crime Watch (this is, of course, a joke – Lee is s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶v̶a̶g̶u̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ a good friend of mine).
Lee owns an email marketing business.
It’s called Merrehill and is very good if you need some email marketing doing.
Lee has told me before that the vast majority of his business comes from the continued custom of a number of main clients.
Some of whom have been with them for many years.
And have achieved amazing returns on investment.
Over the years they’ve had a fair number of people come in and do just one campaign with them.
And not carried on.
Because that first campaign didn’t get the results they would have, ideally, liked.
Because these things take time.
Stats are monitored, things tweaked and adjusted over time.
Specific to that particular customer and the way they do things.
Until the results start to come at a greater rate.
Those that stick with that, engage in the process and get past that first stage do great.
Those that stop the second it’s not instant results, don’t.
Much like in any area of life.
You’ll know that we particularly market our ‘Great in 8’ programme.
Helping busy people lose 10 to 20lbs in 8 weeks whilst starting to form lasting healthy habits, without having to do boring exercise they hate and give up their favourite foods.
What we really do is amazing, long lasting, life changing results.
But it’s very much about ‘meeting people where they are’.
“The rest of your life” is quite a ‘big sell’.
Seems too much for most.
8 weeks feels very doable.
But, is ultimately supposed to be the first 8 weeks of the rest of your life.
Those that keep going after that first bit………..
That stay engaged……….
That work with us to tweak and refine the process around their own needs and preferences……….
Get those amazing, life changing results.
Those that just do the 8 weeks?
Usually get pretty good results for the time frame, sure.
But often don’t end up all that much on the deal over a longer time frame.
Many just immediately stop and go back to what they were doing before.
Or somewhere in between that’s, perhaps, better than what they were doing before.
But won’t equate to continued progress over time.
Thinking “I’ll just do what I’ve learned in the 8 weeks by myself”.
Forgetting that what they’ve ‘learned’ was only a tiny fraction of the reason for their progress (the support, the accountability, the peer group and the atmosphere that supports motivation, rather than diminishes it, being the bigger reasons).
A good start is an important part of continued success, of course.
But if it’s only a good start, that’s not enough.
Keeping on going is what we really do.
Stay engaged and we’ll help you get there 🙂
Much love,
Jon ’90 Day Fiancé’ Hall
We misuse the word "virtue" [And "vice"]
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What do you think when you hear the word ‘vice’?
Unless you’re thinking about GCSE woodwork, you probably think of things like drinking, smoking, gambling, taking drugs, eating excessively, etc.
And there’s maybe an element of “the fun stuff”.
Perhaps a little wry smile and sideways look?
Things you “know you shouldn’t do”………
But enjoy nonetheless.
What about ‘virtue’?
Not doing fun stuff?
A bit boring?
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle define virtue as “the ways of behaving that are most conducive to happiness in life”.
And ‘vices’ as “the ways of behaving that are least conducive to happiness”.
What we think of as vices usually give us an amount of short term pleasure.
Temporarily change our state.
How we feel.
And if they contribute towards us, overall, being happier, then that’s awesome.
If they lead to that ‘net loss’……….
If they make us feel a bit better for a number of minutes or a few hours per week………
But cause us to feel worse for the rest of the other 160 odd hours in the week……..
Could that mean we could stop and reflect on how we see those things?
Do they make us happy?
Or are they doing the exact opposite?
I stopped drinking two years ago (after 20 years of drinking more than the recommended amount)……….
When I realised I was happier and more relaxed across the 10,080 minutes in the week……..
When I wasn’t drinking than when I was.
Despite all the challenges it threw at me (and there were a lot), I would say I was more relaxed in 2020 than any previous year.
Doesn’t mean anyone else has to do the same, of course.
But could we question how we see virtue and vice?
Instead of being the boring and restrictive stuff and the fun stuff……….
Could it be the stuff that makes us more happy and the stuff that makes us less happy overall?
And see how we then feel about some of those choices in front of us?
Much love,
Jon ‘Grip’ Hall
"We don't need to advertise all the time" [Are you sure?]
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Every now and again someone sends me a post from a local facility that they feel is aimed at us.
Some clearly are, some a little more vague but probably are.
It’s cool.
As the original (and still the best) group training based facility in Macclesfield I’m sure other facility owners are, at least, aware of us.
And, I would assume, that our continued success year after year, might contribute to others feeling they can do something similar.
It was, amongst other things, the success of similar set ups in America that gave us some of the indication that this kind of approach could work.
One comment that’s been made many times over the years by others is “we don’t do transformations”.
I’ve covered before that a “transformation” is a “significant, lasting change”.
So if they’re “not doing transformations” they can only be doing “insignificant, temporary changes” 😉
The post that was shared with me the other day was along the lines of
“We don’t need to advertise all the time. Our results speak for themselves”.
I might be wrong, but as the only facility in Macclesfield I see advertising all the time, I assume that was aimed at us.
The only ads I ever see in my Facebook feed are from local Globo gyms and from us.
As I assume I would fit the ‘spec’ of the kind of person that might want to go to one of the other facilities, I can only assume the fact that I’ve never seen an advert means that they aren’t advertising (online, at least).
Which would be fine if they were consistently ‘full’ month after month, year after year.
But nothing I hear on the grapevine suggests that this is the case.
Our retention is good for the industry.
But do people leave.
Like they do from anywhere.
For a variety of reasons.
If we weren’t replacing them, we wouldn’t be able to cover all our costs over time.
Some new members come out of nowhere just from word of mouth.
Most come from a combination of that word of mouth, knowing our reputation, considering trying us………….
But then following the link on an advert to take that next step.
To me, somewhere would only need to “not advertise” if they consistently were where they wanted to be without.
A bit like tracking our food.
We don’t need to do it.
But if we’re consistently not achieving our goals………….
It might make sense.
If only for a little while.
Enough to take us back in that right direction.
If we were falling further and further into debt, we might spend a while tracking our expenditure.
Tracking our food doesn’t need to be seen any differently.
We might keep going with it when we realise it isn’t as much of a pain as we’d been telling ourselves.
We might use it to gain some insights into our current eating and make some tactical adjustments from that.
We might set some ‘rules’ around how / when we eat that we feel we can, on average, follow.
Other facilities don’t need to advertise, but, if they’re not where they’d like to be, it would help.
We don’t need to track our food, but if our weight and body isn’t where we’d like it to be, it would help!
Much love,
Jon ‘Recently had a call with a marketing expert who said “It blows my mind that people will spend 50 grand kitting out a facility, but won’t spend 50 pounds letting people know it’s there’ Hall
"But.... you can't have over 100% of capacity" [He wouldn't listen]
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Next March will mark 20 years since I started working in the Fitness Industry.
At Fitness First Derby.
The following February I moved to the new Fitness First at Sheffield and spent three years there doing 1:1 Personal Training.
I also took a few classes – partly for the income and partly as way to get in front of some members who might then be interested in PT.
The guy who ran the studio was called Rich (“2002 Fitness First Presenter of the Year Rich Hawke” as he’d correct me) and he became a good friend of mine.
But we did have one thing we disagreed on.
Part of his job was to keep track of studio usage.
Total numbers for each class and that number as a percentage of capacity.
He put the capacity of every class down as the same.
18.
I ran a Fitball class and we only had 15 Fitballs.
So I could only reach 83% of “capacity” even if every class was full.
I ran circuits classes you could get 20 or so in for.
His dance fitness classes could easily get 30+ people in the same space, so he regularly ran at 150+% of “capacity”.
Many a time I would explain to him that the classes should all have different capacities.
Based on how many people you could actually get in.
And that “by definition, you can’t have over 100% of capacity”.
Like how, by definition, you can’t be in a calorie deficit and not lose weight.
It might seem like you can.
That we might feel like we’ve “not being eating much but haven’t lost any weight”.
But there’s just something not quite right in our ‘calculations’.
Some numbers are a bit off at some point.
If we were using more energy than we were consuming, that energy would have to come from somewhere.
Unless we change the universally accepted ‘First Law of Thermodynamics’ – that we can’t create or destroy energy, just change it’s form.
Sure, there’s more to healthy eat than just being in a deficit.
And sure there are other places that energy can be stored in the body (and, therefore, released from) other than in fat.
But that energy would have to come from somewhere.
Our body can’t magic it out of thin air.
If we’re in a deficit our body will have to get that energy from somewhere.
And that will lead to weight loss over time.
Like we can’t go over 100% of capacity, we can’t be in a calorie deficit if we’re not losing weight.
When we accept that, it’s empowering.
We stop being a victim of our “metabolism” or genes or circumstances………
And we can start to create that average deficit over time.
Much love,
Jon ‘He called me Johnny Midnight, I called him Rick Pork, it was our ‘thing” Hall
There is no "keeping up" to be done [You wouldn't just stop, would you?]
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Did you watch much of The Olympics the other week?
I’ll be honest, I saw a lot less than I had planned to watch.
No particular reason – just was usually doing something else.
Time of day it was on live, I suppose.
I saw a few of the races though.
And do you know what I noticed in every single one of them?
Even when they were behind the leader (which, by definition, all but one runner is)…………..
No one stopped.
No one wandered off the track and thought they might have another go later………..
Because they couldn’t “keep up”.
Everyone finished.
At their own pace.
But we’re tempted to do the same with other areas of life, aren’t we?
To think that we “can’t keep up”.
So stop.
We sometimes hear this from members, particularly when they first start with us.
“I can’t keep up”.
Or “I’m struggling to keep up”.
By which they mean they can’t do as much as the fitter members in a Session.
Or they can’t do as many Sessions in a week as they are aware some people are.
Or, perhaps, as they’d ideally like to do.
Or they’re not reading every single blog and watching every single video we do.
It all feels “too much”.
They “can’t keep up”.
But that’s fine.
There’s no keeping up to be done.
Doing what we can is always better than doing less than that, or nothing at all.
Working at our own level in as many Sessions as we can do and reading some blogs and watching some videos is always going to lead to better results than none of the above.
What someone else may or may not be doing is irrelevant.
Remember that next time you feel you “can’t keep up”.
There is no ‘keeping up’ to be done.
Much love,
Jon ‘Rubbish at keepie uppies’ Hall
Three McDonald's, two Fish and Chips, a meat feast, a Dominoes and an all you can eat breakfast [All in 10 days]
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No, this isn’t the new version of ‘A Partridge In A Pear Tree’.
It’s the meals out and take out I had in a ten day period the other week.
In order:
Family break in the North East – Fish and chips take out in the park and fish and chips at Trenchers in Whitby.
McDonald’s breakfast on way home from family break.
Eldest son’s birthday – All you can eat breakfast at The Springwood in Tytherington.
Stag Do – McDonald’s on the way into Manchester with a friend for lunch and Bem Brasil all you can eat rodizio meat feast for tea.
Next day quick lunch at McDonald’s in Rotherham with the family whilst visiting the in-laws.
Few days later the wife surprises us all with a Dominoes take out because the fridge was pretty empty in the run up to main family holiday and she’d been working all day but had intended to sort some tea.
When you work in the Fitness Industry, people assume one of two things;
-
You live like a monk and only ever eat chicken and broccoli (other plain, boring meals are available) or
-
You can eat whatever you like but you have a good metabolism / genes that enables that
The truth, as for anyone who achieves and maintains body fat levels they are happy with, is actually option 3:
- Eat mostly pretty well but still live a normal life that involves eating take outs, meals out, etc.
And doing this by averaging out.
By not using the “less good” choices as justification to go crazy with them (medium fish and chips when I could’ve gone large, McDonald’s choices that came to about a third of my daily calorie requirements, a fair portion of breakfast when I could’ve had 50% more if I really wanted to, etc).
There was probably only the Bem Brasil where I went significantly over the number of calories I might normally have at that meal.
And then not using the “less good” choices as justification for more similar choices (reduced portion size at the meals around it rather than deciding to “write it off” and increasing them).
I didn’t have breakfast the morning after the Bem Brasil or lunch after the Springwood breakfast.
And no, skipping meals won’t have damaged my metabolism.
We wouldn’t have survived this long as a species if that was a thing.
And I’d have reduced portions on all the other meal around this time.
All this was still only 8 out of 30 possible meals.
I still had nearly three quarters of that time to pull back on the effect of that one quarter.
The point of this blog isn’t to tell you to go nuts with take out, meals out, etc.
It’s to let you know that you can still do those things in a way that allows you to work towards your goals.
If they’re going to happen anyway, we can do them in a way that takes us in the direction we want to go in.
Or we can do them in a way that takes us in the direction we don’t want to go in.
No food is inherently unhealthy or fattening.
Average diets can be.
If we cracked our phone screen we wouldn’t stamp on it to finish it off.
If anything we’d take more care with it.
Our eating can be the same.
Much love,
Jon ‘Ronald’ Hall
We went straight back to the hairdressers [My wife didn't carry on cutting our hair]
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One thing that the pandemic will be forever remembered for is DIY hair-do’s.
With hairdressers being closed during the lockdowns, we all had to sort ourselves out.
My wife did our hair.
Me and the four kids.
She did a great job, bless her.
For an accountant.
But I think she will freely admit she’s not planning on giving up the day job.
As soon as hairdressers were back open, we were straight back in.
It was nice to save a bit of money, sure.
But the difference in the results from DIY to seeing a professional was sufficient to make that investment worthwhile.
Like it is with our programme.
The last few months have seen a lot of former members return to us.
Who’d tried over the last year or so to “do my own thing”.
With mixed results.
Between “a little” and “massively backwards”.
They’d realised that, whilst it’s nice to save a few pounds a day……….
The difference in the results from DIY to seeing a professional is sufficient to make that investment worthwhile.
Saving a little bit of money but having a worse haircut all day every day isn’t a good saving (for most).
Saving a little bit of money but having lower energy levels and mood and a body we like the look and feel of less all day every day isn’t either.
We get that “it’s not cheap”.
But there’s a reason for that.
You get what you pay for.
If cheap or free works for someone, that’s cool.
For the vast majority for who it doesn’t, we’re the equivalent of “getting a nice hair cut”.
Much love,
Jon ‘& Guy’ Hall
Did you have "a good week"? [How will you know?]
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Did you have a good week this week?
From my experience of asking people this many thousands of times over the years, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll have said “No”.
Or “not really”.
That’s what the vast majority of people have replied with to me.
Which I get.
Life is busy.
Full on.
So much to do.
And it rarely, if ever, all gets done.
Easy to finish the day or week thinking about all the things that didn’t get done.
Or didn’t go quite as we’d like.
But………….
Is it worth considering…………….
What would have needed to have happened for us to have considered it a “good week”?
Did we have a particular definition?
If not, we’re just left with how we “feel”.
And how we feel will always tell us it wasn’t good.
Our feelings will lean more towards remembering the ‘less than perfect’ stuff.
And immediately forgetting the majority that went as planned.
Moving quickly on to the next thing.
There’s no right or wrong, of course.
But, if having no particular definition of a ‘good week’ usually leads to us feeling we’ve not had one……………..
Or if that definition is, essentially, everything going absolutely perfectly…………
Could we set a definition that sets up up for success?
One that we will achieve the majority of the time and use to build confidence and momentum?
Could a “great week” be all the stars aligning?
And a “good one” being something a bit more likely?
My “good week” is no one dying and getting done the bare minimum that needs to happen for the business to be ok (Sessions, blogs, accountability follow ups, etc).
This happens practically ever week.
A great week takes a little more and happens less often.
I know some would question this definition.
But it sets me up for success.
For feeling happy the vast majority of the time.
Again, no right or wrong.
Our choice.
But if our definition of “a good week” is none existent or is “perfection”………
Might we benefit from questioning that?
Much love,
Jon ‘Will Hunting’ Hall
It's after, not before [Motivation]
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Next March, I’ll have been in the Fitness Industry for 20 years.
This blows my mind.
Many things have changed over that time frame.
And many things have stayed exactly the same.
For all that time, the number one thing people tell me they struggle with is…………..
Motivation.
There may be other factors there too, but that’s mentioned more than anything else and always has been.
Which I get.
Ultimately, the main reason we don’t do anything sufficiently frequently over time is that we don’t feel sufficiently motivated to do it.
If we did, we would’ve done it.
I’ve mentioned many times that I’d quite like to be able to play a musical instrument.
But the fact that I’ve put practically zero time and effort into it shows I’m not really that bothered.
I’ve never been particularly motivated by it.
Which is fine.
Although, the irony with exercise, better eating, etc is………
We probably have all felt motivated by it at some point in the past.
Usually when we were doing it.
We just lose that feeling.
When we stop doing it.
Because motivation is an ‘after emotion’.
It comes from the doing.
Not the waiting.
And sometimes it takes time to come when we’re doing.
But it’ll come in the end.
If we keep doing.
When we remember that (and that the body responds the same whether we’re motivated or not if we’re ‘doing’)…………
And we ‘do’ even though we’re not motivated……….
That’s the only way we ever become motivated!
Motivation as an after emotion, not a before one.
Much love,
Jon ‘noon tea’ Hall
What percent of GDP is that? ["How much?"]
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I mentioned yesterday about Brian Cox’s response to the cost of a space exploration programme (the details of which I forgot).
And the context he put that in by explaining that that money was nearly all then spent in this country and not “sent up in a rocket”.
Context is often useful with all expenditure.
I regularly see people posting on social media about how much is been spent on things.
And “what a waste” it is.
Or how it could be spent better.
By the government.
By the local council.
And, often, these amounts of money do sound a lot.
A billion pounds by the government.
£3 million by the local council.
But big numbers always sound a lot without context.
A billion pounds is less than £20 per person in the UK.
0.035% of GDP (“all of the money spent by consumers, businesses, and government in a given period”).
£3 million about £50 per person who lives in Macclesfield.
Or 0.3% of the amount spent in the town each year by visitors.
Doesn’t automatically mean that they are the best uses of money and that we shouldn’t ask questions, of course.
But it puts them into context, doesn’t it.
Both in terms of what a big cost it really is in the grand scheme of things.
And of the benefits it could bring (spending 0.3% of the amount spent by visitors in Macclesfield to increase that number by a percent or five makes sense, no?).
And I always think the same with the cost of our programme.
I get that it costs more than a budget gym.
The kind where you rent access to some equipment.
But no one knows or cares if you know what you’re doing, go or not or get results or not.
And you only hear from when you cancel your DD.
But that’s not a fair comparison, if you ask me.
Like pointing out a nice house cost more than tent.
Or a nice new car costs more than a clapped out old one.
A budget gym would cost 1.6% of the average UK income.
A reasonable one more like 2.6%.
Many are 5% plus and a top end 1:1 PT Studio near here that would be more like 40%.
Our programme more like 4%.
For a body you like the look and feel of more.
Increased energy and mood.
A increased chance of staying healthy and living longer.
The best use of 4% of income you could possible make in my humble opinion.
And for many, only a fraction of what they’ll spend on stuff which, whilst is enjoyable, if we’re being honest with ourselves, is less important.
TV, films, eating out, take out, drinking, etc.
It always makes me sad when people try us out briefly and leave “because of the cost” and I see them out (or on social media) happily spending what would get them an entire month with us on a single night out.
Or an entire year (or several) on a marginally nicer car.
I’d never dream of telling someone how they should spend their money, of course.
It’s their money, their life – to do with both what they wish.
But I will help people question the cost of the changes they can make with us.
And to put them into context.
Much love,
Jon ‘GDPR’ Hall
"They didn't just send that money up in a rocket" [Brian Cox said]
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Five years ago the wife and I went to see ‘In Conversation with Professor Brian Cox + Professor Tim O’Brien’ at Saint Michael’s Church in Macclesfield.
It was part of that year’s Barnaby Festival.
It was really interesting.
I did a blog about it at the time (googling ‘Brian Cox Macclesfield’ brings it up first).
But a line from it popped into my head the other day.
When discussing the cost to the country of the pandemic.
Brian was responding to a question from the audience.
About the cost of some sort of space exploration project (I forget which one exactly).
And whether he felt it was a worthwhile use of tax payer’s money.
In short, he did.
For a few reasons.
In part, because, as the blog title shows, “They didn’t just send that money up in a rocket”.
The money was spent on paying people, mostly in this country, to do work.
On purchases from suppliers based in this country.
All of whom would then pay tax, spend in the economy, etc.
It isn’t just a cost.
Like many things.
It’s tempting to think that healthier eating and exercise are a cost.
Of our time.
Of our money.
Of our energy and focus.
But, if anything, they’re the biggest investment we can make.
Not only can we get those back…………
We can end up ”in profit’.
More energy and focus over all.
More productive use of the time we do have (it’s pretty common that I see people who’ve joined here briefly, left because they’re “too busy” and are then listing the hundreds of hours of box sets they’ve been watching – time isn’t the issue there, it’s energy).
Potentially more income due to our increased focus, energy and productivity.
That time, money, energy and focus isn’t just “been sent up in a rocket”.
It’s making more back for us!
Much love,
Jon ‘D:Ream’ Hall
Sat Nav doesn't take you in a straight line [Neither does life]
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Anyone else got kids who spend half of a car journey asking “how long till we get there?”
Mine do.
Two of them particularly.
Always have done.
So I often put the destination into Sat Nav even when I don’t need it.
If they ask, I just point at the ETA on the Sat Nav.
And, I assume, they must remember to check that without my prompt sometimes.
I even pop it on the school run for them (it is a 51 mile round trip – for those two anyway).
Over the Cat and Fiddle (the Macclesfield to Buxton road).
Which, those that have driven over it will know, is rather windy (in both uses of that word).
Sometimes you can see on Sat Nav that you’re actually facing, and going, in completely the wrong direction.
Because Sat Nav knows that the shortest straight line route is never the quickest one.
Not when you crash into a wall, get stuck in a field, etc.
No – the quickest progress is usually a wiggly line back and forth but moving in the right direction, on average, over time.
Like with most things.
Including improvements to our health, fitness, mood, energy levels, etc.
The plan that tries to take us in a straight line as fast as possible, usually doesn’t get us there.
Drastic, wholesale changes that are pretty much the exact opposite of what we’ve been doing before.
We do the equivalent of driving into that wall or field.
Then ‘going home’.
And planning on “starting again” at some point in the near future.
Manageable changes…….
That we maintain……….
That we may speed up and slow down with as circumstance dictates………
That sometimes involve a bit of “two steps forward, one step back” (and then the next two steps forward)………..
But that we keep going with, on average………..
Get us there more consistently and reliably.
Much love,
Jon ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Hall
You can't make it burn [The literal or internal flame]
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I’ve blogged before about fire.
You know the stuff.
Flames and all that.
Takes fuel, oxygen and ignition.
GCSE science innit?
We’ve probably all set something on fire at some point.
We know how it works.
But we didn’t really ‘create’ the fire, did we?
We can’t ‘make’ things burn.
We can just create the conditions where fire is the likely outcome.
Manage the variables that feed into that.
Control the inputs, not the outcome.
Knowing which inputs make the desired outcome most likely.
For fires of the literal type……….
And that internal one.
Motivation.
That feeling inside us.
That desire to do something.
We can’t make that happen either.
We can’t create motivation.
We can’t conjure it out of thin air.
We can’t even force it to happen with the right inputs like we can’t force something to burn.
But we can control those inputs………..
Those variables……….
To make it most likely.
To make it pretty probable to happen given time.
We can make the better choices when we don’t feel motivated to;
Food
Exercise
Sleep
Meditation
Knowing that it makes it more likely that motivation will come, with time.
We don’t just expect a log to burn.
Then get annoyed with it for not being alight.
We control the variables that go into it.
Our internal flame is the same.
Much love,
Jon ‘Bangles’ Hall
Boston were wrong [More than a feeling?]
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Who remembers the band Boston?
I’ll be honest, I don’t.
I couldn’t’ tell you a single thing about them.
Other than the name of one of their songs that I have on my general playlist.
“More than a feeling”.
Talking about the singer’s memories of a girl called Marianne.
And how they are “more than a feeling”.
They’re not though, are they?
They are just a feeling, aren’t they?
‘Feeling’ being defined as “an emotional state or reaction”
And ’emotion’ being “a strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others”……………
State “the particular condition that someone or something is in at a specific time.”
By definition, just a feeling.
A temporary one.
Like all emotions.
Temporary states.
Governed by the “law of impermanence”.
Transient
Inconstant.
Things that come and go.
When we view any emotion as being anything but a temporary state, we’re probably setting ourselves up for a harder time with them.
They are just feelings.
Feelings we may have more than we’d like, sure.
That we are, perhaps, more pre-disposed to than others.
That, maybe, come to us more readily and we find harder to let go of.
But feelings nonetheless.
Temporary states.
We don’t describe some feelings with terms of permeance
So why others?
We never say we “have happiness”.
Or talk about “my joy”.
So why describe feelings like depression and anxiety the same way?
Not to dismiss or minimise them, but does describing them as things we “have” or “my……” set us up for viewing them in the way that serves us best?
Can they not just be emotions that we’re feeling?
That, by definition, will come and go?
That we’ll be feeling sometimes and not others?
Does framing them as “more than a feeling” really help us?
Much love,
Jon ‘Cheers’ Hall
It has a higher success rate than the vaccine [BMI]
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I was reading an article about the various COVID vaccines the other day.
And their success rates.
All in the fairly high double digits percentage it seems.
70 to 95% the various reports and studies suggest.
When the vaccines were first in development there was talk of 50% being the minimum effectiveness that would be considered viable.
So these numbers are, obviously, considered pretty good.
But, do you know what has a much higher success rate?
But is often maligned?
BMI.
Body Mass Index.
Our weight in kilos divided by our height in metres squared.
Under 18.5 is considered underweight.
18.5 to 25 “healthy”.
25 to 30 “overweight”.
Over 30 “obese”.
Many people will tell you it’s rubbish.
Inaccurate.
It “doesn’t’ consider muscle mass”.
And that “It puts most bodybuilders and rugby players down as obese”.
I used to say the same.
When it seemed like that’s what all FitPros were saying and, therefore, so should I.
And, when my own BMI was over 25.
I’ve covered the “body builder / rugby player” explanation in depth before.
Body builders / rugby players are perhaps 1% of the population.
And only a proportion of them have an “obese” BMI.
And only a proportion of them have a “non-obese” body fat percentage.
So, based on that, BMI works for 99.5+% of the population, surely?
It’s not the perfect tool, sure.
But it’s better than many will tell you.
It’s easy to look at the numbers and think “I could never get that light”.
But, every single person who’s ever been a member of RISE (we don’t attract body-builders) who has gotten down to what you might call a “slim” body fat level…………
Has ended up pretty much bang in the middle of that 18.5 to 25 BMI range.
Most surprised with how light they’ve ended up.
Realising they were carrying more body fat than they realised.
When I got really lean for my 40th, my BMI was 22.4.
It’s normally around 23.5 now.
And that’s with reasonable muscle levels.
I’d have to gain 3 stone 9lbs to get to an “obese” BMI.
Without the use of steroids (what bodybuilders take to get that big) I don’t see that happening without a fair proportion of it being body fat.
As always, we can do what we like.
Take the vaccine or not.
Have whatever BMI we like.
But knowing that BMI isn’t as inaccurate as many will tell us…………
And that if we have a high BMI, there is a very, very good chance we have body fat we could lose if we choose to…………..
Puts us in a better position for making those choices (and realising that they are choices) then dismissing it completely does.
Much love,
JCW Hall
How many times did it land on black? [The Gambler's Fallacy]
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During the lockdowns of the last year or so, the family and I had numerous ‘themed’ evenings in.
Race nights, drive thru cinema, quizzes, game shows and much more.
We did a casino night too.
Got a new roulette wheel and baize of Amazon to go with the black jack set we already have.
Our youngest particularly enjoyed that night.
So much so that I sometimes find him with the roulette wheel out, counting the numbers and having a spin.
Do you know what the record is for most consecutive lands on one colour?
At least in a well know, casino type situation?
It was in Monte-Carlo on August 18, 1913.
The ball fell on black 26 times in a row.
A one in 67 million chance (as you might expect, I just figured that out with Excel).
Gamblers lost millions expecting it to land on red along the way.
You can imagine people saying “It can’t land on black again” or “What are the chances?”
That game made the term “the gambler’s fallacy” famous.
“when an individual erroneously believes that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events”
The chances, of course, of it landing on black again are 50-50.
What happened before has zero impact on what’s about to happen.
But the human brain is tempted to see it a different way.
As it often does in many areas.
We make decisions based off our last decisions.
We eat too much and then that’s the reason for eating too much again at the next meal.
Framing it as “writing off” that time period (day, weekend, week, etc).
Or we have one drink and use that a reason to have another.
We miss one workout and use that as a reason for missing another.
These are, of course, all things we can choose to do.
Free world.
But…………
Our previous decisions don’t have to have any impact on our next ones………..
Unless we choose them to.
Each spin of the wheel or roll of the dice is a fresh event.
Unaffected by any event that precedes it.
Each choice we make is the same.
Much love,
Jon ‘Black Jack’ Hall
"Why is the top "100 songs ever" mostly old songs?" [Obvious when you think about it]
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I had a comment on one of our social media posts the other day.
“Why don’t you have as many new ones of these?”
About our success stories.
“As many new ones as what?” I replied.
“The old ones” they answered.
“You don’t seem to get as many new ones”.
They were wondering why we have less new success stories than we have old ones.
Which I get.
A higher proportion of the success stories we put out there are from, let’s say, 2012 to 2019 then they are from 2020 to 2021.
For two reasons.
- We probably have been able to get less before and afters done – not that they’re not happening, just that we’ve only had about a third of that time in the club and our average membership numbers were a bit down during the lockdowns.
But, more importantly;
- 2012 – 2019 is a longer time period.
If the number of before and afters we were getting was the same every single month since we opened, then there would automatically be “more old ones than new ones”.
88 months would produce more than 19 months.
“Quick maths” Big Shaq would say.
It’s like observing that most songs in a “Top 100 songs of all time” are “old” (not from the last year or two)………….
And thinking this automatically means “modern music isn’t as good”.
When you’re comparing 60+ years to 2 years.
We could stop sharing the older success stories, I suppose.
But, why would we?
They occurred in our programme.
Which has improved year on year.
A different success story might just ring true with a particular person seeing it.
Even if it is from a few years ago.
That being said, we’re always up for new success stories.
That’s what we ultimately do.
Successes.
Results.
Whilst enjoying the process (or, at the very least, finding it sufficiently tolerable compared to other methods).
Some are more physical and lend themselves to a ‘before and after’.
Many more run a lot deeper.
Some don’t want to be shared publicly (and that’s cool).
But we’re always up for more success.
If you’re already a member and it’s not going quite as you’d like, let’s change that now.
What needs to happen for you to look back in a few months and think it’s been successful?
Talk to us about it.
Much love,
Jon ‘Hit Parade’ Hall
Winners never quit? [Is this true?]
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Have you ever heard the phrase “Winners never quit. Quitters never win”?
I’m sure you have.
Everyone has, yeah?
It’s a phrase I’ve gone back and forth on over the years.
When I first started as a PT (nearly 20 years ago) it was the kind of motivational quote I liked.
I say “motivational” – I don’t know how many people it’s ever actually helped motivate.
Then over time, I came to the realisation that there’s nothing wrong with stopping doing something.
To change course.
To realise something isn’t working.
To focus our energies on something we value more.
Why keep doing something that we don’t like and / or isn’t benefitting us?
But then I’ve veered back a bit.
Since having kids.
There’s something about hearing them say the word that I don’t like.
“I want to quit football, tennis, gymnastics, trampolining, violin, etc.”
Or “Insert Friend Name has quit XYZ – I want to as well”.
I don’t mind them stopping doing something.
But it’s the mindset that the word “quit” puts us in.
Giving up because it got too hard.
With something we actually still want to do.
And it will probably “start again” with at the future.
That’s the difference.
When we “quit” exercising, better eating, etc………..
Are we really saying we don’t want the benefits of it any more?
That we’ll never, ever do it again?
Do we need to stop completely?
Could we just “slow down and speed up as circumstance dictates”?
Do a knowingly sub-optimal version that feels doable at that point?
Then, maybe, a bit more when we feel we can?
It doesn’t need to be all or nothing.
We never need to “quit”.
Stopping completely some things when we no longer value doing them, makes sense.
Doing what we can with the things we do value when we can’t do them quite as much as we’d ideally like makes even more sense.
Much love,
Jon ‘Chicken Dinner’ Hall
It's like tracing paper [I've not used this since school]
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If you’ve read these blogs before, you’ll know we often recommend tracking our food.
You know – punching what we eat into an app like MyFitnessPal.
Not forever like.
Although some people do like to carry on doing it the majority of the time.
But 3-5 days is normally enough to get some useful insight.
To get some knowledge going forward.
Any approach to change our food works (from a weight loss perspective) if it creates a calorie deficit.
Doesn’t if it doesn’t.
Many FitPros (or your mate who has lost weight) will recommend a particular ‘method’.
Keto, Intermittent Fasting, 5:2, points, Atkins, portion control, food group elimination (cutting out a particular food), etc, etc.
All can work if that deficit is there.
None work automatically.
Tracking will give us the basic ‘shape’ of what we’re doing.
And we can continue ‘fill that in’ over time.
Like tracing paper.
Use it.
Then remove it.
Much love,
‘Track and’ Jon Hall
"There's only one thing in the way of that" [Dave said]
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I’m (starting) writing this blog at 6:19am on Monday 2nd August.
It’s Coaching Day.
The first Monday of the month where we do assessments, interpretation, goal setting and coaching with our members.
And they stay for a mini workout.
It’s relatively quiet today with holidays and what not.
And there’s two coaches in (me and Jen).
So I’m writing blogs in the odd gap.
I’ve just been speaking to Dave.
He’s doing his mini workout right now.
He was telling me and Jen how he’s set his alarm for early Sessions this week.
He’d come to a realisation about the evening Sessions he’s always usually aimed to do.
But, perhaps, not made quite as frequently as he’d like.
“There’s always loads of things that can get in the way” he said (ish – I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist).
You know what it’s like?
Work, family, etc.
Tonnes of things that start to accumulate over the day that can get in the way of a workout.
Or a better food choice.
To come first thing in the morning?
There’s only one thing that can get in the way of that.
Whether you get out of bed or not.
Not always easy, sure.
But it is just one thing.
Just a choice of whether we do it or not.
Now that doesn’t automatically mean we should all train at 6am.
But all choices have an easiest time that they can be made.
A time when there are, perhaps, only or or two reasons to make another choice.
One or two things that can get in the way.
A best time for us to exercise.
A best time for us to make some choices and plans around our eating (meal planning, food shopping, etc).
And there are harder times.
With more reasons not to and more things that can get in the way.
So……….
When is that for us?
Much love,
Jon ‘UKTV G2’ Hall
The photos I didn't share of our holiday [It was a dump]
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Those of you who are Facebook friends with me may have seen that the family and I holidayed in the North East the other week.
I shared lovely family photos of us at Whitby, Robin Hood’s Bay, Saltburn and the like.
What I didn’t share was a photo of our accommodation.
We’d left organising it till the last minute as we weren’t 100% sure of some of the logistics (blended family, etc).
And found relatively few options available for five (no Step-Daughter for the first time) and a dog.
You’ll probably have seen that prices have gone up for holiday accommodation quite a lot this year.
And, while I’ve been mega pleased with how we’ve handled the challenges of COVID…………
16 consecutive months of either the club being closed or operating at restricted capacity…………
With the same or higher (more sessions and cleaning) costs………..
Have added up to a reasonable sized hole in the budget which needs filling over time.
So we booked an AirBnB in Middlesbrough.
Now, I’m not daft.
I’m aware Middlesbrough isn’t the most well known of holiday venues, shall we say.
But the accommodation looked fine on the photos.
And it would make a suitable base for day trips along that North East coastline.
We stopped off at Harrogate on the way to break up the journey which is, of course, lovely.
As Sat Nav indicated we were entering the final mile of the journey to our holiday home, our hearts began to sink.
As we pulled up outside the house, they dropped completely.
It was rough.
Really rough.
Maybe 30 or so houses on either side of our street.
Many looked vacant.
Some were boarded up and / or burnt out.
The first people we encountered on getting our of our car were missing most of their teeth.
Check the view out of the back of the house on the blog post.
“Let’s get inside and have an hour before deciding what to do” I said.
The house inside was fine.
As displayed and described on AirBnB.
Entirely my fault for not checking out the area.
We decided to give it a go.
It was only ever meat to be a base, which it served fine as.
Out for the day after breakfast.
Back for a late tea and bed.
It did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Move that house a few miles to the east and it would’ve bee perfect.
And it makes a good story.
A story I’m sharing with you for one main reason.
A reminder.
That the version of people’s lives we see is, at best, only part of the story.
Especially on social media.
A curated high-light reel of all the best bits.
We’re all guilty of it.
And it’s easy to think our lives are worse by comparison.
More boring.
Less enjoyable.
And that feeds into this story we have that “it’s different for me”.
Everyone else seems to have it easier.
They seem more motivated than us.
And that just makes it all harder still.
Remembering that it’s just highlight reels (which we all have but, often, quickly forget)…………
That, despite individual variances, we all have those challenges and difficulties on the way………..
That it’s how we deal with them that’s key…………
And that, at best, motivation is an “after emotion” (that comes from doing not waiting)…………
Set’s us up for success.
Much love,
Jon ‘Stig of the’ Hall
The app doesn’t work because……..[Pingdemic]
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Heavy metal suicide [Last one now]
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Last ‘We didn’t start the fire’ blog – promise.
I had considered doing seven but, after the first few jumping out of the page at me, the last couple have taken a lot more effort.
This last line refers to 1983.
“Heavy metal suicide”.
As a quick Google shows “Heavy metal tracks ‘Suicide Solution’ and ‘Better By You, Better Than Me’ are called into question by the family members of fans of the tracks who committed suicide.”
There’s been a lot of talk about suicide and mental health in the media (social and conventional) over the last few years.
Which is great.
It’s previously been seen as somewhat taboo subject.
For years my Nanna would explain “Uncle Charlie” on the family tree as having died aged XX because “he accidentally set off his shotgun climbing over a stile”.
It now seems pretty probable that he shot himself and the family covered that up.
An old friend of mine drove to a campsite in Wales a few years ago and gassed himself in his car.
Interestingly, a bit of research shows that the (recorded, at least) suicide rates have only been going back up the last few years.
They dropped year on year, on average, from 1981 to 2017.
And have started going back up since.
Randomly, they have jumped up in every year ending in 8 (which I can only assume is a coincidence).
Whatever the case, it’s clearly a long term problem.
And is, of course, indicative of a larger mental health situation.
Which, as mentioned earlier, has been an increased topic of conversation in recent years.
Which is great.
Talking is a huge part of making changes.
But, by itself, isn’t always enough.
When we couple it with action, that’s a potent combo.
It’s nearly always the doing of the thing that causes things to change.
Whether that be exercise, improved eating, more sleep, relaxation methods, meditation, journaling or many other things we can do that often help with our mental health.
Over the years I’ve probably had over 20 people tell me that they were considering (or had attempted) suicide before they joined us.
And, I assume, for every person who’s told me that, there are others who have been in the same situation but haven’t told me.
They found that, whilst the talking had helped somewhat……….
The adding the ‘doing’ on top helped way more.
We know it’s not that easy.
Nothing is.
That, sometimes, it’s the last thing we feel like doing.
But, we often only start to feel like doing something by doing it.
That doing it when we don’t feel like it is, perhaps, the most beneficial time to do it.
Never forget that we’re always here to talk.
But we’re also here to help you take action 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Squad’ Hall
The day the music died? [American Pie]
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In verse six of ‘We didn’t start the riot’, it’s 1959 and there’s a reference to Buddy Holly
Referring to the plane crash in which Holly, and fellow musicians Richie Valens and The Big Bopper died.
“The day the music died” from the song American Pie (one of my nephew’s favourite songs at the moment – I often catch him humming it).
Music, of course, didn’t die that day.
It carried on largely unaffected.
A quick Google tells me that record sales (which had increased from £279 million to £603 million in the UK between 1955 and 1959) continued to sky rocket throughout the 60s.
A lot of things aren’t actually dead when we describe them as such.
Like our ways of eating.
We have an intention to eat a certain way.
Often a very woolly one at best.
“I’m going to be good” perhaps.
And the second we have some food or drink that we’ve classed as being somewhat ‘demonised’, we decide that time is over.
We’ve maybe “failed”.
It’s been “ruined”.
It’s a “write off”.
The “diet” is dead for now.
And we use that as a justification to eat and drink much more.
As always, we’re all grown ups.
We can eat, drink and do whatever we like.
Who would we be to tell you otherwise.
But……..
We could maybe question these (actually nonsensical) ways of describing how we’re eating……..
If it isn’t serving us well?
Much love,
Jon ‘Stiffler’ Hall
British politician sex? [Sounds a bit more classy?]
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Another incident referenced in the song ‘We didn’t start the fire’ is what is often referred to as the ‘Profumo affair’.
A scandal which began in 1961 with politician and Secretary of State for War John Profumo having an extra marital affair with 19 year old Christine Keeler.
The majority of the issue arose from Keeler also having a relationship with Yevgeny Ivanov (the senior naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy) and Profumo’s lying in Parliament when questioned about the situation.
Interestingly, Wikipedia describes this ‘lying’ as “at that time was an unforgivable offence in British politics”.
I believe it’s OK, if not encouraged, nowadays.
Anyway, Christine Keeler (and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies) was widely described in the press as a “call-girl”.
Meaning prostitute.
Having just read up on it, it seems she wasn’t.
She worked as a topless dancer, but the relationship with Profumo (and others) was just that, rather than a business transaction.
Even thought I was born nearly 20 years after this occurred, I still have memories of it being referenced.
And the term “call girl” stuck in my mind.
Sounds relatively classy and pleasant, doesn’t it?
Especially in comparison to the opposite equivalent of “rent boy”.
Which sounds much more derogatory to all involved.
A prime example of the words we use being powerful for creating a vision of how we see things.
We describe what we’re doing eating wise as a “diet”………
As “cutting out” certain foods………
Even as “being good” (when we’ve got this side of ourselves that we like to describe as “naughty”)……..
Then that frames how we see said eating.
And how likely we are to do it.
Over time.
It sounds like something we don’t want to do.
So we won’t.
Describe it as something we do want to do……..
And it sounds much more appealing.
“Eating in a way that makes me feel better”.
“Giving my body what it needs to look and perform like I’d like to”.
Just words, sure.
But remember that our words drive our thoughts which drive our actions, behaviours and results.
Changing those words can be a relatively easy way to help change what comes out of the other end.
Much love,
Jon ‘Prfumo’ Hall
Tricky Dicky should've carried on saying "No" [I am not a crook]
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On August 9th 1974, Richard Nixon became the first (and only so far) U.S. President to resign from office.
Making Gerald Ford the 9th Vice President to take over (the previous 8 had been due to death – history lesson here for you).
It’s referenced in the “We didn’t start the fire” song I covered in yesterday’s blog.
Tricky Dicky (as Nixon was known) was, of course, jumping before he was pushed.
The impending impeachment after the Watergate Scandal.
His involvement in, and attempts to cover up, the June 17th 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington DC.
A lesser know fact is that this break-in wasn’t Nixon’s idea.
It was bought to him by members of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP).
Initially as part of a larger, even more dodgy plan.
Which was refused.
Over two months the CRP returned with ever smaller plans until it was agreed.
He, and others involved, later said that if they had been presented with the final plans initially, they never would’ve agreed to them.
The repeated reduction from the original made them seem much smaller and less of an issue.
As many things can be.
It’s all context.
The difference from a frame of reference which is entirely in our own heads.
We only see healthy eating as boring and restrictive when it’s framed as a massive change from what we’re doing now.
When someone has come to us with the equivalent of a huge, complicated plan………….
We might do it for a few days…………
And then find “It’s all too much”.
When we could just make a number a relatively subtle changes to how we eat to create that average across the week that takes us in the right direction.
Exercise only feels too much when we decide the solution is to go from zero to several long, high intensity workouts.
And tell ourselves we need to do that or “leave it till next week”.
Where, again, just “some” would be a great step in the right direction.
Or, in a closer comparison to the Watergate situation, our friend will initially come to us with the ‘plan’ of a “big night out”……….
Before getting us with the smaller version of “just one”.
And us then going for Plan A after all.
There’s no problem with doing Plan A, of course – just maybe we’d benefit from not teaching our friend how to trick us into it.
Or for deciding to go for a Plan B right from the start that still has us going out but can be part of that average across the week.
Much love,
Jon ‘I am not a crook’ Hall
We Didn't Start The Fire [It was always burning]
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You know the song?
By Billy Joel.
Here’s a YouTube link in case you’d like to have a listen –> www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g
It’s different, isn’t it?
Both to Joel’s other songs and, well, most songs.
He wrote it in 1989.
In response to a conversation with a young Julian Lennon and a friend.
They’d told him how hard they felt it was turning 21 in the late 80s and how he’d have had it easier growing up in the 50s and 60s.
According to Wikipedia, the conversation went:
“It’s a terrible time to be 21!”
Joel replied to him “Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y’know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful.”
The friend replied, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties”.
Joel retorted, “Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?”
The song is, essentially, a mini history lesson, covering the year Billy Joel was born up to the (then) present day.
117 important people, situations, conflicts and historical events.
With the intention of showing that the world has always been full of problems, chaos and challenges.
“We didn’t start the fire. It was always burning, since the worlds been turning”
Something that’s worth remembering now, as much as at any point in history.
If you read many people’s social media, the world has never been worse.
“Stop the world, I want to get off” (worth noting as the title of a play from 1961).
“World’s gone mad”.
“Gone to the dogs”.
Every generation telling the next that things were better “in my day”.
Sure, there are specific challenges at the moment.
But there have always been specific challenges.
There’s never not been.
It doesn’t mean we dismiss the current challenges, of course.
But we can put them in context.
Realise that the “fire” will always be “burning”.
It’s how we respond to it that’s key.
We can either live our life in the way we want to, in line with our values – despite what’s going on in the world.
Or we can let those fires derail us.
Much love,
Jon ‘Piano Man’ Hall
P.S. Over the remainder of this week I’m going to try and cover some parallels from the events mentioned in this song.
Hopefully it will be a 7 day song. Might be 5. Could be 2. I’ve only got one in mind and the point of writing this. Stick with me 🙂
We don't even realise that is an invitation [Let alone that we can say say no to it]
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When was the last time you explained (to yourself or others) your current emotional state (angry, annoyed, disappointed, stressed, etc)………….
By using the actions (or inactions) of others?
You know – “I’m annoyed because of what XYZ did at work”.
“I’ve been in a bad mood all day because of what ABC said / did”.
That kinda thing.
Eleanor Roosevelt famously said “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
And the same is true of any feeling.
Other people’s actions are just an invitation to feel a certain way.
And there’s nothing wrong with accepting that invitation.
Nothing wrong with choosing to feel angry, disappointed, etc.
That’s our right.
But when we don’t even realise that it’s an invitation………..
Let alone that we can say “No” to it……………
We’re taking away our own power.
Recognising anything and everything as just that…………
As an invitation to feel or respond a certain way………..
And not just as an automatic reaction we have no control over……….
Puts us in that position of power to change how we respond………..
And the results that brings to our lives 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘FDR’ Hall
Very hungry caterpillaring? [That night he had a stomach ache!]
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Have you ever read the story of the very hungry caterpillar?
The 1969 kid’s book by Eric Carle.
It follows a caterpillar.
Obvs.
Who eats very little in the week – a few bits of fruit.
Then does this on Saturday:
On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake
One ice-cream cone
One pickle
One slice of Swiss cheese
One slice of salami
One lollipop
One piece of cherry pie
One sausage
One cupcake
And one slice of watermelon
That night he had a stomach ache!
The next day was Sunday again
The caterpillar ate through one nice leaf, and after that he felt better.
Now he wasn’t hungry anymore–and he wasn’t a little caterpillar anymore
He was a big fat caterpillar
I’m sure we’ve all been there.
Eat relatively little in the week and loads and the weekend.
I know I have.
And it’s fine.
To a point.
There won’t be many people out there who don’t eat a little more at the weekend.
And if we can create an average of those 7 days that takes us in the direction we want to go in, then that’s cool.
If the average takes us in the wrong direction………
If it makes us the equivalent of “a big fat caterpillar” and if it gives us stomach ache (other undesirable side effects are available)……….
It’s maybe worth questioning.
Could we enjoy the weekend 97% as much by dropping that by, say, a third?
Could we adjust the week a bit more to bring the average down?
Could we question why we feel the need to increase intake that much at the weekend?
Or, more likely, a combination of the three?
Much love,
Jon ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ Hall
"Son, your ego is writing cheques your body can't cash"
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Who recognises the line?
I’m calling Jamie or Steve as first responders to this with the answer.
Both big Top Gun fans and regular blog readers.
In case that last line didn’t give it away, it’s a line from the 1986 classic film Top Gun.
Where the characters Maverick and Goose are being dressed down by ‘Stinger’ for their behaviour in training.
“Son, your ego is writing cheques your body can’t cash”
We’ve all done that though, haven’t we?
Thought ourselves capable of something that we were, perhaps, not.
Or that, at least, we were unlikely to do.
Constantly setting ourselves up for feelings of failure and disappointment by just returning to the same plan we struggled with before.
Or worse – setting an even harder one.
Not done the 3 workouts a week we would’ve liked for a while?
And decided that the answer is to go for 5 this week?
Not eaten in calorie maintenance for a while?
And decided that the answer is to go for a huge deficit?
Hoping that we’ll come good this time.
Setting expectations of ourselves that, let’s be honest, we’re unlikely to achieve.
Letting our ego getting in the way of setting ourselves up for success.
Then bruising it.
There’s massive value to the smaller, doable change……….
That we do then do………..
That we use to build confidence and momentum..
The single next workout.
The better food choice than we could / would have made.
Might not be as ‘sexy’ as the equivalent of eating like a nutritionist and training like an athlete.
But the smaller cheques that our body (and mind) can cash…………
Will always add up to more than the big ones our ego writes that we can’t (or don’t)!
Much love,
Jon ‘Googling this showed that the character Stinger has the real name of ‘Tom Jordan’ who is my brother in law. Was my brother in law. He will now be know as Stinger’ Hall
It's code for "I don't know the facts" ["I feel like.........."]
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Here’s a powerful mindset shift for you:
“I feel like……….”
Actually means……….
“I don’t know the facts”.
Whenever we catch ourselves saying “I feel like it’s not working / I’ve got too much on / I don’t have time / I should be losing weight / Anything else”……….
We don’t have the data behind that.
The data that supports statements.
Facts.
We’re just guessing really.
We might call it an educated guess.
But it’s a guess none the less.
The data might back that guess up, sure.
But it also might not.
And we’re often reluctant to get that data as we have a sneaking suspicion that it won’t.
And, whatever the case, that ‘data’ leads us to find what can be adjusted to make changes.
We track our food accurately (learn how in the Progress section of the Learn tab on the app if you haven’t already)………
And we find we just weren’t in a calorie deficit……….
Then we have something to work with to make adjustments so that we are.
We fill in a 15 minute log of what we do for a week and find just how much time we’re using less efficiently than we could or spending on none essential stuff………………
Then we have something to work with to make adjustments so that we can make time for the things we previously felt we couldn’t.
Whatever the case, facts trump feelings.
Data over drama.
Whenever we say “I feel……….” we don’t have the all the facts that we could.
Much love,
Jon ‘Chicken Tonight’ Hall
There are no medals for trying hard [Sports Day]
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I was at my middle son’s Sports Day the other week.
It was great to watch after 16 months of little to no school stuff like that.
The format of Sports Day there changed a few years ago.
The kids go round in groups, doing various activities and scoring points for their house.
So there’s less in the way of ‘placing’, especially for the younger ages (although they usually work out where they’ve come compared to their mates and there are more conventional races for the older ones).
At the end, they add up the scores and announce where each House has placed.
And everyone gets a participation medal.
Some like the inclusivity of it and how it’s less likely to discourage those that, perhaps, would’ve fared less well under a conventional, more competitive set up.
And some don’t like what they perceive to be “medals for everyone” and how that might not set kids up for the realities of life.
I completely get both sides of the argument for and against this kind of structure.
But, that’s not what this blog is about.
It’s about what, in the real world, you never get a medal for.
Trying hard.
Most things your efforts might get recognition for have some measure of success.
You have targets at work.
You hit them and all’s good (usually).
Doesn’t massively matter how hard you may or may not have worked to hit them.
You don’t hit them and you don’t get any bonus points for having tried hard.
The hitting of the targets was the important bit, not how much effort went into that.
And it’s the same with our efforts to lose weight.
Over the years I’ve had many, many conversations with people who’ve been disappointed with their progress.
“I’ve been trying really hard” they might say.
And, whilst that’s great, it doesn’t really matter.
From a weight loss perspective, the body responds to being in a sustained average calorie deficit.
The body doesn’t know or care how hard you’ve been working at that.
Just if it was in that deficit.
Being in a deficit through relatively easy adjustments will get better results than working really hard but not being in a deficit.
Chances are if we feel we’re “trying really hard” but the results aren’t coming…………
Then our efforts are somewhat misdirected.
We might benefit from looking at what the easiest adjustments are.
Some trimming of portion sizes and tactical swaps to what we eat can be little to no physical effort.
Much of our challenge with that comes from our internal resistance to it.
Which might mean that the swaps we’re making weren’t all that tactical.
Whenever we feel we’re “trying really hard” at something and it’s not happening, we might benefit from questioning what we’re doing and what we think about that.
Because there are no medals for trying hard.
Much love,
Jon ‘Of Honour’ Hall
"Jon's good at names" [I didn't use to be]
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You ever met someone at a party………..
Been introduced to them………..
And seconds later, not been sure what their name is?
I’m sure we all have.
I used to think “I’m not very good at names”.
Which might surprise members at RISE.
Who, over the years have told me (and the other coaches) that “You’re good at names”.
Because, like any good skill, the harder we work at it the more natural it looks.
To the point where it’s easy to not even realise it’s a skill at all.
I’m good with people’s names because I came to realise that I just wasn’t making sufficient effort when I thought “I’m not very good at names”.
No real attempt to remember the name I’d just heard – kinda just hoping it would stick automatically when it hadn’t before.
Since then, I’ve made an effort.
Every time.
If I’ve met you in person then the first time I met you I would’ve been repeating your name back in conversation.
“So, tell me NAME……..”
“Hey NAME – you’ll need XYZ for this Session”
I’ll have been repeating it back in my head.
In Sessions I would’ve be working round the room repeating everyone’s names in my head until they all came to mind instantly.
Checking who was booked in for that Session for any names I was unsure about.
Doing finishers that involved me saying everyone’s name in turn so I had the pressure of making sure I’d learned them all by the end of the Session.
And so on.
Not a natural thing.
A skill developed with practice.
Again, like most things.
Things we don’t always realise are skills.
When we say things like;
“I’m not a good cook”.
“I’ve never been very good at exercise”.
“I find tracking to be a faff”.
“I’m just not good at being on time”.
“I’m not good with I.T.”
And so on.
All skills.
All things we can get better at.
But only by doing.
Not just by hoping.
By having a bit of a plan.
And doing that plan more often than not!
Every time we tell ourselves “I’m not good at” something……….
But then don’t actually practice getting better……….
We’re doing ourselves a disservice.
Much love,
Jon ‘That Tune’ Hall
Where they stop, we begin
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People sometimes ask me about local facilities.
Places that could be viewed as our ‘competition’.
And are surprised that I’m complimentary about them.
Often because they (the other facility’s owners / staff) love to slag us off 😉
But that’s not the way I / we roll.
And I’m sure they’re great at what they do.
But I know…………..
That where they stop………….
We begin.
Most places can give you a great workout.
That’s a given.
It’s not hard.
If anything, it’s the easiest part of the job.
Learning a load of exercises and how to put them together well isn’t rocket science, I’ll be honest.
———– And that’s if a facility even does that – many just rent access to equipment —————
If the reason people weren’t getting in the shape they’d like to be twenty years ago was a lack of places you could use equipment and / or be put through a workout………….
The explosion of them in recent years would’ve solved that problem.
Not coincided with ever increasing levels of weight and body dissatisfaction, lowering of energy and mood, etc.
What we’re great at is the support, accountability and creation of the conditions in which motivation can grow and flourish (it can’t be given).
I like to think our workouts are pretty good too.
But everyone in this line of work thinks that.
Again, it’s a given.
Where most stop (equipment and / or workouts)………..
We begin.
Much love,
Jon ‘You don’t even know Kung Fu’ Hall
P.S. Pointless middle name that – I don’t reckon anyone will get it……….
We get thousands of "No"s every day [And that's cool]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
If you’re reading this blog on an email, it’ll be because you’re on a list on our email system.
If you’re reading it elsewhere, I’m sure you’re aware of such things.
Over the years, many thousands have people have signed up to these lists.
More than half have since unsubscribed.
Out of those left, a reasonable proportion never open them – they’ve presumably sent them to junkmail.
Out of those that open some of these, it’s only a proportion each day.
For the version that goes to none members, there’s a link in it people can use to apply for the programme.
The blogs are designed to help people, whatever their situation…….
But also to create that ‘know, like and trust’ that gives people confidence to take the next step with us.
Somewhere between zero and two people do that most days.
So, overall, that’s a lot of “No”s isn’t it?
The majority saying No to even opening it.
Then most that do, saying No to taking that next step.
Thousands overall.
Hundreds every day.
If I were to concentrate on all those “No”s I’d probably get put off.
But that’s not the measure of success.
The blogs help hundreds of people every day.
People just like you, dear reader.
I could insert your first name there, but “dear reader” is cool.
And, overall, they’ve helped hundreds of people take that first step in what many have looked back on as “one of the best decisions I ever made”.
If I hadn’t have kept doing them, we’d have changed hundreds of lives less.
And the knock on effect of that.
And, I don’t know if we’d have had enough members to keep running the programme (at least in the awesome form it currently is).
It’s essential to have the right measure of success of anything.
Most things will have a way at looking at them that makes it look like a failure.
Even if it’s not.
If we intend to exercise 4 or 5 times per week, then 3 can seem like a failure.
And we might end up doing less (or none) because of that.
If we say 1+ then we’ll always be able to do that (not exercising once per week isn’t a busy-ness thing, it’s a mindset about busy-ness thing).
And, likely, overachieve on it.
I’d wager that people who aim to exercise one or more times per week exercise, on average, more than those who aim to exercise five times per week.
If our sole target is a final weight (lose 2 stone, weigh 13, etc), then we have to “fail” at the goal every day……..
Until we either get there……….
Or, more likely, get put off by that perceived failure.
If our goal is to eat in average calorie deficit across the week, we can do that all the time (if we chose to).
Ultimately, we all have to “fail” on the way to “success”.
But only if we measure the failures.
If we measure the little successes that build to bigger ones over time…………
We can do that all the time!
Much love,
Jon ‘2 Unlimited’ Hall
"That's why they're not you" [Was my reply]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
There are a couple of independent group training facilities in a few other towns that I sometimes trained at in the pre COVID days.
Not over the last year or so.
All owned by friends in the Fitness Industry and options that sometimes make logistical sense.
In Sheffield or Rotherham when we were staying at the in laws.
Bakewell for when I was spending the day over there between school runs (my two older boys have half the week over that way with their mum and go to school there).
Buxton when I’m driving past at session time and it’s nice for a change.
All a bit different to what we do, but same end of the spectrum – a group session based programme.
I’ve not been to the South Yorkshire or Bakewell ones for over 16 months.
I’ve done a couple of sessions at Buxton for the first time recently.
The other day I was chatting to one of the guys in the session who I’ve trained along side several times in the past.
His entire lower leg was in a large plastic brace.
He’d torn his Achilles tendon.
And so was doing a modified version of the session that involved only exercises for the mid to upper body.
I mentioned that I’d had somewhat similar when I fell off a ladder at work when I was 27 and broke bones in my foot and ankle and strained some ligaments.
And everyone thought I was mad when I was back in the next morning just training upper body.
I asked how long till he was 100%.
“It’s a year till I can jump again” he said.
“My friends all say that, if they were me, they’d have have a year off and ‘enjoy myself’.
“That’s why they’re not you” I replied.
Because from my, experience, the biggest difference between yo-yoing back and forth over the years but not quite getting where we’d like to………….
And getting there and, give or take, maintaining over time………..
Is the way we see ourselves.
Our self image.
The kind of person we consider ourselves to be.
If we consider ourselves to be some who “enjoy my food too much” and that we “really should do some exercise”……….
We’re probably not going to get the body we want.
We can still enjoy our food, of course (I always do)…………
And exercise might never be our favourite thing (it’s not mine)…………
But a change to seeing ourselves as someone who exercises regularly and eats appropriately because of how that ties into what we value………..
And the kind of life we want to live…………..
Can become what enables those things to happen.
We often get the old Have-Do-Be equation the wrong way around.
We think about the thing we want to ‘Have’ (more money, slimmer body, etc)………..
Then look at what we need to ‘Do’ to get those things.
And hope that, by forcing ourselves to do those things, we will start to ‘Be’ that kind of person.
But lasting success usually comes from changing and evolving who we are (or perceive ourselves to be)……….
To start to ‘Be’ the kind of person who just ‘Does’ those things and, in turn, ‘Has’ the benefits.
Much love,
Jon ‘or Jon not’ Hall
P.S. If you’re ready to ‘Be’ that kinda person who just ‘Does’ those things and, in turn, ‘Has’ the benefits, we can help with that better than anyone else –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply
"The iPhone is the most popular phone" [Irrelevant]
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Those of you who know me may have noticed that I’m not the biggest fan of iPhones.
I have nothing against them really, but I’ve just noticed that, over the years, 95%+ of people who’ve approached me with something not working on their phone, have an iPhone.
Usually when said iPhone has to interact with a none Apple product.
Apple have purposely always made it so, if you have all Apple products, you’re good – just see the Steve Jobs film.
Trying to get them to interact with none Apple stuff has mixed results.
I’m sure they’re great really, but I’ve never had any problems with my Android phones and the high number of people I’ve encountered with these problems with their iPhones has never made me feel that making the switch would be a great idea.
But, actually, that’s not what this blog is about.
It’s about one of the reasons many iPhone users give for having an iPhone.
That it’s the most popular individual phone make (in the UK anyway).
Which, to me, is completely irrelevant.
They might as well say they’ve chosen an iPhone because the third letter of their name is a T or because they like wearing hats.
That’s fine, but it would have zero impact on my decision.
EastEnders is the most popular TV programme, vanilla the most popular ice cream flavour and fishing the most popular past time……..
But that won’t affect my decision on whether I’d be interested in any of them.
If anything, if life has taught me one thing, it’s that going with the crowd probably takes you in the wrong direction.
Most people are living lives that gradually make them sicker and less happy with their bodies, energy levels, mood and lives in general over time.
That’s entirely their call, of course.
But the fact that “most people” are doing those things only needs to influence our decision if we choose it to.
Mark Twain famously said “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”.
Ultimately, we can all do what we like.
Have iPhones, watch EastEnders, eat vanilla ice cream, fish, get through the week so we can sedate at the weekend, blunt how we feel with food and alcohol rather than doing something to change it and so on.
But it’s worth questioning………
Why we do things to fit in with people……..
Who live lives with have no interest in replicating!
Much love,
Jon ‘Huawei P20 Pro if you’re interested’ Hall
P.S. If you’re ready to start living a life that most people won’t, we’re here to help. Apply Now at www.myrise.co.uk/apply.
My uncensored thoughts on the "Dad bod"
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I got tagged in a post the other day by a couple of members, asking for my thoughts.
It was about the “Dad bod”.
So I thought I’d share them (my thoughts) in here.
Same applies for the “Mum bod” (if that’s an actual term) or any other kind of bod.
Ultimately, anyone can do whatever they like with their body.
It’s there’s and there’s alone.
Someone wants / is happy with any size and shape of body, then that’s awesome.
I wouldn’t dream of saying they should do otherwise.
But………
I will help question some mindsets around it.
Because that’s what we’re here for.
That’s what we do.
That’s what people take us on for.
Help people ask better questions.
To, maybe, lead to the answers that serve them better.
If they ask the question and are happy with their original answers, that’s cool too.
Most of the comments that were “pro Dad bod” on the article made these basic points:
– Kids need dads who are present and active rather than spending “hours in the gym staring at themselves in the mirror, putting themselves first”
– People are too busy providing for their families to workout, etc
Which I get.
But……..
I would say………
That pretty much every single Dad (or Mum) I’ve ever worked with who’s dropped a significant amount of weight, improved energy levels, etc……..
Has reported that they felt they were a better Dad (or Mum) for it.
More energy, patience, enthusiasm and endurance during the time they had with their kids.
More focused and productive at work.
They realised the time (and money) spent on getting in better shape was an investment, not a cost.
Not a single one has ever regretted it.
And, a lot of the comments fed into this idea that getting in shape is a massive time consumer.
Sure, we can spend more time if we want to.
But it can be as simple as eating some different food and / or less of it.
Easier said than done, sure.
But not a big time commitment.
I’m fairly sure most people can fit in more exercise than they’re doing now and it not negatively affect their family.
Not “five hours more”.
Just “more”.
Looking at the profiles of some of the most vigorous defenders of the “Dad bod” suggested that they weren’t necessarily making the decisions that best served their kids.
An amount of time and money spent on eating and drinking that could be spent on those kids.
Little indication that they were putting themselves in a position where they’d have the energy levels, patience and endurance to support their children in the way I’m sure they would ideally like to.
As I said before, who would we be to tell someone what to do with their life and body?
They / you / we / anyone can do whatever they / you / we like.
But……….
Sometimes we tell ourselves things that, shall we say, aren’t the entirety of the situation.
Having a body we like the look and feel of and improving our energy levels and mood probably isn’t as hard and time consuming as we’re telling ourselves.
Much love,
Jon ‘Ken Dodd’ Hall
How can you win the game? [If you don't know the rules]
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Have you ever had a “bad day”?
How about a “sh!t week”?
Do most days and weeks feel a bit like that?
Something we need to “get through” to get to “the weekend”, “holidays”, etc?
I get it.
Life’s not always easy.
But…………
I have a question.
What would’ve needed to have happened on those days or weeks for them to be considered “OK” or “Good”?
Chances are we don’t really have a definition of that.
We don’t know the ‘rules’ of winning the day / week.
Or, if we do, it’s pretty much everything going absolutely perfectly, which rarely, if ever happens.
Incredibly hard rules to win with.
If we don’t know the rules how can we win the game?
Without those rules we’ll only ever be left with vague feelings.
And vague feelings always tell us we’re losing.
We often don’t realise that we’re responsible for the setting of the rules for success in our lives.
We’ve developed them without thinking about it.
Maybe inherited them from someone else.
Whatever the case, it’s a hard game to win.
We can change those rules.
We can change the definition of what a “good” or “OK” day or week would look like.
We can set ourselves up for success.
That we will build on.
That will create motivation and momentum.
It’s not a lowering of standards as we might tell ourselves.
It’s playing the game to win.
Which often leads to higher standards achieved.
If our rules around a good day of eating are to eat like a monk or nutritionist or feel we’ve failed………….
I reckon we’ll have more success by our rules being to create average calorie maintenance or deficit over the week.
If our rules of what regular exercise looks like is going for a workout 4 or 5 times a week or feel we’ve failed…………
I reckon we’ll have more success by our rules being to do one or more bits of exercise of any form or duration every week.
If our rules of what needs to happen for us to be happy is for our other half and kids to be happy and everything to go perfectly at work…………
I reckon we’ll be happier by our rules being that we can just chose to feel happiness (an impermanent state, like all emotions) when we do things we enjoy or satisfy us or we succeed at something.
If our rules for feeling that we’ve succeeded is that we’d need to be more successful than anyone we know…………
I reckon we’d feel more successful by monitoring and recognising when we do the things we set out to do each day, week, month and year.
As always, there’s no right or wrong.
We can play this game however we like.
But, if we don’t even know the rules (or if they’re incredibly hard to follow), we’re setting ourselves up to lose.
And just realising and accepting that we alone are responsible for the rules we’re playing by is the first step to winning.
Much love,
Jon ‘Chicken Dinner’ Hall
Domestic abuse goes up by 38% [Football again, innit?]
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I mentioned the the recent football European Championships in yesterday’s blog.
At the time, I saw a certain stat shared on social media several times.
About domestic abuse going up by 38% when England lost at football.
A quick Google shows the following:
“Research found the number of domestic abuse cases reported to Lancashire police force in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups surged by 38 per cent on the days when England lost. While incidents increased by 26 per cent when the team either won or drew a match.”
On the face of it, this sounds terrible.
And, I want to make it really clear that any domestic abuse is terrible and is never OK.
Please don’t feel the need to reply and say I’m in anyway condoning or minimising it, because I’m not.
But all numbers vary.
For a variety of reasons.
The majority of domestic abuse calls are received between 4pm and midnight.
More at the weekend, less in the week.
Peaks around other events in the year.
These variations are, of course, something to be aware of.
But the overall direction of the numbers over time is the most important consideration.
The stats show that 2.3 million people were on the receiving end of domestic abuse last year.
If we got that down to one person a day for a total of 365 a year………
But that increased by 100% to 2 people on a day England played football……..
I’m sure most would agree that huge progress had been made.
Total annual domestic abuse has been, on average (excluding the last year or so) been falling for the last 15 years.
Still not OK and not where we want to be (zero), sure.
But progress.
Successes to build on rather than the constant perceived failure of not being where we want it to be.
Similar to our weight.
Which can vary by a handful of pounds throughout the day.
Usually higher at the weekend and lower in the week.
Varies by time of the month (potentially, in more ways that one).
Different events and times of year.
If we were to just concentrate on the variations, we’d likely get dispirited.
We’d notice the X% increases much more readily than the decreases.
If we monitor overall direction……….
And that’s going where we’d like it to…….
Then we’re good.
Keep going.
Build on success.
If it’s not, we can look at why not.
And, maybe, ask us for some help with that?
Much love,
Jon ‘Once weighed myself every half an hour for a day and saw how much I could vary my weight by – it was up and down within an 8lbs range a few times’ Hall
You'd just change the wheel, wouldn't you? [World Cup semi flat tyre]
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I presume we’re all, at the very least, aware that the England men’s football team played in a major championship final for the first time in 55 years the other week.
TimeHop that day showed me that it was exactly three years, to the day, since we reached the semi final of the World Cup.
We showed that match on the big screen down at RISE.
Had maybe 30 odd of us there, watching together.
Within 2m of each other, I should imagine.
That’s how we rolled back then.
I can’t remember why, but my Step Daughter Izzie wasn’t with her Dad as she normally is on a Wednesday.
And my wife Alex was at work (she used to leave the house to work in the “old days”).
So Izzie, Charlie and I went over to Bakewell after school to get Oli and Jamie from after their school club.
We’d have got back to Macc for about 5.30 and it was a 7pm Kick Off if I remember correctly.
Slight problem though.
Heading along the A6 between Bakewell and Buxton and we get a flat tyre.
That car doesn’t have a spare.
So we ring The AA.
Guy arrives about half five or so.
Clearly wanting to get done and home for the England game.
I’ve never seen someone work so fast.
Phone cradled between his ear and shoulder, talking to the guys at Selecta-Tyre in Buxton, whilst checking our tyre then loading us onto his flat bed.
We get to Selecta-Tyre minutes before they are due to close at 6.
And are done and out by 6.
Guys are like a pit crew replacing the tyre whilst another guy takes my payment and gives me a receipt.
Genuinely all done in under 5 minutes.
They were keen to get home too.
We got home, picked Alex up, had a quick bite to eat and were in RISE by five to seven.
All good!
You know what we didn’t do, though?
Take a baseball bat to the car to ‘write it off’.
Or wander off, leaving the car, and give up on driving completely.
Or maybe “leave it for a while” and “start again when things are less busy”.
Or not bothering to reach out to The AA – the people we’ve paid money to to help us in such situations.
But we do the equivalent with our health and fitness sometimes, don’t we?
We miss a workout and that becomes several (or more).
Decide after we’ve eaten a few more calories than we might, ideally, have liked that it makes sense to ‘write it off’ and eat a load more in response.
Or we go all non responsive and do the equivalent of hiding in our room from the people that we’ve paid to help us with this exact thing (cough us cough).
Things get in the way.
Life rarely runs smoothly.
We can use that as a reason to make things worse still.
Or we can just choose to make the ‘next logical decision’ and, at worst, just get to our desired location a little bit late.
Much love,
Jon ‘Barnes’ Hall
It's getting better trainers, but not going running ["What supplements should I take?"]
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Imagine you work in a shoe shop.
You sell running trainers amongst other things.
Your mate keeps coming in.
He’s got pretty good trainers already.
Each time he asks about getting better and better trainers to help with his running.
He wants to get faster.
You ask him about how much running he’s doing at the moment.
He’s not doing any.
Or very little.
“You’d probably benefit more from doing some more running” you might say.
Makes sense.
There’s potential advantage to be had.
But only a tiny amount compared to consistently doing the basics.
A bit like of lot of supplements.
Something people ask us about fairly regularly.
“Should I be taking a fat burner / creatine / various latest pills?”
From our experience, they’re a bit like the even more expensive trainers when you already have a pretty good pair.
They might add half a percent on (if that).
But there’s much bigger wins to be had.
If our eating isn’t great, we’re drinking regally and / or not exercising as frequently (or at the intensity) that we could……..
They’ll make next to no difference.
Not an amount that makes them worthwhile compared to other adjustments we could make.
They’re tempting because they’re so easy.
But the easier adjustments to our eating and just a bit more exercise are much more worthwhile.
Much love,
Jon ‘Forrest Gump’ Hall
It's not the dark haired one from Hear'Say [Read this if you get frustrated with what you're trying to change]
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Who remembers Popstars the TV Show?
It was only 20 years ago so I’m sure we all do 😉
I remember watching it in the house I lived in for the third year of Uni.
It was the one where the five selected contestants formed the band Hear’Say and the other five start a group called Liberty (later Liberty X).
Wikipedia tells me it was Popstars: The Rivals which created Girls Aloud later that year.
Anyway, back to Hear’Say.
I quite fancied Myleene (the dark haired one, as mentioned in the blog title).
She’s on the radio nowadays I believe.
Myleene.
Not to be confused with ‘myelin’
“an insulating layer, or sheath that forms around nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord. It is made up of protein and fatty substances. This myelin sheath allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently along the nerve cells”
As we lay down new neural pathways, learn new skills and knowledge, myelin production in the brain increases.
There are four stages to any learning process.
Unconscious incompetence.
We’re not very good at something but aren’t even particularly aware of that.
Conscious incompetence
We start doing something and realise we’re not very good.
Conscious competence
We’ve got pretty good at something but it still takes conscious thought
Unconscious competence
We’re good at it without any real effort.
The conscious incompetence phase is the one we struggle the most with.
We start doing something and quickly get dispirited.
It’s harder than we thought.
Frustrating.
Annoying at times.
We might not consciously choose to stop…….
But that’s often what happens.
We find ourselves doing other things that we find easier and / or we’re telling ourselves are more important.
You know the feeling?
We start a new exercise and / or healthy eating approach.
It’s all exciting and shiny and new to start with.
Soon becomes a bit of a pain.
Frustrating.
Hard work.
We have two choices then.
Stop.
And then probably try again at some point in the future.
Or keep going.
Through that challenging bit.
The only way to get to that easier bit.
That conscious competence.
And, maybe, onto unconscious competence.
The good news?
There’s research that shows that the hardest bit……..
When it’s the most frustrating…….
Our “head is melting”………
It’s at it’s most annoying……..
Is when myelin production can be up to 10 times its normal level.
The brain is literally remodelling itself.
Preparing it for that next level.
We can choose to see that frustrating phase as a bad thing………
Or we can recognise that it’s the best thing.
It comes right before that breakthrough.
But……..
Only if we keep going.
Much love,
Jon ‘Ashton’ll always be me ‘ome’ Hall
P.S. Only three people in the world will get that middle name 😉
"Don't ignore me" [Fingers in ears?]
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My three older kids are all a little bit pre-teeny at the moment.
They’re 10, 11 and 12 and, shall we say, are a bit more moody than they were a few years ago.
I’m sure the challenges of COVID haven’t helped either to be honest!
My stepdaughter is quite variable at the moment.
Sometimes absolutely delightful, sometimes seemingly disgusted by my very existence.
Zero response when I try and talk to her.
Then a feigned confusion when I call her on this – pretending she hadn’t heard me.
We don’t like people ignoring us do we?
But we’re often guilty of it ourselves.
When people join us, one of the things they express they feel they need is “accountability”.
And then, when we attempt to contact them when they haven’t done what they said they would………
They don’t reply.
Sometimes ever.
I can show you whole chat threads where I can see people have seen dozens of my messages, videos, etc from the notifications in the corner………..
And haven’t responded.
Ever.
Now I get it.
We rarely consciously think we’re ignoring people.
Maybe tell ourselves we’ll get round to this when we’re “not so busy”.
The thing about accountability though…………
Is it’s a two way street.
We can’t “hold someone accountable”………….
If they aren’t ‘able’ (or willing) to ‘account’ for themselves.
Head in the sand………
Fingers in the ears going “Nah, nah – I can’t hear you”………..
Like a grumpy teenager hiding in our room………
Doesn’t help us.
I always say to new members that, from my experience, the biggest difference maker…………
Between those that get amazing, life changing results………..
And those that………
Don’t…………
Is staying engaged.
It’s not always easy.
Hard and frustrating at times.
We won’t always be making the progress and doing the things that we would like.
But we can always stay engaged.
We can always respond.
That’s just a choice.
Much love,
Jon ‘Twice engaged’ Hall
"I want doesn't get" ["I don't want to feel like this"]
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Who remembers saying this to a parent?
“I want XYZ”
And then receiving the reply “”I want” doesn’t get”?
Meaning that you have to ask nicely rather than saying you want something and expecting others to sort it out for you.
I take a slightly different tact with my kids.
I just look at them and don’t say anything in such situations.
After all, they’ve just made a statement – there’s no question for me to respond to.
It took time, but it worked – for all their other challenges and frustrations, all four have immaculate manners.
But, again, we’re guilty of doing the same.
Or even worse, just stating what we don’t want.
“I don’t want to feel like this”.
Or “People shouldn’t ABC”.
Or “I wish Name wouldn’t……”
Again, without asking.
Of others or of ourselves.
If we ask others nicely to help us with something we’re struggling with……..
We’re much more likely to get what we like than if we, essentially, complain about the current situation.
Whether that be asking another half, friend or colleague not to keep offering us certain foods or drinks…….
Rather than being annoyed when they do…….
But still eating or drinking it.
Or asking our coach (cough us cough) for some help rather than just going none responsive, telling ourselves “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it”, then not doing it and cancelling our DD in a few months.
We all know “I want doesn’t get”.
That asking for help is the best approach.
Sometimes we just need to remember our own advice.
Much love,
Jon ‘Really really wanna zig-a-zia-ah’ Hall
"If Billy jumped off a cliff, would you?" [Other names are available]
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Who remembers trying to justify their behaviour to a parent…….
And pointing out that the reason we did it (or wanted to do it) was that a friend had.
Let’s call this friend Billy.
“If Billy jumped off a cliff, would you?” would be the invariable reply.
A valid question.
Doing something because someone else has isn’t really a great reason.
If we want to do it, that’s cool.
But let’s recognise that as the reason.
We don’t need to do what others do.
It’s often advisable not to, to be honest.
In a world that’s getting fatter, sicker and more miserable year on year………
Doing what everyone else is has, arguably, never been less of a good idea.
We try and fit in with others…….
When they live lives that we have no desire to replicate.
Just because “That’s what everyone does” is only a reason if we choose it to be.
If the people in our lives eat more than they have to, only see the week as something to “get through” so they can sedate at the weekend ready to repeat and don’t exercise and / or mediate regularly………
That doesn’t mean we have to.
Mark Twain famously said “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
Much love,
Jon ‘Millhouse jumped off a cliff? I’m there’ Hall
You can do anything you set your mind to [But do we?]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
A second thing we might tell our kids is that “You can do anything you set your mind to”……..
And then not live that ourselves.
To not do the thing we want to do because it’s easier not to.
Or because we worry what people will think of us.
That it won’t work out as we’d like.
That we’d be seen to fail.
To live our life in a way that we don’t really want to.
To leave our song left unsung.
Research shows that we rarely regret what we did do on our death beds.
But what we didn’t do.
What is that for you?
It’s not too late………
Much love,
Jon ‘for Jackson’ Hall
You learn from your mistakes (Stuff we tell our kids but then don't do ourselves)
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Those of you that have had children will probably have found yourselves saying the things that your parents used to say to you.
If you’ve not had kids, I’m sure you’ll know the kinda thing I’m talking about.
Little lessons that we want them to learn.
Things we believe.
But that we don’t always act on ourselves.
Our ego might frame it a different way to protect us…….
But that’s what it boils down to ultimately.
And we find ourselves doing the whole “Do as I say, not as I do”.
Over the course of this week, I’m going to cover 5 such sayings that you’ll probably recognise.
And ask the question if we’re doing the same in our lives.
And, hopefully, help make it so we do, at least a little bit more.
The first one is “You learn from your mistakes”.
We do sometimes, sure.
But sometimes we keep making the same mistake over and over and over again.
We miss a planned workout for a reason that’s happened many times before?
Have we really learned?
We set out to make one food choice and make another one that we then regret time and time again?
What was the lesson there?
If we’re not living it, we’ve not learned it.
Or, something doesn’t go to plan……..
And we just don’t put ourselves in that position again.
We overdo it in a workout and feel it ‘too much’ the next day…….
Then don’t workout for months or years.
Or we make some attempts to change our eating……..
Find it all too much……..
And immediately go back to the way we ate before because we’ve practiced ourselves good at that already.
Mistakes can be considered as opportunities.
We can choose to see them as ways to learn how to do better next time.
It’s what we’d tell our kids after all.
Much love,
Jon ‘Direct’ Hall
Another non usage proof I hadn't noticed [Not the how many members they have one]
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I’ve mentioned before that conventional gym models are built on none usage.
Only about 20% of the members going particularly regularly.
The other 80% subsidising the membership for them.
It’s simple maths to figure this out.
Local Globo Gym has 3,500 members.
If everyone comes three times a week, that’s 10,500 member visits.
They’re open 6.30am to 10pm in the week and 8 to 8 at the weekends.
101.5 hours.
An average of over 100 people in the club at any time.
They don’t have anywhere near enough space or equipment for that many people.
Social distancing or not.
Another thing I just figured out doesn’t add up…………
And probably should’ve done after nearly 20 years in the Fitness Industry……..
Is the “Monthly programme reviews for all members”.
Even if there’s two Fitness Instructors available at all times (there’s not) and each review takes 30 minutes………..
And they had no other tasks to do than programme reviews (they do)……….
Then you’re looking at a programme review every four to five months per member.
More like double that in reality.
The model is built on non usage.
And, therefore, lack of results.
There’s even a term in the ‘Fitness Industry’………
“Waking the dead”.
Where you stop contacting people after they’ve not been in for a few months.
Because it’ll just remind them they’ve got a DD to cancel.
Our model is built on usage.
On results.
On enjoying the process.
I often say to the coaches that if people are getting good results………….
And enjoying themselves…………..
They’ll probably stay.
And probably tell their friends.
And everything else just, kinda, works out.
If they aren’t getting results and / or aren’t enjoying it…………
Everything else just falls apart over time.
So, if you’re a member already and haven’t been doing as many sessions as you’d like……..
We’d love to see you.
Go get booked in now.
Much love,
‘Average Jon’s’ Hall
Helen, 35, from Macclesfield talks about losing 40lbs, what really changed after two months to make that happen and the impact on anxiety levels and more
Most FitPros do the same with their Facebook ads [Are you doing this?]
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If you’re reading this, there’s a reasonable chance you got here via Facebook.
Not all of you, sure.
But a fair proportion.
We have run ads on Facebook pretty much continuously for over 100 months straight now.
The total investment has added up to a fair whack over that time.
But that’s what it is.
An investment.
I can directly track the Return On Investment.
I can see how it’s contributed to the success of the business over the years.
How many lives its helped change.
When I talk to most FitPros about Facebook ads (they often ask) they say “I tried that and it didn’t work”.
When I ask what they did, they usually boosted a couple of posts for a tenner each.
And got a member or two of it at most.
Firstly, that’s actually a good return.
They made profit on the front end.
And, more importantly, got in front of someone who’s life they then (hopefully) improved.
But, secondly, they hadn’t really ‘tried’ there, had they?
Like having one salad and stopping because we’re not slim.
Trying meal planning, batch cooking, tracking or any other method for adjusting our food…….
And not doing it more than a couple of times.
Doing a workout or two and deciding we’re not fit enough (when that’s the thing that’ll get us fitter)
Meditating a couple of times for a couple of minutes then deciding, after a grand total of five minutes of trying, that “it didn’t work for me”.
Facebook ads, lifestyle changes and everything else are all the same……
We start pretty rubbish.
Practice ourselves to mediocre, on to ok, to reasonable and, maybe, pretty good.
But…….
Only if you keep going.
Because, as with ads, the return on investment when you get better at these things………
Is massively worth it!
Much love,
Jon ‘AdSense’ Hall
They never turn up do they? [Selling stuff on Facebay]
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I recently posted my old Nintendo Wii on Facebook Market Place.
In case you’re not aware of what that is, it’s a free function on Facebook that you can use to advertise things for sale.
And you can also post them in various free Facebook groups often called things like ‘Facebay Macclesfield’ or ‘Buy, sell and swap Your Town Name’.
I just wanted to get rid of it so I put it on for free.
I have never received so many messages.
Hundreds.
I offered it to the first one and he said he’d come that night.
And didn’t.
I offered it to the second one who said the same.
Then messaged back later to say “Let someone else have it”.
And on it went.
This often happens selling stuff on there.
But this was next level.
Probably in the teens of people asking if they could have it, confirming they were going to come and get it……..
Then not.
No skin in the game you see.
It’s too easy when something is free to say all the right things.
But then, when action is needed, to not be willing to do the work.
It’s one of the reasons we don’t do a free trial.
We know, from experience, that people don’t value it.
They say all the right things…….
But don’t actually always take action.
The skin in the game of paying makes it more likely they will.
So why would we run a process that makes it less likely that people will get results?
We offer a money back guarantee on completion of the programme, so it’s risk free.
Do it and don’t love it and it hasn’t cost you anything.
But people always love it when they actually do it.
To have a money back guarantee that would encourage people to drop out in the first couple of weeks makes no sense.
What does make sense is to find a way so that the decisions we make matter.
They have some level of relatively immediate consequence we care about.
If “contributing to being heavier next time we weigh ourselves” was enough, we’d be there already.
Could we put some skin in the game somehow?
A public proclamation of our intent.
Or just telling someone you don’t want to ‘let down’.
Arranging to meet a friend for a workout.
Putting a reverse wager on at www.stickk.com.
A friendly bet with someone.
Some way to make it so that seemingly unimportant decision matters.
Just enough so that we’re more likely to do it.
Much love,
Jon ‘Faceache’ Hall
It's the "force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other" [Less boring than it sounds]
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I would ask if you knew what the definition of ‘friction’ is.
But I know I’ve given it you in the title.
“the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other”
Even if you wouldn’t have said it quite like that, I’m sure you’d have said something similar.
We’re all aware of friction operating in our everyday life.
Our shoes against the floor.
Our bare arm against a rough wall.
Car tyres against tarmac.
And so on.
But there’s probably a bigger source of friction in our lives that we’re not aware of.
That caused by these two things rubbing up against each other;
1- How we feel things should be…….
And…….
2 – Reality!
The energy we waste by comparing the world we see and the blueprint we have in our head of what it should look like.
Our bodies.
Our life in general.
What other people do, think and say.
Sometimes we can change these things.
Sometimes we can’t.
There’s a phrase I like.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change……..
The courage to change what I can………
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Accepting the things we can’t (or are unwilling to) change is liberating.
It’s not a lowering of standards as we might be telling ourselves it is.
A raising, if any.
All that wasted energy from that ‘friction’ can be directed elsewhere.
We change more of the things we can.
By accepting those that we can’t.
Much love,
Jon ‘May the Force be with you’ Hall
"Can't you take a hint?" [Stopping flabotagers]
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You may have seen that we changed our application process earlier this year.
From the monthly find out more meeting…….
To arranging a quick call to look if the programme is a good fit for what someone needs.
No salesy stuff, no pressure.
If it’s not a good fit, we recommend something that is.
People only ever then get cracking because that’s exactly what they want to do.
When people request this call it’s very very clear that that’s what they are requesting.
So I keep contacting them periodically if I don’t hear back.
After all they’ve asked me to contact them to arrange a call.
And, at no point have told me they no longer want me to do that thing that they’ve specifically asked me to do (unless, of course, if they do).
So I don’t stop contacting them.
I know most people just haven’t got round to responding.
Or are apprehensive and unsure.
I know, from experience, how many non responders do then respond eventually and go on to a life changing experience.
Most apologising for not replying earlier.
I know I haven’t responded to stuff just because I haven’t got round to it many times.
Occasionally people get annoyed with me continuing to try to do the thing they’ve asked me to do.
“Can’t you take a hint?” is a response I get periodically.
My response is, as I’m sure you’d expect, measured:
“Hey NAME – sure, no probs – I’ll leave it with you 🙂 Jon”
Or similar.
I’ll be honest, I’m half tempted to put something along the lines of;
“Sorry – I stopped working with hints when I stopped being 10”.
But I’m not sure that would help anyone 😉
And I get it.
In the past I might have ignored something like this and been annoyed when someone kept contacting me (even thought I’d essentially asked them to and not told them otherwise).
Until I’d been on this side of it and now always respond either way.
Because clear communication makes everything easier for all involved.
We know where we stand.
We stop wasting each other’s time.
The clearer we communicate with everyone, the better all round.
Like when people flabotage us.
Offer us cake and biscuits repeatedly at work despite our vague protestations against.
Keep bringing certain foods home despite us having asked them not to (but then still eating it anyway).
Tell us we’re “boring” or “no fun anymore”.
These people (usually) care about us.
A serious conversation where we clearly explain to them that we would really appreciate if they did (or didn’t) act in a certain way around us………..
Followed by us being consistent in our response to what they do………..
Makes it easier for everyone.
People very quickly stop trying to flabotage us when we don’t then do the thing they want us to do.
And, let’s be honest, ‘vagueness’ doesn’t really help us in most areas of life.
Saying “I eat generally” healthily followed by a vague description of our average food intake will rarely lead to particularly good insights or advice.
Accurate tracking of what we’ve consumed for a few days gives us so much more to work with.
Much more knowledge about what adjustments we can (relatively) easily make that will start to take us in the right direction.
A bit of accountability to our decisions.
Moving the ‘feedback’ from weighing more in a few days (or weeks or months) to something more ‘instant’.
Subtlety, vagueness and hints work in some areas of life.
But not so much with our health and fitness.
Much love,
Jon ‘Clue’ Hall
"No - don't attack me like that" ["Hit me this way"]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who remembers being at school and your mate has been to his first martial arts session.
“Hit me” s/he says.
“Go on. Hit me. I can defend myself now”
So you slap them round the side of the head.
“Ouch. Not like that. Reach out towards my shoulders with both hands”.
I’m assuming that’s not just a memory of mine as I saw it several times over the years.
That false confidence we can get about being able to deal with a problem.
But only if it happens in a very specific way.
It’s why we often struggle with many challenges in life.
They don’t happen quite the same each time.
It’s often not obvious what’s going on until it’s kinda too late.
We’ve missed another workout.
Made another food and / or drink choice that we regret.
But, like marital arts, we’ll get better with practice.
Getting hit isn’t really practice.
It’s the blocking and the dodging that is.
We won’t get much better by just getting hit over and over.
Like we won’t get better at making the food, drink, exercise and lifestyle choices that serve us…….
By not making them.
Sure, working through some of those hits can be part of us getting closer to the next block and getting better at that…….
But only if we actually do some of those blocks.
Much love,
Jon ‘Karate White Belt’ Hall
I just thought of something else that's no longer mentioned in the briefing meeting [Who's mask first?]
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A couple of weeks ago, I did a couple of blogs about things that I mentioned at the monthly briefing meetings that we used to run.
I thought of another the other day.
It was an image of a member of the cabin crew on a plane, demonstrating the application of an oxygen mask.
We asked those in attendance who the crew advised you to apply the mask first to in the “unlikely event of an emergency”.
Most people correctly said that they advised applying your own mask first.
Why?
Because if we’re passing out (or dead) then we’re no good to anyone else.
We help more people by helping ourselves first.
Not less.
We get that.
We accept it.
But we don’t always do it in other areas of our lives.
It’s easy for the needs of everyone else to get in the way of our own.
Other halves and kids.
Employers, employees, colleagues, etc.
Friends, family members and others.
Before we know it, years have passed where we’ve been putting others first.
And our own health, fitness, energy levels and mood have suffered.
We get it.
But, like with the application of an oxygen mask, looking after ourselves is actually the least selfish thing we can do.
Doing the things that give us more energy, enthusiasm, endurance and patience and better mood………
Mean we can better support those around us.
Helping them more.
Not less.
We can only serve other people to the level that we serve ourselves.
Counter intuitive as it can sound, we serve those in our lives that we care about more…….
By serving ourselves first.
Much love,
Jon ‘Masked Dancer’ Hall
P.S. If you’re ready to serve those around you better by serving yourself first, there’s no better place than here –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply
"That's not a knife" ["That's a knife"]
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Anyone who was alive in the 80s (and a fair proportion who weren’t) will recognise that quote.
“That’s not a knife – that’s a knife”
From the film Crocodile Dundee.
When the eponymous Mick Dundee and Linda have a group of “street hoodlums” attempt to mug them.
One is brandishing a small pocket knife.
And Linda suggests that Mick hand over his wallet in response.
He pulls out a considerably larger knife of his own whilst uttering the famous line before slicing the young assailant’s jacket open.
When he only knows the ‘proper’ thing, that doesn’t even register as a version of it.
It’s bit like planning not to do something isn’t a plan.
It kinds ‘looks’ a bit like one, sure.
But when you’ve seen how much more effective the real thing is, not so much anymore.
When you go into the week with a ‘plan’ to “not eat crap” or “not drink till the weekend”……………
It might happen.
But experience has shown us it probably won’t (at least not enough).
But if we plan what we are actually going to eat…………
Or plan some other stuff that brings similar benefits to the drinking (if it’s relaxation, and it usually is, it could be exercise, mediation, yoga, some other thing we enjoy, etc)……….
That’s more likely to happen.
And if we have got as far as setting a plan, could we set a tighter one that is even more likely to happen?
“I’m going to exercise at some point”………..
Is less likely to happen than “I’ve booked my workouts for Monday, Wednesday and Friday at X o clock” isn’t it?
People often don’t plan as they feel it’s restrictive and boring.
When it’s the exact opposite.
It creates freedom and opportunity when we get done the things that lead us to the life we want to live.
If you’re a member and don’t normally set a ‘RISE plan’ for the coming week when you get the reminder tonight at 7pm, maybe take this a gentle nudge to do that and go into the week with an actual plan that we’ll hold you accountable to?
Much love,
Jon ‘I see you’ve played Knifey Spoony before’ Hall
Holli, 29 from Macclesfield, talks about being a ‘big girl’, gaining weight in 2020 and losing 50lbs since February this year!
Which two do you want? [You can't have all three]
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Have you ever used the ‘recommendations’ feature on Facebook?
You, know, to ask your network about, let’s say, brick layers in Macclesfield.
Other services and locations are, of course, available.
I often see people say that they’re looking for a “good, but cheap XYZ”.
And think that those two things are probably not likely to go all that well together.
Or, if they are, they’ll be something missing.
There are three main considerations in any purchase or service.
Quality
Speed
Cost
Ideally, we’d like;
Good
Fast
Cheap
But we can’t have all three.
Two is the usual limit.
We can have good and cheap sometimes.
But it’ll probably be really slow.
Fast and cheap is more than catered for.
I doubt it’ll be all that good though.
Or we can have good and fast.
But it won’t be cheap.
We can lose significant weight and get considerably fitter by ourselves for free.
Eating less and going running regularly.
Works for some.
Not for most.
Or we can pay a pound or so a day for a budget gym.
And be left to our own devices.
Just renting access to equipment.
We’re renowned for our results.
400+ verified before and afters (and that’s only those that have a noticeable physical change).
And for the speed of those results.
Many having lost 20lbs in 8 weeks, whilst forming lasting healthy habits.
But, yeah, it’s not cheap.
I genuinely believe it’s amazing value for the service and results people get.
But I long ago stopped trying to convince people of that.
We’re all faced with a choice with most of our investments.
Good
Fast
Cheap
And it’s up to us which two we choose.
Much love,
Jon ‘er than a speeding bullet’ Hall
We have 2,564,370,576 [How many do you need?]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I had a slightly morbid thought the other day.
I wondered if I’d passed the half way point of an average life expectancy.
So I googled it.
I have.
October 5th last year it seems.
When I reached the half way point of the current UK average life expectancy of 81.26.
I thought I’d see how many minutes that turned out to be.
You’ve probably gathered from the title of the blog that it’s about 2.5 billion.
Quite a lot isn’t it?
Puts the odd one here and there into context doesn’t it?
That extra minute or two that it might take to make a “better” food choice.
If that – we could just have a smaller portion which takes less time.
Or the 5 to 45 minutes a few times a week to exercise.
Once we stop kidding ourselves that “there’s no point exercising for 5 minutes.
Because that’s what we often really mean.
When we don’t feel we can justify the time to do the perfect version………..
We don’t even do the “good enough” version that takes much less time.
But, by doing that quicker version…………
We build momentum.
It stops being that “I’ve stopped and need to start again” conversation in our heads.
And becomes more of a “slow down and speed up as circumstance dictates” one.
Depending on our age, most people reading this will have between a quarter of a billion and two billion minutes left.
More than enough to move in the direction we want 🙂
And, all else being equal, probably add a load more minutes on the other end.
Much love,
Jon ‘Joe P Guinn’ Hall
P.S. No one is getting that middle name, so I’ll tell you. According to google, 2564370576 is the secondary phone number of Joe P Guinn in Hollywood.
"How do you deal with time wasters?" ["And tyre kickers?"]
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I’ve mentioned many times in these blogs that other FitPros sometimes ask me for advice.
In an industry where most struggle to make ends meet and pay the bills (particularly this last 15 months), we must be doing something alright to have a busy and thriving business nearly a decade in.
I got asked the title of this blog the other day.
And have been asked it many times over the years.
“How do you deal with time wasters?”
Or an expression of their frustration at “tyre kickers”.
Which I get.
But, as with many things, it’s worth questioning.
Whilst I might help people with the mindsets of “waiting till the time is right” (it never is) that may have been holding them back…………
I know nobody sets out to waste someone else’s time.
We’re all to busy for that.
When someone enquires about what we do………..
And decides it’s not for them………..
They’ve not set out to “waste my time”.
They’ve just wanted to see if the programme is a good fit for them.
And they’ve decided it’s not.
Which is cool.
Over the years I’ve enquired about countless things………..
And then decided not to give them a go.
I wasn’t enquiring with a view to wasting anyone’s time – I just wanted to know if it was what I was looking for.
Ultimately, from my point of view at least………..
If a FitPro gets a lot of enquiries………..
Who don’t then take them up on their programme………..
That’s the FitPro’s ‘problem’, not the potential customer’s.
They’ve just not got good enough at putting across their message and what it is that they do.
They’ve not honed the skills needed to help someone who could be a fit to see the value of what is on offer.
When we say “time wasters” and “tyre kickers” we’re making it about “them” and not “us”.
We’re not seeing our role in this situation.
And how we’re contributing to it.
Or even causing it.
As we may do in other areas of life.
If our friends or relatives peer pressure us into certain food or drink choices………
Flabotage us, if you will…………
If we say “No” five times and then do it anyway in the end to “shut them up”……..
Or miss workouts because they say we’re “boring” and “no fun anymore”……..
Then that’s on us.
We’re teaching them to do that.
If those around us engage us in gossip and negative talk that brings us down……..
We’re allowing that to happen.
If situations are consistently not as we’d like, it’s worth assessing our own role in that situation.
And, perhaps, making changes there that will set us up for success?
Being consistent about how we respond to other people’s behaviours so they learn to interact with is in the way we want them to.
Much love,
Jon ‘Flabotagers is a great word isn’t it?’ Hall
"I'm not racist" [It's not 'black or white']
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I’ve had lots of interesting conversations with my wife Alex over the last year or so.
To be honest, there hasn’t been much else to do 😉
Some of them inspired by the various conversations going on in the public domain about racism, sexism and other subjects.
She’s had some very interesting trainings through her work that I’ve either watched with her or half listened to whilst doing my own work.
I’ve always considered my self “not racist”.
I have clear memories of friends at school saying “Don’t tell Hally racist jokes – he doesn’t think they’re funny”.
But I came to an interesting realisation recently.
“I’m not racist” is what people normally say directly before what I would consider a racist comment.
They don’t consider themselves racist either.
When we describe ourselves as “not racist” we’ve come up with a definition of what we consider racism to look like.
And when we feel we don’t do ‘that’, we class ourselves as “not racist”.
And are, perhaps, not open to questioning some of our thoughts, actions and behaviours.
Have I ever said anything that would be considered ‘overtly’ racist?
I genuinely don’t think so.
Have I ever made initial assumptions about someone that have turned out to not be true based, in part, on their ethnicity?
I have.
Racism, like most things, isn’t an “am” or “aren’t” thing.
Excuse the phrase, but’s it’s not ‘black or white’.
One or the other.
It’s a spectrum.
Shades of grey between what we could consider the two extremes.
Realising that and that we are all on that spectrum and that we display different behaviours at different points along it is powerful.
Helps us question and improve our thoughts, beliefs and behaviours.
It’s like when we say we’re too busy to exercise.
We’ve, essentially, created two definitions out of thin air.
Firstly how busy you have to be to not have time to exercise.
And secondly, how much exercise we would need to do for it to be ‘worthwhile’.
And we’ve decided that we don’t / can’t fit that position of having enough time to exercise.
So do none.
Let’s face it, there’s 10,080 minutes in the week.
A handful of 5 minutes of exercise here and there would do something.
Not perfect, of course.
But something.
Saying we’re “too busy” to exercise is creating a level of ‘black or white’, ‘all or nothing’ thinking that isn’t serving us.
Same with ‘healthy eating’ being too expensive, restrictive and / or boring.
We’ve created a very specific definition of what ‘healthy eating’ looks like.
And we’ve decided “I can’t do that”.
When we could just make some better choices than we are now that, again, wouldn’t be perfect but would lead us in the right direction over time.
Very little in life is ‘black or white’.
Always worth remembering.
Much love,
Jon ‘Do The Bartman’ Hall
P.S. Yes, believe it or not, ‘Do The Bartman’ was Michael Jackson’s single directly before ‘Black or White’.
What's the best time? [And the second best?]
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Speaking of planting (pear) trees yesterday…………
What’s the best time to plant a tree?
It’s 20 years ago.
What’s the second best time?
Right now.
So, what have you put off and hasn’t happened that you wish you had?
That you could just go and do now?
That future you will thank you for the fruits of?
Much love,
Jon ‘Fruit & Nut’ Hall
It's like complaining about the art [Would you do this?]
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Imagine being in an art gallery.
Go on – do it!
You’re in a particular room.
And you don’t like the art in there.
None of it.
You think it’s all pretty rubbish.
And you’re letting everyone know it.
Telling anyone who’ll listen (or won’t) how “that one’s rubbish”.
“I wish this one was different”.
“I don’t like what that artist has done”.
And so on.
What would make more sense?
Move on to the next room, yeah?
Do something about it rather than just complaining?
But we don’t always do the same with other things do we?
We complain about our body.
How it looks and feels.
We complain about our jobs, our income, our career.
We complain about the people in our lives and how they behave.
What they do (or don’t).
Often these things are largely the result of our previous choices.
Would we complain about pears coming off of pear tree when we’ve planted pear seeds?
We get that changing any of these things isn’t as easy as just moving to another room……………
But does that mean our approach should be any different?
The “do something about it or stop complaining” we apply there…………..
Could we just choose to apply that in other areas of our life?
Much love,
Jon ‘athan Richardson’ Hall
Methods are many [Principles are few]
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One thing I have realised over my near twenty years in the Fitness Industry………..
And, especially, as part of the coaching programmes I’m part of, is this;
The fundamental basics never change.
There are different ways to do them and different considerations over time, sure.
But the basics are always under-pinning them.
Methods of marketing may have evolved over the years from purely verbal in person conversations to written material to radio to television to email to websites to social media, etc…………
But the basics of having a clear customer in mind and being able to clearly put across to them what problem of theirs you solve is still the same.
The method of delivery has changed (or been added to) – the basic principle hasn’t.
There’s a great saying;
Methods are many.
Principles are few.
Methods often change.
Principles never do
The principle of weight loss is still the same as it ever was.
A calorie deficit.
There are many methods to, potentially, achieve that that might suit us better for a variety of reasons (preferential, logistical, hormonal and so on)…………
But the principle never changes.
Same with getting fitter.
It’s need to be a form of progressive exercise.
Something that challenges the body in the ‘goldilocks’ zone.
Not too easy so it doesn’t do anything.
Not too hard do we don’t like it and don’t want to do it again.
Preferably fun (or, at least, sufficiently tolerable).
We can all find the method that suits us.
But never forgetting the principals at play – without them the method won’t get us what we want 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Clifford Smith Jr’ Hall
They've already made the mistakes [Why make them yourself again?]
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One of the major advantages I get from the coaching programmes I’m part of, is that ability to cut through all the noise.
There’s so much seemingly conflicting information out there in all areas that’s it’s easy to get confused about what to do.
Whether that be in relation to running a successful fitness business, being a good parent or losing weight and getting fit.
A good coach can help us see through that smog and pick out the things that’ll work for us.
Stop us making mistakes along the way (or, at least, massively reduce them).
They’ve either made all the mistakes themselves………
Or have worked with people who have.
Saves us doing the same.
One thing I’ve mentioned before about the average age of members at RISE is that there’s more a spread of ages in the female members.
All ages with similar(ish) numbers of each.
For the guys, there’s less particularly young ones.
Men often seem to need to have a few more years of making mistakes themselves before they feel ‘ready’ to get some support with what they’re struggling with.
Not always, of course.
But more so.
And that’s partly what we’re here for.
To stop you making any more mistakes.
Or, again, to massively reduce them.
If you’re already a member and not 100% sure what to do (and what could be a mistake), let us know.
Much love,
Jon ‘Captain Bertorelli’ Hall
It's easy to get shiny object syndrome [Like a blackbird]
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One thing I am sometimes guilty of on the coaching programmes I’m part of (see the last four blogs if you’ve been living under a rock!) is………….
Getting distracted with exciting new stuff.
I see someone else is using a specific bit of software, a new form of social media or a different approach to coaching………..
And I think “Oooohhh – that look interesting”.
And can, sometimes, get pulled away from the key stuff I should be doing.
Only to realise a few days, weeks or months later that I haven’t been doing some of the basics whilst getting distracted by stuff I find more exciting.
Again, we’ve all be there.
Tempted by the shiny new object.
It looks better and more exciting than what we’re doing right now.
Sometimes it is.
Often it’s not.
It’s different at best.
Often less good.
We just got all excited because it was new.
Like we can with our health and fitness approaches.
We see a new diet or some new facility or programme opens up………..
Our friend loses some weight, tells us how they’ve done it and it’s something we haven’t tried yet……………
So we jump from what we were doing before to this.
Initially excited.
Until that wears off.
And we, possibly, do the same again a few months later with something else.
Looking back after a while and realising that, if we’d have just carried on with what was working, we’d have got further in that time.
Whilst our retention is good for the industry, people do that with us.
Do a couple of months.
Then jump to somewhere else.
Then somewhere else.
And so on.
Often ending up back here as it was actually the thing that worked best for them.
Returning members always stay pretty much indefinitely.
Because they’ve made that shift in their heads that this is ‘for them’.
They’ve committed longer term mentally.
Their head’s in a different space.
They’ve got over that ‘shiny object syndrome’ and started being consistent with one approach.
Which, from my experience at least, always gets better results over all.
Much love,
Jon ‘Touched for the very first time’ Hall
It's not different for me [Or for you]
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From 2008 to 2010 I was an Area Manager for the company that ran the Personal Training brand for several major health club operators.
I recruited Personal Trainers then coached and mentored them during their time in the various clubs in my region.
It was my first experience of working with people doing the same thing but in different locations.
One thing I noticed early on is that when I was going through things with a struggling PT, they’d often reply with “It’s different in Insert Name Of Town”.
They’d explain what I was talking about might work in another location (usually one they deemed to be more affluent)…………
But not there.
It’s was nonsense, of course.
They just weren’t doing what needed to be done to succeed.
The “It’s different for me” card an easy one to play to protect their ego.
But, again, I get it.
I’ve been there.
Heard from my coaches how to achieve some specific result.
And, essentially, decided “It’s different for me”.
And just not done the work.
For every single challenge we may be facing……..
Millions of others will have faced that same challenge…….
And done the work that needs to be done……..
To get the result we want to get.
This isn’t to dismiss the challenges we might be facing completely.
But to put them into context.
They’re not insurmountable.
We might need to tweak our approach to take them into account, sure.
But that “It’s different for me” and “you don’t understand” mindset will hold as back as much as any.
Much love,
Jon ‘and Miss Mary’ Hall
I wouldn't get that money back [Like you don't get that time and energy back]
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The two coaching programmes I’m part of come to a fair financial investment between them.
When other FitPros ask me about them and I tell them how much they cost, their immediate response is “I can’t afford that”.
Which I get.
But I know, if I wasn’t to do them, I wouldn’t get that money back.
They contribute to my ability to make the business successful to a degree greater than their own cost.
I know that, without the value they bring to me and what we do, the turnover of the business would be less.
We’d be impacting less lives.
I wouldn’t get that money back – I’d be down on the deal if anything.
But it can be tempting to look at as a ‘cost’ that can be saved.
Like exercise and better food choices can be.
It’s tempting to think we don’t have the energy to workout.
To consider ‘saving’ that energy ‘cost’.
But we don’t get it back.
Energy here creates more energy.
We’re down on the deal if we don’t invest.
Same with time.
We’re more focussed and productive and in a better mood when we exercise and eat better.
To the point where our productivity and actual output elsewhere means we end up up on the deal.
I get more work done on the weeks I spend more time exercising than the weeks I spend less time exercising – counter intuitive as that is.
The time, energy and focus that go into looking after our minds and bodies isn’t a ‘cost’.
It’s an investment.
Much love,
Jon ‘In a rich man’s world’ Hall
DIYing it doesn't work [We should've learnt this by now]
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I mentioned yesterday about the insights I get into being part of a coaching based programme, by being part of one myself.
Here’s another one.
It’s easy to start doing your ‘own version’ of what’s recommended………
And then get frustrated when the results aren’t what you expect.
I did this a few months ago.
Was recommended a specific marketing strategy as part of one of the programmes I’m on.
And did my own version.
Partly to save subscribing to yet another bit of online software (I have loads)……..
Partly as I didn’t like some of the wording.
It didn’t work very well.
I was a bit annoyed.
Got frustrated with my coach.
That it wasn’t working as well as he’d promised.
Until he pointed out I wasn’t actually doing what he’d recommended.
I changed it to exactly what he’d suggested.
And it worked much better.
Which is daft really.
I get frustrated when people start doing their own version of what we recommend and then complain about lack of results.
We have flexibility in our approach.
But just going ‘off piste’ and not being happy when we don’t reach the destination we want, is daft ultimately.
Book sessions at the start of the week (worst case scenario we have to rearrange or do the home versions).
Set a RISE Plan for the week that is worthwhile but also realistic and takes into account our current circumstances.
Track our food for a few days if we’re not sure what adjustments we could most easily make to create that deficit (or maintenance).
Or…….. do something else and be annoyed by the lack of results.
I know (from experience) which makes more sense.
Much love,
Jon ‘Gargano & Ciampa’ Hall
Lessons from having my own coaches #1
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The other week I ventured out of the same relatively small radius of locations I’ve been to over the last 15 months.
I had a day in Newcastle and a day in Liverpool.
Coincidentally sequential days for two coaching programmes that I’m part of.
One for all areas of life, one specific to running a fitness business.
People are sometimes surprised that I’m in such programmes.
But, as I’ve said before, beware the coach who doesn’t haven’t a coach.
Either;
A – Every single aspect of their life is consistently perfect, or
B – They don’t believe in coaching as much as they tell you. They’re happy to take your money to coach you on something you’d like to get better results at, but aren’t willing to do the same themselves.
I’ll give you a clue – it’s B.
Anyway, I’ve got some insights for you from being in the programmes I’m in.
(Another advantage for me – the coach who has no experience of being in a coached programme surely has less understanding of their client experience?)
7 insights actually.
Enough, happily, for one each day of this week.
So, here’s the first:
It’s easier to go all quiet and lone wolf
I’ve been there.
I get it.
We tell ourselves “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it”.
And then don’t.
At least not enough.
We disengage from the group somewhat.
Stop setting goals and intentions (RISE Plan innit?).
Stop doing just the basics (booking in for sessions).
Stop interacting and engaging in the group.
Tell ourselves that we’ll “get back to it next week”.
It’s easier that way.
I know from experience.
I also know I regret it every single time I do it.
I know the lone wolf always starves.
I know when I stay engaged everything else comes more easily.
I know that coaching is a two way process.
I can’t just sit at home and expect someone to come and save me.
I have to ask for help where it’s needed / would be beneficial.
Swallow my pride.
For the benefit it will bring.
To me and all those around me.
Knowing that and not asking for help because I’m too proud is actually selfish.
Doing less well at the things that are important to me because my ego gets a little bruised by reaching out.
I get it.
I’ve done it many times.
We all do.
The quicker we can realise and re-engage though, the better for everyone.
Much love,
Jon ‘nWo Wolfpac’ Hall
“I would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you peksy kids…..” [Do you ever see these together?]
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I was doing the ironing the other day.
You know a blog is going to be good when it starts like that, don’t you?
My youngest son Charlie asked to watch something.
He usually wants to watch YouTube on his mum’s phone.
Which bothers me when he holds it about an inch from his face.
I know it’s no different to watching TV really, but I don’t like it.
So I said he could watch the TV and put Scooby Doo on.
It was nearing the end of the episode.
Where the gang were figuring out who dunnit.
As usually happens, Daphne was explaining her deductions.
There was the standard costumed figure (let’s call that X, mainly because I didn’t catch the name).
And an old man (who we’ll call Y).
“Have you ever noticed you never see X and Y together at the same time?” Daphne asked.
And, you guessed it, she was right.
Often how they figure out what’s happened isn’t it?
X and Y not been seen together doesn’t automatically mean they are the same thing, of course.
Or that there’s some connection between the two.
But them being seen together probably means there isn’t a connection.
Like you never see weight gain or maintenance and a calorie deficit together.
We might feel we do sometimes, sure.
But it’s those other ‘characters’ confusing us.
Until it happens in controlled, test circumstances, it’s safe to assume they aren’t seen together.
Same with how you don’t see lasting changes to people’s body and energy levels without some sort of change to the mindsets and ways of thinking that underpin that.
Just “trying again” with the same thoughts behind it is like jamming the accelerator down………
While the handbrake is still on.
And I’ve not seen lasting continued improvements to fitness……..
Without people finding a form of exercise that they find sufficiently enjoyable (or, at least, tolerable).
Much love,
Jon ‘ny Donny Doo’ Hall
Most of the transformation comes not in the knowledge you impart [But the belief you instil]
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When people first start with us, they’re often surprised by the simplicity of our recommendations.
Book in for, and turn up, for 3 sessions a week.
Eat in a calorie deficit.
They, perhaps, expected more.
Because probably everywhere they’ve been to before has given them more.
Loads of complicated stuff.
That they haven’t done.
On average, consistently over time.
The answer when we’re struggling with more isn’t even more.
It’s less.
Simplicity.
Simple and done always beats………
Hands down…….
Complicated and not done.
Sure, there’s more advanced stuff we can get to with time.
When we’re doing the basics consistently.
And there’s plenty of support in HOW to actually consistently eat in deficit or maintenance.
But, from our experience………
Most of the transformation comes not from the knowledge we impart…….
But the belief we instil.
An approach people believe they can follow consistently.
With flexibility within it.
A challenging of mindsets and habits along the way.
But, again;
Done > Complicated
Much love,
Jon ‘R Kelly’ Hall
It’s not the day you eat the fruit [When is it then?]
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You ever grown your own fruit or veg?
In your garden or an allotment?
If you haven’t, I’m sure you can imagine the process.
Plant seeds.
Give water and sunlight.
Wait for the growth over time.
Pick them.
Eat them.
Pretty much covers it, no?
The day you plant the seeds is not the day you eat the fruit.
Much like most results in life.
We trust the process.
We don’t stop watering them because they haven’t grown yet.
We know that’ll come with time.
When we take care of the ‘lead indicators’ of water and sunlight…….
We know the ‘lag indicator’ of fruit growth will come with time.
So why is exercise and eating better any different?
Those lag indicators take time.
The weight loss, the improved fitness and energy, etc.
But if we keep ‘ticking off’ those lead indicators, they’ll come.
The day you plant the seeds is not the day you eat the fruit.
Much love,
Jon ‘Juice’ Hall
The real reason people cancel [It’s not really the money]
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We’ve mentioned before many times that people leave us.
As always, people leave every fitness facility on the planet.
Most just pretend otherwise.
Probably the most commonly given reason for leaving is money.
“We need to cut back on outgoings”
“Need to save for a house, holiday, wedding, etc”
And we get that.
We’ve all found ourselves in the position where more is going out than coming in.
And we need to do something about that.
But……….
From my experience (nearly 20 years)……..
In the vast majority of cases, the money is only part of it.
When people are achieving amazing life changing results they’ve never got anywhere else………
When energy levels, mood, mental health, fitness, endurance, sex and / or sleep are up………
And weight, aches and pains and the like are down…….
We normally find financial adjustments we can make elsewhere.
So………
Is it worth considering…….
That when we’re tempted to cut back on this particular expense……….
It’s just because we’re not getting the results we want?
At that point we’ve got two choices;
-
Stop spending the money and get even less results
-
Get better results
Sure, the second is harder.
But that’s the one we really want, isn’t it?
Just because it’s “easier said than done”……
Doesn’t mean it can’t be done!
And, as always, we’re here to help with that.
Hit us up if your results aren’t where you’d like them to be 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘It’s still real to me, dammit’ Hall
We have a buffet of happiness [But only a menu of unhappiness]
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The human brain is very good at seeking out and focusing on the negative.
Served us well when we were cavemen and avoiding stuff that could kill us all day.
Not so much nowadays.
We naturally veer towards negativity and unhappiness……..
Unless we train ourselves in the opposite direction.
We feel that, for us to be happy, all these different things need to happen.
Lots of things need to change.
The planets need to align.
A virtual buffet.
But it only takes one thing to make us unhappy.
One bad experience.
One thing not going as we’d like.
A single item.
A menu, if you will.
10 really hard things needed to make us happy.
One really easy thing to make us sad.
Or, from another angle, loads of things that could make us unhappy.
Relatively few that could make us happy.
Changing that, like any skill, takes practice.
A concerted effort to change.
Feeling somewhat forced to begin with.
Becoming more natural over time.
Some choose to frame this as “a lowering of standards”.
But, if our expectations are consistently not being met and leading to our mood being less than it could be……..
And, therefore, us showing up in the world as a lesser version of ourselves…….
Then who benefits from those unrealistic expectations?
Not us.
Not those around us.
Often our brain is guilty of taking for granted the good things in our life.
The successes.
The things that went exactly as planned.
Pretty much forgetting them and moving on to the next thing immediately.
Getting to the end of the day or week and struggling to remember anything that went well.
And having a long list of things what weren’t so good.
Practicing appreciation is an invaluable skill.
Recognising what’s good in our life.
And building on it.
What we appreciate appreciates (increases).
Setting plans and goals which are worthwhile……
But realistic.
Breaking them down into steps we can achieve each day.
Generating confidence and momentum from success.
Rather than perceived failure from not having completed the whole goal.
Much love,
Jon ‘Do like a good buffet’ Hall
What’s the easiest way to tell if you’re training hard enough to build muscle? [Just as simple]
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Similar blog to yesterday’s this.
Stick with it though – I’ll make it a bit quicker.
People sometimes ask why they’re not building lean mass when they feel they’re training hard enough to.
Short answer is, they’re not training hard enough.
They’d be building lean mass if they were.
It’s really hard to build lean mass.
Good news if you’re worried about getting “too muscley” – it’s not going to happen.
Bad news if you would like to get a bit more so.
I say this as someone who wouldn’t be averse to a bit more lean mass here and there.
But I clearly haven’t trained hard enough for that over the last few years.
As it hasn’t happened.
If you’d like to put on some lean mass, then ask a coach in the next session your in.
They’ll advise what sort of intensity you need to work at for that to happen.
If you don’t, you’re good as you are.
Much love,
Jon ‘on me, when you’re not strong’ Hall
What’s the easiest way to tell if you’re in a calorie deficit? [Want to know?]
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I had a question the other day.
Well, I probably had hundreds.
Most of them from my oldest son.
But I’ll have had a fair number from members to.
This one was “What’s the easiest way to tell if you’re in a calorie deficit?”
It’s a pretty easy one to answer.
“You’ll be losing weight”.
Variations in our resting metabolic rate (what we mean when we say “metabolism” – how much energy our body uses at rest) are minimal when people are matched for body size.
+/- 80 calories per day the research shows.
But, whatever our metabolic rate is……..
Weight loss occurs when we’re in a deficit.
In every controlled study ever done.
When everything is monitored so tightly that energy in versus energy out……..
Is controlled to within 20 calories…….
Everyone ever tested lost weight.
At very similar rates.
Maybe variations in the composition – water, body fat, lean tissues, etc.
But everyone lost weight and everyone lost fat.
If we could show that we didn’t lose weight in a verified, sustained, average deficit……..
We would be the first person ever.
Knowing that is powerful.
Changes the conversation in our head.
From one of being a victim of our metabolism and genetics……..
To just realising we haven’t been in a calorie deficit.
Even if we thought we were.
Maybe we’d calculated we were.
But, again, unless we’re that first person ever, there’s something missing in those calculations.
The easiest way to tell if you’re in a calorie deficit…….
Is to see if you’re losing weight or not!
Much love,
Jon ‘Quick maths’ Hall
Thick and fast? [My mate Jamie]
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In the 90s there was a TV advert.
There were loads, obviously.
But I’m thinking of a particular one.
I think it was for a paper towel or something similar.
Google hasn’t helped me find what I’m thinking of.
It’s tag line was that it “Thick and fast”.
So we started calling my mate Jamie whatever that product was called.
Because he was a good sprinter.
And we were suggesting he wasn’t very bright (he was / is – he works for the UN in Switzerland now).
But that’s your mates for you – especially when you’re a teenager.
Another word for thick is, of course, dense.
Dense and fast.
What a lot of foods can be.
The most convenient meals / foods are often dense and fast.
High calorie density.
Quick to get and to eat.
We can wolf down 300 calories of a chocolate bar in seconds.
300 calories of veg takes a while to cook and another while to eat.
So it’s understandable why, with our busy lives, we’re tempted by those quick, energy dense and, often, tastier foods.
And put off by those more filling, but more time consuming options.
We get it.
So………
What’s the answer?
A mixture perhaps?
And a bit of planning ahead, maybe?
Perhaps breakfast and tea are lower average calorie density, bigger meals?
When we, maybe, have a little bit more time?
Lunch still a higher density, quicker option?
Potentially putting in that little bit of time ahead of time.
Cooking extra when we’re already cooking?
Getting some helpful options in on the weekly big shop?
No right or wrong.
www.myrise.co.uk/density might help us pick a few more filling options.
Just create that average that makes us sufficiently full / not hungry…….
And puts us in calorie deficit / maintenance……
And we’re good 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Lean, but slow’ Hall
Good or Fairy-tale? [Have you had a good week?]
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At the end of the day, if I were to ask you how your day has been (I would do if I saw you late in the day), what would you say?
Or if, at the end of the week, I asked “How’s your week been?”
Would you say “Good”?
You might.
But, from my experience of asking these questions hundreds and hundreds of times……..
You probably won’t.
For most people the ‘best part’ of their week (at least according to their Facebook statuses) is “the end of it”.
Or “getting through it”.
The question we could ask though, is what ‘measuring stick’ are we applying to whether a day or week is good or not?
What definition of what has to happen in that time frame?
If we have no definition at all, we’re just left with “How I feel”.
And that will never tell us that we feel the week has been good.
If we have some other definition………
Where everything goes perfectly……….
Where we get absolutely everything done we possibly could want to………
Despite that rarely (if ever) happening in reality………
Then that’s not a “good week”.
That’s a “fairy-tale week”.
Make believe.
And that’s just setting us up for disappointment, frustration and the feeling that it’s been a “bad” week (or day).
If we set a standard that isn’t going to happen…….
Is that serving us well?
An approach that benefits us?
Changing that standard doesn’t mean lowering it.
If anything, by having worthwhile, but doable, expectations……..
That increases standards over time.
We feel things are going well.
We build confidence and momentum.
We don’t constantly feel we’re “failing”.
That we’re “behind”.
We feel less “overwhelmed”.
Unmet expectations are the route of many of our negative emotions.
And if they’re consistently unmet, maybe we need to look at the expectations we’re setting?
Much love,
Jon ‘of New York’ Hall
We always start with this one [Speedy start]
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The other week my youngest son asked if we could make some marble run.
We did a lot of it during the first lockdown when we spent four months straight coming up with things to do.
Not so much recently.
We have three different sets – small, medium and large.
I’d finished a run with the small set when I noticed something.
I always put the same piece on top.
The red one you can see in the blog image.
It gets the ball going.
Puts some momentum in straight away.
Allows the marble to get through some of the other, slower ones, where it might become ‘stuck’ otherwise.
The quick, momentum building start crucial to getting all the way to the desired outcome.
As it is in many things in life.
Our health / fitness / weight loss journeys included.
People will often tell you that “you’re best to lose weight slowly”.
And I get what they’re saying.
Something quick and drastic then returning quickly to old habits (and then some) probably isn’t the best idea.
But relatively quick initial progress……..
To create buy-in to and enthusiasm for the process……..
Followed by transition into something more long term?
Actually has the highest success rate in studies.
That initial momentum gets us past those potential sticking points.
Lose a couple of pounds in each of weeks one and two then nothing in week three…….
And we’ll probably stick with it.
Lose half a pound each in weeks one and two and nothing in week three……..
And we probably won’t.
I often compare calorie intake for weigh loss to limbo dancing.
As low as you can go without falling over gets the best results!
Much love,
Jon ‘Effect’ Hall
“Go hard or go home” [Why?]
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I’ve mentioned before that most ‘motivational quotes’ you see………
Often have the opposite effect to the desired one.
They’re often written up on gym walls.
“Go hard or go home” is one I’ve seen many times over the years.
Sounds good, on the face of it.
But, let’s face it……..
How often do most of us feel like giving it everything in our workout after a hard day’s work?
Or when we’ve only just got up?
If I genuinely had to choose between giving it my all in a workout…….
Or going home……..
I’d probably have gone home most days.
It’s that whole “all or nothing” mentality that often underpins our struggles.
“I want to be able to give it 100%”………
When that’d never happened for a sustained period of time before.
I completely get wanting to make it worthwhile………
And I know “Give it as much as you realistically can under the circumstances” doesn’t sound as ‘sexy’.
But we’re all about approaching things in the way that actually sets you up for the most progress long term.
Maybe “Just turn up”.
Schedule your workout.
Start it.
See what happens from there.
That’s all I’ve ever done.
And I’d be willing to bet most people would get more from that than “Go hard or go home” and the like!
Much love,
Jon ‘is where the heart is’ Hall
Only one-third of people have one [And those that don’t get the least]
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Have you ever thought “I don’t have time”?
For exercise, healthier eating or anything else?
You’re in the overwhelming majority if you have.
Always busy but not always getting done the important stuff.
I referenced this yesterday.
I read a study the a few days ago.
Apparently only one third of people use a schedule.
You know – a diary, calendar on their phone, etc.
If someone doesn’t have a schedule, can they ever really use a lack of time as a justification for something?
It’s like saying they don’t have enough money and not making any effort to budget.
Not losing weight and not making any effort to become aware of their calorie intake.
Invariably, when asked, most people without a schedule will say “It’s all in my head”.
Which is just the same as trying to work out our calorie intake in our heads………
But gaining weight.
Or working out our income and outgoings ‘in our head’……..
But getting further into debt each month.
Without a plan for how will use our time……
Can we ever fully give ‘not having time’ as an excuse?
If we don’t plan our days, someone else will.
It will get filled up with that less important……
But seemingly urgent stuff.
When I’ve got people to track their food on MyFitnessPal, the reality usually jumps out of the screen at them.
When people start scheduling and tightly planning their use of time………
The same usually happens.
We all have 10,080 minutes in the week.
It’s how we plan to use them and how much we stick to that plan that makes the difference.
We often avoid planning and scheduling because it feels “boring” and “restrictive”.
When the reality is the opposite.
It gets stuff done more quickly and efficiently.
Allowing for greater progress in things that are important to us.
And creating more time for the fun stuff.
Planning and scheduling doesn’t restrict freedom and options……..
It creates them!
Much love,
Jon ‘White space’ Hall
It’s the exact opposite of Back to the Future [How fast?]
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Whilst we’re on the subject of classic 80s film Back to the Future (yesterday’s blog), if you’ve seen it (or you can remember what I wrote yesterday), you’ll probably remember how fast the Delorean time machine has to go before it can travel through time.
88 miles per hour innit?
Nothing happens at 50mph.
Or 72mph.
It has to hit the 88 before anything occurs (from a time travel perspective at least).
In everyday life it’s kinda the opposite.
Those that spend their days constantly rushing round at 88mph often don’t make the progress they’d like.
Busy, but not productive.
Doing things, but not necessarily THE things that will drive them forward.
Rattling through ‘to do lists’ but not doing (enough of) the stuff that will really make a difference in their lives.
Being pulled into the relatively easy, somewhat comfortable, tasks that are the same week in, week out.
And that doesn’t mean those things don’t need to get done, of course.
————- Although there probably are some things we’re busy doing that we could just stop ———–
But we can often benefit from slowing down a little.
Looking at what’s the most important stuff that will move us forward.
Often less urgent, but more important.
Look at what we could stop doing, do less of, batch do or get someone else to do.
Prioritising.
Spending hours cooking fresh, natural meals from scratch is cool.
But if approaching healthy eating that way means it doesn’t happen (or other stuff doesn’t) could we just eat in a quicker way but in calorie deficit / maintenance?
If we enjoy lengthy workouts and fit them in fine, that’s awesome.
But we could get enough to elicit a positive change in the body in a few short sessions.
If we love watching TV for relaxation, that’s amazing.
But could we watch a little less and get a bit more sleep?
Could we plan and schedule better?
If we consider ourselves to be always busy…………
But don’t have a particularly tight schedule we could show…………
Then we don’t really know where our time is going.
And are just left with how it all makes us ‘feel’.
Ultimately, we don’t need to go at 88mph to get what we want in life.
And often, when we are, that’s part of the reason things aren’t happening as we’d like.
Much love,
Jon ‘Doc Brown’ Hall
It’s the 1.21 gigawatts that’s relevant [Doc Brown at the Clock Tower?]
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I was walking past the old clock tower that used to be part of Macclesfield hospital the other day.
A quick Google tells me it got turned into it’s current format of flats in 2011.
As you can see from the attached image, it has some scaffolding up at the moment.
I posted this picture on my Facebook profile with the comment “Anyone else see this and think someone’s setting up to harness 1.21 gigawatts?”
A reference, in case you didn’t know, to the film Back To The Future.
Where, at the end, Doc Brown runs a cable down from the clock tower he knows is about to be struck by lightning………
In order to send the power of the lightning down the cable and into the Delorean time machine……..
Allowing it to be sent back to 1985.
You see, the Delorean famously needs two things to travel through time.
It needs to be going at 88mph.
And it needs 1.21 gigawatts of energy.
Over the course of the three films Doc Brown found a number of ways to generate the amount of energy needed.
Different methods.
Plutonium to start.
Lightning to get back to 1985.
Household rubbish from Marty’s bin at the end of the first film.
And whatever is used in the train pushed Deloren and the Time Train (not explained I believe).
Different methods of achieving the required energy levels.
All perfectly valid.
If they achieve the numbers needed.
Ineffective if they don’t.
All equally effective when energy matched.
That it is nuclear material, lightning or rubbish wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t achieving those energy levels.
Like many eating approaches.
Intermittent Fasting.
Points.
Different coloured days.
Tracking.
Portion size control.
Meal plans.
All potentially valid methods.
If the energy levels required are achieved.
Ineffective if they don’t.
All just ways to, potentially, create a calorie (energy) deficit.
All work if they do.
None work if they don’t.
All equally effective when energy matched.
There’s an old saying:
Methods are many. Principles are few.
Methods often change. Principles never do.
The principle that needs to be occurring for weight loss is that energy balance.
The method we choose to achieve that is up to us.
But we always need to remember what principle needs to be achieved by our method(s) of choice.
Much love,
Jon ‘Weight has nothing to do with it’ Hall
P.S. Probably should clarify that is quote from the film as this is about (body) weight.
How do you build a jigsaw? [Corners first?]
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During the first lockdown the family and I did several jigsaws.
We did one 999 piece one.
You guessed it – it was supposed to be 1,000 but we found there was one missing right at the end 🙁
We still do them fairly regularly with the youngest.
How do you do a jigsaw?
If you start with the four corners, fill in the sides then work inwards, then that’s the most common approach.
It gives us a structure to work from.
We may not complete all of the outside before adding other bits, but we’ll probably have something there to base the rest off.
And it can be the same with any goals.
Out health and fitness type ones especially.
We could start with the basic ‘corners’ of;
– Eating in calorie deficit / maintenance
– Getting some sort of exercise in each week
– Getting ‘enough’ sleep
– Stress management
Not “the whole picture” of course.
But something to start with.
We may start to add the sides and work inwards with ways to do these things.
Maybe filling in more in one corner than another.
But not forgetting these are the things we are looking to do.
There’s more to an optimally healthy lifestyle than just these, of course.
That’s the completed jigsaw.
And we may never ‘finish it’ .
But we’ll get considerably closer my starting with the corners and sides and working in……..
Than if we start with all the fancier stuff that could go in the middle.
Much love,
Jon ‘My wife says she wouldn’t be able to leave an incomplete jigsaw on the table for a year for a million pounds. I think this is mad and, frankly, a little selfish. Thoughts?’ Hall
It's not how long since, it's how long to [Smoking, but the same with anything]
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It’s amazing to think that up until the late 1980s you could smoke on a plane.
I have vague memories of people doing so.
The Australians were the first to ban smoking on planes in 1987 and the rest of the world followed suit shortly after.
Not long before that it had been practically encouraged.
“Complimentary cigars” on “men only” services in the 50s show how much the world has changed, in more ways than one.
Anyway……..
Studies into people’s cravings for smoking in the years after the ban showed a number of interesting things.
The most interesting (to me, at least) is what had the biggest effect on the levels of cravings.
It wasn’t how long SINCE their last smoke.
It was how long (or how soon) until their next one.
Right from the start of a short flight, people reported high levels of cravings.
They knew they would be able to smoke in an hour or two and really wanted to do it now.
You’d assume that on long haul flights the cravings would start at the same time and continue or worsen for the rest of the flight.
But, in most cases, people found the first bit relatively easy.
The first 8 hours of a 10 hour flight not too bad.
But the last two, when they were only a few hours from being able to smoke, were much harder.
Time since mattered less than time until.
And it’s the same with our eating.
We’ve probably gone days or weeks at times without cake, biscuits, ice cream, alcohol and the like and it not been a big deal.
Put it in front of us?
Put us only seconds from having it?
And the cravings can feel overwhelming.
When we decide on a time on when we can start drinking………
6pm perhaps?
Maybe the weekend?
We have no problem at 10am or 2pm when we are 12 to 16 hours since our last drink.
It gets to 5pm and we’re only, maybe, 20 odd percent longer since our last one, and we’re desperate.
Last drink was last Sunday evening and we’re fine till just after lunch on the Friday even though, proportionally, that’s barely any longer without.
So, what’s the answer?
Maybe some version of “taking it off the table” like the smoking ban did.
We have no option so it’s less of a big deal.
Maybe don’t have certain things in the house.
Doesn’t mean they are “bad” and that we can never have them.
But we might find them really easy to overdo when they’re in, but not miss them too much when they’re not.
When we know it’s not so much “how long since” but “how long till” we can, perhaps, use that to our advantage.
Much love,
Jon ‘Gunns’ Hall
We wouldn't think our money was magically disappearing [Would we?]
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Imagine you were getting more and more into debt as each month passed.
You’d done some rough sums.
You felt you were probably earning more than you were spending.
But that debt kept increasing.
Further into the overdraft.
What would you think?
Assuming you were confident that no one was stealing, you’d probably think “I must be missing something with my sums”.
We wouldn’t think that the money was magically disappearing, would we?
But we’re tempted to do the same with our calories aren’t we?
Think we’re “not eating much” but gaining weight?
Or that “I should be losing weight on what I’m eating” but aren’t?
When people are kept in tightly controlled, laboratory style conditions………
Where every morsel of food is measured……..
Body composition accurately calculated…….
Movement precisely tracked………
Breath monitored constantly to measure energy usage……..
Everyone ever tested has lost weight when in a confirmed, sustained calorie deficit.
With only marginal differences in the rate of that loss, when otherwise matched.
So……….
If we’re not losing weight………
One of two things can be happening:
-
We’re the first person ever to not lose weight in a calorie deficit
-
We’re missing something with our ‘calculations’.
We might be a bit optimistic with the activity multiplier we pick when calculating our energy needs.
Our estimates of energy used exercising might be somewhat ‘keen’ (many FitPros massively overstate how many calories are ‘burned’ in their sessions.
These estimates might neglect to consider that we’d have used an amount of energy just by being alive in that time.
We might have already factored our exercise in our choice of activity multiplier (and, so, be double counting it).
We might be a little bit out with our estimates of portion sizes.
We might forgot to consider a few snacks, drinks and other bits that ‘make their way’ into our mouths through the day.
The nutritional info were going off might be a little out.
All relatively small potential errors individually.
But add a few together?
What appears, on the face of it, to be a deficit, might be maintenance.
Might even be a surplus.
Ultimately, unless we’re that first person ever to not lose weight in a confirmed, sustained deficit……….
We’ll be missing something in our ‘calculations’.
And that list above might give us ideas as to what.
Much love,
Jon ‘It’s a kinda’ Hall
"Do you offer a free trial?" [Kinda]
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One question we get asked reasonably often is some version of “Do you do a free trial?”
As in, “can I come and give it a go before deciding if I want to carry on?”
And the answer is “No and Yes”.
Kinda.
We don’t do what most places do where you can come and do a session and see what you think.
For a few reasons.
From experience a free session or a free week is just the right amount to put people off.
We’re a bit sore.
A little confused about how it all works.
We don’t look and feel any different.
And it’s tempting to think “This isn’t for me” or “I don’t have time for this”.
After 8 weeks, we’ve got our head round it all.
We’re feeling the workouts but have got past any initial soreness.
And we look and feel considerably different.
We’re making a much more informed decision if we want to continue.
Secondly what we do is about so much more than the Sessions.
The support.
The community.
The Sessions are only a small part.
If we do a ‘Free Session’ we’re giving the wrong message about what we do.
We get though that people are concerned about committing.
About whether it’s for them.
Worried about wasting their money.
That’s where the money back guarantee comes in.
Do the 8 weeks and don’t love it and think it was a great decision?
You can have your money back no questions asked.
Zero risk.
Less risk than a free trial really.
The biggest risk with that is you talk yourself out of continuing and the amazing, life changing results you could’ve got.
And, let’s be honest, that’s the biggest risk of them all.
So if you, or a friend, want to try what we do risk free, you / they can apply at www.myrise.co.uk/apply.
Much love,
Jon ‘The first version of this business was called Guaranteed Fitness’ Hall
The thesaurus can help [It doesn't' sound so cool]
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We’ve mentioned many times that the words we use are powerful drivers of our behaviour.
Our words drive our thoughts……….
Which drive our actions and behaviours………
Which drive our results.
If we can challenge and tweak the way we describe things, the results can often come more easily than before.
Sometimes we can use terms that make our behaviour sound almost kind of cool.
But a quick look in the thesaurus for other words and phrases that mean the same can quickly change that.
“I’m a procrastinator” we might say.
To explain why we haven’t done something.
Sounds a bit like we’re a deep thinker and something amazing is on it’s way.
Or maybe maybe we’ve been doing some great work elsewhere whilst allowing this to ‘percolate’.
The thesaurus gives us;
dawdle
dilly-dally
loiter
stall
drag one’s feet
shilly-shally
lolly-gag
Doesn’t sound quite so cool, does it?
Or we might say “I’m a perfectionist”.
Again to explain why we haven’t done something.
Same thing with what the thesaurus gives us;
fusspot
quibbler
fussbudget
daydreamer
fantasizer
woolgatherer
And is it worth considering that, maybe, perfectionism is another word for;
fear of criticism?
After all, how often do we not do something that no one else will see because we’re “a perfectionist”?
Rarely, if ever.
It’s when we have to put something out to the world that sub-optimal that we struggle.
I’m approaching 2,300 days in a row of doing these blogs.
Have there been any that could not possibly have been improved with some more editing?
Doubtful.
None have been perfect.
But “ok and done” always, always beats “perfect and not done”.
If we do some sub-optimal exercise today, that’s more than the vast majority of the population will do.
If we make some “good enough” food choices then we’ll win over time.
If we’re willing to do that thing we’ve been putting off and are happy for it to be “good enough” but actually done, that will beat that endless cycle of “perfectionism” and “procrastination”.
Much love,
Jon ‘osaurus Rex’ Hall
"United haven't spent any money on players" ["That's not true though is it?"]
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Some how or other my two older sons have ended up as Man U fans.
I know, I know 😂
I’m a Derby Country ‘well wisher’.
‘Fan’ would be a bit strong as I’m not all that bothered.
But if I had to say I “had” a team, it would be them.
I was talking to the boys about the protests at Old Trafford the other week.
And they kept saying something I’ve seen many people say on social media in recent weeks (and months and years).
“United haven’t spent any money on players”
“That can’t be true” I thought.
So I googled it.
They’ve spent the second highest amount of any team in the world over the last five years (behind only Man City).
And have the fifth highest income.
Overall they are second in the world (again to City and out of the big clubs) on spend on players versus income.
So the suggestion that they’ve “spent nothing on players” is laughable.
It’s what their mates had been saying and what they’d seen on the internet, of course.
Now there are clearly discussions as to whether they’ve spent it on the right players for the right reasons.
On what else they’ve spent, their debt and more.
But if someone says “they’ve spent nothing” (or even “they’ve not spent enough”) then they’re just having the wrong conversation.
And all wrong conversations distract us from the right ones.
It’s like I mentioned in earlier blogs about the belief that “the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing”.
When the evidence shows the opposite.
It’s a spread not a gap and it’s more even (relatively) than at any point in history.
Or that “nobody’s following COVID regulations” when millions clearly are.
Doesn’t mean it’s where we’d like to to be or that there’s not still work to be done in both cases.
But those statements lead to, essentially, the wrong conversations.
And it’s the same with many of the things we could say about our health and fitness.
We say we “don’t have time to exercise” when, let’s be honest, we always do.
If we go by the actual official definition of what exercise is.
We could change that conversation to “I’m not sure what exercise I could do in the time I do have”.
Or just “I don’t feel like it” or “I’m tired”.
The kind of conversations that are more likely to lead us where we’d like to go.
Same with “healthy eating is boring / time consuming / expensive”……..
When it only is if we chose options that are boring / time consuming / expensive.
We could challenge our internal narrative of “I’ll leave it till next week / month” when we can’t do the theoretically perfect version of whatever it is……..
And, perhaps, instead ask ourselves “what can I do this week with everything else I’ve got on?”
Ultimately, we can choose to think about and describe things however we want to.
But if the narrative we’re hearing and adopting unknowingly from our peers and the media (conventional and social) isn’t serving us well………
Maybe we could question it’s accuracy?
And find a ‘conversation’ that’s more likely to lead us where we’d like to go?
Much love,
Jon ‘Gunnar Solskjaer’ Hall
I'll be happy when..... [Complete this sentence]
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I did a post on my personal profile on Facebook the other day:
Complete this sentence;
I’ll be happy when……..
And, as you’d expect, got a number of replies.
“I get a six pack”
“I hit my ideal weight”
And I’ve had the conversation many many times with people over the years when they express that they’ll be happy when some future thing happens.
A physical change.
Something finishes or happens at work.
Some family logistic.
We have more money.
The question, of course, is………
Will they be happy when that thing has happened?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
From my experience, there’s an initial level of pleasure and satisfaction…….
Soon followed by the same levels of fundamental happiness as before.
Deferring happiness again to some other future point.
How many times have we told ourselves “I’ll be happy when………..” and then got there………..
And found we’re no happier?
As a species, we inclined to not give ourselves permission to be happy.
To feel we shouldn’t be happy when there are still things we’d like to improve.
When there’s work to be done.
To think we can only be fundamentally happy when everything is ‘perfect’.
And that being happy now amounts to giving up on change and accepting lower standards.
The thing is though, happiness is just an emotion.
A feeling.
We don’t defer other emotions based on selc created criteria do we?
We don’t think “I won’t feel any fear until…….”
Or “I’ll only be irritated when…….”
Happiness is just an emotion.
Energy in motion.
A feeling that only ever exists in the present moment.
One we can choose to feel more or less of.
That, perhaps, takes practice after years of deferment.
That takes acceptance that we can be both happy…….
And want to make changes.
That these things are not mutually exclusive.
As Rhianna sings in Diamonds, we can “choose to be happy”.
Much love,
‘Shine bright like a’ Jon Hall
If you're not willing to do one, there's no point aiming for three [Workouts and more]
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You probably already know that if you join a conventional gym, you usually only hear from them when you cancel your Direct Debit.
Some places do do non-user calls or texts.
But there’s a term in the Fitness Industry called “waking the dead”.
They’ll stop contacting people after they’ve not been in for a while as it’ll just remind you your paying for a gym membership you’re not using and make it more likely that you’ll cancel.
Our average usage is miles better than a normal gym’s.
But, of course, there are plenty of time when people haven’t been in for a while.
And we’ll be in contact with them.
“I’ve been busy” will be a common reply.
Which we get.
Our lives are more hectic and full on than at any point in history.
But, let’s be honest, if we’ve not exercised in, let’s say, a month, can that ever really be because we’ve been “too busy”?
Over 600 hours and not a single one was used on anything non-essential that we could have done a workout in?
About 45,000 minutes and we couldn’t move in a way that would maintain or improve some aspect of health and fitness for 5 of them?
What often underpins us thinking that we “don’t have time” to exercise is the idealised version of what that would look like that we’d got in our heads.
Where we think we need to do three or more workouts a week for it to be worthwhile.
And when we don’t feel we can do that, we don’t do any.
Or we feel we have to do a full 45 minute session for it to be worthwhile.
And when we don’t feel we can do that, we don’t do any.
Or we feel we have to go to a specific location (RISE for example) for it to be worthwhile.
And when we don’t feel we can do that, we don’t do any.
The thing is though, exercise is diminishing returns.
A one hour workout won’t give 12 times the benefit of a 5 minute one.
Three sessions won’t give three times the benefit of one.
Both from an actual physical standpoint………
But, perhaps more importantly, it changes the conversation in our heads……..
From one of “I’ve stopped and need to start again”………
To more of a ‘slow down and speed up as circumstance dictates’ one.
It’s a willingness to accept that any exercise is worth doing that will probably help us more than pretty much anything.
A challenge to our mindset about what’s worth doing that’s held us back.
Ultimately……….
If you’re not willing to do a single workout, is there much point aiming for three?
If you’re not willing to do a five minute workout, is there much point aiming for a hour?
Much love,
Jon ‘for the money and a free ride’ Hall
P.S. Double meaning to that middle name today………
"I'll cover your mistakes" ["You cover your choices"]
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During the last (hopefully) Lockdown, I came into the club one day and noticed a large crack on one of the mirrors.
I posted in the staff group to see if anyone knew what had happened.
And we soon figured it out.
One of Coach Claire’s sons had backed into it when in with her.
It, of course, had to be replaced.
Both from an aesthetic and a safety perspective.
I said to Claire at the time that we’d get it done and have a chat about what to do about the cost.
Having had a little think, I decided the business would cover it.
That’s what I’d do if a member had caught it during a session.
And this is was only marginally different.
I was saying this to Claire and we agreed it was “learning opportunity” for her son.
And I remembered something I’ve been saying to my boys recently.
Jamie, my middle son, keeps trying to carry too many things in his hands on the way to the car.
And, invariably, drops some on the way.
He’s cracked a couple of iPad screens this way.
The first, I paid to be fixed.
The second he had to cover.
The first was a mistake.
I tell my kids “I’m happy to cover your mistakes. You cover your choices”.
Because a mistake repeated is a choice.
If we do the same thing the same way as last time and it leads to the same result, we can’t call it a mistake.
It was a choice.
We can’t say “It was an accident”.
It was a choice.
Or “I didn’t mean to” or “I messed up”.
It was a choice.
And remembering that is powerful.
It helps us learn from those mistakes.
And realise when we’re just making a choice that we’re OK with.
When we miss a workout for reasons that have happened before and probably could’ve foreseen, that’s a choice.
When we eat or drink more than we need to, that’s a choice.
When we intend to eat a certain way and then eat a different way, that’s a choice.
When we stay up late and are tired the next day, that’s a choice.
A mistake repeated is a choice.
And, again, that’s fine.
We’re all old enough to make our own choices.
But recognising them as choices, not mistakes, may enable us to make more of the choices that serve us better 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Mis-Teeq’ Hall
Optimus Prime got it wrong ["We don't do transformations"]
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You’re aware of The Transformers, yeah?
Either the original cartoon from the 80s.
Or the more recent films.
Or, of course, both.
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and…. err….. the other ones.
Turn from a vehicle (or something else) into a robot with arms and legs and back again.
Not really Transformation was it though?
More just a rearrangement of their features.
And a transformation is normally a one way thing.
Someone gaining and losing weight repeatedly isn’t normally called a Transformation.
“Yo-yo dieting” usually.
Transformation is more permanent.
When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, it never goes back.
And it’s significant change.
A slight trim at the barbers wouldn’t be classed as a Transformation.
A completely different hairstyle and some facial tattoos and piercings probably would be.
Transformation is a significant and lasting change.
Which is why it always tickles me when other FitPros say “We don’t do transformations”.
So……. you do insignificant and temporary changes?
I know the point their trying to make.
They do long term progress rather than something with a shorter time frame (like our eight week programme).
And I get why.
Long term progress is, ultimately, the best way.
But long term seems too much for many.
We meet them where they ‘are’.
Start with something they feel they can do.
Rather than committing to a lifetime of exercise and healthy eating.
Relatively quick initial results to get buy in and enthusiasm.
There’s research that suggests quicker initial progress followed by a transition into something else……..
Has up the five times the long term success rate of slow initial progress.
It’s obvious when you think about it really.
If your new thing you were doing led to half a pound of weight loss per week, you’re likely to get discouraged and bored of it pretty quickly.
2.5 lbs a week for a bit more effort and you’re more likely to feel it’s worth it.
I often liken successful weight loss to limbo dancing.
As low as you can go without falling over.
Make too much of a change that you feel you can’t maintain it and go back to what you were doing before?
That’s no good.
Make a change that creates progress at a motivating rate and that you feel you can keep up, on average, over time?
That’ll work better.
No point slowing the progress down on purpose if you can keep it up.
Much love,
Jon ‘GoBot’s Hall
Like your second COVID jab [Might get a sore shoulder too]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
If you read these blogs religiously (and, frankly, why wouldn’t you?) you’ll know I had my first COVID jab the other week.
As I assume most people will have done, I booked my second one at the same time.
For 8 weeks after.
I picked what should be a relatively straight forward time.
First thing on a morning where we only have two of the kids and my wife should be fine with the school run.
Something will probably come up for the same time, but it’ll have to wait.
That jab will get done.
It’s scheduled and will happen exactly when planned.
As it’s framed as a non negotiable.
Because it could, potentially, be life saving.
My own or others.
But, we all know our individual chance of dying from COVID is relatively low.
A fairly high portion of us will die younger than we have to due to our diet and lack of exercise though.
And, probably, have had a body we like the look and feel of less and lower energy levels and mood along the way.
But we don’t see the things that will help with that as being as important, do we?
Now, I do get it.
I know it’s a bit different.
It’s two blocks of an hour or so compared to “the rest of our lives”.
But seeing things as a non negotiable is just a choice.
The way we frame it in our minds.
We could chose to schedule our workouts 8 weeks out and not allow anything to get in their way.
More realistically, we’d plan them at the start of the week.
And protect them.
Sure, they’ll have to move sometimes, unavoidably.
But perhaps not as readily as they currently / used to do.
If we’re not scheduling them and planning on “fitting them in when I can”……..
Then scheduling them before the other things that the workouts benefit (our work, etc) would be a great next step.
We all know “fitting it in” means it probably won’t happen (enough).
Much love,
Jon ‘I’d had a workout just before my COVID jab so both shoulders were sore anyway’ Hall
I'll have you consider, it's you that doesn't understand [Not me]
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Have you ever thought of someone else “they don’t understand”?
Have you ever thought that of me / us?
Don’t worry if you have.
A lot of people have over the years.
Many have told me directly as I’ve been talking to them about things related to their health, fitness, exercise and food.
“You don’t understand”.
Heard it probably thousands of times.
But…………..
Is it worth considering…………
That, maybe………..
It’s you that doesn’t understand.
There’s a difference between understanding and fully agreeing.
I / we understand that it’s not easy sometimes.
That our lives are busy and challenging.
That this can seem like “yet another thing”.
That there are countless things that can get in the way and / or make this all more difficult.
But………
There’s a difference between understanding all that……….
And fully agreeing that those things have to mean what you’ve made them mean.
Maybe, just maybe………..
When people think we don’t understand is it perhaps that we do and they / you don’t?
Or, at least, that we can help you get to a level of understanding that will serve you better?
That will allow you to get the results you desire?
Much love,
Jon ‘Ne comprend pas’ Hall
I think I'd failed you if I just took your first answer [About, you know, cancelling]
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I mentioned yesterday about people wanting to cancel.
And how, ultimately, the preferred result for both sides is for people to get results they feel are worth the continued investment.
No one benefits from the opposite choice.
That’s a lose-lose.
We’d love to make it a win-win.
Member gets results they feel are worth the investment.
I get to pay all the bills and feed my kids.
Everyone’s happy.
So, I genuinely believe I would be failing people if I just left them to cancel.
If I just went “Ok” and sent them the cancellation link.
Is that what anyone really wants?
If it’s a genuine, unavoidable circumstantial reason, that’s cool.
But, from my experience, most reasons given that sound unavoidable, probably are if the results justify it.
Nearly everyone that gives unavoidable circumstantial reasons for “needing to stop” hasn’t been getting the results they’d have liked.
So, I’ll ask questions.
Not ‘arguing with you’ type questions.
Questions that might help you lead to the answers that serve you better.
After all, if we keep asking the same questions, we just get the same answers.
Answers that, probably, haven’t led us to where we’d like to go to.
It’s because we care and we understand that we won’t just take your first answer.
And we do understand.
And I’ll cover tomorrow what’s usually happening when people think “he / they doesn’t understand”.
Much love,
Jon ‘Chris Tarrant’ Hall
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A regular part of our job as a coach is to help people when they’re struggling.
Sometimes that’s early on in that struggle.
Other times they’re wanting to cancel their membership.
The vast majority of the time, the reason given for stopping will, on the face of it, be logistical.
They “can’t get down for enough sessions”.
Or “need to save money”.
Or something similar.
From my experience though (nearly 20 years and thousands of people now), those reasons are usually underpinned by one thing:
A lack of results.
At least not enough results to, in their head, justify the investment.
When people are getting amazing life changing results and need to spend less, they find adjustments elsewhere.
Or they don’t mind how many sessions they’re getting down for because they’re doing the online ones and / or making sufficient changes to their eating to make progress they’re happy with.
It boils down to not getting our money’s worth.
And at that point, there’s one of two things we can do.
Two variables we can adjust.
We can get the same results (or, realistically, probably less) and spend less money.
Or we can get better results and spend the same.
The former is, of course, considerably quicker and easier.
The latter is what we really want though isn’t it?
If I could click my fingers and give you that body you like the look and feel of, the increased energy and better mood………
Instantly………
With no time or effort………
For the same financial investment……..
You’d take it wouldn’t you?
In 99% of the cases of people thinking of cancelling, I’m sure that would be the response.
So, if you’re not getting the results you feel justify the investment………
You have those two choices.
We can help with the latter.
Let’s do it together.
Much love,
Jon ‘Culture’ Hall
I looked what he was buying [I get this every day too]
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The other week my youngest son and I fetched a second hand Springfree Trampoline from Northwich.
I stopped at the garage by Monk’s Cross to get fuel, a Costa for me and a juice for Charlie.
While I was queuing I noticed the word ‘Trainer’ on the back of the guy in front of me.
It was one of the PTs from the high end Personal Training Studio round the corner.
Top setup and phenomenal results.
At a very top level price.
He was getting his lunch.
I was interested to see what he was eating.
So had a little peek.
Until I remembered that’s what I get every time I go to Tesco (not so often in the last year thanks to Click N Collect).
I bump into someone I know………
And they take a sly glance in my trolley.
Which is fine.
I get it.
Sometimes I get a “Caught you”.
Because there’s something in there that they consider “naughty”.
Bread, cake, biscuits, alcohol, etc.
I’ve had people message me a picture of me in my car at the McDonald’s drive through from the few places behind that they’re sat on more than one occasion.
And lots of other similar messages when I’m seen at certain places or eating or drinking certain things.
And, again, I get it.
It’s partly a joke.
But it’s a joke usually underpinned by a mindset that’s holding that person back.
They think that you “can’t have” those foods and lose weight, get fit, etc.
And when they feel they can’t “not have” them……….
They feel they’ve failed.
That they should “write off” the rest of that day / weekend / week / month.
That this is something they “can’t do”.
That they’re not “that kind of person”.
“This isn’t for me”.
I usually reply to the “Caught you” with a “Have you ever actually read any of my blogs? 😂”
It’s the balance of the week that’s key.
You may find reducing some foods part of the approach to creating that balance.
You may even find it easier to stop completely or, at least, not have certain things in the house.
Things you find very easy to over do.
But no food is inherently fattening or “unhealthy”.
There’s nothing you can eat that can’t be averaged out over time.
Nothing is “naughty”.
Or “banned”.
Create an average that works for you.
And, if you’re not sure how to do that, a handful of days of tracking on MyFitnessPal will usually give you a good idea.
If you’re a member already and don’t know how to do that, check ‘Tracking’ under Nutrition on the Learn tab.
Much love,
Jon ‘There’s a joke about the average intelligence of Trainers – having to have the word Trainer on their back. And their shoes’ Hall
Where can I do less reps? [Might not be what you’re thinking]
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We’ve talked a lot recently about ‘reps’.
Not of the exercise type (although they are cool too).
But just about getting the repetitions in at stuff we want to get better at.
Getting the reps in at booking sessions.
Getting the reps in at turning up for those booked sessions.
Getting the reps in at making better food choices.
Getting the reps in at things that might help with our sleep.
Or our stress levels and mood.
Realising that we start by being pretty rubbish at anything.
And practice ourselves onto mediocre, through to ok and, maybe, eventually, pretty good.
All through reps.
Just doing some of it, even if we don’t feel like it.
And getting a little better at it each time.
More reps can be the answer.
But so can less reps.
Where in our lives would we benefit from getting less reps in?
Some might seem obvious?
Less reps of snacking, maybe?
Less reps of drinking alcohol, perhaps?
Less reps of those extra few hours binge watching that means we don’t get enough sleep?
Maybe we keep those reps in and get less somewhere else?
Still snack, but get less reps of breakfast in?
Still watch or favourite programmes but do less reps of something else so that starts and ends earlier?
Still have a drink (or several) but less reps of calorie intake elsewhere to ‘balance the books’.
Where can you get less reps in?
Much love,
Jon ‘Register of Exercise Professionals’ Hall
“Did you book this at the travel agents in Ashbourne?” [Not as unlikely as it seemed]
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In 1997 my friend Rob came with me and my parents on our family holiday to Turkey.
The main story coming out of that holiday was that we both had food poisoning and had to have an injection in our bottoms from a dodgy looking Turkish ‘doctor’.
But another story was how we bumped into Becca Ward from the year below by the pool.
Rob started going out with her when we got home funnily enough.
But the conversation at the time was about what an amazing coincidence it was.
However many thousand miles away and you bump into some from school.
What are the chances?
Well, that’s what everyone else said.
I’ve always had a somewhat analytical mind.
I worked backwards in my head to where we’d booked the holiday.
The travel agents in Ashbourne.
It was up in the window (remember when that’s how you found holidays?).
I asked Becca if that’s how they found it.
It, of course, was.
Same dates, flights and hotel.
I would imagine there were several families from the area there somewhere.
Not the million to one coincidence it first appeared.
But a pretty high chance we’d see someone we recognised.
——————————————-
The human brain isn’t always great and finding the real reasons behind things.
If often misses the genuine connection and / or adds another one in.
Sometimes it sees correlation as causation.
We start Intermittent Fasting, keto, raspberry ketones, skinny coffee, a certain diet or any other approach to losing weight…………..
Lose weight………..
And miss the important fact that the method just put us in a calorie deficit.
Or our friend seems to be able to “eat what they like and not gain weight”………….
Assume that they have “a better metabolism”………..
And we miss that we only see their eating, maybe 10% of the time and that they’re just creating average maintenance calories.
We see that someone we know has always been in great shape………
Feel it’s unfair………
And miss that they might have done 2,000 workouts in the last decade and eaten in average deficit or maintenance.
The reasons for things are often simpler than we might think.
We want to get in shape?
Eat in an average deficit and do a progressive form of exercise that we enjoy.
That’s not the entirety of it sure.
But it’s more than enough to make some great progress.
Much love,
Jon ‘Started texting Rob during COVID after over 15 years out of touch’ Hall
Antidote not vaccine [Have you had yours?]
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I had my first COVID vaccination the other day.
——- I’ll be honest, I’ve started writing this before I’ve even booked it, but I know us 41 year olds are any day now. I will update how I felt afterwards ——-
My arm felt a little sore but I was generally good.
I̶ ̶f̶e̶l̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶ ̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶.̶
I̶ ̶f̶e̶l̶t̶ ̶a̶w̶f̶u̶l̶.̶
A vaccine is, of course, designed to give the recipient “active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease”.
We take it once (twice, three times a lady) and, hopefully, are protected for a period of time.
Immune.
Whilst it would be nice if we could do that with our health and fitness, we can’t I’m afraid.
You can’t come and see us once and that be it for a year or ten.
We’re more like the antidote.
“a medicine taken or given to counteract a particular poison.”
Or;
“something that counteracts an unpleasant feeling or situation”.
We can regularly counteract the ‘less good’ parts of your life.
Exercise as an antidote to aging and sedentary lifestyles.
Relentless positivity as an antidote to the negativity you’ll receive from some combination of the people in your life, the news and social media.
A peer group of of people who are making good food and lifestyle choices and making forward progress as an antidote to your other peer groups who, perhaps, aren’t.
But, we can’t ‘protect’ you forever.
You need to keep ‘taking’ this.
But, it’s more than worth it 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Relentless’ Hall
The problem wasn’t what you did [It was what you made it mean]
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Have you ever eaten or drank in a certain way……..
And then felt that you’ve ‘failed’…….
And done more of the same……..
And felt you “need to start again”?
You know – had some cake and biscuits at work.
Or a big night out.
Or demolished a bottle of wine and tub of Hagan Daz infront of the tele.
Or you’ve missed a workout or two and though “I’ll leave it for this week (or month)”?
You’re in the massive majority if you have.
We get it.
Understandable train of thought.
But, as with a lot of trains of thought, it’s worth questioning.
Ultimately, in all these cases (and many others in life), the problem isn’t what we did…….
It’s what we made it mean.
Over eating by several hundred or a thousand or so calories only equates to fraction of a pound of body fat gained.
A single missed workout makes very little difference in the grand scheme of things.
And both can be easily averaged out over time.
Knocking 10 to 20% off maintenance for the next day or two.
Maybe catch up on the missed workout.
Or minimal difference to the workouts we’d do in a year if we just do the next one as planned and so on.
It’s when we make it mean something else that it has a bigger impact.
When we decide that’s ‘failure’………
That we’ve “been naughty”……….
That “this isn’t for me”……….
And so on.
Remember that next time you do that thing.
The thing probably isn’t that big a deal.
It’s what you could choose to make it mean now that is.
Much love,
Jon ‘Modal’ Hall
“I unsubscribed due to how many emails they sent” [I’ve heard this a lot]
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I mentioned yesterday that I sometimes have a look at the comments on people’s page check ins when they’ve been for a session.
I got another comment on the same one that I mentioned yesterday that I’ve seen many times over the years.
And have had as replies to emails.
And as the ‘reason’ people can give when unsubscribing from these emails.
It said (as the title of this blog suggests) “I unsubscribed due to how many emails they sent”.
And I get it.
Whilst we make it clear at point of opt in that we also send our daily blog, it’s easy to miss that.
People aren’t always expecting it.
Or they are and they still find it “too much”.
And that’s fine.
From our experience, someone who doesn’t feel they can spare a couple of minutes a day to read something that will help them, probably won’t feel they can justify longer to do a workout.
Or to make some changes to their eating.
Not always, sure.
But usually.
Or they just don’t like my ‘style’.
Also fine.
If they don’t like what I write, they probably won’t like what I have to say either.
If you don’t like these blogs and / or find them useful, that’s cool.
There’s an unsubscribe at the bottom of every one.
If you do get something from them……
If it helps, but by bit, to challenge and change your mindsets, habits, etc……..
If you find little tweaks that you maintain better than wholesale changes you give up on after a few weeks……….
Then we’ll keep sending them 🙂
I’m approaching 2,300 days in row.
Hundreds find them useful.
Just because others don’t isn’t a reason not to do them.
And it’s the same with what you do.
It works for you and those that are important in your life?
Keep it up.
Others don’t like it and let you know?
That’s fine too.
Doesn’t mean you should ever stop 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Spam’ Hall
“I’m looking for the same, but cheaper” [Not going to happen]
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If you have a business page on Facebook, you’ll be aware that you can see who has checked in on there.
If you didn’t have one, you now know this.
I was checking the page check ins the other day and came across a conversation between the member who’d checked in and their friend.
The friend explained they were looking to do the something themselves.
“I’m looking for something the same as RISE, but cheaper”
Which I get.
We all like the idea of saving money and getting a good deal.
But, in life, you usually get what you pay for.
I know our budget and there’s nothing spare in it.
For us to run at a lower cost, something would have to give.
We’d have to spend less on something.
Or squeeze more people in (impossible with COVID restrictions, not what we want to do outside of that).
Anything cheaper could not, by definition, be the same.
There’d be less support systems.
Maybe less sessions.
Less online sessions and / or support.
No merchandise in the post as a reward every couple of months.
Ultimately, less results.
The bit peolle actually want for their investment.
The vehicle to get there is, of course, important.
But we invest in getting to the destination we desire.
And enjoying the experience.
I know there are places in Macclesfield that say “We’re as good as / better than RISE, but cheaper”……..
But seem to have zero evidence to prove that.
We have hundreds and hundreds of verified successes on our walls, website and social media.
New ones every week.
Hundreds of five star reviews.
Top in the UK on FreeIndex and top in the region on Google, Facebook and everywhere else for over five years straight.
Two time Top 6 at The National Fitness Awards.
—————–
There’s a concept called “money on the table”.
If it’s possible to offer something the same but cheaper, someone will.
They’ll sweep in and take all the business and that money that’s sitting waiting to be collected.
Approaching ten years in and no one in Macclesfield has done this with us, despite claims they will.
If you’re already with us, we hope you feel it’s worth the investment.
If your results aren’t where you’d like them to be, then talk to us and we’ll get there together.
Much love,
Jon ‘As Chips’ Hall
It uses half to just get going [Don't we all?]
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I heard the other day that a space rocket uses 95% of its fuel to ‘break orbit’.
You know – get off the ground and into space where it will use much less to pootle round.
I did, of course, fact check this.
It’s not quite right – more like a third to a half.
Give or take, dependant on the rocket and, of course, how far it’s going.
It’s a lot though isn’t it?
Half the energy used in the first few minutes of a number of days or weeks.
A fraction of a single percentage of the total time.
The getting going.
Overcoming that inertia.
“a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force”
Or;
“a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged”
Once we feel we’ve got going at anything, that next bit is a little bit easier.
The next bit easier still.
On average.
Whether we’ve “stopped” for years or just a few days.
Getting going again can feel the hardest bit.
But it’s always worth remembering that have never really stopped.
Exercise is just movement.
We never stopped moving for any length of time.
Eating better is just eating.
We never stopped that for all that long.
It will get easier the more of those different choices we make, sure.
But it’s probably not as hard to “course correct” right now as we’re telling ourselves.
We don’t need that massive use of energy that it feels like we do.
Much love,
Jon ‘SpaceX’ Hall
Interest is paid on the balance not the difference [Not just with out money]
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If you have money in your bank account, how much of it is interest paid on?
Go on, it’s not a trick question.
All of it, isn’t it?
It’s not on how much more you’ve got than someone else has in their bank account, is it?
Or how much less.
Every extra bit in there is of equal value.
Pound number one, pound number one thousand and pound number one million all generate the same interest individually.
But we’re tempted to think differently in the other ‘assets’ we could accumulate.
We look at how much slimmer or fitter other people seem to be than us.
How much more fun their lives (as displayed on social media) appear to be.
Or some other ‘gap’ between where we are and where we feel we should be.
And we forget to collect the ‘interest’ on what we do have.
To enjoy the benefits of what’s already there.
The difference between zero and what we do have, not the difference between what we do have and what we (perceive) others have.
And slowly build on it over time.
Much love,
Jon ‘Rates’ Hall
Stop using strength [MMA training, apparently]
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You ever done any MMA training?
No, me neither (keep reading if you have, of course).
MMA is Mixed Martial Arts in case you didn’t know.
There’s a phrase I’ve heard in relation to learning techniques, particularly in your early years of training.
Probably applies to all combaty type skills.
The phrase (and variations of it) is “Stop using strength”.
To learn the techniques to overcome an opponent through skill and minimal physical effort.
To use their own strength, movement and momentum against them.
Rather than trying to brute force yourself through every situation.
When you have the skills you can add the strength in where needed to make a formidable combo.
But strength alone just leads to us wearing ourselves out quickly.
And rarely ending up with the result we want when we don’t have the energy to see it through.
And it’s the same in all areas of life.
A bit of brute force here and there can play a part, sure.
But if that’s all we have, we probably won’t get the result we desire.
If our approach to healthier eating and exercise feels like hard work……..
If it requires willpower……..
Motivation……..
Strength………
Then we’ll probably wear ourselves out.
It soon becomes a pain.
An inconvenience.
We get tired of it.
If we use skill instead?
Find the ways of eating and exercising that will still take us in the right direction……..
But don’t feel like hard work…….
Then we’ll get that result over time.
It might take a little longer than the ‘strength option’ theoretically could.
But if that approach led to us getting ‘gassed’ and ‘losing’ pretty quickly……..
The skill option will actually be much quicker.
And, maybe, we can pop a bit of strength in on top of the skill from time to time, when we feel that makes sense?
Much love,
Jon ‘Shamrock’ Hall
Would you do Heart FM's 'Make me a millionaire'? [Bird in the hand and all that]
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I was driving along (singing a song) the other day……..
When I heard the DJ on the radio talk about a competition.
Heart FM’s “Make me a millionaire”
You can text in to enter (at a cost)…….
And each day someone wins an amount of money (between 1 and 30 thousand last year apparently – 7k in this case).
They can then choose to keep that money or be entered into the draw for £1 million with the others that have done the same.
What would you do in this case?
A million quid is a lot of money.
I’d be tempted.
But let’s change the question.
You’ve got 30 grand in the bank.
Would you put it on a horse at 33 to 1?
Or you’ve got £7,000.
Would you put it on something 150 to 1?
I know I wouldn’t.
Not a chance.
But the first version feels very different, doesn’t it?
We’re worried we’d always question if we “should’ve gone for it”.
The second we’d think was a terrible idea to even consider.
Rephrasing the same situation can often help us see it differently.
Have loads when it’s a buffet / free meal / all inclusive / free bar?
Probably.
Would you gain weight, reduce energy and have a body you like the look and feel of less if I paid you?
Probably not.
That “getting our money’s worth” or “making the most of” mindset feels very different, doesn’t it?
But it doesn’t have to.
“Leaving that workout for today because I’m tired and busy” versus “Feeling worse when I could feel better and having less energy tomorrow”.
“Having a drink because ‘I’ve earned it'” versus “Temporarily sedating, but not actually helping and, maybe, making it worse overall”.
If we reframe the way we see the same thing(s), we may make more of the decisions that benefit us overall.
Much love,
‘Who wants to be a’ Jon Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I heard this term the other day.
“Residual beneficiaries”
“A residuary beneficiary is a beneficiary who has been left a percentage of what’s left in the Estate after all debts and expenses have been settled”
Or what’s left when a company gets liquidated or similar.
Those that get whatever is left over.
Probably not much.
But, possibly something we’re all guilty of at times?
With the people that are most important in our lives?
Our family and friends.
Who get whatever is left of our energy, enthusiasm and mood after work or other such commitments have drained them.
Who “fit in” around other stuff which, ultimately, is less important.
I get it.
The bills need to be paid.
But how could make it so that everyone benefits enough?
We look after ourselves in a way that creates more energy, enthusiasm and mood?
We put the people that are important to us (including ourselves) in the schedule first (or, at least, considerably earlier than they might be now)?
How can we make it so some of those ‘residual beneficiaries’ become ‘primary beneficiaries’?
Much love,
Jon ‘Danny DeVito in Twins’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You ever seen canoe slalom in the Olympics?
—- Other sporting events are available —–
Or, as I remember it, Trans World Sport in the 90s?
You know the one – zipping down a stream in a canoe / kayak, trying to get through various ‘gates’ for the best time / score.
Now those guys are strong, no doubt about it.
They do some powerful turns.
But most of it is going with momentum.
It’s smooth and graceful when done well.
It’s not about continuously forcing the canoe around slowly with brute force.
That’s what a tugboat does.
It’s about ‘going with’ the flow in the best way we can………
With periodical bursts of energy to correct course.
And a life we want to lead can be like that.
When it seems like that constant effort…….
When it’s all “hard work”……..
When “everything’s against us”……..
It’s “never ending”………
When “the world seems out to get us”………
It’s like that tugboat.
Hard work.
Hard to maintain.
When we treat it more like going with the flow of the stream of life………
With bursts of energy to correct course here and there……..
It can be a much more enjoyable experience.
Letting go…….
Accepting what is…….
Stopping arguing with reality…….
Letting go of the “need to be right”……
Can make it all so much easier.
We go with things rather than fighting against what will never change.
Burning ourselves out unnecessarily and not having the energy for the stuff we can change!
‘Going with the flow’ rather than fighting with reality can mean we get so much further and faster.
Much love,
Jon ‘Trans World Sport was great, wasn’t it?’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever thought “I just need to be told what to eat”?
Or asked someone like me to “Tell me what to eat and I’ll do it”?
Or thought you “just need a meal plan”?
Completely understandable if you have.
The vast majority of people who start with us have thought or said that at some point.
And it sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?
Just like it sounded like a good idea last time.
And the time before.
And probably a few times before that.
Chances are we’ve already tried a meal plan.
Or a particular diet of some sort.
We’ve been able to get them for free on the internet for two decades now.
Or from a book.
Or a recommendation from a friend.
Maybe another facility owner or FitPro (Fitness Professional for newer readers).
Often the same diet / meal plan said FitPro follows themselves.
And, chances are, the same thing happened as would probably happen this time.
It would be fine for a few days or a week or two.
And then quickly become a pain.
We don’t like a certain recipe (or someone else doesn’t).
Don’t have a particular ingredient in.
We’re grabbing something on the go.
Someone else is feeding us.
We’ve been having to make a separate meal to the rest of the family and get fed up of that.
Or we’ve just had enough of the inconvenience.
And, without conspicuously planning to, we just, kinda, stop.
Plan to do it again at the next meal and then realise it’s been a few weeks.
Chalk if off as something else we “can’t do”.
That “isn’t for me”.
If someone genuinely needs a meal plan we can point of a couple of free websites that will do as good a job as we (or anyone else that’s charging you for meal plans) would do.
That’s not what we’re here for.
That’s not what we do.
That’s not what we’ve found time and time again works the best.
After nearly 20 years in the Fitness Industry.
And nearly 10 years doing this.
What does work, in our experience, is:
-
Helping people understand what needs to be happening, on average, in their eating to make progress. The why, not the what.
-
Working to an average across, say, a week, rather than thinking every meal needs to be perfect.
-
Challenging our habits, mindsets and thoughts around our eating. Particularly (but not only) the idea we have that eating less than perfectly means we’ve failed in some way, should have more, write it off and start again at some point.
And, maybe;
- Some accountability here and there (too much frames it as something we don’t want to do and quickly becomes a pain)
If you need some help with any of these, you know where we are 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Say Never Again’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We know this, don’t we?
You can’t “turn off” the dark.
We can only turn on the light.
Darkness, after all, is just an absence of light.
And light is the only thing that can chases that darkness away.
In more ways than one.
With our mood and mental health too.
When we’re in a dark place (or darker than we’d like to be)…………
We can’t ‘switch off’ that darkness as such.
We can only fill it with some light.
Easier said than done, sure.
But everything is easier said than done.
So when we’re feeling a little darker than we’d like, how can we add a little light in?
No right or wrong.
Individual to everyone.
Some exercise?
Some better food choices?
More sleep?
More water?
Less alcohol and / or caffeine?
Less media (conventional or social)?
More positive inputs (what I’d like to think we do)?
Again, no right or wrong.
But always worth remembering that we can’t “turn off” that dark.
But we can start to turn some light on, maybe just a little at time.
Much love,
Jon ‘Order’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I’m sure we all remember the other half of this:
“Sticks and stone may break my bones……….
But names will never hurt me”
Often said to someone who’s being mean to us in the playground.
Name calling very much feels like something that happened at school doesn’t it?
But it often doesn’t stop there.
We often carry on, without realising it.
We might think that we’re giving someone a ‘label’ to identify them in some way.
Calling them a ‘Karen’?
Referring to someone as being a “dickhead” perhaps?
Maybe “a prick”?
Or a “knobhead”?
Even describing them as “negative”?
Or “toxic”?
A “hater” perhaps?
All names aren’t they?
Why are the names we might call someone else any more ok than the names we hate other people calling us?
We call people names to, essentially, write them off.
To make us right………
And them wrong.
One of the most powerful things we can ever do…………..
For our innner peace………..
And for how we show up in the world as the best version of ourselves………..
Is to let go of the need to be right!
Much love,
Jon ‘Eothen’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Regular readers of this blog will know that I often take inspiration for them from music.
One of the three things I regularly use to lift my mood.
Along with meditation and movement.
Three Ms innit?
I often ask Alexa to “play me some music please”.
Yes, I do say please to Alexa – mainly as part of my continued attempts to bring up children with excellent manners.
I sometimes call my wife ‘Alex h’ in the same way (lower case h so it sounds a bit like ‘Alex a’ of course).
She (Alexa) has started playing be The BeeGees quite a lot recently.
I don’t know why.
Never really listened to them before.
But they must fit in with what she knows I like.
She was playing me “More than a woman” the other day.
And the line that jumped out was;
“We can take forever, just a minute at a time”
Because that’s all we can do, isn’t it?
Any time period really.
Forever.
8 years, 8 months, 8 weeks, 8 days or 8 hours.
Can only ever really be taken a minute at time.
Sure, we can plan for the future.
Learn from the past.
But all that actually exists is the here and now.
This minute we’re in.
And what we do in that minute is what adds up to us having the ‘forever’ that we want.
The only choices we can actually make are the ones right in front of us.
Around exercise, food choices or anything else.
It’s tempting to think they don’t matter.
That we can “leave it” for now.
But the future never really comes, as such.
There’s only ever really the present.
Those choices add up.
And realising that everything in life is a cumulation of lots of little decisions, all taken in the current minute………….
Will, hopefully, help us make more of those decisions that serve us well.
Much love,
Jon ‘Night Fever’ Hall
Hear about Emma's journey of amazing progress and a few setbacks across 2020 into 2021 after years of yo-yoing between sizes 10 and 20 (and how this is a permanent change now and why she has the best birthday ever)
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Imagine you’re running in a race.
A half marathon or similar.
Your car is parked at the finishing line.
So you need to get there.
You start off running with a group of people.
Turns out they can run a bit faster than you.
They start to pull ahead and you don’t feel you can keep up with them.
What do you do?
Would you just stop?
Wander off to the side?
Walk back to the starting line even though it’s further away from where you need to get to?
I’d assume not.
You’d probably slow down a bit to your comfortable pace.
Irrespective of how fast that it.
Maybe walk a bit.
Maybe a few rests here and there.
But you’d get there.
It’d just take a bit longer than it did for those faster runners, wouldn’t it?
But sometimes we don’t do this in other areas of our life.
The other week we had a couple of new members cancel because “I can’t keep up”.
With the daily blogs and videos and the like.
They felt that everyone else was all over it, doing their sessions, making amazing progress, etc.
And that they weren’t.
That they were ‘falling behind’.
That it as all “too much”.
And I get that.
Things can feel over-facing at times.
If we allow them.
If we create this definition of what we “should” be doing.
How “fast” we should be going.
And, when we can’t do that, to feel it’s too much.
And that it’s “not for us”.
That we “can’t do it all”.
But we don’t need to.
There is no “keeping up” that needs to be done.
If we’re making forward progress, that’s cool.
Doesn’t matter how much forward progress others are making.
Doesn’t matter how much of the various things we do that people are or aren’t using.
If we’re not making as much progress but more than we probably would have otherwise by “doing my own thing” then that’s cool to.
Damage limitation has it’s place.
If we’re not making progress we’re ok with then the answer probably isn’t to do even less.
As it’s not to try and do everything.
A couple of better food choice or reading a blog or two or watching a video or two take a fraction of 1% of the 10,080 minutes in the week.
Maybe we can do a bit more, maybe it’s maintenance or damage limitation for now.
We don’t need to “keep up”.
That’s just a fictional position in our head.
Much love,
Jon ‘Right now, thank you very much’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We all have in our mind a version of events as we’d like them to occur.
A ‘plan’.
A ‘blueprint’
In all areas.
Maybe it’s eating a certain way and doing a certain number of workouts.
Because that’s what we feel we “need” to do to get the results we want.
And it’s great to have a plan.
And sometimes we’ll achieve that plan.
Which is nice.
But, experience has shown us that, more often than not, we won’t.
And that’s fine too.
It’s what happens then that’s key.
If, across the 52 weeks of the year things happen exactly as we’d like on 5, 10 or 20 of those weeks…………..
Most of our results will come from what we do when it doesn’t happen!
The next best thing.
The one or two workouts rather than none when we can’t do the three or four we would’ve liked to have done.
The home workout, walk or run we do instead of nothing when we can’t make our preferred session.
The better food choice than we could make when it feels like we can’t eat as we’d like for whatever reason.
The keeping it to two or three drinks rather than making it seven after we’d had the first when we’d planned to have none.
What happens when it happens is great.
But it’s what happens when it doesn’t happen that’s key
Much love,
Jon ‘stance’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever heard this expression?
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Tis true.
Water levels go up and so do all the boats, not just one.
And our lives are an equivalent.
Our energy levels, endurance and mood go up…………..
And everyone around us benefits.
They get that better version of us that helps them more in whatever way we help the different people in our lives.
It’s tempting sometimes to think the whole ‘health and fitness’ “thing”……….
Is “another thing” on top of everything else.
To let it slide because of all our other commitments and things and people that are important to us.
But it’s always worth remembering they are the things that benefit from the better version of us.
And the things that suffer when we don’t look after ourselves.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Much love,
Jon ‘Roll’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Two weeks ago today gyms reopened.
Whilst everyone knows we’re not really a “gym” as such, we do fall under that category.
A gym, of course, is where you rent access to equipment and no one knows or cares if you’re going, know what you’re doing or getting results.
Anyway, we were back in person.
Not “open again” because we never “closed” – just went solely online for a bit.
We’re really pleased with how it’s gone so far.
Some are staying solely online, some just in club, many a mixture.
But numbers are where they need to be – you know, to cover all the costs, etc.
From talking to friends in the Fitness Industry, that isn’t the case across the board.
Many have been “waiting till April 12th” in the hope that people will come “flooding back”.
“Hoping things will get back to normal”.
And some will.
But some won’t.
Some have since decided that they’re happy with home workouts, running, etc.
Some aren’t quite “there yet”.
Most FitPros I know have been really disappointed with uptake these last couple of weeks after hoping April 12th would be the answer.
Waiting and hoping is not a strategy.
It rarely leads to the desired outcome.
I know the club being where is needs to be isn’t a result of what happened on April 12th.
It’s a result of the work we put in a month or six or twelve ago.
And our health and fitness goals are the same.
In all areas of life, we have lead indicators and lag indicators.
Lag indicators are the stuff that comes with time.
People joining, weight loss, increased strength, fitness, energy levels, etc.
Lead indicators are the processes that we do to get there.
Facebook ads, YouTube ads, Google ads, Organic posts, live videos, sharing member successes, Daily blogs, personal messages, video messages and much more.
Or workouts, better food choices, sleep related changes and so on.
Each lead indicator doesn’t seem to do much in isolation.
And it’s hard to see much direct correlation.
It can easily “feel like it’s not working”.
But, over time, they add up to these lag indicators.
The delayed result.
Member numbers at RISE aren’t a result of what we did on April 12th, but what we were doing one, six or twelve months ago.
Our body and energy levels aren’t the result of the workout we did yesterday and the better food choice we make today, but what we were doing one, six or twelve months ago.
Always worth remembering when we’re tempted to get discouraged with what we’re doing today – it’s not part of today’s results, but compounding towards those future lag indicators.
Much love,
Jon ‘Showers’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
As a species, we’re hard wired to want to make ourselves feel better.
It helped us survive and thrive for many thousands of years.
Evolve to the point we’re at now.
A desire to avoid danger and moving towards pleasure is part of our genetic make up.
And that makes sense.
But, on a day to day basis nowadays, we don’t face much ‘danger’.
Not many sabre toothed tigers roaming around our tribe are there?
Most of what we face now is ‘discomfort’.
And we actually can’t really avoid that.
We can defer it.
But it usually comes back in different ways and even bigger.
We avoid the discomfort of exercising and we end up with the discomfort of a body we don’t like the look and feel of.
We avoid the discomfort of making better food choices and we end up with the discomfort of feeling lethargic and lower in mood.
You can actually swap both of the above around.
——– And you can check www.myrise.co.uk/apply if you like help with them and losing 10 to 20lbs over the next couple of months ——–
We avoid the discomfort of going to bed a bit earlier and we end up with the discomfort of feeling more tired and grumpy tomorrow.
We avoid feelings of discomfort by sedating them with alcohol and we end up with the discomfort of feeling worse tomorrow and, on average, all of the time.
We avoid the discomfort of the difficult conversations and we end up with the discomfort of a worse relationship (personally or professionally).
We avoid the discomfort of pushing ourselves and doing things we find challenging and we end up with the discomfort of a life we’re unhappy with.
It’s a powerful realisation that we can’t avoid discomfort.
We can just choose which discomforts we have.
Much love,
Jon ‘Lil Darkie’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
If you’ve got children you’ll be aware of the concept of “picking your battles”.
Letting some things go so you can concentrate on other things you think are more important or more of a priority.
Otherwise things can descend into near constant argument.
Even if you don’t have kids, you’ll have heard the phrase, I’m sure.
Applies to all relationships really – personal or work related.
I saw a variation on this on social media the other day;
“If you don’t pick your battles you don’t win any of them”
Which is completely true.
In all areas of life.
Especially with the battles that we can never actually win.
The more of them we try and fight, the more we’ll lose at those we could win.
Everything becomes a battle when we argue with reality.
“People shouldn’t………….”
“I should be able to…………..”
“The world shouldn’t be this way”
“It’s not fair that…………”
I’m not religious, but I love what’s know at the ‘Serenity Prayer’:
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change………
Courage to change the things I can……….
And wisdom to know the difference”
Some things are just the way they are.
It might be nice if they were different.
But if we’re picking those battles, we’ll lose at those we could win.
The better choices we could make under the circumstances.
The forward progress we can still make in spite of what’s going on and not allowing ourselves to be stopped because of it.
Remember “If you don’t pick your battles you don’t win any of them”.
Pick yours wisely 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘& Mix’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Whatever our goal in life, it’s rarely a completely straight line.
Whether it’s to lose weight, get fitter, earn more money, learn a new skill, improve a relationship or anything else.
We don’t usually start where we are now……….
Then go towards where we’d like to be………
At the same speed all the way……….
No deviations.
Progress is normally more of a wiggly line.
Maybe two steps forward, one step back.
Veer off course, straighten up a bit and repeat.
But what we don’t want to happen is it be one step forward, two steps back.
Or we’ve veered a “bit too far” off course.
We need something to let us know when that’s happened.
Like rumble strips on a motorway.
An unmissable reminder that we’ve veered a bit too much.
Something that makes it really clear we need to course correct a bit.
Something that doesn’t just rely on us ‘remembering’.
But, instead, gently reminds us.
No right or wrong.
It might be a certain weight.
A certain tightness of clothing.
Something physical being a certain amount of effort – going up stairs, walking into town, playing a game of sport, etc.
We notice we’re starting to feel a certain way.
Annoyed, irritated, angry.
A certain number of days since our last workout.
Getting down to zero workouts “in the diary” (we can always have our next one or more scheduled, no matter what’s going on).
Some tracking of some sort (food, steps, sleep) and a weekly target we can see we’re veering away from and could pull back towards.
Again, no right or wrong.
But, what’s your ‘rumble strip’?
Much love,
Jon ‘Let’s get ready to’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Go into a Sauna and what happens?
——– Other ways of getting hot are available ———–
After a while you’ll start to sweat.
You don’t choose to sweat though do you?
Your body does its automatically.
It adapts to the environment.
You don’t have a choice.
And it’s not just our ‘physical’ that reacts to that environment.
Our ‘meta physical’ does the same.
Our mind and the actions, habits and results it controls.
Maybe takes a little longer.
We can use willpower to slow that change.
But it happens.
I can quite easily go a few weeks without eating any cake.
But if I was surrounded by it every day, it definitely wouldn’t be that long.
Especially if everyone around me was eating cake all the time.
I could force myself not to have it to start with.
But I know I would soon settle into the average of those ‘cake eaters’
To go for a much stronger example, I’ve never tried heroin or felt the need to.
But if I lived in a household of regular heroin users (like Renton and pals in Trainspotting) it might be a different situation.
Everyone we hang out with doesn’t exercise?
We’ll probably, over time, become a non exerciser.
Everyone we hang out with drinks?
We’ll probably, over time, drink the average of them.
Everyone we hang out with carrying extra weight?
We’ll probably, over time, end up about an average of those body fat levels.
What we see and hear at home and work tempt us to behave in a certain way?
We’ll probably end up behaving that way.
The media (conventional and otherwise) we consume tell us how bad everything is in the world and we’ll soon feel that way.
Our environment plays a more important part in what we do than we often realise.
And adjusting that environment to serve, rather than hinder, us can help massively.
Don’t see or hear people talk about those things as much as we’ll probably do them less.
Add people into our peer group who are eating well, exercising regularly and achieving results……….
And we’ll move more towards that average.
That could be by getting involved in what we do at RISE.
Either by joining us.
Or, if you’ve already joined, ‘engaging’ more.
Immersing ourselves in that environment more.
More sessions, maybe?
Talking to coaches and other ninjas in those sessions more?
More interaction in the group perhaps?
Our body doesn’t chose to sweat.
And our mind reacts automatically to it’s environment too.
What it’s immersed in.
What enters our thoughts via our eyes and ears.
What we see, who we interact with and listen to.
Chose that environment wisely 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Pants’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Morning rituals are a big thing nowadays.
I see lots of talk about them social media.
We all have one, of course.
Maybe without realising it.
We all have some things we do almost on auto pilot every morning.
We might hit snooze for the maximum number of times we can get away with?
Maybe check our phone for a bit?
Get up, get dressed, do our teeth and have breakfast in pretty much the same order and way we always have?
Get the kids up and sorted and to school perhaps?
Or something along those lines?
So, we already have a morning ritual.
It might be that we could have one that sets us up for success better.
But, from my experience……….
The best morning ritual is…………
The night before.
We wake up feeling shit, then we’re fighting an uphill battle from the start.
We’re probably not going to do any of those extra things that we feel might be helpful (although half the things I see in these “high achiever morning rituals” seem somewhere between ‘completely pointless’ and ‘maybe not the biggest win we could have with that time and effort’).
We wake up feeling somewhere between reasonable and alright?
Chances are the day will go better than that one we woke up feeling shit on?
So…………
What can we do the day before?
Getting more sleep is often a big win.
Easier said than done, sure (as is everything)!
Doesn’t mean it’s not the case though.
Maybe what we put in our mouths over the last few hours before bed?
Makes us feel somewhat better at the time, of course.
But worse the next day.
So we feel the need to do it again that night.
And so on.
Wake up feeling better and have a better day and we might feel less of a need for those forms of sedation?
A little ‘chicken and egg’, we realise.
But, again, probably still true.
Ultimately, an effective morning ritual can be a great thing.
But, from our experience, the best one is………..
The night before.
Much love,
Jon ‘When all through the house’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever gained weight?
If so, how much in lbs?
Eg: 30lbs
And over how many days?
Eg: 300 days
Times the weight in lbs by 3.5.
Eg: 105
Then put three zero’s on the end.
Eg: 105,000
Divide that by the number of days.
Eg: 350
That number is the daily number of surplus calories that you would have had over maintenance, on average, for that to happen.
We’re aware there are variances in the accuracy of that, but it won’t be too far from the truth.
If you’ve gained 3 stone (42lbs) over 10 years it would be 141 and so on.
Let’s say your maintenance calories (the amount you would maintain current weight on) are 2,000 (smaller less active person) to 3,500 (larger, more active person).
————- I know some people will feel their maintenance calories are much lower than this, but until that can be proved under test conditions (and it hasn’t after many thousands of attempts), I’m happy to go with these numbers ————
Again, it won’t be a million miles out of that range if it is.
What percentage is the surplus of maintenance?
Eg: 350 / 2,000 * 100 = 17.5%
141 / 3,000 * 100 = 4.7%
For most people that surplus will be somewhere between 5 and 20%.
Maybe 30% at most.
Meaning, in essence, that if that person had eaten 5 to 20% less in that time frame, they would have maintained.
Or if we were to go 5 to 20% under maintenance, we would lose that weight over the same amount of time.
It’s often not as big a change needed as we’ve been telling ourselves it is.
Not saying it’s easy, but probably more doable than we thought?
And it might not be that we even need to eat less.
Could we eat the same volume at a 5 to 20% lower calorie density?
Or even more at half the average density?
Again, there’s only so much accuracy in all these numbers.
But the concept is valid.
And the numbers won’t be too far from reality.
But, the key is that the changes we would benefit from making often aren’t as big as we’ve been telling ourselves they are…………
Much love,
Jon ‘Carol Vorderman’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Go on, what’s better than perfect?
I would say “it’s not a trick question”………..
But it kinda is.
‘Done’ is the answer.
‘Perfect’ is a nice to know about.
A North Star to set our compass to, perhaps.
But how often does it happen?
Over how many weeks of our lives have we eaten ‘perfectly’ (however we may define that)?
How many weeks have we done all the exercise we possibly could have and given it our all each time?
How many times have we got 8 hours sleep for 7 nights in a row?
Drank the ‘ideal’ amount of water?
I don’t know if I ever have.
And I “do this for a living”.
When we aim for perfection, we’re probably setting ourselves up for disappointment.
A feeling of “failing” pretty early on.
When a day or so in and it now can’t happen.
And we’re tempted to “leave it” till next week / month.
The mediocre workout or two beats the five perfect ones that didn’t happen.
The “better than it could’ve been” beats the perfect week of eating that didn’t happen.
A bit more water or sleep or meditation or anything else beats that perfect version we didn’t end up doing.
Done > perfect.
And the irony is that, by getting some done………..
We’re probably going to end up closer to ‘perfect’ than when we were aiming for perfect itself 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Curt’ Hallnig
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I’ve mentioned many times that the inspiration for these blogs and videos comes from conversations with people.
After all, if one person is expressing that they’re unsure about something or struggling in some way………….
They won’t be the only one.
Sometimes, coincidentally, we have the same conversation several times in a row.
This happened the other day.
Whilst we weren’t able to meet people in person, we were doing a lot more online conversations.
Voice and / or video calls with members to go through things and help them ‘course correct’.
Whilst we’re back able to meet in person now (and that’s always preferable), we will continue to do this as well.
The thing that several people in a row said the other day was “I just need to stop”.
You know – of a particular behaviour.
Drinking, snacking, finishing off what’s left in the serving bowl, finishing off the kids’ meals, having a tub of ice cream or a bottle of wine in front of the tele, etc.
And, on the face of it, that sounds like a valid plan.
It is, however, the same plan that hasn’t worked.
Usually many, many times in the past.
We’ve probably said “I just need to stop XYZ” many many times before.
And maybe have for a few days or a week.
But then started again.
Just stopping rarely works.
It leaves a hole in our lives.
There was a reason we were doing that thing before.
To change to way we feel usually.
That’s what us humans are ‘designed’ to do.
Make ourselves feel better.
And not doing the thing that’ll make us, at least momentarily, feel better……….
Means we’ll have to use willpower to force ourselves to continue to feel not as good as we’d like.
Which will only ever last so long.
Replace that thing with something else………
Something that makes use feel better to, at least, a sufficient degree………
Without / with less of the ‘downside’………..
And that might be something we can keep doing.
Eating something else (perhaps less calorie dense), exercising, going for a walk, taking a few deep breaths, meditating, doing something we enjoy for a few minutes……..
Something that has the same (or sufficient) benefit in the same way the thing we want to ‘stop doing’ does……….
Could be an approach that, on average, lasts………
Much love,
Jon ‘It’s Hammer Time’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I was doing the school run the other day.
51 mile, four location round trip if you didn’t know.
BlendedFamily
And a song came on the radio.
Long term readers will know that music on these car journeys has inspired many a blog.
It’s was “Holding Out For A Hero” by Bonny Tyler.
Which I always thought sounded like how a Scottish person might describe an attractive person covering up the wall in their bathroom.
As an aside (and marginally more obvious), I always thought Minnie Driver sounded like someone who likes those little cars.
Anyway, banging tune isn’t it?
Powerful.
It would possibly be seen as a somewhat dated concept nowadays – a woman holding out for the man she “needs”.
But, we’d all like a hero in our lives, wouldn’t we?
The good news is, we already have one.
There can only ever really be one hero in our lives.
We don’t need to keep holding out, to keep waiting.
We don’t need anyone else to come and rescue us.
Other people can be part of that whole process, sure.
But, ultimately, it’s us and us alone that have to do the actual things.
Take the actual steps.
Make those choices that serve us better.
Where’s the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
The white knight upon a fiery steed?
It’s that person you see staring back at you in the mirror every morning.
Much love,
Jon ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever said that to yourself?
Or someone else?
Maybe you’ve set out to do something.
And you’ve kinda done the opposite?
Planned on getting more sleep and stayed up till the early hours binge watching NetFlix?
For “no reason”
Meant to do a workout?
And not………
“For no reason”
Demolished a tub of Hagan Daaz and / or a bottle of wine………..
For “no reason”?
There’s a reason for every choice we make.
We are rational creatures.
We may question that rationale later.
But it was there at the time.
Every choice gave us something that we valued at that point.
A change in how we were feeling, our state.
Relaxation.
Connection with others.
Convenience.
We got to do something else instead that we valued for it’s benefits.
There’s always a reason
Telling ourselves there’s no reason will never lead to a solution.
We’ll just keep spinning our wheels and keep doing things for “no reason”.
If we can get clear on what that reason is…………..
We might choose to change some of those choices for others…………
That still serve us in that same way………..
But lead to that net benefit, rather than net loss over time.
What else could we do to change the way we feel short term, which doesn’t negatively impact the way we feel longer term?
How else could we relax, feel connection with someone else, gain convenience, etc?
“No reason” = no power.
And nothing changes without some power.
Much love,
Jon ‘D’etre’ Hall
Jen Harden - hear about Ninja Coach Jen's journey from member to coach and mother of two since we've known
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Last Tuesday (the 6th) I mentioned that I’ve been watching the TV series Cobra Kai with my two older sons.
We’d actually finished on the Monday but, you know, I write these bad boys in advance (I’ll cover why tomorrow).
My goodness the final episode of Series 3 was good!
Even if you’ve never seen anything to do with Karate Kid, if you were alive in the 80s, you probably heard people say “Wax on, wax off. Paint the fence”.
My Miyagi, the Karate sensei, had Daniel-san (his student) waxing his car and (you guessed it) painting his fence.
Not as slave labour.
But to help him create “muscle memory” of certain movements.
Which then helped him learning certain karate moves when they got to that part of his training.
Getting the reps in when it’s relatively easy is key to then being able to do that thing when it’s more challenging.
We probably wouldn’t learn much about Karate by getting beaten up by a black belt, would we?
Lots of relatively easy, marginal ‘stretch’ reps that make a little forward progress add up though.
Create that ‘muscle memory’ for the less frequent greater challenges, don’t they?
And it’s the same in all areas.
Little better food choices here and there………
Individual workouts……….
Decisions to go to bed earlier, to not have a drink tonight, to try a meditation, etc……..
They don’t do much by themselves.
But they add up over time.
And they mean that when we’re faced with the greater challenges, we have that volume of training behind us.
When we require more of our body, it has that muscle memory.
When we’re faced with some more challenging eating related situations, it’s not our first rodeo.
Get those easy reps in while you can………..
Wax on, wax off.
Paint the fence.
Much love,
Jon ‘Used to have that toy where you tried to catch the fly with chopsticks’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who knows what you’re supposed to do if you fall into quicksand?
That’s right – stay relatively still.
Maybe slow movements as you start to pull yourself out.
But slowness and minimal movement is key.
We all know this.
I heard it many times in my childhood.
I’ll be honest though, it’s turned out to be less of a problem in adulthood than I was expecting.
Most of life is the opposite though.
We become more stuck by staying still.
“I’m feeling stuck” is a common phrase.
We’ve all said it.
When we don’t quite know what to do to change the situation we’re currently in.
The body, the energy levels, the job, the relationship, etc.
Or, probably more likely, we know perfectly well what to do, we just don’t seem able to do it.
The key, of course, to getting ‘unstuck’ is movement.
We’ll never get out without that.
There’s a total amount of movement that needs to go into any getting ‘unstuck’ in any situation.
But we sometimes feel we need to do the equivalent of doing that all in one go.
Tearing ourselves vigorously free by going from zero workouts a week to six.
By eating like an athlete.
Doing every bit of work that needs to get done in one day.
Either fixing that relationship straight away or walking out on it.
And when we can’t do those things, we find ourselves doing nothing.
But little movements add up.
The equivalent of wiggling our foot to start to get it out.
A single workout.
A single better food choice.
Some work.
A conversation.
They all add up.
And we build momentum.
We may get to the point where we’re completely ‘free’ and things are exactly as we’d like.
We may stay a bit stuck but be moving.
But movement is the key.
Little ones, big ones, whatever we can manage ones.
It’s not quicksand.
The answer is the exact opposite to staying still.
Much love,
Jon ‘Stockholm’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We all have our routines.
Things we do pretty much the same day in day out.
We’ve developed a habit of a series of activities over time.
Often without really realising it.
But there are certain parts of our life that we pretty much do on auto pilot with little to no thought.
And that’s fine.
Until it isn’t.
Take away the O, I, N and E from ‘Routines’ and what do we have left?
‘Ruts’.
“a habit or pattern of behaviour that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change”
Behaviours that aren’t really serving us.
But have just become ingrained habits we do without much thought.
As we’ve mentioned before, a habit has parts.
And by knowing what those parts are and recognising them in what we do, we stand a much better chance of changing them.
Cue, Craving, Response, Reward.
The thing that starts that chain of thought……….
The desire to to the thing………..
The thing we do………..
And what we get from it.
All habits have these sections.
All routines are just habits.
All ruts are made of of these four parts.
Only by realising that and looking where and how those things are happening where we have ‘ruts’ do we have any chance of changing them.
Of getting unstuck from those ruts we are in.
Speaking of “getting stuck” – I’ll cover that tomorrow 🙂
Much love,
J Hall (I dropped the O and N but it’s not all that obvious is it?)
P.S. We’re back in the club in person today – check www.myrise.co.uk/apply if you want some help getting out of your ruts 🙂
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Out of all the things that people tell us they struggle with, “motivation” is the number one.
Which I get.
We start out all excited when we begin something new.
We feel full of energy and enthusiasm for something.
After a week or two that has waned somewhat.
And we don’t really feel like it.
It soon becomes a bit of a pain.
And it starts to slip.
Until we realise we haven’t done it for a while.
And feel that we have to “start again” at some point.
The thing is though, no one is motivated to do a workout.
No one is motivated to make those better food choices.
Not directly.
If we wait to be motivated to do them, we’ll be waiting for a very long time.
We have things we value in life.
The sort of person we see ourselves being and becoming.
The kind of life we want to live.
What we hold to be important to us.
We try and live our lives in line with other people’s values and it’s a struggle.
Our parents, other halves, friends, society as whole.
That’s when our lives are filled with “ought tos”, “shoulds” and “need tos”.
All stuff we don’t really want to do.
Live our life in line with what we value and it all gets much easier.
We’re already motivated by what we value.
There are things in our lives that we’ve done consistently for years or decades aren’t they?
Because we value them.
Or we can see how they tie into what we value.
Maybe we turn up for work absolutely fine.
Because we value doing it.
Or we value the money it brings and what that allows us to do with our lives that’s important to us.
Or a mixture of the two.
Maybe we value family.
Or creativity, enthusiasm, being a leader, relaxation, ease, challenge, variety, setting a good example, being present or any of hundreds of other things.
If we can see how exercise and better eating choice tie in to that………….
We don’t need to create motivation, it’s already there.
A slight shift in how we see it can mean we have all the motivation we ever need for these things because we see how it helps us live the kind of life we want to.
The most important thing in the world for us being a parent?
What helps with that?
More energy, better mood, more patience, etc?
What helps with that?
Exercise, eating well and getting enough sleep.
What to do important things at work and / or earn loads of money?
What helps with that?
Energy, stamina, focus?
What helps with that?
Exercise, eating well and getting enough sleep.
Want to be able to relax and connect with people that are important to us?
What helps with that?
Getting all our work and other stuff done quickly and effectively, having other areas of our life ‘in order’ so we genuinely can relax and not be worrying about them?
What helps with that?
Exercise, eating well and getting enough sleep.
—————————————–
If there were no benefits to healthy eating and exercise, I doubt anyone would do them.
I know I wouldn’t.
We’re not motivated by the process.
No one is.
But we can tie that process into what we are already motivated by.
By how those things helps us live a life that we want to.
What are you motivated by?
And how does healthier eating and exercise help with that?
Much love,
‘Mr’ Jon Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever seen a picture on Facebook of someone who’s about the same age or older than you doing something particularly impressive………..
Maybe they’ve got in shape, ran a marathon, completed some sort of event, etc………..
And it’s accompanied by the phrase “Age is nothing but a number”.
I see it quite a lot from fellow FitPros.
Alongside a client success of theirs.
And I get it.
But……………
No one ever died of a number did they?
People die “of old age”, don’t they?
I know there’s a specific reasons they’ve finally died, of course.
But it’s generally accepted that the body can only take so much “living” before it packs in in some way.
Often the FitPro sharing the “Age is nothing but a number” comment is relatively young.
Injury, illness and ache and pain free.
And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
Be nice to be back there again, wouldn’t it?
But, does dismissing the affect of our aging bodies completely help?
Maybe we could see our bodies more like a car.
We know as it gets older, it’ll require a bit more TLC.
The first third or so of it’s life we usually do next to nothing with it.
Then, gradually, it requires more ‘work’.
We can slow that aging process considerably.
Some 10 year old cars have been scrapped already due to not been taken care of.
Some look and run not far off as good as new.
Some classic cars are still in great nick after half a century or more.
The age is a consideration and not to be ignored.
But how much care has been taken over those years is, arguably, the bigger factor.
The main difference in the analogy of our bodies to our cars is that of the ‘cost’.
We could keep spending a bit continuously and keep our car roughly as is (at least massively slowing down the ageing on it).
As we can keep on top of exercise, eating, etc (and the cost of time and effort that go into them) over the years.
Or, maybe, we’ve let it get a bit ‘run down’.
There’s a bigger bill to pay now to get it back to where we’d like it.
It might never quite get back to that showroom look.
But we can probably get much closer.
Age isn’t just a number.
But we can minimise the effect that number has to have 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Wang’ Hall
P.S. If you feel you want to start ‘fixing’ a bit of that wear and tear, we can help. You can apply for a place on the programme at www.myrise.co.uk/apply
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We’ve mentioned many times before that the words we use drive our thoughts which, in turn, drives our actions, our behaviours, our habits and our results.
As always, there’s no right or wrong.
If using certain words and describing things in a certain way helps us, that’s cool.
If it doesn’t, we could question it.
With that in mind, what is depression?
What is anxiety?
No right or wrong answer.
How would you describe them?
Fundamentally, they are emotions.
Ways we can feel.
I completely get that our brain chemistry can play a part in how often we feel these emotions and to what degree……….
But they are emotions none the less.
Emotion.
Energy in motion.
Transient states.
No emotion is permanent.
They all ebb and flow.
So, does saying we “have” any of them help?
If it does, that’s cool.
Devil’s advocate.
If saying we “have depression”…………
We “have anxiety”………….
Talking about “my depression” or “my anxiety”…………….
Helps us………….
Then that is great.
But…………
We don’t say we “have happiness”, do we?
Or talk about “my joy”.
We accept them (and many others) to be transient feelings that ebb and flow, so why do any other emotions need to be different?
From my experience of working with people who’ve previously described themselves as ‘having’ depression and / or anxiety (or any other emotion)………..
When they’ve come to realise that if they think they own it………….
It will own them…………
Has been a powerful change.
Recognising it as an emotion.
An emotion everyone has to degrees at times.
An emotion that, perhaps, occurs in them more often and to a greater degree than they’d like at the moment.
But an emotion, nonetheless.
Again, no right or wrong.
But it’s always worth remembering that the words we use drive our thoughts which drives our actions, behaviours, habits and results.
If describing it as “my” or “having” depression and anxiety helps, then that’s brilliant.
If seeing it as an emotion, a transient state, works better for us then that’s brilliant too 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘and Jon not’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever wondered how fit you are?
Maybe how fit you should be?
Maybe even what “being fit” really even means.
Googling “fitness” gives two main definitions.
The first what we might normally think of;
“the condition of being physically fit and healthy”
The second is the one I prefer;
“the quality of being suitable to fulfil a particular role or task”
The British army’s definition of being fit is;
“Having enough energy to carry out your daily tasks and to respond to any emergencies without undue fatigue”
Which I think is a great way to look at it.
And a great way to get motivated to improve it if it’s not where we’d like it to be.
Six packs and the like are nice, sure.
But for the vast majority of the population, we don’t care enough about them to do what needs to be done to get one.
But enough energy to do what we want to do on a day to day basis?
To do what’s important to us?
To support those around us we care about supporting?
To live the kinda life we want to live?
To be the kinda person we want to be?
That’s more like it, no?
To be able to respond to any emergencies without undue fatigue?
To sort things out in our lives and the lives of those we care about when they start to go wrong?
Even more like it?
If you’re there with that, awesome 🙂
Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not fit (yourself included) – you are.
If you’re not quite there, might having this sort of stuff in mind keep you going and motivate you more than the theoretically nice six packs, beach bodies, etc?
Much love,
Jon ‘To Burst’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I mentioned yesterday that often when it feels like people are attacking you, they’re just defending themselves.
Their beliefs, opinions, ways of doing things.
And how that’s fine.
Sometimes when you do what we do, it can feel like we’re attacking you.
That we’re attempting to prove you wrong.
Rarely though is there a right or wrong.
There’s different ways of doing things.
Some might serve us better over all.
Some less so.
I’ve mentioned before the difference between an instructor, a consultant and a coach.
An Instructor gives you answers to their questions.
A Consultant gives you the answers to your questions.
A Coach helps you asks better questions.
From my experience, most people who describe themselves as coaches are instructors.
Nothing wrong with being an instructor.
But what they’re doing is just telling you what they have done to a get the result they’ve got which, on a surface level at least, you also want.
Some get as far as being a consultant.
They actually listen to what you want and answer your questions more specifically to you.
But they’re probably the same answers you’ve had to the same questions before.
We want to help you ask better questions.
And find answers to them.
The answers may end up being the same as before.
But, from my experience, they usually leads to answers that serve us better.
Our job is not to prove you wrong.
There is no right or wrong.
It’s to ask better questions to lead to answers that serve you better.
Much love,
Jon ‘Turn’ Hall
P.S. A great question to ask could be, why haven’t you clicked this link to apply for a place on the programme and start getting some amazing, life changing results? –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Some of you will recognise the title of the blog.
It’s the Cobra Kai motto.
From the original Karate Kid films.
And the recent Netflix Series.
After repeated requests from them, I’ve started watching it with my two older sons.
It is a little bit age inappropriate, I’ll admit.
But, they’ve been on best behaviour recently.
Anyway………..
It’s the approach that Johnny Lawrence and his dojo adopt.
A variation of the “attack is the best form of defence” approach.
Most commonly thought of in more combat related situations.
But actually seen every day in interactions between people.
Especially online.
It can feel like people are attacking us sometimes.
Arguing against us.
Telling us they think we’re wrong.
Disagreeing with us.
“Having a go”.
But, ultimately, they’re not really attacking us.
They’re defending themselves.
Defending their beliefs.
Defending their way of doing things.
Us thinking and doing things differently can be seen as an attack they need to defend themselves against.
It’s their thing and their thing alone.
Nothing to do with us really.
How our actions and words make others feel and act is nothing to do with us.
Unless we let it be.
If we live a lesser life because we’re concerned about what others will think, no one benefits.
Far more people have unsubscribed from this blog over the years than read it on a daily basis.
Most have looked at it and decided it’s not for them.
Some feel the need to reply and tell me their less than positive thoughts about them.
That’s cool.
Nothing to do with me.
If I changed what I wrote to try and appeal to everyone, it would resonate with no one.
If I stopped doing them because most people don’t want to read them, no one would benefit.
Always remember that when it feels like someone is attacking you, they’re just defending themselves.
It’s their thing, not yours.
You being you is the only way the world benefits.
Much love,
Jon ‘ny Midnight’ Hall
P.S. I was shocked to find that the actor that plays Danny LaRusso is four years older than the actor that play Johnny Lawrence. And he was 22 in real life in the first film! And also that Danny LaRusso is now older than Mr Miyagi was in the films.
Andy, 40, from Macclesfield talks about his challenges with anxiety and depression and how this last couple of years have been his best
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Anyone recognise the line?
From ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ by ‘My Chemical Romance’.
“He said, “Son, when you grow up would you be
The saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned?”
He said, “Will you defeat them? Your demons
And all the non-believers, the plans that they have made?”
Jumped out at me the other day while doing the (near two hour) school run.
If we’re wanting to be the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned………….
Whether that’s others or ourselves…………..
Then there’s two things that need to be defeated.
One really.
There’s the non-believers.
Those that we feel try to make this all harder than it has to be.
Those that try and flabotage us (“Go on, have one. You’re making me feel bad. Stop being miserable. You’re no fun anymore”).
Those that challenge and frustrate us.
But, let’s be honest……………
They’ll always be there.
We can minimise our exposure in some cases.
And we can ‘defeat’ them by doing what needs to be done, irrespectively.
But, in reality, what we need to ‘defeat’ are our ‘demons’ with regards to them and in general.
It all boils down to what’s going on in our head.
The only thing we, ultimately, have control over.
Our ‘demons’.
And the plans that they have made.
Because it’s them that’ll hold us back.
The voice that tells us “I can’t do this”.
“This isn’t for me”
“This is too hard / difficult / confusing”
“I don’t have the time for this”
“I’m too busy”
And so on.
We can’t fully control what we think, of course.
Anyone that tells us we can is mistaken.
But anyone that tells us we have no control over our thoughts is misguided too.
They say that good questions are the steering wheel of the mind.
Maybe rudder is more accurate.
Slowly start to move this big cumbersome ‘ship’ over time.
Little to no observable change in direction to start.
But distance can create a full 360.
We can cross oceans.
And, whatever our thoughts, we can still choose our actions.
Hard sometimes, sure.
But if we’re wanting to be the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned (others or ourselves)……….
We’ll need to defeat those demons from time to time.
Much love,
Jon ‘Emo’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I saw an interesting comment online the other day.
A fellow FitPro talking about a client of theirs.
Whose weight had been yo-yoing for years.
Gaining and losing a number of stone in weight several times over the years.
“They haven’t a clue how to lose weight” said said FitPro.
Which struck me as odd.
They sound like they’re really experienced at losing weight.
Brilliant at it you might say.
They’ve probably lost in the hundreds of pounds.
Losing weight doesn’t seem to be a problem for them.
It’s the keeping it off that is.
And that’s often the way.
It would be an insult to someone’s intelligence to say they didn’t know how to lose weight.
There are finer points and higher return on investment activities, of course.
But if anyone ever tries to sell you their service purely on the “what to do”, I would recommend avoiding.
From our experience, what changes when a person go from yo-yoing weight loss and gain………..
To sustained weight loss, improved health and fitness and then maintenance…………
Is a change in the conversations that are going on in their heads.
A change in the way they describe it all.
From “dieting”, “cutting out XYZ”, “need to”, “should” and “ought to”………….
To just being the way they live their life…………
Because of what it brings to them………..
And what’s important to them!
What we need is not “more experience” at losing weight…………..
It’s “more experience” at changing the way we think about that.
More reps at that.
Much love,
Jon ‘Days’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who used to watch ‘Only Fools and Horses’?
I did.
Great programme.
Loved it as a kid.
If you watched it, I’m sure you remember the ‘Del Boy at the bar’ scene.
It’s here if you’re unsure –> www.youtube.com/watch?v=63rcdLeXiU8
Del Boy tells Trigger to “play it nice and cool”.
Then goes to lean on a bar, which has since been lifted, and falls out of sight.
What really makes it funny is Trigger’s reaction.
It’s a classic scene to be sure.
But……..
It’s been played to death over the years a bit, hasn’t it?
But, when it’s still being talked about over thirty years later, it’s not going anywhere.
And neither are the other kind of Triggers.
As in the things that ‘set us off’.
All of our habits have a trigger.
Positive or negative.
Something that starts a ‘chain of events’ in us.
It’s a certain time of day, we’re in a certain place, we feel a certain way, someone says a particular thing.
Something happens.
Something starts that process.
Cue – Craving – Response – Reward
The cue / trigger makes us think about a certain process (maybe subconsciously).
We desire something about it.
We do it.
We get something from doing it.
We can try and change some, or all, of those thing, of course.
We can, perhaps, reduce our exposure to those ‘triggers’.
‘Hide’ them an amount.
But they’ll never go away.
The thing that made us want to do a certain habit will always rear it’s head at some point.
We’ll feel that way again some times.
See that thing, speak to that person, be in that place, etc.
Learning how to handle those triggers is where some of our greatest freedom lies.
Choosing a different response.
One with a net gain, rather than a net loss.
For the reward that gives.
Learning to crave that reward because it serves us better in some way.
Going for a walk, doing a workout, making a different food or drink choice, meditating or anything else……………
Because that gives us, at least, enough benefit compared to the the thing we might have done before that helped short term, but hindered overall.
“Del Boy at the bar” and Trigger aren’t going anywhere.
Neither are our triggers.
We can just change the response that they trigger.
Much love,
Jon ‘I sometimes call my youngest son’s feet Derek and Rodney. You know – because they are “trotters”‘ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Approaching six years ago my wife, Alex, and I got married.
————- I’m actually finishing writing this on the 6th anniversary of us getting engaged funnily enough ————–
My two sons and Alex’s daughter were the Best Men and Chief Bridesmaid.
They were only 4, 5 and 6, bless them.
We went on the mini-moon to North Wales the next morning.
And the main ‘Family-moon’ was a few months later.
The five of us hired a villa in Ibiza (or Up-Beefa as the youngest kept calling in).
The Friday of that week was one of my favourite days ever.
We started the day on one of those giant inflatable assault courses in the bay at San Antonio.
Back to the villa for a bit.
Then we hired a little motor boat to drive around the bay before “dropping anchor” and watching the sun set just in front of Cafe Del Mar.
Oli and I both got stung by a jellyfish in the sea, but that didn’t mar (see what I did?) it too much.
It must have been two different jellyfish (is that the right plural?) as we were on opposite sides of the bay when it happened.
Anyway, do you know who the best driver of the boat was?
The four year old (I know – the title gave it away).
He drove it perfectly.
Straight as a line.
A few years later we were on a big speed boat type one in France having been parasailing.
And he asks me if I think the driver might let him have a go.
“You don’t ask, you don’t get” I tell him.
Seconds later he’s at the controls for about half an hour – even driving right up to the harbour and getting worryingly close to the expensive yachts.
He was bang on that time as well.
Despite being a restless maniac who can’t sit still the rest of the time, he can drive a boat better than anyone I’ve ever known.
Eyes straight ahead.
Just looking where he was going.
In control of the engine via the throttle.
And the direction via the wheel.
No point looking behind.
At the wake.
Because there’s no benefit.
That doesn’t power the boat.
Or affect it’s direction.
It’s in the past.
Can’t be changed.
It has no influence on where we go.
But we do the equivalent in the rest of our lives, don’t we?
Spend more time looking at the wake.
Our past.
What’s happened earlier today, this week, since last March and so on.
And what’s potentially coming up in front.
Not concentrating on our controls.
And what’s immediately ahead.
We can, of course, learn from the past.
But there’s definitely diminishing returns.
An amount of time “spent” in the past benefits us.
But more brings less and less benefit.
Past a certain point it usually makes things worse for us.
Depression can breed there.
Knowing what’s in the distance and the direction we need to be going is useful, of course.
But too much time spent in the ‘distance’ is where anxiety can brew.
All we have control over is the next few metres.
The turns of the steering wheel, the movement of the throttle.
What we’re doing now and in the next few minutes is all that really exists.
Never forget that the wake doesn’t power the boat!
Much love,
Jon ‘Up Shake-Up’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You’ve probably seem memes that say this, or similar, on t’internet.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”.
But, is it?
It can be, of course.
But it kinda depends, no?
On what comparison you’re making.
After all we make comparisons all day every day.
That’s how our brain works.
It’s how we make sense of the absolute masses of information coming in through our different senses every second.
Our brain quickly compares it to past experiences of similar we’ve experienced and makes a decision on what to do with it.
That car driving towards us?
Our brain compares it to previous experiences of cars driving towards us.
It’s trajectory and speed.
And makes a quick decision on whether it’s likely to hit us or not and if we need to move.
At work we make comparisons between what’s happening and similar things that have happened in the past and decide what needs to be done.
Our conversations with others are framed by comparison to previous experiences.
We would struggle to function without making any comparisons.
Everything we experience is viewed through a ‘comparison frame’.
It’s what comparisons that we make that are key.
The frame we choose.
Whether they / it serves us or not.
We compare our performance in some way with how it was and how it’s improved?
That brings pleasure.
We compare our current situation with someone else’s?
That could steal joy.
It could inspire change.
Or a mixture of the two.
We want to improve in some way and we break it down into measurable steps…………
And compare where we are each day to where we were and where we want to get to?
That can build confidence and momentum.
Thinking that comparison is the thief of joy isn’t as straight forward as we might think.
Because we can’t stop making comparisons.
And wouldn’t benefit from it if we could.
We could, perhaps, just become more selective with the frames that we choose?
Stop using the ones that demotivate us a make us feel bad about our current situation.
Start (or continue) to use those that motivate and inspire us and fill us with energy and enthusiasm,
Much love,
Jon ‘Theif’ Hall
P.S. That middle name isn’t as unimaginative as it sounds – there is a Thief Hall (a building) in North Yorkshire.
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I’ve mentioned many times before that when you’re in this line of work, there are certain questions you get asked consistently.
As there are in all lines of work, I’m sure.
I’m not talking about the ones people ask about their own situation;
“What do I need to do to…………?”
“How do I………….?”
“What’s the best way to………….?”
“Why can’t I…………..?”
Etc.
But more the questions we get asked about our own lives.
Along the lines of “What do you eat / do?”
If I had a pound for every time I was asked “Aren’t you ever naughty?”……………
Usually asked with a bit of a cheeky sideways glance and with a grin………..
Well, I wouldn’t be rich.
But I’d probably have several hundred pounds.
So, what’s the answer.
Googling the definition of “naughty” gives;
“badly behaved”.
And googling those two words turns it to;
“conducting oneself in an unsatisfactory, inadequate, or unsuccessful way”.
So based on that, the answer is “No”.
I’ve eaten cake, but that was good.
Pizza, ice cream, biscuits and any other food you could think of as well.
I’ve drunk alcohol but that too was good.
If we’re veering outside of the usual FitPro remit of food and drink………….
I’ve slept with more than my fair share of people………..
Had plenty of amazing experiences………….
But it all worked as part of an average I was happy with.
None of it was unsatisfactory, inadequate, or unsuccessful.
Well, not in the volume I did them.
There are things I won’t do again.
But even they weren’t naughty – just things I tried.
I could’ve popped a bit of guilt on top of all those experiences and taken some of the enjoyment out of them I suppose…………..
They could’ve been both “good” and “naughty”…………
But why not just make them good?
As always, no right or wrong.
If thinking of certain behaviours as “naughty” helps and works for you, that’s awesome.
Crack on!
If it puts them on a pedestal over other choices…………..
And means the balance isn’t working for you overall……………
It’s maybe worth questioning.
Much love,
Jon ‘By Nature’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed more and more, year on year in my approaching 20 years in the Fitness Industry………..
It’s that people are tired.
We’re lower in energy and mood, on average, then we ever have been.
Running on somewhere between empty and ‘enough’.
If I surveyed 100 people and asked “Are your energy levels always where you need them to be?”…………
Only a handful, at most, would say yes.
Sleep is the obvious one.
But we know that there’s more to it than that.
I covered exercise the other day and how it creates energy rather than costs it.
And we all know what we put into our bodies makes a difference.
Our food and drink choices.
But there’s more than one way into us.
Not just through our mouths.
What comes in through our eyes and ears plays a massive part, doesn’t it?
What we see and hear all day affects our thoughts which, in turn, affects our energy levels.
What the people around us say.
The media.
Conventional and social.
If a large proportion of what we see and hear tells us that the world is rubbish and everything is wrong………….
That’s not going to help our energy levels, is it?
But we don’t always realise this do we?
And, like what goes in our mouth, we have control over this.
Maybe not quite as much as with our food and drink, sure.
But probably more control than we’re exercising right now?
Scrolling endlessly through social media make you feel rubbish?
“Looking in the comments” make you feel that “people are idiots / ridiculous / unbelievable”?
Watching / listening to the news get you down about how things are in the world?
The things we watch on TV / YouTube / TikTok make us feel bad about our lives?
We don’t need to do any of them.
Or we can do less.
Or change which of each we do.
I haven’t watched the news or bought a newspaper since I separated from my first wife 10 years ago.
I don’t think I’ve missed out on of the news that I’m actually interested in.
I can find that out through a quick Google.
I’ll tell you tomorrow about the only bit of COVID news I regularly check tomorrow and what that could mean for your weight tracking.
As always, there’s no right or wrong.
We can put whatever we like into our mouths, eyes, ears and any other orifice.
If it works for us, awesome.
If it doesn’t, we could question some of it………….
Much love,
Jon ‘At 10’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
It’s been a challenging year for all of us.
In different ways and to different extents for different people, of course.
But challenging all round.
Different people have been affected in different ways.
The Fitness Industry has been hit hard.
I’ve been really pleased with how we’ve navigated it overall.
To say we’ve not been able to run in-person for two thirds of the last year, we’re really pleased with how many lives we’ve been able to positively impact and to what extent.
Many in the Fitness Industry are really struggling.
On the verge of bankruptcy.
Not in good places mentally and emotionally.
I get that.
But I’ve seen a few posts recently that I’d question.
Along the lines of “My business is failing through no fault of my own.”
Now, I’m not a fan of the word “fault”.
Too emotive to help in most cases.
But, in each of these cases, the FitPros I’ve seen have done very little to help themselves.
After years of saying they’re “too busy” to do videos, blogs, etc………..
They’ve had all the time in the world………..
And done none.
They’ve done nothing new or different over the last year.
Not learned new skills to diversify what they offer.
Just closed and waited until they can reopen.
Maybe a half hearted attempt to “go online”.
Whilst others, like ourselves, have done everything we can.
To support those who want our support.
Better than ever in many ways.
And, of course, to be able to pay the bills and feed our kids (not mutually exclusive to wanting to help people too).
No one “deserves” a struggling business, of course.
But, if we’re not doing what we could to help it perform better, is it really “no fault of own”?
And it’s the same with our bodies.
Lots of different things are factors.
Age, injuries, illnesses and more are all considerations.
But, if we’re not doing everything we could?
Fault is the wrong word.
“Responsibility” maybe?
Our “choice” perhaps?
Doing “everything” is, of course, impossible.
But could we be doing more?
Whilst a struggling business owner could do more to get themselves in a position that they were ok with…………..
Could we be doing a bit more to get our bodies in a position that we’re ok with?
Much love,
Jon ‘Show’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You may have seen some of our adverts on Facebook.
Following such an advert may even be the reason you’re reading this now.
For the last few months we’ve had some of our member successes up in ‘morph’ style videos.
Where the picture of them when they started with us ‘morphs’ into how they look now.
We fully appreciate that pictures aren’t the entirety of the story of someone’s changes with us.
But Facebook is a very visual platform and it works well.
We’ve been putting similar things on Facebook for the best part of a decade now.
And there’s been one consistent theme about the comments they receive in all that time.
The negative ones are always, always from guys.
100% of the time.
And, when I have a little nosey on their profile, they are always overweight.
And, in the vast majority of cases, their feeds are filled with self pitying posts about how “sh!t” their lives are and how “everyone” else is in the wrong and keep doing things “to them”.
Here’s a few recent ones.
– “What’s he done, changed his shirt”
– “His hairs grown back”
– “His wife has washed his top too hot with black undies”
– “Changed his clothes ???”
– “Whats he achieved a different t shirt!!!”
– “He looked better before the weight loss lol”
– “It’s the same fella side on 😂😂😂”
– “The ability to inflate and deflate himself?”
Now, I get these aren’t mega offensive (some are and I usually delete and block straight away).
But they’re all very dismissive of someone else’s success.
Bear in mind that these pictures usually show someone losing several stone – they are pretty obvious transformations.
The comments are not a reflection of the person shown in the post.
They are a reflection of the person making the comment.
It’s their thing.
Entirely.
None of our business.
Always worth remembering.
Other people’s actions and reactions are their thing.
How our actions and words makes them feel and react has absolutely nothing to do with us.
It it theirs and theirs alone.
If someone tries to flabotage us when we make changes to our life (“Stop being boring”, “You’re making me feel bad”, “You’re no fun anymore”, “Come on, just have one”)………….
That’s their thing.
Someone criticises what we do, that’s their thing.
All we can do is live our life how we feel right.
Living our life in any other way because of how others react to it does no one any favours.
No one gets the best version of you.
You don’t get the life you want.
Live your life in line with what you value, what’s important to you.
And never forget that you, those around you and the world benefits the most when that happens 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘s and Dolls’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever not done something because you felt you couldn’t “give it 100%”?
I’m sure we all probably have.
Not started something because we felt we “have too much on”?
Maybe we didn’t (or aren’t) exercising or making changes to our eating because we we can’t give it that 100%?
We get it.
But, as you might expect, it’s worth questioning.
When can we ever give something 100%?
How many times in our life have we really ever been able to give something an amount that could never be topped?
We could’ve always done more, couldn’t we?
And that’s fine.
It’s impossible to give anything 100%.
Other areas of our lives would suffer if we did.
If we truly gave something so much that it was physically impossible to give it anything more.
In reality, we always give things a percentage less than 100.
Realising that is powerful.
It stops us waiting for that point that will never arrive.
If we can give it enough “percents” (as my kids used to call them) to make forward progress, why not do that?
If our body and health is going in the direction we want it to, that’s enough.
If it’s not, how much more is needed.
We’re not looking to go from 0 to 100%.
Maybe from the 30 we’re currently doing to 40 or 50?
Ultimately, those numbers are largely estimated.
But never forget we don’t need to (nor should we) wait till we can “give this 100%”.
Because that will never happen!
Much love,
Jon ‘Wolf’ Hall
Claire Warrington - Ninja Coach and mother of two (and lots of other things) Claire tells us about her experiences as a member and a coach - the good and the bad!
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I saw a quote the other day that I liked.
From Lance Armstrong.
Let’s all just “park” his naughty drug cheating business, yeah?
It doesn’t make the quote any less thought provoking.
From after he had recovered from cancer.
“I take nothing for granted. I now have only good days, or great days.”
———————————-
The human brain is very good at taking things for granted, isn’t it.
To focus on the one or two “less good” things that happened in a day / week / month / year……………
And instantly forget the stuff that was somewhere between “ok” and “brilliant”.
We plan to do something, do it and then instantly forget.
Expected behaviour.
“What? I planned to do it and did it. Move on. Next!”
The more we are able to recognise, remember and celebrate what went well…………
The more we train our brain to stop taking things for granted………….
The more context the “less good” stuff gets put in to.
I would bet that on the vast majority of the days of our lives, at least 90% of the day went well.
We did the overwhelming majority of things we intended to do as we planned.
We had a life that many across the world would kill for and is, on average, unrecognisably better than 100 years ago.
As we mentioned the other weeks, it’s just “reps”.
The more reps we put into taking things for granted and focussing on the “less good” stuff, the better we get at that.
The more reps we put into appreciating what’s good in our lives and what’s going well, the better we get at that.
It might feel a step too far for now.
But everything we’ve ever got better at seemed like that at times.
Could we consider what would it look like if we “took nothing for granted”?
What would it look like if we “now have only good days, or great days”?
Much love,
Jon ‘Mitchell’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We’ve mentioned before that, over the years, we’ve spent a fair whack on Facebook ads.
When FitPro friends ask me about our marketing and I tell them how much we spend, they’re usually flabbergasted.
“We can’t afford that” they’ll invariably say.
And I get that.
When it’s viewed at a cost, it seems a lot.
When it’s seen as the investment it is, it’s not.
I can track the return on investment from those ads.
I know that, if we hadn’t ran them, we wouldn’t ‘have’ that much money still.
We’d have much less.
We wouldn’t have been able to pay all the bills.
Provide an income for the coaches.
If anything, I don’t know if we’d still be here (although I appreciate some would’ve still joined anyway).
And, just as importantly, we’d have positively impacted less lives.
You’ve got to spend money to make money.
Speculate to accumulate.
And that’s true in other areas.
None more so than our energy.
Only the other day we got the following comment on a post in the group.
“I actually find the more energy I put into my sessions, the more energy I have”.
It’s tempting to think that we don’t have the energy to exercise.
But that’s like thinking we don’t have the money to generate more business.
The energy for exercise creates more energy.
Not just immediately, but across the week.
In all areas of our lives.
Speculate to accumulate.
Much love,
Jon ‘Duracell bunny’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who remembers what the three things that you need for fire are?
School science innit?
If you said fuel, oxygen and ignition, give yourself a gold star.
If you didn’t, you’ve just learned something.
You need all three.
Something to burn.
Oxygen to burn it in.
And something to ‘start’ the fire.
One or two of them isn’t enough.
You have to ignite the log (or whatever) for it to burn – it doesn’t start for no reason.
Take away the oxygen and it immediately goes out.
Use up the wood and don’t put any more on the fire and it goes out.
And many situations in our lives are the same.
Our interactions with others for one.
In person or online.
Someone says something that pisses you off on Facebook and that’s the ignition.
The oxygen is your mind.
We can’t get rid of either of them as such.
But we can stop putting fuel on it.
Replying.
Engaging.
Arguing.
It soon fizzles out without.
Our interactions with ourselves as well.
We “put fuel on” to our thoughts and feelings.
Acting on them.
Reacting to them.
Doing the thing that we then regret.
We take away that fuel by ‘responding’………..
By making a different choice………
That ‘fire’ is a little bit less vigorous next time.
And less still the time after.
Whatever our “fire”………..
How can we stop putting fuel on it?
Much love,
Jon ‘Twisted starter’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who remembers Lockdown 1?
Everyone I should imagine.
Started a year ago tomorrow.
What did you do about food shopping?
We intended to do deliveries.
But those slots were hard to get hold of, weren’t they?
And that 95 item limit (and not being able to buy more than three of any item) meant one didn’t go all that far for a family of six.
So I would go and join that car park length queue at Tesco every now and again.
Looking back now, no one wore masks did they?
Or very few at least.
I know I didn’t.
Thinking back I think my understanding was there wasn’t much point.
No one else seemed to be.
And the message I seemed to be hearing via the media (conventional and social) was “There’s no evidence that masks help”.
Fast forward a few months and they were strongly recommended.
Then, eventually, compulsory.
Looking back, it’s madness that didn’t happen quicker.
But that was definitely the narrative going around.
“There’s no evidence that masks help”.
But, thinking about it, what evidence could there really have been by that point?
We were only a handful of weeks into it.
And were in full lockdown.
Accurately assessing the impact of wearing masks versus not wearing masks and factoring out all other variables would’ve been impossible.
But, as they say, lack of evidence is not evidence of lack.
Just because we can’t prove something doesn’t mean it isn’t the case.
Ultimately, if something is working, it’s working.
We’re not beholden to any particular method.
Like the lifting of COVID restrictions there are certain ‘conditions’ that need to be met.
But how we meet those conditions, we have choice over.
To lose weight, we need to be in a calorie deficit.
There is more to healthy eating, of course.
But that’s the main thing that needs to happen if we’re looking to lose weight.
To get fitter we need to move the body in a way that causes certain measures of it’s performance to improve.
Much of our industry gets too hung up on the “best” ways to do this.
And knowing these ways has value.
Helps those who want to get in the very best shape do so.
Gives us a continuum from nothing to that, that we can essentially position our choices on.
But, ultimately, if it’s working, it’s working.
If it’s not, it’s not.
If it’s not, what can be done so it is?
Not so it’s the theoretically perfect version that gets the very best results.
But what’s enough to move it from not working to working?
Much love,
Jon ‘Body of’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I did a live video on Facebook the other day.
‘Are you willing to “suck”?’ it was entitled.
It got a lot of views and a lot of comments.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t actually mean it to be something of a double entendre.
My intention was entirely innocent.
Anyone else’s other interpretation is just their filthy mind 😉
What I actually talked about is that phase of doing something where we, essentially, suck at it.
We’re not very good.
We’re trying, and it’s a struggle.
We think “I’m not cut out for this”.
It feels like yet another ‘thing’ on top of everything else.
The results don’t seem to be reflective of the effort we’re putting into it.
But, as we’ve mentioned before, this is the phase where we actually make the most progress.
Improve the most.
When it starts to get easier, we still improve, of course.
But not as much proportionally.
Brain scans show the changes happening in there to be the greatest at that most frustrating point.
The point where we, essentially, suck.
So, a willingness to suck is key.
Everything we ever got good at, we worked through that phase where we sucked.
Exercise, better food choices and the like are no different.
We just need to do it when it’s hard.
Not doing it (frequently, regularly and consistently enough) will mean we never get any better.
Doing it, even when it feels hard and frustrating……. will!
Much love,
Jon ‘Blow’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We’ve mentioned many, many times before that people do leave us.
As always, it happens in all facilities, gyms, etc.
But most, essentially, claim otherwise.
I see many fitness businesses claim “no one ever really leaves”………..
And post pictures of their new members…………..
But, a year or two later have no more members (or less).
Some leave us after years when something circumstantial means they need to.
They relocate, etc.
Some leave after the first month.
Having never really started.
And we get that.
We’ve all had things we invested in and never used.
Or not used anywhere near enough.
I remember early last year I’d seen a lot of ads for the upcoming ‘Expert Empires’ event in London.
Vaguely considering going.
When COVID hit and they immediately took it online and slashed the cost massively to £120, I bought it.
I’ve not even logged in once to see what’s in it.
And I’ve done similar other things over the years.
We do the “buy”.
Just not quite the “buy in”.
We have a ‘problem’.
We see an opportunity to throw some money at it and make it go away………..
But then we realise we still have to do something.
We realise that whatever we’ve bought can help………….
Can, maybe, make it easier in some ways………..
But we still have to “do the work”.
And to do any work, we need a level of “buy in”.
So, if that’s what’s missing with you, how do we get that?
How do we move to “acceptance of and willingness to actively support and participate in something”?
From my experience (cough * in my twentieth year * cough), the key often lies in tying the process into the outcomes.
Immediate ones as well as longer term ones.
If exercise and better food choices had no benefits, I doubt anyone would “buy in” to them.
I know I wouldn’t.
They in themselves don’t get “buy in”.
But, could we ‘buy in’ to having more energy?
Could we ‘buy in’ to feeling better?
Could we ‘buy in’ to improved mood?
Could we ‘buy in’ to being able to be better at the stuff that’s important to us – being a parent or partner, our work, our business, etc?
And could we ‘buy in’ to the longer term benefits – a body we like the look and feel of more, better health, an increased chance of living longer, etc?
If the answer is yes, we’ve bought in.
We just need to do the things that’ll bring about what we are bought in to 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Out and shake it all about’ Hall
Chris,46, from Macclesfield talks about having to 'extreme shield' in Lockdown 1, gaining weight and struggling at the time and what then happened after
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Apparently when you’re learning to be a medical professional (doctor, nurse, etc), this is a common teaching approach.
Watch one, do one, teach one.
Or “See one…..”
SODOTO.
I say apparently, because I’ve never learnt to be a MedPro (as they’ve never been called before).
———— Although this has just reminded me of this video of my (now) middle son from a few years ago that might amuse you –> www.facebook.com/joncwhall/videos/10152281876535219) ———–
If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s pretty self explanatory.
You watch someone do a procedure, you do it yourself, you teach someone else how to do it.
The “one” is, of course, flexible.
I hope no one is performing open heart surgery having just watched someone else do it once 😉
It’s more the concept of observing then doing then teaching.
Because there’s an extra level of understanding needed for, and learned by, teaching.
If you can teach someone something you have to have a pretty good understanding of it.
So, try it.
Teach someone.
Or, at least, imagine you are.
What would you say to someone if you were teaching them how to “eat healthily”.
Or “to exercise regularly”.
Or to “look after their body”.
If you don’t feel you could teach someone (and I don’t just mean tell them a few basics)……….
Then there’s probably a level of understanding you could still develop.
To benefit you.
It might highlight something you’re not 100% clear on?
Something you kinda thought you were “good” with but, when it comes to fully verbalising it, you realise you’re not completely there?
Realising that is powerful.
Getting clear on what we’re not sure about………….
What we’re a little unclear on………..
What we’ve heard conflicting advice about………..
Why we’re struggling to do what we feel we should (perhaps, in part, because what we’re telling ourselves we “need to do”, isn’t actually what we need to do)………….
Will make the doing of it it that little bit easier.
Don’t feel you could “teach one” just yet?
Let us know and we’ll get you to the point where you could 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘SUDOKU’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I mentioned yesterday about people asking about what you eat when you do what we do for a living.
And often being disappointed.
Because it’s fairly normal – just creating a balance and not too much.
Another question we get asked a lot is “Don’t you have any guilty pleasures?”
And we know what they mean.
Don’t we eat anything that they consider “naughty”?
And the answer is “No”.
Not because we don’t eat those things.
Not that we don’t have those “pleasures” in our life.
It’s the “guilty” bit.
“culpable of or responsible for a specified wrongdoing”
There’s no “wrongdoing” happening there.
Nothing to be guilty about.
If we’re going to eat something we have two ways of doing it.
-
Enjoy it
-
Enjoy it initially and then feel bad about it
I know which I’d rather do.
The “guilt” is entirely of our own addition.
If we know we can make it work as part of a weekly average, then we can just enjoy it.
Even if we can’t, does feeling “guilty” help?
If it does, crack on.
If it doesn’t, could we just question our overall approach to the week to make that average work?
Without any “guilt”?
Much love,
Jon ‘As Charged’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Back in the heady days of a year plus ago, I used to go out.
To see friends.
Go to their houses sometimes.
Parties.
Those were the days!
When you do what we do and there’s food at a party, people invariably look at what you’re eating.
———- Same with checking your trolley when they bump into you in Tesco ————
And, often, ask what you normally eat.
And, a fair amount of the time, they’re disappointed.
I think people expect / hope for one of two things:
-
We’ll eat like monks, in a way they “couldn’t do”
-
We’ll eat all sorts of rubbish and be able to get away with it due to “having a good metabolism”
When the truth is somewhere in between, they’re disappointed.
Which we get.
It’s not the prevalent conversation about weight loss that we hear from others and the media (social or conventional).
Where losing weight is all about cutting things out completely.
“No carbs”.
“No snacking”
“Stopping drinking”
“No take out”
And so on.
Or about how “so and so has a better metabolism. They can eat whatever they want and not gain weight”.
Having a “balance” is a bit less ‘sexy’.
Having an amount of anything but not too much doesn’t sell magazines and get influencers paid.
But…………..
From our experience…………….
It’s the best way.
Who wants to go without certain things forever?
Who could actually do that?
When we think that’s the only way, it all falls apart pretty quickly.
When we feel we’re a victim of our metabolism and genes, it’s easy to not do the things that will help us make forward progress.
Such things might affect “how much” of something we need to do.
The speed of progress, perhaps.
But they never make it impossible!
Much love,
Jon ‘Why isn’t ‘Appointed’ the opposite of Disappointed?’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I mentioned yesterday that people will have a variety of reasons for not getting started with us.
All perfectly valid and true.
But often underpinned, at least somewhat, by one central thought.
“I don’t trust myself”
I get that there are cheaper alternatives to what we do out there.
Budget gyms where you just rent access to equipment.
Free YouTube workouts that don’t get done.
Diet clubs that give you a meal plan to follow and weigh / check in with you once a week.
What we do costs a little more………….
Because it is an awful lot more.
But, ultimately, it’s still about the cost of a cup of coffee a day.
I’d wager 95% of people who don’t start with us because of cost spend considerably more on other none essential stuff that won’t bring a tiny fraction of the benefits to their lives.
Which is fine.
Their money to do with as they wish.
But, if investing in our programme made it 100% certain they would end up with the body they like the look and feel of, I’m pretty sure they’d go for it.
Maybe make financial adjustments elsewhere if they knew it would definitely happen and it was impossible for it to not.
I’d like to think that, after all these years, we’ve proved we’ll keep up our end of the deal.
So, does it then boil down to not trusting themselves to “do it”?
If they knew they’d do it and we’d keep our end of the deal, would it not be a no-brainer?
It’s completely understandable.
By the time people get to us they’ve normally tried a number of approaches over the years.
And, as they’re not where they’d like to be, it’s tempting to think of those experiences as “failures”.
And to think this could just be another one.
We don’t trust ourselves to “do it”.
But, as we’ve mentioned before, “success” and “failure” are entirely labels of our own creation.
We’ve set some definition of what it should look like.
The amount we do, the results we get.
And, when it didn’t look like that, we feel we’ve failed.
That we need to ‘start again’ at some point.
And that level of not really trusting ourselves builds over time.
One of the biggest ‘shifts’ that leads to long term success…………..
Is that average forward progress is enough.
Two steps forward, one step back is fine.
It doesn’t need to be ‘perfect’ or nothing.
We can gradually challenge our habits and thought processes.
Take steps in the direction that we want to go in.
Allow flexibility within that approach that enables us to live a life we want to live.
If we’re not going in the direction we like, to make tactical adjustments rather than wholesale changes experience has taught us we’ll struggle to maintain.
If we’ve been walking slowly backwards for years, walking slowly forwards is an amazing change.
We may gradually speed up over time, on average.
But straight from walking backwards to sprinting forwards probably isn’t the answer.
So, whatever your current situation, what are the easiest to do, but still worthwhile, adjustments you can make that will ‘course correct’ somewhat?
Much love,
Jon ‘Pilot’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You may have seen that, over the last few months, we’ve had a fair number of people join up to what we do (“become ninjas” if you will) while we’re purely online.
And people have been securing places for when we’re back in the club.
Having been running RISE for coming up for 9 years now (and over 19 years in the Fitness Industry), I’ve had a lot of conversations with people considering trying out what we do.
Some start, some don’t.
For those that don’t there are a variety of reasons.
Some that make sense.
Some that, from my experience, boil down to “I don’t trust myself to do it”.
But that’s a separate point.
I might come back to that tomorrow.
Some “need to think about it”.
Some “don’t feel ready to make a decision”.
Which sounds like a valid explanation.
But it’s actually impossible.
To not make a decision.
When we don’t make a decision one way, we’re making a decision the other way.
Any Yes to one thing is a No to another.
And vice versa.
Not making a decision to change………..
Is making a decision to stay the same.
Whatever the situation.
And that’s fine.
If that’s the decision we feel is right for us.
Who would we be to tell anyone otherwise?
But, as with a lot of things, our thoughts can be questioned.
When we realise that we actually can’t “not make a decision”…………
That that is a decision to do the opposite…………..
We might question that.
Whether that be getting cracking as ninja.
Doing a workout.
Eating a certain way.
Or anything else.
We make decisions every second of the day.
And future us might thank present us for making a few of them a little differently.
Much love,
Jon ‘I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not so sure’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
A few weeks ago we ran a ‘7 day, 5 minute “feel less sh!t challenge”‘.
Where the idea was that people would pick something they could do each day that would make them feel better………
Then I’d check in with them each day that they’d done it.
It went really well.
Well, as well as these things ever do.
There is a drop off at every stage.
For every 100 people who join the Facebook group, only maybe 60 or 70 will then confirm they actually intend to take part.
50ish will actually start.
And we’ll then lose a couple each day till the end.
They get tagged in every check in post and then followed up with so it’s not like they’ve missed it.
But, we get it – there’s only ever going to be so much “buy in” for something like this, especially when it’s free.
For those that saw it through, we got great feedback.
Everyone reporting improvements of how they felt of between one and six out of ten.
Pretty good for a total of no more than 35 minutes effort out of 10,080.
A third of a percent of the week.
What many particularly liked was the daily check in.
That regular accountability.
Several asked if it could continue
“Can you give me accountability every day?”
And, of course, we could.
It wouldn’t be a great deal of effort to check in with people every day.
But………..
From our experience………….
If someone has to check you’ve what you said you would every day………….
It’s something you don’t want to do.
Or, if you did to start, you’ll quickly reframe it to something you don’t want to do.
It’s like when people volunteer to do something they really care about……….
And it then becomes a paid role………..
And they don’t like it as much anymore.
Absence through “illness” is higher in the same roles when paid as when they are voluntary.
The frame they’re seeing it through has changed.
If someone is checking that we’ve done something every day, it’ll soon start to feel a bit of a pain.
From our experience, this kind of thing can work well to create a “good start”.
To help people get over that initial inertia.
To maybe see that the “thing” wasn’t as big a deal as they’d made it in their head.
But the desire to continue has to come from within.
Because of the value the thing brings.
The feeling better or whatever else.
We want to do it.
For what it gives us.
And, over time, that becomes our new habits.
Our identity.
We see ourselves more and more as the kind of person who “just does” that stuff.
And not so much as stuff we’re making ourselves do and would like to be held accountable to.
Much love,
Jon ‘Married to t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶b̶ an accountant’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We got a comment on one of our social media posts the other day.
“Self improvement is for losers” it said.
Which we’ve had a fair amount over the years.
Or similar.
Which is interesting.
We get it.
To a degree.
The media has created this perception of self improvement being for people who struggle with life.
Maybe standing in front of a mirror telling ourselves “You’re a strong, confident woman”.
Or “You’re a tiger. Roar! Go get em’ Champ”.
Maybe being for people we consider to be “less than” us in some way trying to just do what we consider to be the basics.
But, if we’re not self improving, what are we doing?
At best, standing still.
More likely getting worse.
Slowly slipping backwards over time.
Self deterioration if you will.
I’m not one to use such labels personally.
Not the way I roll.
But if I was going to put it either way round, I’d put self improvement down as being for winners…………….
And self deterioration for losers.
“It’s the other way round mate” I could say.
But I won’t.
Everyone is entitled to run their life how they like.
No right or wrong.
But, as I often do, I’ll continue to suggest ways of seeing things that we might benefit from questioning.
Wanting to get better at something makes someone a loser?
Cristiano Ronaldo a loser for wanting to get better at football?
Serena Williams a loser for wanting to get better at tennis?
Chris Pratt a loser for wanting to get better at acting?
You get the point.
Improvement is, in my humble opinion at least, a good thing.
Ultimately, only you, your self, can improve you.
We can help.
And will.
If you let us.
But self improvement is the only way to get better at anything and stop self-deterioration.
Much love,
Jon ‘Selfie’ Hall
Al McCall, 39 year old father of two from Macclesfield, discusses he went from more overweight than he could've imagined to "the muscliest person ever at RISE" in 2020!
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
A couple of years ago I went to the cinema for one of nephew’s birthday.
He was going with some mates to see the latest Avengers film (End Game) and wanted his favourite / only (that he particularly sees anyway) Uncle there too.
I’ll be honest, the Avengers stuff / most of the last decade has passed me by.
Having googled, I’d seen Guardians of the Galaxy.
Just missed the other 18 up to that point 😉
So I watched Infinity War and a YouTube recap in preparation.
I enjoyed it.
No where near as much as my nephew and his mates who were excited at a level I probably haven’t been since I was 13.
But it was good.
I quite liked that Thanos guy.
Wiping out half of the universe is a bit naughty, of course.
But he had a point.
And he was a man of values.
He was doing what he felt needed to be done.
And was willing to pay the price.
Immediately after ‘the snap’ (where he wiped out half the universe), Thanos is transported to somewhere where his daughter Gamora is (I’m googling this).
Gamora: Did you do it?
Thanos: Yes.
Gamora: What did it cost?
Thanos: Everything.
See there was a cost.
To him and others.
And he was willing to pay it.
Because there’s always a cost.
To everything.
We sometimes don’t realise that.
Every “Yes” to something is a “No” to something else.
Every decision has consequences.
Positive, negative and neutral.
Or, more likely, a mixture of all three.
And which of these (and to what extent) will vary person to person, depending on what is important to them.
And vary throughout their day and life too.
But those costs are always there.
And we can perform a CBA on these decisions.
Cost Benefit Analysis.
Look at the pros and cons.
Shorter term and longer term.
Weigh them up.
Maybe question them.
When we ‘Can’t Be Ar$ed’ there are pros and cons to those decisions.
Costs and Benefits.
The Benefit might be ‘ease’.
Perceived relaxation.
Use of time for something else we’re valuing more at that point.
The cost could be feeling a bit worse later or tomorrow or ongoing.
It could be that it’s that little vote in the ‘wrong’ direction for the person we see ourselves becoming (making it more likely we’ll make that decision again next time).
It could be a little broken promise to our self or someone else.
We can CBA the opposite decision.
The doing a workout.
The ‘better’ food choice.
The costs might be time.
Maybe having to overcome that internal resistance to doing it.
Perhaps concern over how other people might see us or feel about that decision.
The benefits?
Feeling better.
More energy.
A sense of satisfaction.
A vote for us being or becoming that kind of person.
There’s no right or wrong.
It’s your call.
But remembering that there’s a cost and benefit to every decision could help you question that decision.
Next time you CBA to do something, do a CBA on that thing.
Much love,
Jon ‘The Mad Titan The Great Titan’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
It’s the mid to late 1980s.
It’s not.
It’s 2021.
I just do this sometimes.
‘Setting the scene’ and all that.
Young Jon has several things he particularly enjoys.
The A-Team.
My Go-Kart.
My tree house (lucky Jon lives on a private estate as his Dad is the estate famer).
Scalextric.
Winding my sister up.
Transformers.
Star Wars.
For the latter two I have multiple (well, two) avenues of enjoyment.
The TV programmes / films.
And the toys.
I had loads of Transformers and Star Wars toys.
Loved them.
Have you ever noticed that the Autobots (the “good” Transformers not those naughty Decepticon types) looks a bit like Darth Vader’s mask when turned through 180 degrees?
Interesting?
Yes.
Particularly relevant to this blog?
Not really.
I just know you’re more likely to read this (and do something with it) if I start out with something a bit more interesting and segue into some sort of lesson or parallel than if just give you a load of info).
Because Autobots sounds a little bit like Autonomy (work with me).
“The ability to make your own decisions without being controlled by anyone else”.
When we choose to do something………..
When we want to do it………….
We’re way more likely to do it………
Than if we feel that we “have to” do it.
“Ought to”.
“Need to”.
“Should”.
Whenever we use those last few words, we’re just saying we don’t want to do it.
“I should lose some weight”.
“I need to do more exercise”.
“I should cut down on my snacking”.
All unlikely to happen.
When we want to do something……..
Because of how it fits into what’s important to us………..
What we value……….
How we want to live our life…………
The kind of person we see ourselves being and becoming………..
It’s pretty likely to happen.
It can be the same things we used to struggle with.
We just change the frame we choose to view them through.
From something we’re feeling somewhat coerced into doing…………
To something we’re choosing to do for the benefits.
It’s our choice.
One we’re happy to make.
And see ourselves, on average, continuing to make.
——————————————–
So that’s the first CBA alternative.
The second is just a quickie tomorrow.
But, as I said on Monday, if all you remember from this is those three words;
Competence
Belonging
Autonomy
And you, perhaps, occasionally try and see how they fit in with something you’ve got the other CBA about…………
Then you could be about to create the conditions that motivation grows more easily within 🙂
Much love,
Jonakin Hallwalker
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Opening lyrics to Cheers of course.
Over the years we’ve done a couple of Cheers intro inspired videos.
Because I like to think there are similarities.
People often comment on this.
You join a GloboGym and all you’re essentially doing is renting access to some equipment.
If you go or not no one knows or cares.
Most people feel some combination of unsure, confused, apprehensive, unwelcome, overwhelmed and / or out of place when they go.
So they stop going.
We don’t feel we ‘belong’.
The second part of the ABC of motivation.
Belonging.
Feel we’re rubbish at something and not getting better?
We probably won’t keep trying.
Feel we don’t belong somewhere (whether in person or virtually) then we won’t ‘stay’.
If we feel that we are a ‘part of something’………..
That is, perhaps, greater than the sum of it’s parts………..
That, to a reasonable level at least, we like to ‘go’ to…………
To be part of………….
Then we stand a good chance of keeping going.
So, if you don’t currently feel you ‘belong’, how can we make that so?
If you’re already a ninja, how could we get you to engage more with what we’re doing?
Maybe do the sessions on Zoom rather than Facebook Live so you feel like you’re doing it with others more?
Maybe get involved more with social stuff, events, etc?
Interact in the group more?
Get you feeling competent and get you feeling like you belong and we’re two thirds of the way there.
Much love,
Jon ‘A German Reckons with History and Home’ Hall
P.S. William Simmonite (yesterday’s middle name) was Compo from Last Of The Summer Wine’s real name. And it sounds a bit like Competence. Sort of.
P.P.S. Practically impossible middle name today so I’ll give it you know. It’s the subtitle of a book called ‘Belonging’
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You know the feeling.
You “know” you “should” do something.
But you really don’t feel like it.
“I can’t be ar$ed” you might say.
CBA.
I know I have / do.
We get it.
But, we know, from our experience and from helping thousands of others, that we can question that.
As I’m sure you’ll know, it won’t just be in a “try harder” way.
Berating you for “not putting in enough effort” is where a lot of our industry ‘is at’.
Doesn’t help though, does it?
Just makes it worse in most cases.
Completely negates how hard you’re trying across the board.
Busy and challenging lives.
Just because you’re struggling in one area doesn’t make you “lazy”.
No.
Instead what we’re going to do is look at it from a different angle.
Two angles in fact.
Both other words / phrases that CBA can stand for.
One over the next few days.
The other one on Friday.
I’m splitting the first one up as I want you to remember it.
Even if all you do is remember what it stands for in this case.
So the next time you’re thinking that you “CBA”……….
It pops into your mind.
If you forget this straight away, it’ll be pointless.
Further understanding of anything is a waste of time if we don’t even remember the concept.
If I were to see you in the pub in a few months (other places we can’t currently go to are available) and I were to give you a big hug (I might just – I’ve only hugged my immediate family for a year) and say “Great to see you – what does CBA stand for”………….
I’d want you to be able to tell me.
So, are you sitting comfortably?
Then let’s begin (#ListenWithMother).
CBA can be the three parts of what affects our motivation levels.
Competence.
Belonging.
Accountability.
That’s it for today.
Just remember those three words.
Competence.
Belonging.
Accountability.
Repeat them in your head.
Competence.
Belonging.
Accountability.
One more time to make sure it sticks…………
Competence.
Belonging.
Accountability.
Much love,
Jon ‘Competence. Belonging. Accountability’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever set out to “not” do something………..
Then pretty much immediately done it?
“I’m not drinking tonight”
Followed, pretty quickly, by drinking.
“No snacking this week” and then snacking.
“I’m not going to have that tub of Haagan Dazs in the freezer” then inhaling it on the sofa.
You know what I mean.
The human brain isn’t very good at “not doing” stuff.
If anything it just hears the last bit.
The “drinking”, “snacking” or “eating that tub of Haagan Daz”.
Focusses on that.
Then does it.
At best we end up with what I often refer to as a “cake shaped hole”.
That needs filling at some point.
Probably with cake.
Our brain much prefers to be “doing something” than not.
To concentrate on doing something different, perhaps.
Something else that has some or all of the benefits.
Eat or drink to feel better?
Could something else makes us feel, at least, better enough?
A walk, a workout, meditating, an activity we enjoy, etc.
Might not be quite the same, but it’s ‘something’.
Something to do rather than trying not to not do something else.
Something that will make us feel, at least, an amount better.
Arguably more so overall, with the absence of a ‘downside’.
Spend hours scrolling on social media or stick our head in the fridge “because we’re bored”?
What else could we do that will make us less bored?
Like the connection gained from doing something with someone else?
What else could we do with them that has the same benefit?
As always, no right or wrong.
If “not doing” something works for you, crack on.
If it hasn’t, perhaps we could look at what you could do instead?
Much love,
Jon ‘Going Out’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We love board games in my house.
We have a Lockdown 3 Board Game League going on at the moment.
I’ve knocked up an Excel sheet to track it (partly as I love Excel).
You put in the date and the game name than a placing in the column for each family member.
It then automatically works out how many took part, assigns points and updates the league tables.
There are two leagues going on.
One that is total number of points scored and one for average game placing.
With some cold, hard cash on the line – dependant on placings at the end of this lockdown.
I’ve always loved games.
I have many fond memories of being baby sat at my Granny’s and me and my sister playing Granny, and her friend Mrs Fearn at cards and Scrabble.
Being at my Uncle Bill’s and everyone squeezed round the table in his lounge playing Newmarket, Donkey or Rummy.
My Dad mildly annoying people by going out in one go.
Or (always correctly) saying stuff like “You can go, you picked up the seven of hearts three rounds ago”.
My wife loves games too.
We’ve both always encountered a similar thing when we’ve played games.
As has my sister.
“Wow, I didn’t know we were ‘trying'”
“Somebody takes this a bit seriously”
Or similar.
Which I’ve never really understood.
If you’re playing a game, how can you not play it to win?
What are you doing otherwise?
Losing on purpose?
Perfectly fine at times when playing with a child to help them learn a game and build confidence in it.
But in a normal game, if you’re going to play it, how do we play it without trying to win?
I came to a realisation recently.
When people say stuff like that, it’s to make losing the game less of “a thing”.
“If I’m not trying, it doesn’t matter if I lose”.
For me, losing a game is completely irrelevant.
I’ll play to win, but if I don’t, that’s fine.
I don’t play to win because I fear losing…………
But because I’m ok with it.
I’m sure you’ve started to see the parallel here.
It’s tempting to do the same in other areas of life.
To not play to win because we fear losing / failing.
Or, more likely, because we fear being seen to fail.
After all we fail at stuff every day, don’t we?
How many days do we do absolutely everything we would’ve liked to, exactly as we wished?
Very few, if any.
We fail all the time.
And we’re fine with that.
But, it’s that being seen to fail.
To proclaim an intent to do something then to be seen to not do it.
Whether that be a board game or anything else.
To say we’re going to go for a workout, then not.
To have it be known we’re trying to lose weight.
And not.
The publicly setting a goal for our work or business.
And not making it happen.
Even just not setting a specific plan for the coming week.
Telling ourselves “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it”.
Because that then not happening doesn’t really even register.
Setting an actual plan can feel risky.
There’s potential for it not happening.
We’ve stuck out neck out somewhat.
Raised our head above the parapet.
It starts to feel like like yet “another thing”.
And it can be tempting to not do it.
Because we don’t want to feel we’ve “failed” – or be seen to have “failed”.
But, chances are, we’d do “more” by setting that goal.
By trying to win.
Shoot for the moon and fall short in the stars as they say.
Being happy to “lose” means we’re more willing (and more likely) to “win”.
Much love,
Jon ‘Beck’ Hall
Kim Acton, 57 from Macclesfield tells us about doing stuff she never thought she would after joining (and becoming the first ever Golden Panther)
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I talked yesterday about the time that might go into improving skills.
The hours of practice we can invest to improve at anything.
Cooking or trying different meals.
Exercise.
Meditation.
Anything.
It’s all just reps .
We can train ourselves better at anything.
Not always easy, of course.
Really, really hard at times.
But true nonetheless.
What we’ve often done, without realising it, is trained ourselves good at the opposite.
Put thousands of reps in and become really ‘good’ in other ways.
Created a routine of eating a certain way and spending time a certain way that we find incredibly easy to do now.
Not necessarily any more or less physical effort, we’re just so experienced at doing it.
We train our mind with every rep it takes (every move it makes).
The more we allow it to focus on the future, the better it becomes at that.
The easier we find anxiety.
The more we allow it to lament on the ‘less good’ parts of the past and present…………
The better we get at that.
And what that can bring.
Frustration, dissatisfaction, depression.
The more reps we get at pulling ourselves back to the moment we are in……….
Focus………
Concentration……….
Mindfulness……….
The present………..
The only thing that really exists…………
What’s in front of us this very second…………
The better we get at that too.
The more reps we get at allowing our peer group and media to influence our thoughts and feelings………..
The better we get at that.
The more reps we get at being clear on our mission, our vision and our values…………
And concentrating on filling our lives with inspiring challenges that fit them……….
The better we get at that.
When our head ‘isn’t where we’d like it to be’………..
Is it worth considering that we just haven’t put the reps in?
Much love,
Jon ‘Melody’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
They say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become world class at something.
It originated from a 1993 study of top violinists that found that the best violinists had average that 10,000 hours of practice by age 20.
But some had had much less and some more.
And it was only done a sample size of three groups of 13 people.
Either way, I’m sure we all agree that an amount of practice is needed to get any good at anything.
And that, no matter how good we naturally are or aren’t, we’ll get somewhat better at most (or all) things with practice.
We know this.
But we forget it sometimes.
We write-off some things as “not working” despite having spent next to no time practicing them.
We say “I’ve tried meditation and it didn’t do anything for me.”
Having probably done it a handful of times (at most) for five minutes or so.
Way under one hour, let alone 10,000.
Same with tracking our food.
Put in less than an hour’s total effort in and decide it’s “too much of a faff”.
Or a handful of hours learning new recipes or trying new meals.
Or maybe a couple of dozen hours total exercise and stop because we’re not getting results we’re happy with.
We get it.
All of the above can seem frustrating.
Can easily get left for something else that seems more pressing.
We don’t necessarily “feel like it”.
But……….
The good news is………..
This next time will probably be the hardest.
The one after that a little easier.
As we practice ourselves better.
And that frustration?
That’s good too.
It’s indicative that we’re learning.
That bit where it’s most challenging………
Annoying……..
Where we feel “this isn’t for me”……..
“I’m not cut out for this”…………
That is where we’re making the most progress.
The most improvement.
That’s the bit that it’s most worth ‘practicing ourselves better’ through!
Much love,
Jon ‘That’s how for now’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
As I was arriving at the club the other day (check post, run the taps through for Legionnaire’s and, I’ll admit, have a workout while I’m there) coach Jen was just leaving.
So we had a quick chat as she left (don’t worry – from a few meters apart).
She was telling me some people had expressed surprise that she was still working.
That we’re delivering a full timetable of sessions as we always have.
Just online.
“You’re so lucky” she said some people had said.
Which is nice to hear.
We must be doing something alright if full delivery of service (and more) isn’t what people are seeing elsewhere and expecting.
I’ll be honest, the last year hasn’t been easy.
Whilst I’ve been really pleased with how it’s gone compared to the industry as a whole, we have had less members than in a ‘normal’ year.
And, as we keep our budget fairly lean anyway, a few savings here and there and a bit of government support has helped…………
But there is a hole in the budget that needs filling.
Which is fine.
I know it’ll get filled.
I know we’ll get back to where we need to be long term and it’ll average out over time.
Many experts in the fitness industry are predicting that “the floodgates are going to open” for us later this year.
Vaccinations will be high, cases low, confidence up.
And many people won’t be happy with what’s happened to their weight, energy levels and mental health and be wanting to do something about that.
And I know that behind our floodgates is more than most’s.
Whilst many in the fitness industry have been “waiting for this to be over”……….
Or hoping “next year is better”……….
We’ve not been relying on hope.
We’ve been putting the ground work in.
Maintaining contact with people.
Offering support where we can.
Putting out blogs, videos, podcasts and more as we always have.
Spending more on marketing, not less.
For two reasons:
-
We want to help people and we know there are a lot of people who will benefit from our help. Some right now. Some in the future.
-
Prepping for the future. We have bills to pay and kids to feed.
1 and 2 aren’t mutually exclusive and most of the industry will pretend they just do it because they love it, yet still charge.
Because we know that when things are a bit more “back to normal” what happens then won’t be a result of what we do then………….
It’ll be a result of what we’ve done over the preceding year and a half or so.
Because our results are never the product of ‘what we’re doing now’.
They are the product of ‘what we’ve done’.
Our body shape, energy levels, etc aren’t a result of the way we’re eating and exercising right now……….
They’re the result of what we’ve done in recent months and years.
“You are what you ate” they say.
It’s lead indicators vs. lag indicators.
And we humans are very good at focussing on the lag indicators.
The stuff that comes after an amount of time.
The increasing energy, mood, endurance, health, fitness, recovery and / or strength.
The decreasing weight, aches and pains and more.
And getting discouraged.
Sometimes it feels like we’re not getting the results we feel we deserve.
But it just takes time.
If you’re not sure if you’re doing the “right thing”, check with us?
If you are, just keep doing it.
The results will come.
You will become what you ate.
People will say you’re “lucky”.
Your floodgates will open 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Restrict or limit the right to make claims for damages’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I have another lesson from the film Groundhog Day (check yesterday’s blog if, for some crazy reason, you missed it).
It’s a good one, promise.
And, you know, I’ve got 7 days a week of blogs to fill now!
After a number of days of waking up to the same day, Phil has the following conversation with Rita, his producer, and Larry, the cameraman.
Phil: “Let me ask you guys a question: what if there were no tomorrows?”
Larry: “No tomorrow? That would mean there would be no consequences, there would be no hangovers. We could do whatever we wanted!”
Phil: “That’s true. We could do…whatever we wanted.”
As Wikipedia explains: “Realizing that there are no consequences for his actions, he begins spending loops indulging in binge eating, one-night stands, robbery, and other dangerous activities, using his increasing knowledge of the day’s events and the town residents to manipulate circumstances to his advantage.”
It would be cool if their were no consequences to our actions, wouldn’t it?
If we were to wake up tomorrow and there was never any ‘comeback’ for what we did today.
I’d love it.
I’d also love to be able to fly.
Like Superman.
Maybe X-Ray vision too.
Ain’t gonna happen though.
So, is there much point wishing it would?
If I were to spend 10 minutes telling you how frustrating I found it not being able to fly, what would you say?
“Well you can’t. No point getting annoyed about it”.
I can’t fly.
And consequences do exist.
We consume too many calories, we gain weight.
We don’t get enough sleep, we feel worse.
We don’t look after our body by exercising it, we’ll like the look and feel of it less over time.
Those three are guaranteed.
For others, it’s maybe probabilities.
Increased or decreased risk of various things (illness, dying younger than we could have, etc).
But you can take those three to the bank.
There are consequences to those decisions.
Each fairly small in isolation.
But they add up over time.
Where we struggle is that feeling of restriction.
Of “not being able to do what I want”.
We can use willpower to force ourselves.
But it runs out.
The game changer is when we start to make those decisions because we want to.
Because of the ‘consequences’ they bring or avoid.
When we know we can do whatever we want to…………..
Do or say whatever we like……….
But that every choice ever has consequences………….
And we choose to make those choices because of the consequences we want to happen or to avoid!
Much love,
Jon ‘Truth or’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
The other week, my two oldest sons wanted to watch a film with me.
Younger brother was floating around between us and mum and sister, so I wanted something that he’d be OK watching too.
Most of their suggestions were a bit old for him.
After a quick Google I was reminded of Groundhog Day.
The 1993 classic starring Bill Murray.
Where “Phil, a self-centred weatherman, goes to the town of Punxsutawney for an assignment. He is later shocked when he wakes up the next morning and realises that he is reliving the same day over and over.”
I didn’t pick it for it’s parallels to the current situation.
But there, of course, are some.
Most days at the moment can feel like that, can’t they?
It can all feel a bit of a drag.
Too ‘samey’.
If we let it.
A fairly high proportion of what we’re doing at the moment can feel particularly challenging because there’s been so much of it.
And so little of certain other things.
But………
If we choose to take each individual thing in front of us at that point………
To treat it in isolation………
To divorce it from things in the past or potential future………
To make a choice to just give this moment what it needs……..
It can become a different conversation in our heads.
We’re just working on something.
Or relaxing by doing something.
We’re just doing that thing that’s in front of us right now.
We’re in that moment.
Things that came before it and might come later only have to influence our feelings about what’s happening in the current moment if we allow them to.
The past is nothing but a present time memory with our imagination filling in most of the gaps and all of the meaning.
The future isn’t anything.
Just our thoughts in the present.
I’m not saying this will go down as anyone’s favourite time of their life.
I’d be happy to put the last year 41st out of my 41 years of life.
But, that doesn’t mean we can’t change our focus on it somewhat.
And it’s not that we should never think about the past or future.
But there’s definitely diminishing returns on the benefits.
And a point that it becomes detrimental.
Like anything, it’s a skill.
Something we get better at with practice.
Without realising it, we’ve probably trained ourselves in the opposite direction.
Because we didn’t realise it was an option.
Just what everyone seemed to be doing.
What seemed to be ‘normal’.
The influence of our peer group and media (social or otherwise).
We trained our mind to be good at living in the past and / or future.
We can train it to be good at just being in the moment.
Where, most of the time, everything is ok.
Much love,
Jon ‘War clouds have blacked out parts of the shadow’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I talked yesterday about how we humans work best when we’ve got something in front of us.
Something we value.
Something we can “get our teeth into”.
And that when we don’t have that (or, at least, perceive that we don’t), our mind wanders to the side, the past and the more distant future.
Which is where depression, anxiety and the like lie.
The human brain is a problem solving machine.
For everyone, but particularly the more creative types.
We like to ‘fix’ things.
And, when we don’t have problem we value in front of us………….
It’s human nature to create one.
What that person is saying on Facebook is never as big an issue when we’ve got loads of stuff we really want to be getting on with is it?
What Boris might say next isn’t so much of a concern when we’re busy doing things we value doing and getting done.
All that sh!t that happened in our past doesn’t spring as readily to mind when we’re in the zone does it?
I know this.
I get much more irritated with my family and those around me when I’m bored.
My mind focusses much more on what it’s telling me they “should” or “shouldn’t” be doing when I’m not engaged in something useful.
Find anyone who moans a lot about other people and ask them what their mission in life is and I can guarantee they don’t have one.
This, of course, doesn’t mean we just have to accept stuff we’re not happy with.
It’s about learning to focus on what we can change.
What we want to change.
What we’re willing to change.
Problems we value being solved.
And filling our lives with those so there’s less space for the others.
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference”.
Much love,
Jon ‘Impossible’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Which way do your eyes face?
Go on, it’s not a trick.
Forward, yeah?
Do you know why that is?
They’ve evolved like that over the years so we can see what’s directly in front of us.
Our prey.
The thing we’re about to kill and eat.
And, particularly for us primates, to be able to focus on what our hands are doing.
We don’t have the olde side eye that some animals do.
You know – chickens, cows, horses, zebras, turtles, elephants, many birds and fish and so on.
Because they are prey.
Their vision enables them to see others coming to try and eat them.
“My eyes are in front? I like to hunt. Eyes on the side? I like to hide.”
But we’ve forgotten this a bit, haven’t we?
Modern humans don’t need to hunt in the traditional way.
Tesco Click N Collect (other ways of getting food are available) has put paid to that.
But we’re still the same creature.
We still function in the same way.
Have nothing in front of us to concentrate on and we struggle.
We starting looking around.
To the side.
Checking what everyone else is up to on social media and feeling flat from it.
Looking backwards.
Allowing past situations to replay in our head.
Lamenting stuff that we can never change.
Or into the more distant future.
Worrying about what is to come.
What might or might not happen.
Creating “uncertainty”.
“Anxiety”.
When our mind doesn’t have something right in front of us to focus on it wanders off to all sorts of other places.
Places that don’t usually benefit us.
When we don’t fill our lives with challenges that inspire us and that tie into what we value…………
Our lives get filled with other people’s challenges.
Those around us.
The media.
When we wake with a sense of purpose for what is in front of us that we want to attack, then life feels good.
When we wake with a “to do list” that we don’t really want to do and feel we have to, it doesn’t.
When we wake with nothing to do, even worse.
Fill your life with challenges that inspire you.
And / or find a way to tie things that “just need to be done” into the things you do value.
Focus on that ‘prey’ just in front of you.
And everything else going on around us fades into the background.
Much love,
Jon ‘All I do each night is…..’ Hall
Steve Farden - 36 year old Civil Engineer, husband and father from Macclesfield talks weight gain and loss, what happened to him in 2020, Top Gun and more!
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Last thing my (and, probably, your) parents used to say now.
Promise.
And this is probably the one I heard the most.
After all, it was the eighties.
Bob Geldoff and pals were busy “saving” Africa and the videos of starving children were a regular feature.
Any time I would go to leave any of my food, or say I didn’t want it, my mum would say “There are starving kids in Africa who would love that”.
To which I would, invariably, think “Why don’t you post it to them then?”
Or “I don’t think me over eating would make them feel any better”.
But, I get it.
They were bought up in the shadow of the war.
Rationing still a thing.
“Waste not, want not” my Granny used to say.
However old we are, our parents probably had some level of aversion to “wasting food”.
And, of course, I’m not going to suggest we should purposefully waste food.
But we could, perhaps, benefit from questioning some of our thoughts around that?
The need to “finish off” what’s on our plate or in the serving dish when it could easily go in the fridge for another meal.
Or part of one if “there’s not a whole portion left”.
Maybe the “finishing off what’s on the kids’ plates”?
At that point, all else being equal, it’s either going in the fridge, the bin or on our hips and waist.
What about the “getting our money’s worth” when we’re at a buffet, on an all inclusive holiday, or similar?
Or finishing off the entirety of a meal served to you when it’s a more than sufficient portion for your considerably bigger other half?
You probably wouldn’t gain extra fat if I paid you, so why do it to get marginally better value out of money you’ve already spent?
As always, we can do what we like.
But, perhaps, we might benefit from questioning some of these thoughts?
Much love,
Jon ‘We’re approaching the 20th anniversary of the 20th anniversary of Live Aid’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I’ll be honest, I don’t actually say this one.
“I want doesn’t get”.
I have my own version.
One of the kids says “I want XYZ”………..
Or they point out some sort of problem…………
I just stare at them.
They’ve not asked a question you see.
I don’t do anything until they do.
“Could I have……..?”
“Would you……..?”
“Can you help me with this?”
Followed by me saying “Ask me nicely and I’ll do most things for you. Just complain or point out a problem and I definitely won’t”.
They’ve actually got pretty good at just asking first time to be honest.
It’s taken some ‘training’ out of them though.
It’s human nature to just point out what we want.
In some areas, that is.
In others, we haven’t a clue.
Particularly as we get older.
We get bogged down in what we “don’t want”.
“I don’t want to feel like this”.
“I don’t want to look like this”.
“I don’t want to be this fat”.
But we don’t really know how we “do” want to be.
Maybe we have a weight we used to be in mind, at most.
But we struggle to know how we actually do want to “feel” particularly.
And, therefore, we struggle to figure out how to get there.
How to track progress.
How to accurately see what is or isn’t working.
How to build momentum.
Instead it just “feels” like it isn’t working.
Because it “feels” like we’re still “feeling like that”.
It’s why we usually find exercise related goals ‘easier’.
We can see measurable progress.
And, to a degree, that’s built into the process.
The workouts.
We see that we can do “more”.
Further, faster, heavier, etc.
How we “feel” can be harder to quantify.
But we can.
It can be as simple as a daily “How do I feel on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the worst I’ve ever felt and 10 the best?”
Re-test every day or two whilst making some adjustments (exercise, food, drink, sleep or whatever).
See what changes occur.
If it’s working, you’ll create enthusiasm to keep going.
Momentum.
If it’s not, you can tweak your approach.
But if all we ever think is “I don’t want to feel like this” that probably won’t change (at least not as much as it could).
Much love,
Jon ‘Really, really wanna zig-a-zig-a’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Here’s one I’ve been saying to my two older boys more and more recently.
“It’ll all end in tears”
Usually moments before one of them gets hurt.
It’s literally just happened as I’m writing this and one them has been sent head first into the floor in front of me by the other.
We’ve all been there though.
Learned from it.
Over the years learned to avoid those moments of acute pain caused by one or two bad decisions.
We don’t always get good at the opposite though.
Avoiding (or minimising) that chronic pain caused by lots and lots of slightly less good decisions.
The little ones that don’t mean much by themselves.
But that add up.
To less energy than we’d like.
A body we don’t like the look and feel of.
Mood down, irritability up.
More chance of many health related problems.
Each missed workout means next to nothing.
Each less good food or drink choice makes next to no difference.
But they all add up.
And, bit by bit, become our habits.
A little vote for the person we see ourselves becoming.
Like my boys fighting, it feels fun while it’s happening……….
But………
“It’ll all end in tears.”
Much love,
Jon ‘Of a clown’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Remember when you complained to your parent(s) that “that’s not fair”………
And they’d reply with “Life’s not fair”?
It’s true.
It’s not.
Things don’t automatically happen or not because it’s “right” or “wrong”.
“Fair” or not.
Sometimes things are fair.
Sometimes they’re not.
And sometimes we think they aren’t when they, in fact, are.
It’s tempting to think when we’re struggling to lose weight that we have a “bad metabolism”.
That someone else has a better one than us.
Our “friend who can eat anything and not gain weight”.
What we mean when we say our metabolism is usually the number of calories we can consume and lose, maintain or gain weight.
And the research shows that the vast majority of that is down to our body size and composition and activity levels.
Completely fair.
And the research shows that the differences in calorie requirements outside of that are minimal.
Usually within +/- 80 calories per day.
Ie: The person with the “bad” metabolism would lose weight if they just ate (at the very most) 160 calories less per day than the otherwise matched “good” metabolism person.
But the real kicker with this one is that there is no average correlation between those variations and weight.
Ie: It’s equally likely that the “bad” metabolism person is lean and the “good” metabolism person is overweight as the other way around.
So, from a weight loss perspective, at least, life is actually pretty fair.
And, as in all areas, even if it’s not, we can only play the hand we’re dealt.
Much love,
Jon ‘In love and war’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who remembers rolling their eyes as their parents repeated some saying or other for what felt like the thousandth time?
You know the type;
“If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right”
“Life’s not fair”
“It’ll all end in tears”
“I want doesn’t get”
“There are starving kids in Africa that would love that”
And………..
Even worse………….
Find yourself saying exactly the same to your own kids now / when they were that age?
Not just me then?
They are all good points.
Lessons we can all benefit from learning.
And of being reminded of.
Especially in different contexts.
Which is what we’ll be doing this week.
Today and over the next four days.
Today?
It’s a twofer (two for one).
“If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?”
And……..
“Two wrongs don’t make a right”
It’s easy to allow our habits to blend in with those we spend the most time with.
For what they do to be seen as the ‘norm’.
Everyone we hang out with carry a few extra stone and it’s more likely that we will too.
None of them exercise and, chances are, we won’t either.
Put me in a room of ten “whingers” and I’ll probably become an eleventh.
When most people around us are doing something that doesn’t benefit them, it’s tempting to do the same.
But those two ‘wrongs’ don’t make a ‘right’.
We wouldn’t jump off a cliff if our friends did, so why live a lifestyle that is the slower acting equivalent?
Maybe tweak those people that make our peer group.
Doesn’t mean we need to remove people, but maybe redress the balance by adding (more of) others in?
Us perhaps?
And to remind ourselves of what we truly want.
What’s important to us.
Not, what seems ‘normal’.
Unless that happens to be what we want.
Remember – “You wouldn’t jump off a cliff because your friends had” and “Two wrongs don’t make a right”.
Much love,
Jon ‘Did you know Cliff from Cheers is one of the most successful actors of all time in terms of total takings of the films he’s been in?’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We’ve made the olde workout – fiction analogy before.
In case you missed it……….
Whilst a good fiction writer knows that the purpose of each chapter………..
Is to make you want to read the next one…………
A good coach knows that the purpose of a good workout………..
Is to make you want to do another one.
Part of that is the feeling that it’s doing something, of course.
That’s a given.
But part of it is a level of enjoyment that means you’re up for doing it again.
The feeling of satisfaction, the social side of doing it with others, the not being excessively sore after and more.
A 60 or 80% effective workout that you come back to do again and again beats, hands down, the 90 to 100% effective workout you hate and never want to do again.
Something our industry forgets all too quickly as they “beast” you into the ground.
But………..
I thought of another way this analogy works the other day.
Ultimately, the purpose of any ‘better’ choice should be to make you want to do it again.
The purpose of a good food choice is to make you want to do another.
The purpose of meditation should be to make you want to meditate again.
The purpose of getting more sleep should be to make you want to get more sleep.
The purpose of changing what we drink (potentially less caffeine, sugary drinks and / or alcohol and more water) should be to make your want to continue with that.
If it feels like a pain in a*se, we’re not going to do it again.
At least not enough to get where we want to get to.
If we do it in a way that is, perhaps, sub-optimal………..
That feels worthwhile for the benefits it’s creating……….
But is still, at least, sufficiently enjoyable that we want to do it again……..
We, hopefully, will.
So, what does that look like?
What are the “better” food choices that you can make that you’ll want to make again?
Much love,
Jon ‘Porpoise’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Up until yesterday I had sent out a blog / email for the last 2,162 week days in a row.
To be honest, I’m not sure why that number doesn’t end in a zero or a five – maybe I started on a Thursday?
Monday to Friday at 11am since late 2012.
No more!
That is at an end.
Don’t worry though (I know you were panicking)………..
We’re not stopping completely!
We’ve decided to go to 7 days a week.
I know some will feel this is “too much”.
But, I’ll be honest, everyone told me five a week was too much.
Other FitPros particularly.
Most of whom haven’t been in the industry for several years now.
If someone feels that spending a total of 14 to 21 minutes out of 10,080 across the week reading something that could help them is “too much”……….
They probably already felt that about 10 to 15 minutes.
And, I’ll be honest, from experience, they would be considerably less likely to invest more time than that in exercising and changing their eating were they to join us.
That’s fine.
They’ve always been able to stop getting these any time they like.
Find them helpful?
I’ll be helping you seven days a week now, not just five.
And, I’ll be honest, my biggest thought is “Why don’t we help people as much at the weekend?”
If anything, that’s the time most need a bit more support.
And does just emailing on “work days” feed into most people’s thought process that “It’s the weekend”.
A time we “have off”.
Rather than it just being one (or two) of 7 days where we’re looking to create an average.
We don’t need to take “time off” caring about what we put into and do with our bodies because of how it makes us look and feel.
Speed up and slow down, sure.
Maybe eat and exercise differently on those days but as part of an overall average, not “a few days off”.
That stop-start mentality holds us back more than anything.
So why should we stop-start sending you something that can help each week?
So we won’t 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Mr Bond’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Whilst in some ways it is great at highlighting the negative to us……….
The human brain can also be a hopeless optimist.
Telling ourselves that we’ll be able to do the thing………..
That we haven’t, consistently, before.
Thinking that we’ll ‘come good’ this time.
Telling ourselves over and over that “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it”.
The thing is though………….
When things get difficult (as life can on a daily basis)…………
We never rise to the level of our expectations.
We fall to our lowest level of training.
Knowing that can be powerful.
We realise we need to up our skill level.
The same way we do any skill.
A bit at a time.
We wouldn’t expect to get better at football by being thrown into a Premier League game.
We’d play against marginally better players.
Up our training a bit.
Get a bit better day by day.
Exercise and eating better is the same as any other skill.
We get a little bit better at it each time we do it.
Always remember that………
We never rise to the level of our expectations.
We fall to our lowest level of training.
Much love,
Jon ‘No one expects the Spanish Inquisition’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You may be aware that we have a dog.
Jessie her name is.
A nearly 18 month old Cockapoo.
I’ll be honest, we haven’t trained her anywhere near as well as we could have.
She’s generally fine when you have her concentration but much too easily ‘lose her’ to a squirrel or something else exciting.
I’m nearly always the first one up and downstairs.
I come into the kitchen and let her out while I have my breakfast and and a coffee and, perhaps, do some work.
She doesn’t bother me at all.
She hears the next person starting to come down the stairs and she starts to twitch.
Excitement building.
She’s pacing up and down, turning in circles starting to yap.
That person comes in and she’s jumping up at them and about to explode with excitement.
Bothering them, scratching them and generally annoying them.
“Jessie. Stop. Will you get down. Stop. Jessie. No!”
Whilst reaching down and engaging with her.
Maybe picking her up for a cuddle.
To “make her stop”.
Jessie, of course, doesn’t speak English.
She just knows that when she behaves that way, it gets her exactly the response she wants.
Irrespective of the words that are accompanying it.
Overall, I spend by far the most time playing and bonding with her.
She behaves best for me overall.
It’s not that she doesn’t like me and doesn’t want my attention in the morning.
She’s just learned that that behaviour doesn’t get the desired response with me.
Waiting calmly until I’m ready to engage her on my terms does.
It’s human nature to not realise how much we are training others to behave in a certain way with our actions, irrespective of the words around them.
Someone offers us cake at work (other places we can actually go to now are available) and we say “no” a few times then give in and have it?
We’re just teaching them to keep asking.
Same with any food or drink.
Always say “No” the first four times then “Yes” on the fifth?
We’re teaching them to ask five times.
Change what we do because people say stuff like “Stop being boring” or “You’re making me feel bad” or “You’re no fun anymore”………….
Then we’re just teaching them to say that again next time.
Irrespective of what we say at the time.
People around us behave the way they do to us because we’ve taught them that that’s ok.
Not through our words.
But our actions.
How we respond to that behaviour.
This doesn’t mean we can’t eat cake (or anything else).
We can do whatever we like.
We’re all grown ups.
But, when we’re clear and consistent with those around us about how it’s ok to interact with us…………..
That ‘flabotaging’ can quickly become a thing of the past.
Much love,
Jon ‘Van Halen’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever caught yourself saying that?
Maybe in your own head.
Maybe out loud.
Perhaps when you’ve intended to do something then it hasn’t quite happened.
You meant to work out four times in a week and did none.
To drink a couple of litres of water but had zero.
To say no to the cake at work and immediately said yes.
Planning on a salad for tea, but got a take out and then demolished a bottle of wine and a tub of Haagan Dazs on the sofa.
“What’s wrong with me?”
Can I tell you the only thing that’s wrong with you?
It’s thinking that there is something wrong with you.
There’s not.
You’re not hopeless.
You’re not broken.
You don’t need ‘fixing’.
You’re perfect as you are.
Maybe there’s an element of ‘peeling back’ that might help.
Life can pile layer upon layer of stuff on us.
Physically, logistically and mentally.
What we are doesn’t need to change.
We just need to allow the real “us” to come out.
To shine.
Sometimes we end up as the equivalent of that beautiful statue encased in a block of granite.
We’re in there.
Somewhere.
We just need to chip away at the self limiting beliefs, the habits, the contradicting information and that little voice whirring round our heads.
Reveal what’s been under there all along.
Much love,
Jon ‘The world mama’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
A little over a year ago my wife and I had our joint 40th birthday party.
I made a joke in my speech.
Referencing the varying distances people had travelled.
“From those who could’ve just walked over two fields to get here to Matt who’s flown in especially from near Wuhan, dodging Coronavirus as he came”.
Oh how we laughed.
As far as we know Smudgey (as me and the lads generally call him) didn’t actually bring any COVID into the country.
He had it a few months later so we’re fairly sure this isn’t all his fault.
He’s accepted 50:50 responsibility with Boris 😂
Anyway, it was really nice to see Smudgey.
We lived together at Uni in the second and third year.
Jonny, Benny, Danny and Matty as people sometimes referred to us.
But we don’t see him much.
He’s predilection for Asian ladies has led him to spend most of the last 20 years working in different parts of the Far East.
That and his job, I suppose.
Chicken and egg.
Even when he lived in London he’d randomly disappear for weeks on end.
To the point where a rumour was started (by us) that “There is no Smudge”.
He’d never existed and was a figment of our imagination.
It even got to the point where that saying appeared on camera on a giant flag some of the lads took to the 2010 World Cup.
Which possibly trumped the 2006 “Peters Monkey” one aimed at Ciaran.
And I’ll never forget the look on Smudgey’s face when the ‘There is no Smudge’ flag dropped from the ceiling as he was about to start his Best Man speech at Dan’s wedding (see accompanying photo).
Proof, if ever it were needed, that there is no Smudge.
You know what else there isn’t?
Or what we could consider doesn’t exist?
Failure.
It’s something the human brain is easily tempted to think does.
But does it?
Often when we feel we’ve “failed” it’s because we haven’t achieved some essentially made up standard we’ve set.
A dividing line between success and failure that we’ve not far off plucked from nowhere.
If there even is a line at all.
Maybe just a vague notion.
When we feel we’ve “failed” with our eating, what’s actually happened?
Did we have a concrete definition of what “success” looked like?
Probably not.
Even if we did, does the fact that we didn’t quite hit that mean than “writing it off” and going even further away from that make any sense at all?
It’s easy to think anything other than perfection is failure.
We don’t hit our financial targets for the year and we’ve failed.
Essentially forgetting all the money we have made.
We don’t hit that PB on a run or an exercise of some sort and forget the huge progress we’ve made just because that exact number didn’t happen.
We miss one workout and decide it’s not worth doing any as we can’t now do the five that week we’d originally planned.
None of these are failure.
They are degrees of success.
Can’t achieve the ideal degree of success?
Achieve the next best thing.
Or the next best.
The best you realistically think you can under the circumstances.
Never forget that, like Smudge, “there is no failure”.
Just degrees of success!
Much love,
Jon ‘My first real indicator that something bad was on it’s way was Dan’s 40th on March 6th where everyone was foot shaking or doing the Wuhan Elbow’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I hope you know, from reading these blogs, watching videos we make, etc that we “get it”.
We get it’s not always easy.
We get that it can seem like “yet another thing”.
That there’s always something else that needs doing more than exercise and / or better food choices.
That there seems to be so many reasons to not do what we feel we should.
But…………..
Is it worth considering………….
That the reasons we might give for ‘not doing’ something………..
Could actually be the reasons for doing it?
Got a lot on at work?
Would that all be easier if our energy levels were good?
Our endurance?
And our focus and mental health?
If we had a way to destress?
Got kids?
Could they be the biggest, most powerful reason ever to look after our health and energy levels?
They won’t thank us if we die twenty years sooner than we might have because we’d been busy doing things for them.
Injuries?
Exercise that will help us be in less pain sounds a great plan.
Feeling “too fat and unfit”?
Something that gets us less fat and fitter makes sense.
Too tired?
We could chose to eat better and exercise to increase energy levels across the 168 hours of the week.
We know it can always feel like there’s reasons “not to”.
But………….
What if the reasons “not to” were actually the reasons “to”?
Much love,
Jon ‘Shabby’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
If there’s one thing I’m fiercely protective of, it’s my energy levels.
Too many people rely on me having energy to allow them to dip too much.
My wife.
My kids.
You!
My energy fluctuates up and down, like everyone’s.
But it’s normally pretty good.
Maybe 7 to 9 out of 10 most of the time.
Over the years I’ve had a lot of people say to me some variation of;
“I wish I had your energy levels”
And the short answer is “You don’t”.
Not because it’s a bad thing or there’s some unexpected side effects.
It’s the second word.
“Wish”.
Defined in the dictionary as;
“feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that cannot or probably will not happen”
Anytime we’re wishing for something, it’s probably not going to happen.
We’ve framed it in our head in such a way that our actions and our reality then conform to that.
If it’s something we “want” that starts a different conversation in our heads.
Like anything else we want in life, we break down how to get it.
Want a new tele?
We need to make sure we have enough ‘spare’ cash to be able to afford it?
Want a promotion?
We clarify with work what we need to do to get that.
We don’t wish for it.
Do nothing and just kinda hope it’ll happen.
If we want more energy then our steps might lie in some combination of:
– More sleep
– Better eating
– Exercise
– Working on how we think about and interact with other people – one of our biggest energy drains if we let it be and, I’ll be honest, the thing I have gained the most benefit from
If we want to lose 20lbs, they’ll be steps for that.
Same for anything.
Wishing will never make it so.
Much love,
Jon ‘Genie’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You’ve hopefully noticed they we talk about balance.
A balanced diet.
A balanced lifestyle.
Sounds good doesn’t it?
It can be difficult to quantify though can’t it?
How do we know if we have a balanced diet or lifestyle?
It’s kind of like a set of scales.
The old fashioned ones your (well, my) Granny used to measure stuff out.
The thing you’re weighing on one side.
A series of weights on the other.
You adjust the combination of those weights until the scale stays level.
Not ‘still’.
‘Level’.
Staying still with one side down and the other up would be fairly pointless.
It’s not the lack of movement we’re looking for as such.
It’s the being in a position that we’re happy with.
And our diet and lifestyle is the same.
If our body, health, energy levels, etc are at a point that we’re happy with………
That’s balanced.
If they’re not, it isn’t.
Or, at least, if it’s not moving in that direction.
There’s always a ‘better’ way.
The optimum way to eat, exercise and live.
Great if we’re wanting to get to the Olympics or on the cover of a fitness magazine.
Usually too much for most of us.
Our balance is individual.
A level we’re happy with.
If we’re not, we could do the equivalent of adjusting those little weights.
‘Play around’ with the variables at our disposal to make it start going in the right direction.
Speed is nice, of course.
But direction is more important.
Getting closer to whatever it is we’d like about our body and life?
That’s cool.
We might speed up and slow down on that as circumstance dictates.
But that will ALWAYS beat not going in the right direction.
Never forget that balance is individual to you.
As is how you achieve it.
Much love,
Jon ‘Bike’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I mentioned in last Wednesday’s blog about a conversation I had with Mark.
I had another conversation that day.
Several actually.
But I’ll share this one with Jos with you.
It was after checking out her food diary on MyFitnessPal.
As I often find, it had a reasonable amount of small portions of relatively high calorie density foods in.
Ie: She wasn’t getting much volume of food for the calories that would help her lose weight.
And was hungry because of that.
I suggested she could look at having some more lower calorie density foods.
Not exclusively.
Not cutting out some of the higher calorie density stuff which, let’s face it, is usually tastier.
But just changing the balance a bit.
Let’s say Food A has 500 calories per 100g.
Food B has 100 calories per 100g.
For 1,000 calories you could have 200g of Food A.
Or a kilo of Food B.
Currently having a meal that is 150g of Food A and 250g of Food B for a total of 400g for 1,000 calories?
You could change that to 100g of A and 500g of B for 50% more food for the same cals.
Or 50g of A and 500g of B for 37.5% more food than the first example but 25% less calories.
Or some other combination.
One of my replies summed it up for me:
“You’d be amazed how much food I get for my calories some days
Kilos worth
Is it marginally less exciting?
Yeah.
Is being full (or not hungry at least) a nicer long term feeling than a moment on the lips?
I’d say so.”
If we go really high density we’re basically left with hungry or fat.
Redress that balance and we can have food we find perfectly nice and enjoyable……..
And that will enable us to lose (or maintain) weight.
It doesn’t have to one or the other.
Much love,
Jon ‘Flo Rida’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
My two older sons are of that age (I’m hoping it’s just an age thing) where they get a new word or phrase……..
From their mates, off YouTube, etc……….
And then over do it to a ridiculous degree.
Say it at every opportunity until I have to ask them nicely to never say it again 😂
A recent one is “You think you’re cool don’t you NAME?”.
I’ll do something and they’ll respond, whether it’s remotely in context or not, with “You think you’re cool don’t you Dad?”
Followed, more recently, with “That’s right – you’re not bothered if you’re cool are you Dad?”
Every sentence starts or ends with Dad.
Sometimes both.
Even when we’ve been in conversation for ages and there’s no one else there 😂
They are correct though.
I’ve explained to them why I’m not bothered about being cool.
As we all were, I was when I was younger.
When we’re teenagers we all desperately want to be seen as cool.
But as I’ve got older, I’ve realised something about “being cool”.
It’s living your life by other people’s definition(s).
Making choices because of how other people may (or may not) perceive you.
Dressing or talking or acting in a certain way……..
Because we think we “should”.
Because of what others will think.
Subjugating our own opinions and beliefs to that of others.
Caring more about what other people think about you than what you think about yourself.
When we live our lives in line with our own values, it’s a different ball game.
We make the decisions we want to make because they’re the right thing for us and those we care about.
We learn to tie in the things we might previously have found to be frustrating struggles with the things we value…………..
And make them inspiring challenges.
We’re happy to do them because they tie into the person we feel we are, who we want to be and are becoming.
Exercise and healthier eating stop being things we feel we “should” or “ought” or “need to” do.
They become things we chose to do because of how they tie into what we value in life.
Ways to create energy and endurance to do what’s important to us.
Methods of achieving stuff that actually does drive us and keep us going.
We can ask ourselves what’s truly important to us………..
And what we then need to do for those things to happen.
Much love,
Jon ‘Hand Luke’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You probably won’t be aware, but this is blog number 2,153.
I’ve written one of these bad boys every week day since late 2012.
Over the years we’ve done several thousand videos too – between the page, the app, our member’s only group, lives, etc.
Hundreds of podcasts.
A huge amount of what they call ‘content’ nowadays.
All bit sized chunks of course.
From our experience, that’s what makes the bigger difference.
Slowly helping people change the conversation that’s going on between their ears.
As that’s what drives their actions, behaviours, habits and results.
A few minutes a day out of 1,440.
But we get it can seem a lot sometimes.
It’s easy for it to have been a few days since someone has read a blog, watched a video, etc.
Or longer.
And it feels like there’s all this stuff that we’ve missed.
That we need to catch up on.
It’s tempting to feel “I can’t keep up”.
When there’s loads of things in the members group we haven’t seen………..
To not look in there at all.
We get it.
But, as with most things, it’s worth questioning.
It’s not a race.
We’re not trying to out perform anyone else.
Whether than be in distance and speed or in proportion of blogs read or videos watched.
If someone has done ‘more’ of them, that’s neither here or there.
If we haven’t done as many as we, theoretically, could have, that doesn’t matter either.
We can just engage with some.
We may decide to ‘catch up’ to some degree.
We may just carry on from where we are.
It’s not a race.
It’s a journey.
We’re out on that ‘gentle jog’ of life.
Speeding up and slowing down as circumstances dictate.
Not stopping because “I can’t keep up”.
Much love,
Jon ‘Rubbish at keepy uppies’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I mentioned the other day that, by the time we’re next back doing sessions in the club, we will have been ‘solely online’ for two thirds of the previous year.
We’ve managed to keep the business going through the continued support of the existing members who carried on with “the next best thing”.
And an amount of new members who’ve come in since.
After the initial ‘adjustment’ last March to April, our number of leavers has actually been lower than a normal year.
The issue has been the increased difficulty in bringing new people in compared to normal.
Now I do get that that most might not choose to start the full programme when they’ve never even been in the club.
But, we have other options for support that anyone can use.
The ‘RISE @ Home’ programme.
And we ran a free ‘7 Day, 5 Minute Feel less shit challenge’ last week that was open to anyone.
And there have been periods where we were back in the club when people could’ve got cracking.
And whilst some have, a common response to people we speak to is “I’ll wait till this all blows over”.
Or “until things are back to normal”.
And we get that.
We do.
It’s a tempting thought.
But…………..
From our experience…………
It’s tempting to think versions of that for years on end.
We’ve had people that have been getting our blogs for years and occasionally respond with “I’ll get started with you when………….”.
When work is better.
When the holidays are finished.
When the kids are back at school.
Or existing members who’ve stopped doing sessions or making changes to their eating and will “get back to it when……….”.
Again, we get it.
There’s always something happening.
But, that’s the key.
If we wait for the stars to align………..
For things to be ‘perfect’………..
Or even ‘better’………….
Then we’ll probably wait forever.
It’s often that ‘all or nothing thinking’.
Where we tell ourselves that we need to do five lengthy workouts a week and eat like a monk.
And, when we don’t feel we can do that, we do the equivalent of nothing.
We often say “it does what it says on the tin”.
We help people RISE.
Doesn’t need to be as fast as possible to personal bests at all times.
It’s just better decisions than we could or would have made.
It’s average forward progress when it used to be the opposite.
Two steps forward and one back, rather than one forward and two back.
Or three and two.
Or even two and two.
Standing still when we could’ve gone massively backwards.
“Waiting till this all blows over” or “things are back to normal” essentially means we’re planning on sliding backwards until then.
And, probably, for longer.
This doesn’t mean someone needs to join one of our programme (although they are more than welcome, of course).
It’s just to question whether looking after our health, fitness, energy levels and mood should ever be something we defer?
Something we plan to look after in the future?
Or, maybe, it’s something we just slow down and speed up on a little as circumstance dictates.
Much love,
Jon ‘Me down with a feather’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
When we see a high level athlete, we appreciate that they’ve trained more than we have to get to that level.
Not just in ‘volume’ – the amount of training they’ve done.
But in ‘quality’.
They’ll have been following the very best training methods.
Putting 100% into every bit of their training.
Not just more reps.
More quality reps.
A body builder’s muscles comes from more quality reps.
A footballers skills come from more quality reps.
A marathon runners endurance from more quality reps.
We know this.
We’re aware there’s an element of “natural talent”.
But the biggest difference between our and their ability is the amount of those quality reps they’ve got in.
If we’d have spent tens of thousands of hours doing the kind of training they have, we wouldn’t be quite as good as them, sure.
But we’d be massively along that gap between where we are and where they are now.
And it’s the same with most things we might think we’re less good at.
Or “not cut out for”.
We just haven’t got the quality reps in.
Someone else better at cooking than us?
They’ve got those quality reps in.
Not just going through the motion reps where they cook the same things in the same way over and over.
We’ve tried meditation and got frustrated because our “mind isn’t empty”?
Someone who’s a regular meditator felt the same after a few reps themselves.
But got enough quality reps in till they got better.
Not just a quick go and stopping after 5 minutes.
Quality reps.
Someone who is better at winding down, relaxing and / or dealing with stress may have an element of that naturally, I’m sure.
But they’ve got the reps in.
Thousands and thousands of times where they’ve actively directed their mind one way rather than the other.
The more we ‘train’ our brain to be in the future and past……….
The more we ‘train’ it to be worried and anxious………
The better we’ll get at that.
The more we train it to pull back to the present………
To slow down a little………
To reframe the way we see things………
The better we’ll get at that.
It’s all reps.
Quality reps.
They might start hard and frustrating.
But the get easier.
But only by doing them.
Much love,
Jon ‘Like they do on the Discovery Channel’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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By the time this Lockdown finishes, we won’t have been in the club for about two thirds of the last year.
Notice we never say we’ve been closed?
We’ve been “purely online”.
I knew right from the start that terms like “closed” would put people in a mindset that wouldn’t help.
Whilst we haven’t been seeing people in person, we’ve been in contact online a lot more.
We always have been, of course.
Our service was never just what happened for the few hours a week that we’d see people in the flesh.
But there has definitely been a lot more ‘virtual’ contact.
On some days I’ve exchanged messages with well over one hundred different people.
And, as often happens, certain themes come up more than once.
It was to do with the time and effort required to do some of the things people were struggling to do.
As many workouts as they might like.
Eating how they considered to be ideal.
That kinda thing.
And we get that.
Life is busy and challenging.
Now more than ever.
But………
What the human brain is very good at doing………
Is thinking we can’t do this theoretically ‘optimum’ version of things………
And deciding the next best thing is, essentially, nothing.
To ‘write off’ that day / week / month.
With a view to ‘starting again’.
When “It’s a better time”.
Which, of course, it never is.
Whilst we might struggle to do this theoretically optimum version……..
They’ll always be stuff we can do.
And the best place to start is usually in the stuff that takes little to no time.
Eating the same as we would’ve but a bit less takes less time and effort (physically) than eating more.
There are near infinite swaps we can make to our food that will drop our daily calories and / or improve some other measure of ‘healthy eating’.
Just because a pot noodle or Dominoes is less effort than a three course meal cooked from scratch, doesn’t mean there aren’t other choices we could make.
I was having an exchange along these lines with a member the other day.
We’ll call him Mark.
Because that’s his name.
Me: “What’s the version of “better” that requires the least (or no) actual effort?
Mark: “Well just substituting bits (I’m definitely going for least / zero extra effort) – e.g. I’d have a baked sweet potato instead of a white potato. In terms of lunch time meals I tend to prep for a few days so it’s there in the fridge”
“Sounds good to me. Anytime it involves much in the way of ‘effort’ it probably won’t happen”
“I think that’s definitely the nub of it for me”
“It’s the nub for everyone I’ve ever known”
And it’s true.
We might be OK putting a certain amount of time and energy into something.
But only when we enjoy that process, to a reasonable degree at least.
We may have lengthy workouts and spend hours cooking – but only when we find that, at least, sufficiently tolerable.
Any time it starts to feel like an effort, it probably won’t last all that long.
Not for Mark.
Not for us.
Not for you.
So – what are the changes you can make that require little to no “effort”?
Much love,
Jon ‘small lump or protuberance’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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I mentioned yesterday that I had a couple of songs the other day that I’ve heard many, many times before that suddenly ‘clicked’ for me.
The first was a week last Saturday.
The second the following morning.
Through the miracles of time travel / scheduling I’m writing this that Sunday afternoon.
I know you’ve been on tenterhooks for the last 24 hours, so I will proceed.
It was Green Day.
I had their third album ‘Dookie’ on CD in the first year at Uni.
I have a strong memory of putting ‘Basket Case’ on far too loud that first Christmas back home.
And my sister storming up the stairs to turn it off and then getting progressively more frustrated when she couldn’t figure out the controls.
The track I heard last Sunday was actually from the follow up album.
1997’s Nimrod.
I must’ve heard this song a hundred or more times over the years.
I’ve not been sleeping all that well recently.
Challenging times and all that.
I regularly wake around 2ish and manage to get back to sleep and then again at 5 to 6 am.
And, as I’ve usually got loads to do and then four kids to home school, I normally get up and get cracking.
Usually not feeling all that great while I am, I’ll be honest.
But, you know – stuff’s gotta get done.
I had by headphones on whilst I was doing some work.
Volume one on Alexa isn’t all that quiet when there are people asleep in the house is it?
Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance) came on.
And this lyric hit me like a bolt of lightning.
Literally felt it run down my spine.
“So make the best of this test
And don’t ask why
It’s not a question
But a lesson learned in time
It’s something unpredictable
But in the end it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life”
Make the best of this test.
And don’t ask why.
It’s a testing time.
Hard in many ways for the vast majority of us.
But we have two choices with this (and any other test).
We can make the best of it.
Learn and grow from it.
RISE up and ‘pass’ it.
Or, for want of a better word, ‘flunk’ it.
Asking why isn’t going to help.
It’s not a question.
It’s a lesson learned in time.
Much love,
Jon ‘I could describe every detail of that stereo more accurately than I could most things I own today, despite not seeing it in over 15 years’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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Long term readers (first time writers?) will be aware I sometimes get the inspiration for these blogs from songs.
Sometimes it’s a song I haven’t heard before or for a while and a lyric or two jumps out.
Sometimes a song I’ve heard many, many times and just, one day, for no apparent reason, something clicks.
I had two the other weekend.
The first?
Anyone recognise the song from the lyric in the title?
“Do you remember barefoot on the lawn with shooting stars?”
1985’s ‘Kayleigh’ by the band Marillon.
Essentially a love letter to an ex, the eponymous Kayleigh.
Recounting all their great times together.
And wondering if it’s worth giving it another go.
Do you remember chalk hearts melting on a playground wall?
Do you remember dawn escapes from moon washed college halls?
…….. the cherry blossom in the market square
I thought it was confetti in our hair
Barefoot on the lawn with shooting stars
The loving on the floor in Belsize Park
Dancing in stilettoes in the snow
You never understood I had to go
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Like all former relationships do if we concentrate on the best bits.
But, there’s usually a reason they are exes.
The human brain is very good at looking at the past in rose coloured spectacles.
And finding the present comparing unfavourably.
We’ve mentioned before that most of the people we’ve seen say how bad 2020 is / was the most………….
Said the same about 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
We know 2020 (and 2021 so far) has particular challenges………..
But if we focus on the very best bits of the past………..
And compare them to the day to day of today…………
We’ll never be happy.
Happiness can only ever exist in the present moment.
We might have reasons to have less happy moments right now…………
But, when we stop taking them for granted, we’ve got plenty of reasons to be happy still left!
Much love,
Jon ‘Misplaced Childhood’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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Do you know what is the perfect amount of exercise to do is?
It’s not a specific amount of time.
Or sets.
Or reps.
It’s the amount…….
That makes you want to exercise again.
It’s not too little.
So you don’t want to do it again as it doesn’t feel like it will do anything.
It’s not too much.
So you don’t want to do it again as it hurts too much.
It’s that middle bit.
That sweet spot.
It’s doing ‘something’ but it’s doesn’t hurt like hell.
Not too little.
Not too much.
Just right!
Much love,
Jon ‘Porridge’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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In the last month or so of 2020 I saw a lot of posts on social media along the lines of;
“I hope 2021 is better”
Or;
“Here’s hoping for a better 2021”
In most cases followed earlier this month by versions of;
“I’d like to cancel my subscription to 2021… the 7-day trial has been rubbish”
Now, I get it.
2020 wasn’t the best year for the vast majority.
Myself included.
But the key word there is “Hope”.
If all we have is ‘hope’………..
Then we are, essentially, hopeless.
‘Hope’ is not a strategy.
‘Hope’ relies on something outside of our control changing.
‘Hope’ leaves us powerless.
A victim of our circumstances.
Where life is happening “to me”.
I’m not pretending 2020 didn’t happen or was great.
But if all we have is hope, I doubt 2021 will be much better.
Nearly everyone I saw sharing about how “sh!t 2020 is” have been posting similar sentiments for years.
“2014 can do one”.
“Roll on 2016”.
“Can 2018 get any worse?”
And so on.
So, if you want to rely on ‘hope’ alone, that’s you’re call.
If you want to make it so that 2021 is better……….
Or, at the very least, better than it could’ve been………..
Then what’s your strategy?
What’s the plan?
Much love,
Jon ‘Faith and charity’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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What’s by far and away the most common reason people give for stopping their membership with us?
If you’ve read these blogs before, you’ll know it’s “Time”.
As in “I haven’t felt I’ve been able to put enough time into this to justify the investment”.
Which is a shame as it’s usually, from our experience, a choice in use of time.
10,080 minutes in the week.
And that person’s Facebook feed usually suggesting that not every one of them is going on something more important than their health, mood and wellbeing.
But that’s a separate blog.
What’s the most common reason people give before they start when I ask “What would you say has been your biggest struggle in doing that by yourself?”
With regards to their goal.
“Motivation”.
Nearly every time.
Which I get.
We feel we need to be motivated.
And when we’re not feeling that it’s easy not to do.
The thing with motivation though?
It’s a nice to have.
It’s not necessary.
The body responds exactly the same way to exercise and / or what we put into it regardless of whether we felt motivated while we were doing it.
Or not.
And, the funny thing is, we are actually motivated.
All the time.
When we look at what motivation is.
The dictionary defines it as;
“a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way”.
Do you have reasons for exercising and / or eating better?
Then you have motivation.
What’s happened is we’ve confused motivation with “feeling like” doing the process.
No one is motivated to do the process alone.
If all I got from exercise was the enjoyment of the workout itself………….
No changes in body shape…………
No increased fitness, energy levels and mood………..
No reduced aches and pains………….
No improved sleep…………
Then there’s not a chance I’d do it.
I don’t enjoy my workouts that much (sometimes at all).
There’s tonnes of stuff I do purely for the enjoyment.
Where I am motivated entirely by the process as there is no follow on outcome.
Or, maybe even a less than positive one.
We’re motivated by what exercise and healthier eating brings.
Not by the thing itself.
Maybe a better question to ask ourselves is not;
“Do I feel like having a workout?”
But;
“Do I want to feel and look better?”
If the answer is yes;
“How do I do that?”
And a workout might be the answer to that.
Much love,
Jon ‘Unnecessary’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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Date line late 90s.
My wife Alex’s Uncle Chris turns up at Alex’s Grandparents (his parents) with a mannequin.
You know, like the ones that have clothes on in a shop.
He’s seen it in a skip.
And brought it back.
For a laugh.
Alex has said several times over the years that “You two would’ve got on great – you have the same ‘sense of humour'”.
Usually while rolling her eyes.
He, sadly, died before we met.
The mannequin is duly named Herbert.
And left sat on a sofa in a side room for a while.
You know – just for giggles.
Shortly after, Alex’s grandparents return home to find the front door open.
A sideboard in the lounge left ajar.
Various things out on the side.
Somebody’s broken in.
But nothing’s been taken.
Seeing that the door to the side room has been left open as well, it seems a second (or more) intruder has gone through to the lounge.
Seen Herbert sat on the sofa.
And, in a split second judgement, thought it to be a real person.
And they’ve legged it.
Funny.
But understandable.
We often make those split second judgements.
Sometimes correctly.
Sometimes, not so much.
It’s part of our ‘reptilian’ side to our brain.
That’s served us well for millions of years.
Allowed us to make snap judgements which have led to our survival and our ability to pass our genes onto a next generation.
Evolving, bit by bit, from single cell amoebas to what you see in the mirror every morning.
But……….
Life’s not what it was in that respect.
Our days aren’t filled with snap decisions that need to be made to keep us alive.
Or not anywhere near as much as they once were.
We can take a little longer over things now.
Choose to not act on impulse.
We don’t need to take hours over a decision.
But we could, maybe, take a count of ten?
At most, 90 seconds.
There is research that suggest that the chemical reaction in the body to an event or thought lasts that minute and a half at most.
Allow that ‘feeling’ to dissipate and we’re playing a different ball game.
We can choose to not inhale that food immediately when offered / seen.
To not react straight away to ‘that comment’ someone makes.
To not reach straight for a drink when we “need to unwind”.
To take a moment.
Not long.
And to not even necessarily make a different decision.
We can still do that thing if we want.
But just to give it long enough for that reactive animal brain to settle.
Allow our more rational human brain a chance.
To calmly decide if that’s what we want to do.
If it is, that’s cool.
If it’s not, then taking that 10 to 90 seconds, might just be the most powerful thing we can do.
Much love,
Jon ‘Goes Bananas’ Hall
P.S. Any takers for getting that middle name?
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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I posted a poll in our members only Facebook group the other day.
“For which of the following does being tired make more likely and / or worse?”
33 people answered in total.
Not a huge sample size, I’m aware.
But interesting nonetheless.
Here’s the options and the percentage that chose each:
Overwhelm 24%
Anxiety 33%
Stress 33%
Depression 24%
Irritability 64%
Over eating 18%
Comfort eating 76%
Drinking 33%
Snacking 40%
Missing workouts 58%
No difference to any 0%
To be honest, I’m surprised the numbers weren’t higher.
I’d have selected all of them personally.
But, it makes you think, doesn’t it?
We know it’s not the ‘entirety’ of the conversation.
We not daft enough to say that anxiety and depression are just ‘being tired’.
But I think it’s fair to say that being well rested definitely won’t hurt.
And will, hopefully, help.
With those, the other things mentioned and more.
Easier said than done, sure.
Like everything is.
—- Nothing is easier to do than say ——-
But worth a bit of effort, yeah?
A relatively easy win compared to a lot of things we can do.
Going to bed a bit earlier, minimising tech directly before bed, magnesium salt baths, pre-bed relaxation techniques, etc.
None a massive effort.
And can make those things in the list less likely and / or lower impact.
Much love,
Jon ‘Snoozy’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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I promised you yesterday that Michelangelo quote.
And I’m sure you’ve barely been able to sleep with excitement since.
Quick digress though.
According to Wikipedia, he (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni to give him his full, less catchy name) died on 18th February 1564.
Exactly 416 years before I was born for anyone that wants to start present shopping now
Also, the portrait on his Wikipedia page (by Daniele da Volterra) makes him look a bit like a ‘Butler in the buff’ – topless with a bow tie on.
Anyway, his quote:
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”
What he was after was always in there.
Nothing new was created.
Just the stuff ‘covering it up’ gradually removed until the inner beauty was revealed.
And we are much the same.
You don’t really need to change.
Not fundamentally.
When we talk ‘transformation’ it’s not about becoming a different person.
It’s more about gradually removing all that’s built up around you.
The self limiting beliefs.
The habits that don’t serve you well.
The long term solutions to short term problems that have stuck.
The complication and confusion.
The overwhelm.
The ways of dealing with life we’ve picked up from others that make it all harder than it has to be.
Until what’s left is the beauty of you.
That was always there underneath.
Much love,
Jon ‘One month to my birthday’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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I saw a quote the other day.
In a book I’m reading.
I’ll come to the quote itself in a mo.
It was by Leonardo Da Vinci.
So I thought I’d see if I could make a series of blogs from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who are, of course, named after renaissance artists.
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.
Maybe pop something to do with Splinter or Shredder in to make a week’s worth of blogs.
But, no.
Having googled, I can’t find anything good from Donatello and Raphael.
Apart from, you know, paintings and stuff.
I’ll cover Michelangelo tomorrow.
Old Leo’s quote?
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
A number of times over the years, we’ve had people tell us they’ve decided
to ‘go elsewhere’ because they get ‘more advanced’ stuff.
More advanced training methods,
Being told exactly what to eat for the best possible results.
And so on.
And, if seeing the people that have said that every now and again on Facebook has shown us one thing…………
It’s that ‘more’ hasn’t worked for them.
After nearly two decades doing this, I know that what people need isn’t more complicated and harder to do stuff.
It’s simpler and easier stuff.
And then, maybe when that’s a habit, move up a bit at a time.
If you’re not already scheduling a time to exercise, do that first.
Either booking an RTP Session or something else.
Next step is to turn up and do it.
If you’ve got weight you want to lose and haven’t checked your average calorie intake through tracking with an app like MyFitnessPal, that’ll have more benefit than dozens of other more complicated things you could do.
Check www.myrise.co.uk/learn on how to do that if you’re already a member with us.
Or www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if you’re not and want to get some life changing results in 2021
We can keep levelling up when we’ve got those things down.
But, until then, remember that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
Much love,
Jon ‘Krang’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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Last year Liverpool Football Club won their first ‘top flight’ in three decades.
Do you know how they did it?
Yes, I know they scored more points then anyone else.
But how did they get those points?
Man City scored more goals than them (and had more shots and shots on target).
It wasn’t even in the goalkeeper’s performance.
City’s keepers saved 0.5% more of the shots on target taken at them than Liverpool’s did.
It wasn’t even in the number of shots taken against them.
City had a mammoth 18% less total shots taken against them.
Chelsea also beat Liverpool in this (and in their own total shots taken).
It was the step before that.
The difference between shots taken and shots on target.
There was a mammoth 25% difference between the teams there.
———- Note: I’m well aware that I’ve done what most football ‘pundits’ do and had a I point I wanted to make and found the ‘stats’ to “prove it” ———-
It wasn’t the ‘what they did’.
It was ‘what they stopped happening’.
And, more importantly, not leaving it to that “last line of defence”.
A lesson we could all benefit from.
The ‘what we do’ is still great…………
The exercise, etc.
But if we’re allowing all that good work to be ‘undone’ at ‘the other end’ with our eating…………
If we’re leaving that to the ‘last line of defence’………
To our willpower to make us do something we don’t really want to do at that point…………
We’ll probably do what Liverpool did for 30 years.
Watch as others achieve what we want to.
If we create the equivalent to ‘solid defence’………..
An environment that doesn’t test our willpower………..
The equivalent to a sports psychologist that helps us question the way we see the ‘game’………..
Then enough of those relatively little differences will add up over a ‘season’.
Much love,
Jon ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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Amongst the various things we got our kids for Christmas were some books.
They all enjoy reading and / or been read to.
The two older boys (10 and 12) feel they’re too old for “bedtime stories” but they still like me picking out some interesting facts from the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ or ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’.
And they and Izzie still read a lot by themselves.
But the youngest is only four and still loves a good bedtime story.
One of the books we got him was about pirates and buried treasure.
X marks the spot and all that.
Always buried isn’t it?
Never just out there on show.
That’s treasure for you.
And not just of the gold coins in a wooden box variety.
All treasure in life is somewhat buried.
Takes some effort to get to it.
We don’t just randomly stumble across it.
The body and energy levels we desire.
The mood, the happiness and more.
The life in general.
Sure, we can ‘work smarter’.
Do the equivalent of using a spade (or a JCB) instead of a spoon.
Go for the big bang for your buck options.
Highest return on investment and all that.
But it’s always going to be buried.
If it wasn’t, we’d have it already.
And we’ll require some effort to get to it
Much love,
‘Long’ Jon Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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I mentioned in a blog last year that I’d watched the ‘A star is born’ film with Lady GaGa and Bradley Cooper.
Good film, somewhat let down by not being able to tell what Bradley and his brother were saying.
Anyway………
As a lot of people probably did having seen it, I downloaded the ‘Shallow’ song straight after.
And then, as a I often do, played it to death.
I recently downloaded a couple more songs from the Soundtrack when flicking through my “Recommended for you” list.
And am currently ruining “Always remember us this way” by playing it too much
I do find though that, the more I listen to songs, the more different lyrics jump out at me.
And one recently did with this one.
Unfortunately, having just googled it, I’ve found that I misheard the lyric.
But I like my version more so am going to stick with that and the point I was going to make.
The line goes;
“We don’t know how to rhyme but damn we try”
But, I heard;
“We don’t know how to run but damn we try”
Either way, the point is still valid.
We don’t need to know.
It’s nice when we do.
But, damn, we can still try when we don’t.
And we’ll only ever know by trying.
If we’re struggling to make better food choices, live a healthier lifestyle, etc…………
Then we’ll only ever get better at that by trying.
It won’t come and get us.
Not doing it is the surest way to carry on not doing it.
Just keep trying and, worst case scenario, you’ll make more progress than you would’ve done through not trying!
Much love,
Jon ‘I’ll Wait for You’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I was in Sainsbury’s the other day.
I usually use the Smart Shopping app when in there.
Partly as is minimises contact with others but, mainly, just because it’s quicker.
But I was only grabbing a couple of bits, so used the self checkout.
And, as often happens, the machine didn’t like what I was adding to the ‘bagging area’.
And after a couple of attempts at taking it off and putting it back on………
It flashed up the message “Please wait, someone is coming to help you”.
And said it out loud.
Which was nice.
Doesn’t always happen, like.
But usually someone appears relatively quickly, scans the thing on the lanyard round their neck, punches in a code and you’re sorted.
The help is summoned automatically and (nearly always) duely arrives.
Unfortunately, most of life isn’t like this.
No one is coming to help us.
At least not without our request.
Hope is not a strategy.
“Here’s to hoping 2021 will be better” will probably mean it won’t be.
We need to make it happen.
Make life happen.
Make our goals and desires happen.
There are people who can help us do that.
We can help, for example.
But that help can’t come to us.
If we sit at home waiting for it to come to us, nothing will change.
We’ve received financial aid in the last year from the council.
But we had to ask for it.
It didn’t come automatically.
And, if that was all we’d had, we’d have gone under.
We had to make 90% of it work by our own efforts.
I have a coach.
But if I don’t engage in that programme and ask for help when I need it, it’s a massive waste of money.
Help is there.
But it’s not ‘on it’s way’.
We need to ask for it (maybe by clicking this link —> www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting).
And, ultimately, we need to make it happen with our own efforts.
Much love,
Jon ‘I need someone’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I was chatting to a couple of members after a session the other week.
And they told me how they’d been struggling with other people.
Doing what you could call ‘flabotaging’ them.
You know the type.
“Stop being so boring and have a biscuit”
“You’re making me feel bad”
“You’re no fun anymore”
All with a view to making you eat and or drink something.
To make themselves feel better about their similar choice(s).
The members I was talking to referenced “peer pressure”.
And how they thought they should avoid it.
Which I get.
But, ultimately, that’s probably not going to happen.
We’ll always have ‘peers’.
“A person of the same age, status, or ability as another specified person”
Short of never seeing anyone again, we’ll always have others in what we consider to be our ‘peer group’.
What, perhaps, could change, is two things:
- How much we ‘enable’ our peers to pressure us.
If we constantly say “No” nine times and then a “Yes”………….
We’re just teaching people to ask ten times.
If we’re consistent with what we say and do, all those comments quickly dry up.
Doesn’t mean we can never have those things.
But we can be consistent with doing what we’ve said we will once we’ve said it.
- Adjust the average of our ‘peer groups’
Part of the reason that our members get such good results is that ‘collective momentum’.
When you’ve suddenly got in your life more people who are eating better and exercising regularly…………
It’s easy to just get dragged along with that.
That doesn’t mean we can never see the ‘flabotagers’ again.
But, adding in (or re-engaging with) a group that shifts the average of all our ‘peer groups’
can be powerful.
——– Here’s a group you might benefit from being part of –> www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting———-
Ultimately, we’ll always have peer pressure.
All we can do is change the average of that pressure and how we respond to it.
Much love,
Jon ‘reviewed’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Have you ever said that?
Or some variation of it?
Either out loud or in your own head?
“I’m fine once I set my mind to it”
Meaning, of course, that you generally do what you intend to when you’ve got your “head in the right place” about something.
Which we get.
It’s a common expression and sentiment.
But……….
As with most / all common expressions and sentiments, it’s worth questioning.
Is it the way to approach something that sets you up for success?
Long term?
Is it the way of seeing things that people who consistently do those things have?
Or, is it something they just choose to do?
More often than not?
Whether they feel like it or not?
Do we need to “set our minds to it”?
Or do we just need to make that decision to “do it”?
——– Like we could just click this link to take the next step –> www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting——-
Most of the time?
Is the way we see and think about things………..
How easy we find them to do…………
And how consistent we are with them………..
Going to change by just, essentially, “thinking about it” more?
Or will just doing it, irrespective of how we currently feel about it, be what gets us to those changes?
Much love,
Jon ‘Game and match’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
The last nine or so months have been hard.
There’s no getting away from that.
I don’t know a single person that hasn’t been negatively affected in some way by COVID.
Sure, some more than others.
And some have benefitted from the situation in some ways.
But, yeah, it’s been tough.
But, as Billy Ocean sang “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
We can choose to be a victim of the circumstances we find ourselves facing……….
To let them crush us………
To be destroyed by it all.
Or we can chose to be a “victor”.
The dictionary defines a victim as;
“a person who has come to feel helpless and passive in the face of misfortune or ill-treatment.”
And a victor as;
“a person who defeats an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition”
In life the battle is rarely with other people.
It’s often in our own head.
The thoughts and beliefs that make it all harder than it has to be.
That external game still needs to be played, of course.
We still need to do the things that will improve or maintain (or create damage limitation to) our situation.
But when we gain more control over what goes on between our ears, all that stuff becomes much easier to do!
Much love,
Jon ‘My Nanna’s dad was called Victor’ Hall
P.S. Only the other day I had a comment on a video in our members only group. “Are you in my head” is said. “I’m in a lot of people’s heads” I replied. That’s what we do – help change what’s going on upstairs so the rest becomes much easier than it has been. Check www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if you’re ready to take the next step with that.
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Who remembers this joke from childhood?
“How do you turn a duck into a Rhythm and Blues singer?”
“You put it in the oven until it’s Bill Withers”
You probably need to know that the Bill Withers is the name of a Rhythm and Blues singer who was fairly famous in the 70s and 80s for that joke to work.
He’s probably most famous for “Ain’t No Sunshine”.
Closely followed by ‘Lean on Me’ I reckon.
I was listening to ‘Lean on Me’ in the car the other day.
Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s always tomorrow
Lean on me
When you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on…
For it won’t be long
Till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill
Those of your needs that you won’t let show
You just call on me brother when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you’ll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me
When you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on…
We know 2020 was a painful year for most.
2021 will have much of the same.
But, let’s be honest………..
Every year has it’s challenges.
Life’s not easy.
It’s even harder when we go all “lone wolf”.
Just keep telling ourselves “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it”.
We’ll be your friend.
We’ll help you carry on.
But you need to swallow your pride.
To call on us (Here’s how –> www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting).
There’s only so much we can do by sending blogs, videos and the like out.
Much love,
Jon ‘Grandma’s Hands’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Pretty much this time last year I wrote a blog about the new Sonic The Hedgehog film.
This bad boy –> www.myrise.co.uk/chronic-the-hedgehog
In it I talked about food choices.
And how we can only really eat unhealthily in a chronic way.
No one bit of food or meal or even a day can be acutely unhealthy.
And how thinking it can be often causes to eat chronically unhealthy.
There are many things in life that we, perhaps, get the old chronic-acute thing not quite right in.
Or, at least, not in the way that serves us best.
Our energy levels is another one.
We train ourselves to be really good at acutely raising our energy levels.
Often by sticking things into our body.
Often sugary and or caffeinated things that cause that spike in energy.
But a corresponding dip later.
When we feel the need to repeat the process.
Energy levels up and down throughout the day and week.
We know it’s not ideal.
We’re not daft.
But it can be hard to see a way out.
And it’s tempting to think without these things we’ll be lower in energy.
We won’t be able to get through our day and everything we need to do.
To think that reducing these things will lead to less energy overall.
When, chronically, the opposite is true.
Rather than being drastically up and down………..
It can become marginally up and down………..
But around a higher level.
Fluctuating between and 8 and 10 (for an average of 9) …………
Rather than between a 2 and 9 (for an average of 5.5).
It’s that instant benefit that can make it hard to see.
The chocolate bar or coffee makes us feel better in seconds.
Unlike the better food choices, improved sleep, lifestyle practices, exercise, etc.
But they lead to more energy overall longer term.
And when we see those shorter term decisions are actually going to do the exact opposite of what we want them to do…………
It can become an easier decision.
Much love,
Jon ‘Knuckles’ Hall
P.S. Check www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if you like the sound making this all easier, rather than harder than it has to be.
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
What do you think of when I say “affirmations”?
How about “mantras”.
You probably think of a hippy, sat cross legged in half lotus, finger and thumb raised and touching, humming to themselves and chanting something.
Or someone you might consider a bit of a “loser” looking at themselves in the mirror and repeating “You are a strong, powerful (wo)man”.
You probably don’t think you do affirmations.
I know I didn’t until relatively recently.
The thing is though………
We all do it already.
We have things we say about ourselves and the situations we encounter.
In our head, out loud or both.
Things that, the more we say them, the more our behaviour conforms to them.
“I’m useless”.
“I’m no good at this”.
“Nothing ever goes right for me”
“Everyone else is…….”
“Exercise is boring”.
“Healthy eating takes too long”.
“I haven’t got time”.
“I’m too busy”.
All affirmations.
Which, when we say them, our mind searches out for ‘evidence’ of their truth.
None are hard and fast facts.
Just our opinion.
Which we are ‘affirming’ by saying.
We could, of course, choose a different thing to affirm.
A different way to describe the same situation.
It can’t be just ‘made up’ of course.
It has to be based in reality.
Maybe showing signs of becoming true.
“I’ll get better at this with more practice”.
“It’s worth getting the hang of”.
“I’d benefit from planning and making the best use of my time”.
“It’s worth doing what I can with the time and energy I’ve got”.
And so on.
Check www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if, come February, you’ll be wanting to make those things come true.
All just as true.
All things we can tell ourselves.
Not wishy-washy wishful-thinking, happy-clappy-hippy stuff.
Just tweaks to the affirmations we’ve probably already had for years.
To ones that will serve us better.
Much love,
Jon ‘A-soft’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
In a few recent blogs and videos I’ve talked about social distancing, COVID restrictions, etc.
And how I’ve stuck to them to the letter since day one.
It’s generated a few conversations.
And I’ve been asked variations on the same question several times.
“Do you always stick to the rules?”
And my answer has been the same each time.
“Actual rules, mostly”
“Made up, self imposed ones? Not so much”
I generally see the laws of the land, COVID restrictions, etc as what we’ve agreed as a society is a way of behaving that is mutually beneficial.
Not perfect, sure.
But it’s about us all working together to do our best to do the right thing for everyone.
You know, not killing each other, stealing, etc.
Following an imperfect approach to protecting each other during a pandemic, where no perfect approach exists (or we’re not aware of it).
And I get that not every one will feel the same as me about following these ‘rules’.
And that’s cool.
But it’s always interesting how unwilling some people are to follow ‘other people’s’ rules.
But regularly limit themselves with their own self imposed ones.
“That’s not breakfast”
“You can’t do that”
“I can’t do that”
Fictional definitions of exercise and healthy eating that require an amount of time and effort they don’t feel they can justify.
As always, we’d never tell anyone what the ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ do.
Not our place.
No one’s place.
Follow the rules.
Don’t follow the rules.
But, perhaps, you might benefiting from questioning where some of the ‘rules’ you’re following are actually rules at all?
Much love,
Jon ‘Britainnia’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
There’s a lad in my eldest son’s class.
We’ll call him Bobby Smith.
Because, you know, I probably shouldn’t name random kids in stuff published on t’internet.
Apparently he’s the smartest boy in the year.
My son often quotes him.
“Bobby Smith says……..” he’ll say.
The other week the kids were talking about science.
And the two older boys made retching noises.
Indicating they don’t like science.
I think ‘science’ gets a bad rap sometimes.
I get that some of it (at school particularly) wasn’t always interesting.
But, to me, science is the study of why and how things happen.
And we all like to know how and why some things happen.
So we all like some science, surely?
When I said this, Oli replied with “Bobby Smith says science is life”.
“Sounds like a smart lad” I replied.
Science is life.
As is strength.
Which also gets a bad rap sometimes.
When we think of strength it’s tempting to think of just people lifting really heavy weights.
World’s Strongest Man off the tele.
Eddie Hall deadflifting.
Powerlifting at the Olympics.
That kinda thing.
And whilst we appreciate it’s impressive, most of us probably don’t feel that it’s something that we want to do.
But, to me at least, strength is our body being physically able to do what we want it to do.
To do the things that are important to us as well as we’d like to.
Work, family life and everything else.
To get through the day / week / year feeling we did everything we could.
That we weren’t held back by a lack of energy and endurance.
One definition of strength is “the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure”.
Our lives are full of great force and pressure.
Usually not mega high intensity, short bursts like a one rep max on a deadlift.
But moderately high force and pressure sustained for days / weeks / years on end.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t lift weights so that I can lift heavier dumbbells, barbells and the like.
I do it so I can play with my kids, run the house, be there for those that need me and more………
To the best of my ability.
Without running out of energy.
Check details for our next find out more meeting at www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if you like the sound of that.
Ultimately, there’s no right and wrong way.
If seeing “strength” as “lifting heavy weights” works for you, that’s awesome.
If you’re not that bothered by that then, maybe, seeing it as……….
“Strength is life”……….
Might work better for you
Much love,
Jon ‘Uncle Eddie’ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Today is our monthly Coaching Day.
Online only now we’re in Tier 4, of course.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Coaching Day is usually where we get the majority of our member’s assessments done, along with interpretation, goal setting and coaching and a mini workout. Check www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if you like the sound of a programme designed to get you results, rather than just renting access to equipment – The find out more meeting isn’t till 26th January now because the January programme sold out in December. That, hopefully, says something about the difference between what we do and the gyms that will be hassling you to join all this month :)
This time last month we were still in person so had the normal Coaching Day setup.
The first slot is at 5.45am so I usually get in a bit earlier than I would do for a 6am session.
As I’d had a lot of early starts around that time (and had some more coming up that week), I didn’t make my alarm any earlier.
Which meant I was a bit tight for time when I got to the club.
I’d got a few things to carry in – phone lead (as I needed to transfer some files off my phone and to charge it between blocks of bookings), a flask of coffee, my hoodie and more.
I popped them on the desk in the corridor and went into the main room to switch everything on.
I then realised that I’d forgotten to bring in the extension lead from home I use to power the (moved) InBody scales.
So I sprinted upstairs and grabbed a few from the metal cabinet.
By the time I got everything plugged in, there was only a few minutes till the first person was due.
As I switched on the socket, it tripped a switch in the fuse box.
Plunging the club into darkness and turning off everything I’d turned on.
So I quickly flicked the switch back on and ran round turning things on.
Grabbed an armful of stuff off the desk and brought it through to the table next to the InBody.
And, you guessed it, spilt the coffee all over the floor (the flask lid popped off).
So I then had to mop that up with paper towel and put out a ‘Caution: Wet floor sign’.
All rather a faff.
And all entirely avoidable.
By not giving myself enough time………..
By not planning ahead a touch more……..
It meant everything ended up taking more time, effort and mental energy.
As often happens.
We often don’t put much thought into our food and / or exercise choices for the week………
Because we feel busy and there’s more pressing stuff………
Only for us to end up ‘down’ on time overall.
10 or 20 minutes giving some thought to our plans, maybe doing an online food order and / or booking our sessions………….
Can lead to saving 10 minutes every day.
Where we’d end up going to the staff canteen / garage forecourt / coffee shop, etc.
Planning ahead and scheduling can often seem boring and restrictive.
But it is, in fact, the exact opposite.
It means stuff gets done more quickly and efficiently.
Creating more time, energy and focus for the fun stuff.
Much love,
Jon ‘Always ask for a black filter coffee (or Americano if it’s somewhere that will only understand that) and get asked at least two thirds of the time if I “want milk in that?”‘ Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
A few weeks ago 90 year old Margaret Keenan became the first member of the public to received the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination.
Now this blog isn't designed to discuss the pros and cons of this (or any other) vaccination programme.
That's my disclaimer so, hopefully, no one feels the need to reply to give me their thoughts on this or anything else COVID related ;)
This is just one of my observations about the situation.
Many people have commented about how fast this vaccine has made it to market compared to usual.
And it does seem very fast.
Only time will tell if it was too fast, of course.
But I think it's fair to say that a direct comparison to other vaccines isn't 100% fair.
This has been an all hands on deck situation.
The 'man hours' that have gone into have been phenomenal.
It's jumped the queue in various ways.
It taking maybe a fifth of the time of another vaccine, doesn't mean one fifth of the research, testing, procedures, etc have gone into it.
Much like most things, it's whether or not something is done that is key, not how long it takes / took.
It's like when they'd throw up a building in a day on Challenge Anneka.
One day empty field, next day fully operative Youth Centre.
Was it as good a building as one that took six months to make?
Maybe not.
Was it plenty good enough for what was needed under the circumstances?
Seemed to be.
This email isn't really about COVID vaccinations (cough no replies needed cough).
It's to start a parallel.
And I've been wanting to mention Challenge Anneka in these blogs for a while.
And my wife looks a little bit like Anneka Rice and she'll like me mentioning that in here.
-------- Having just googled, I've found that her real name was Anne Rice - she "adopted the name "Anneka" when she joined the British actors' union Equity, as an Annie Rice had already been registered" ------------
It's sometimes tempting to think that things need to take longer than they actually do.
And when we don't have that amount of time, to not do anything at all.
To think that a workout has to last 45 or 60 minutes.
And when we can't do that to no exercise at all.
Where 5 or 10 minutes would both have had benefit and kept it so we were "speeding up and slowing down as circumstance dictates".
Not stopping and starting.
To think that a healthy meal requires fresh ingredients cooked from scratch and will take ages.
Or that "healthy eating" means loads of meal planning and batch cooking.
And, whilst we can do those things...........
We could just eat what we were going to eat anyway in a calorie deficit or maintenance.
Which, of course, takes a little less time than the same thing eaten to a surplus.
With our health and fitness, we can take more time over things.
And it will, sometimes, lead to better results.
But it doesn't mean that the quickest, easiest to do, highest return on investment version isn't still worth doing.
If anything, they'll be the difference maker between results and no results over time.
Much love,
Jon 'Treasure Hunt' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
The following is a (not exhaustive) list of things you CAN do and lose weight:
Get take out
Eat out
Drink alcohol
Eat breakfast
Don't eat breakfast
Skip meals (now known as 'fasting')
Eat three square meals a day
Eat several smaller meals
Snack
Eat cake, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, etc
Go on holiday
Have Christmas
Go all inclusive
The following is a (not exhaustive) list of things you CAN'T do and lose weight:
Eat in a calorie surplus
Now this, of course, doesn't mean you can do unlimited amounts of the first list.
This isn't carte blanche to go nuts on them.
But, perhaps, it might question that belief that, as soon as some of those things happen (or don't) then that means that we've "failed".
That we should 'write off' the rest of the day / weekend / week / month.
Every single one of them is something we can make work as part of an average.
And average that doesn't cause the second list to happen.
Is there more to optimum healthy eating than just calorie maintenance or deficit?
Of course.
Is a sub-optimal approach we actually do going to beat, hands down, an optimal one that we don't?
Every time!
'Continued sub-optimal' rather than 'stop-start optimal' is often the difference make for our guys who get life changing results with our programme. Check www.myrise.co.uk for the next step in that
Much love,
Jon 'Happy New Year' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I recently got a letter in the post.
Usual place to get them, I know.
With an invite code for the Nextdoor app.
Which you can use to communicate with those in your neighbourhood.
Funnily enough the first post I saw was from a lady who'd had her clothes ripped by a dog in the local park that morning.
Which I'd coincidently seen happen from the opposite side of the park.
I get email notifications for new posts.
But, I'll be honest, I haven't read any since that first one.
Until today.
Because of the subject line.
"3 Legged Cat!"
Piqued my interest it did.
So I checked it out.
Which is the purpose of a good subject line.
It's not to tell you what the email is about as such.
It's to make you want to open the email and have a look.
A good fiction author knows that the purpose of a good chapter is to make you want to read the next one.
And we know that the purpose of a good workout is to make you want to do another.
Part of that will be it being 'effective', of course.
But if you didn't enjoy it and didn't want to do it again, that would be fairly pointless.
Hundreds of 80% effective workouts that you enjoy and do.........
Will always beat, hands down, three 100% effective workouts that you hate and don't keep up.
And, the purpose of a good food choice is to make you want to do another one.
If you see it as restriction, boredom, a 'pain in the arse, etc.............
You won't really want to do it again.
Hundreds of 'good enough' food choices that you do...........
Will always beat, hands down, three 'perfect' food choices that you hate and don't keep up.
Ultimately, if the average of your day and week puts you in calorie maintenance or deficit...........
And you can keep doing that..........
That's going to be way better than beating yourself up over "healthy eating" or "good" or "bad" or "naughty" foods..........
And ending up eating in a surplus.
Do the best version of something that you're happy to maintain, on average, over time.
Speed up and slow down with that, of course.
But you never need to 'stop'.
Much love,
Jon 'Tripod' Hall
P.S. The new info for the next find out more meeting for the February programme is up now at www.myrise.co.uk if you missed out this month.
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
You've hopefully noticed that we've had some mind blowing results from our members this year.
People who've lost several stone, massively improved their health and fitness and turned their life around............
In a year where the vast majority of the population will have gone hugely backwards.
I was chatting to a member the other day who's had a great second half to the year after finding the first lockdown particularly challenging.
The big difference maker they told me about?
They became willing to ask for and to accept help.
"I realised that it's not seeking help that means you're weak, not the other way around".
They'd spent months doing what we all do at times.
Trying to do it ourselves.
Telling ourselves "I know what I need to do, I just need to do it".
Even though that hasn't worked out long term every other time.
Not wanting to ask for (or accept the offer of) help because it might make us look "weak".
Putting the potential opinion of someone else over our own health, fitness, energy levels and ability to deal with life and support those around us.
Ironically, when those people are often the most understanding and least likely to consider that request for help as weak.
Who'll realise that it's stronger to accept that we'd benefit from some support..........
Than it is to spend the rest of our lives with our head in the sand, pretending it's not happening.
Until someone is world class at everything in their life (that's important to them), they'd benefit from help in those areas.
Asking for help isn't weak.
"NOT seeking help means you're weak".
It's the monthly find out more meeting for our January programme (and the potentially free '20lbs weight loss' and 'Beach Body' challenges) TONIGHT now if you (or a friend) are ready for help and results rather than just doing the same old, same old this January --> www.myrise.co.uk.
Much love,
Jon 'And I do appreciate you being 'round' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
So, Christmas Day has been and gone for another year.
Hopefully you had a nice time and got loads of presents you like.
Supposedly how many presents you get depends on whether you've been "good or bad".
"Naughty or nice".
Which list of Santa's we made.
Often used to incentivise better behaviour in children in the last few months of the year.
They are words we sometimes use when we talk about our eating too.
"I've been good this week".
"I was a bit naughty over the weekend".
The latter often said with a little grin and cheeky sideways look.
And I, of course, get that it's said as a bit of fun.
But we've mentioned many times that the words we use can be the steering wheel of the mind.
How our words drive our thoughts, which drives our actions, behaviours, habits and results.
Does describing our eating as "good" or "naughty" serve us?
Help us get the results we'd like?
If it does, then that's cool.
Crack on!
If not, it might be worth questioning.
The dictionary defines "good" as;
"having the required qualities"
And '"naughty" as;
"badly behaved"
Where "bad" is;
"of poor quality or a low standard"
or
"not such as to be hoped for or desired"
And behaviour is;
"the way in which an animal or person acts or conducts oneself in response to a particular situation or stimulus"
So when we're "naughty" we're choosing poor quality actions.
Conducting ourselves in a way we didn't hope for.
Sounds a little bit less appealing than when we think of a slice of cake as "a bit naughty" doesn't it?
Doesn't mean we can't have the slice of cake, of course.
We could still have the cake (feel free to replace cake with anything else).
Just choose not to see it as 'naughty'.
Just one of a number of foods that we ate.
That we gained pleasure from.
And made work as part of an average for the day or week.
No guilt and beating ourselves up over.
Over the years I must have been asked "aren't you ever naughty?" hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
When I check what they mean, it's always stuff I do do.
Or used to before I got married ;)
It wasn't 'naughty' though.
It was good.
Great fun.
All part of an average that meant there was no need for guilt and regret.
Eating in a calorie surplus over Christmas doesn't have to be considered 'naughty'.
I'd consider it good to be honest.
It had the required qualities of being an enjoyable few days.
It might mean we need to average out with some deficit elsewhere.
But that's fine.
No biggie.
No emotion needed.
----------- If you're ready to challenge the way you think about healthier eating and exercise and make some lasting changes (rather than just re-joining the same gym or diet club as every other January), then our find out more meeting for the January programme (and the '20lbs in 8 weeks' and 'Beach Body' challenges) is tomorrow night now --> www.myrise.co.uk -------------
Much love,
Jon 'Always make sure I have the required qualities' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
So, tis the night before Christmas.
Although that depends on when you read this - it will be later.
Or it could be next summer or several years time, I suppose.
These blogs get randomly read all year round.
The most viewed one ever is from eight years ago and is about a Channel 5 programme on health and fitness from the time.
But, when this comes out, it is Christmas Eve 2020.
'Twas the night before Christmas' is a book that I've read to my youngest son several times this month.
And to his siblings when they were younger.
They've all loved it.
Despite being just shy of 200 years old, it still reads really well.
Looking at it now, the only bit a modern child might not get is this line;
"The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth".
Because I don't imagine they'll have seen someone smoke a pipe.
I suppose Vaping is similar.
And, according to Google, pipe smoking is making something of a comeback amongst what you could call the 'Hipster' crowd.
But it's definitely way less popular than a generation or two ago.
And it's been decades since I've seen someone smoke a traditional pipe like Sherlock Holmes and my Grandpa used to.
It's definitely indicative of a change in how we see things over the years.
It went out of fashion as cigarettes became more popular.
Considered more an "old man" thing.
Then cigarettes have become less popular.
As has smoking in general.
Those things haven't changed though.
The benefits and the drawbacks.
The pros and the cons.
Just the way we see them.
Our perception.
As is often the case with any change.
When we make lasting changes to the way we eat, the food itself hasn't changed.
Same with exercise.
Drinking more water and / or less alcohol.
Getting more sleep.
Lifestyle practices such a mindfulness, meditation, yoga and more.
They don't change.
Sure, we might find different versions of them that suit us better for some reason.
But that's rarely enough to make significant changes to our life.
It's when we change how we view these things that it's a difference maker.
----------- That's what we're world class at. Check www.myrise.co.uk if you're tired of it being that constant slog and you want to 'just be something you do'. The meeting is next Tuesday now if you're wanting to lose 20lbs (or more or less, of course) in the New Year ----------
Much love,
Jon 'Cleaner' Hall
P.S. It's only just dawned on me that the pipe cleaners that we used to twist together in art at primary school were so called because they were originally made to clean pipes. Mind. Blown.
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
It is (in case you hadn't noticed) Christmas in two days.
You may have heard that 25th December was originally a pagan festival.
Until Googling it just, I hadn't know much about said festival.
It was known as "dies solis invicti nati"
The "day of the birth of the unconquered sun".
And it celebrated the beginning of the return of longer days.
After the shortest day on the 21st.
The sun had been 'knocked back' a bit, sure.
But it was unconquerable.
And was starting it's comeback.
Happens to the best of us at this time of year.
Very few of us will be setting PBs (in health, fitness or body fat levels) in December at the best of times.
But especially not in 2020.
It's fine.
Is what it is.
It's all in the past.
Can't be helped.
But, much like the sun, we can start to make a comeback.
Get back to our best.
Maybe by June 21st?
---------- Longest day, innit? ------------
Enjoy the next few days.
Maybe you'll be seeing people you haven't seen for a while.
Just enjoy.
But, maybe, start to have that comeback at the back of your mind?
Don't leave "even thinking about it" until January.
We can have an awesome Christmas and still have a bit of an 'exit strategy' from it.
Planning next week's workouts.
Deciding on meals and / or days that we can use to 'average out' a little without it affecting our enjoyment.
Just remembering that, like the sun, we all get knocked back a bit.
But we are all unconquerable.
Much love,
Jon 'Vivamus praetorium' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Last Break Point insight, I promise.
As part of the event, we all had to leave our phones at 'base'.
I'd already left mine in the car actually, knowing we wouldn't be able to take it around with us.
So I spent 11 hours total without my phone on me.
And it was great.
Checking my phone less frequently has been part of my approach to being more 'present' this year.
With mixed success.
It is hard to go without, isn't it?
It does so many things that we need or want to do on a daily basis.
But it's so easy to over do.
Having it 'not an option' took that potentially away from me.
Much of that two hours in that field was, essentially, 'waiting'.
Time I'd usually spend on my phone.
That not being there meant I could so something else with my mind.
Arguably "less productive" short term.
Definitely more so longer term.
But the key was it not being an option.
Not relying on will power.
I've since bought a 'phone safe' for use at home.
It has a timed lock on so, once my phone goes in, it's impossible to get it till the timer runs out.
Removes will power from the equation.
I can still jump on my laptop if I need to check or send a message (or do anything else I can do on my phone) - but that doesn't draw me back in in the same way.
Here's another good one for you:
Where our environment doesn't support our goals.........
All we are left with is willpower.
Hopefully we all know that chocolate, sweet, biscuits, cake, ice cream, crisps, etc aren't inherently fattening?
But they are very moreish, easy to over do and often the difference maker for many between being in deficit (or maintenance) and being in a surplus.
------------- Replace the above with anything else you find easy to over do ------------
We could have them in the house and not (over) eat them, of course.
But if that's not happened in the past, it probably won't happen going forward.
We're setting our environment up so that all that we are left with is willpower.
That finite resource that hasn't worked for us before.
When we make the desired behaviour as easy as possible..........
And / or the undesired behaviour as hard as possible........
We're infinitely more likely to do it.
Much love,
Jon 'E.T.' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Last Monday to Wednesday, I shared with you a few insights I gained on the Break Point event I took part in the previous Wednesday.
I had more things I thought (potentially incorrectly) that you might be interested in.
But, I'll be honest, I ran out of time to get the blogs written so popped a couple in that I'd already completed earlier.
-------- My notes system always has several or more blogs in various states of progress and hundreds and hundreds of ideas waiting to be 'explored' -----------
So, today and tomorrow, I've got two more that would've made a nice round five last week.
Then I've got some Christmassy themed ones for you.
Not your standard "5 ways to not gain weight over Christmas" - you know me better than that.
So...........
One skill I've been working on this year is 'being present'.
Concentrating on the 'here and now' as much as possible.
Spending less time in the future and the past.
---------- Here's a bonus insight for you: The past is nothing but a present time memory with our imaginations filling in most of the gaps and all of the meaning -----------
There is an amount of value to be spent thinking about the past and future, of course.
But it's diminishing returns.
And, past a point, it can make things worse.
Nearly all anxiety exists in future based thoughts.
We're rarely very worried about what's happening this very second, are we?
It's the thinking about what'll happen in 5 seconds, 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, 5 weeks or 5 months.
And again, there is an amount of value in thinking about those things.
Putting plans in place to mean that, when we get there, things work out well.
But, again, once we've passed that point?
Little extra value to be gained.
More probability of worry, anxiety, those feelings of struggle and more.
Less to be extracted from the present (the only thing that really exists).
A great question I've learned to ask is........
"What's actually happening right now?"
I asked myself that.
"I'm just stood in a field, my muscles hurt and my hands are really cold" was my answer.
That's it.
That wasn't so bad.
Questions are the steering wheel of the mind.
And "what's actually happening right now?" is a great one for pulling us back on course.
Much love,
Jon 'Cold Stone' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Dirty Harry.
Snake Plissken (Kurt Russel in Escape From New York).
Tonto's mate.
All famous 'Lone Wolves'.
Bad asses who do things their way!
Invariably portrayed on screen as being cool.
An appealing approach we probably all like to think we have a bit of in us.
In reality?
The Lone Wolf often starves to death.
The pack work together and survive.
Game Of Thrones fans (not me - I found this by Googling) will recognise this quote, I'm sure:
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives"
And we're often the same.
Not always, sure.
But often.
We get involved with a group of like minded people on the same journey (hola - what we do at RISE), then we're all dragged along to some degree by that collective momentum.
We disengage and tell ourselves "I know what I need to do, I just need to do it".............
Then we have mixed fortunes at best.
Ultimately, if 'going Lone Wolf' works for you, that's awesome.
If you're getting the results you'd like on a consistent basis by yourself, that is fantastic.
If not?
Maybe it's time to join (or re-join if you're a member but have gone a bit disengaged) the pack?
Much love,
Jon 'Wolfpac' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I was reading about something on ye olde t'internet the other day.
A lady called Rosalie Bradford.
Apparently at one point she was the heaviest woman in the world.
Weighing in at 85 stone at her heaviest.
She lost a mammoth 52 stone of that.
Setting a record for the most weight lost.
Achieved through a combination of better eating and following the workout videos of well known American fitness personality of the time Richard Simmons.
Initially, she couldn't do the vast majority of the workouts.
So she started by clapping along to them.
"It was the only movement I could do," she explained.
Bit by bit, she did more and more.
Until she could do the whole workouts.
Which is awesome.
A powerful reminder that we can all exercise.
Various factors might affect what we do.
And how much.
Injuries, illness, time and much more.
But it doesn't stop up exercising.
We just do what we can.
Then, perhaps, over time, we'll find we can do more.
Maybe sometimes less again.
But we don't ever need to stop.
Much love,
Jon 'ham Common' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Over the last couple of days, I've mentioned the Break Point activity that I took part in last Wednesday.
Exactly a week ago, when this comes out, I would've been halfway up that first giant hill.
And I was chatting to some of the other guys in my group.
Rich, Andy and Greg.
Along with Paul and Lesley, the couple that run the programme ('Rule of six', socially distanced and outdoors, don't you worry).
I knew Paul and Lesley already so created the mnemonic of RED RAG.
Like "to a bull".
We were the red team.
RAG = Rich, Andy and Greg.
Rich is a "day plaster", Andy has recently retired from being a consultant to the chemical industry and Greg a professional sports gambler.
Useful to remember 'just in case' we got captured.
Anyway, I chatted to the other five in turn throughout the 'yomp' (like a walk but sounds much tougher).
Amongst other things, about what we wanted to get from the day.
I explained to each that I was hoping for some deep insights and a chance to grow.
I've never had the big transformations some in the group have.
Completely turning their lives around from the brink of destruction to some amazing achievements.
For me, it's been more about incremental improvements along the way.
I know I'm a better dad, husband, coach and person in general now than when I started.
I was explaining this to Greg.
And he said "You don't need to hit rock bottom".
Which hit home.
I'm better off having always done alright and doing even better now..........
Than I would've been 'hitting rock bottom' and bouncing back up.
TV and films tell us we need to hit rock bottom.
They pretty much teach us to keep going in the wrong way until the point where some massive change happens.
Often accompanied by some dramatic music in the background.
And whilst that might be what happens for some..........
------- And definitely not the music --------
It doesn't have to be.
We can just make some 'better' decisions.
Abandon this "all or nothing" mentality that probably hasn't served us well.
Don't over think it.
Just make a slightly better decision than we could've next time it comes up.
About exercise, food, drink, sleep or anything else.
It doesn't always seem much.
Might not seem worth doing compared to those huge life-changing moments.
But it'll add up.
To more than those big moments ever will.
Much love,
Jon 'Urinage' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I talked the other week about 'struggling'.
And how it was good.
About how when we're not struggling, we're not really pushing ourselves.
Just coasting.
Doing what we've always done.
If we're happy with that, and the results it produces, that's cool.
But if we're not, struggling isn't a bad thing.
It's a pre-requisite for change.
It's good.
At Break Point last Wednesday, I came to another realisation.
Whilst holding stress positions in the freezing cold, unable to see.
As people shouted at me (good old social distancing meant they couldn't do it right in my ear though).
I couldn't stop the pain.
But I could chose whether to suffer with it or not.
Wikipedia defines 'suffering' as "an experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual."
The key word there is 'perception'.
"The way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted".
I couldn't change the pain.
But I could change my interpretation of it.
What I made it mean.
I could chose to see it as a problem.
Or I could see it as an opportunity.
To learn something about myself.
To gain insights.
The amount of actual pain would be the same either way.
But one experience would be better than the other.
At that point the pain was inevitable.
The suffering was optional.
Pain is inevitable. Challenge is good. Suffering is optional.
Much love,
Jon 'Succotash' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Last Wednesday I took part in an activity called Break Point as part of the coaching programme I'm part of.
Designed by Ollie Ollerton off of the tele.
------ Insert standard "Beware the coach that doesn't have their own coach. They either have every single aspect of their life absolutely perfect. Or, more likely, they don't believe in coaching as much as they tell you ----------
We met at 7am for a 7.30 am outside a Youth Hostel in rural Shropshire.
We were split into groups (social distancing innit) and briefed on our mission for the day.
We had to 'yomp' 11k up into the (rather steep) hills.
Gaining various bits of intel as we went.
Then 'storm a compound' (with guns, smoke grenades and flash bangs) to get the final bit of info.
Our extraction was then compromised and we were told to run.
But were 'picked up' by unidentified military types with Doberman dogs.
Blindfolded and subjected to two hours of interrogation, disorientation tactics, stress positions and more.
Before being driven in a minibus, put up against a wall and informed that we were about to be shot.
It was both not as bad as I thought it might be and surprisingly hard in places.
The worst bit was my hands (and, to a lesser extent, my feet).
I developed Raynaud's a year ago and my fingers felt like they were being smacked by hammers.
But, as they kept reminding us, "there's no growth in comfort".
The day wasn't a jolly outing where we pretended to be soldiers (although there was an element of that).
It was about pushing us to the edge of our comfort zone.
To help us make realisations.
Things that we can carry over to our every day lives.
Some of which I'll continue to share with you this week.
That was my first though.
"There's no growth in comfort".
Now, there's nothing wrong with staying where we are.
If we're happy with that.
But if we want to make changes, we need to make changes.
If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we've always got.
Einstein said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result".
This doesn't mean we need to do something like Break Point, of course.
It was that sweet spot for me.
Enough outside of my comfort zone that it challenged and improved me..........
But not so much that I couldn't do it.
We all have an equivalent.
Goldilocks.
Not too easy, not too hard.
Never forget that "there's no growth in comfort".
Much love,
Jon 'Bag' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
I think it's a fairly safe bet to assume the number one topic of conversation this year has been COVID.
This is probably the first year in nearly twenty where I've been asked a different more than "What's the best way to lose weight?"
------ "Although, if I'm being honest, the question I get asked more than any other by a very long shot is "Dad?" ---------
I've been asked my opinion on COVID, lockdown, precautions, etc by probably a few hundred people this year.
And whilst it's nice that people seem to value my opinion.
My opinion doesn't really matter.
It's not my area of expertise.
I know, at most, more than the average person (COVID prevention course, currently studying the CAWS course to become a qualified COVID recovery coach, etc).
But, in the grand scheme of things, very little.
My opinion pales into insignificance compared to the knowledge and experience of experts in that field.
People who've made a living and a reputation in infectious disease and their management.
If they concur on something, I would need a pretty big ego to say that I know better.
Whilst experts don't have all the answers and should always be held to a degree of questioning and accountability.........
I'll happily, until proven otherwise, value their opinions over what someone "saw on YouTube".
FitPros are not here for their opinion on COVID (and, in my opinion, ones that offer their opinion of stuff 'outside of their lane' too readily are best avoided).
And, to be honest, they're not really here for their opinion of fitness stuff either.
What we try to do is collate the consensus of opinion from our industry...........
What the most reliable science and studies suggest.........
And deliver it in an 'easy to digest' (and implement) format to our customers.
And help them question the thought processes, habits, beliefs, mindsets, etc that might hold them back in implementing the changes that will lead them to the results they desire.
If anything, what we think isn't important.
It's how we can help you change what you think that is.
Much love,
'Wycelf' Jon Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
For a long time we've had what you could call "screen time limits" for our kids.
We try and phrase it a little differently, but that's the basic idea.
And hour a day in the week, two at the weekend.
We must admit, we let that slip a little during the first lockdown.
But we've been back to it for a few months now.
Which, in all honestly, they've not been overly happy about.
They're fine when they're off and we're doing something else.
They just don't like coming off.
Middle son Jamie has been trying to negotiate with me recently.
To get more time.
One of his main rationales is that he wants more time because his friends have more time.
"Bobby gets X hours" he might say.
------- Bobby is a made up name to protect the innocent ---------
I find myself sounding just like my own parents when I reply with something like "If Bobby jumped off a cliff, would you want to?"
Or "If your friends were all doing six hours a day of cleaning the house, would you say you want to do that because they are?"
It's fine to want to do something.
Completely understandable.
We all have stuff we want to do.
And that's cool.
But it's just because we want to do it.
Not because someone else is doing it.
Despite what we might tell ourselves.
If we want to eat cake and biscuits and / or inhale a bottle of wine, that's cool too.
As long as we don't kid ourselves why.
We just want to do it.
It's not really because our friend is.
If they were doing something we didn't want to do, we wouldn't use that as a reason to do that, would we?
Getting clear on why we want to do something can be the first step to changing that.
If we're telling ourselves it's because our friend is doing it, that will probably never change.
They'll keep doing it and we'll keep telling ourselves that's why we want to do it.
If we realise that we just want to do it..........
For the benefits it brings.........
Then we could, perhaps, question how else we could get those benefits.
If it's because we're low in energy and need a boost, how could we create and protect our energy on a more consistent basis?
If it's because we're feeling flat and need cheering up, how could we more permanently improve our mood and / or temporarily increase it in a way that doesn't have the opposite (or other) effect longer term?
Jamie just wants to go on screens because he enjoys it.
And that's fine.
What's your equivalent of Jamie doing other things he enjoys as well?
Much love,
Jon "Millhouse jumped off a cliff? I'm there' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Several (five you might say) weeks ago, the day before we went back into lockdown, I had a rather substantial "to do list".
Of things that I wanted to get sorted that involved being out and about.
Before I no longer had that option.
Two of them involved going to the bank and the Post Office.
Probably my two least favourite places.
I usually find both a frustrating experience.
Staff often seem confused and surprised at the most basic of requests.
The people in the queue seem as though they they've never been there before and have no idea what to do when it's their turn to be served.
I generally try and avoid both places if I can.
And I had a creeping sense of dread that morning as I was about to do both.
I told my good wife Alex (she's my only wife, I don't have a bad one) this later.
"That's how most people feel about going to the gym" she said.
Which was a powerful reminder.
I do pretty much everything I can to avoid the bank and Post Office.
And millions will do the same with gyms.
Which is a shame if you ask me.
Because whilst banks, post offices and other similar places are entirely a means to an end (no one goes there for fun, presumably?)......
There can be a level of enjoyment to gain from exercise.
If we do it in the right way.
For us.
Or, perhaps more importantly, if we "see" it in the right way for us.
We can find an option that appeals to things we do like.
Maybe meeting up with people we like to see (from at least two metres away)?
Possibly change the reasons we tell ourselves we're doing it?
From "being slimmer in a few months time" to "feeling better immediately" (or variations of that).
Perhaps find a measure of progress that we can see on a regular basis and that motivates us.
Being able to do something for longer or faster or for more repetitions.
I get that it will probably never be most people's favourite thing.
It's not mine.
Never has been and never will be I wouldn't have thought.
But we can probably find ways to make it more enjoyable if we're struggling to find sufficient motivation to do it.
Much love,
Jon 'i-moon' Hall
P.S. My middle name there is, obviously from Ban Ki-moon. There was a lad in the year below me at school called Karl Moon. People called him Tutan. Like Tutan Karl Moon ;)
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- "Cravings"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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A week last Saturday, we had our Christmas Party.
Online, of course.
It was epic!
146 of us.
Check out the highlights here if you haven't already --> www.facebook.com/MyRISE.co.uk/posts/3409735945746915
The meal was provided by member Sarah Kate and her team at the St. Dunstan's Inn and it was amazing.
It was the first time they'd done such a thing and they did a fantastic job.
It took a fraction longer than they thought it might and the last meals were dropped off with people a little after the predicted time.
Which was fine.
Even before the end of the predicted window, I was receiving messages from members.
Checking what was happening.
Which is also fine.
Better safe than sorry.
Several of them said some version of "Should I be stressing?".
To which there was a real simple answer.
"No".
The food was going to arrive when it arrived either way.
Stress or not.
Stress would've made no difference to the outcome.
So was pointless.
As it often can be.
Stress has it's place, of course.
But it's not always needed.
And not always beneficial.
And often the opposite.
And learning to chose not to stress over things that aren't benefitted by stress is an invaluable skill.
In all areas.
Our eating especially.
We can see eating 'better' as a huge source of stress.
Of frustration.
Of challenge.
Or we can just make better food choices than we used to.......
Or than we could do........
More often than not.
Much love,
Jon 'Fracture' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We've mentioned before that members do leave us each month.
Every gym or independent facility does.
We're just willing to admit it.
Many places claim to have "very few people leave".
But still have the same number of members years later despite clearly taking on new members.
Our retention is considerably above average.
But it'll never be 100%.
Amazingly, we've had less leavers this year than normal.
But, with not being in the club for nearly half the year, we've had considerably less joiners too.
Some of whom would've left since, increasing that total number of leavers.
People leave for a variety of reasons.
Some unavoidable logistical ones - work, relocation, etc.
For many it boils down to not getting the results they'd like.
Sure, money is always a consideration.
But it's way less of a factor when the results make it a worthwhile investment in their head.
Often when people leave there has been a preceding period of 'disengagement'.
"I'm not coming enough" or "I'm not using it enough" to justify the investment.
So they'll go for something cheaper.
Or, possibly, nothing.
And I get that.
We all have a finite amount of money and want to make sure we're getting our "money's worth".
The thing is though, if something is cheaper, it will nearly always be "less".
There'll be less support.
Less systems in place to help.
Probably just renting access to equipment.
Or random workout sessions and nothing more.
And there's nothing wrong with that as such.
But, the chances are, if someone hasn't been responding as they'd like to 'more'..........
They're unlikely to respond to 'less'.
Sadly, we see it time and time again.
People leave saying things like "I think I'm just going to join the local gym" or "go back to my slimming club".
And six months later we see on Facebook that they've regained all the weight they lost with us.
And then some.
So, if you're a member, have become a bit disengaged and aren't getting the results you'd like..........
And are, perhaps, tempted to try something (probably) cheaper.
We get it.
But, is it worth questioning if that's really going to lead to better results?
If you haven't checked us out already and like the sound of somewhere that actually does results (rather than just renting access to equipment), check out our next find out more meeting for the RISE Together Programme (www.myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting) or, if you're not in or near Macclesfield, the RISE @ Home Programme (www.myrise.co.uk/RISEatHome).
Much love,
Jon 'Say Jon Again' Hall
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- "It's not a good time"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- "Do what you said you would"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- Better late than never........
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- How we've got 135 people to our Christmas Do
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
- "I don't know how to do any of that"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
Set up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk to access free support and ask your questions in advance
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- "I know what I need to do, I just need to do it"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
-
What are you struggling with food wise?
-
Snacking
-
Portion control
-
Sweet things
-
Boredom eating
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
Coffee with Jon - Friday 13th November 2020
- World Kindness Day
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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Check the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi0Nazr5d8c
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
- The next best thing
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
Check Alastair: www.facebook.com/MyRISE.co.uk/photos/3336041113116399
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
Coffee with Jon - Monday 9th November 2020
- Don't you ever not feel like it?
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
Coffee with Jon - Friday 6th November 2020
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Tomorrow's RISE 3 event
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Too much coffee (and carbs and fat, etc)?
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What's the only thing you need to cut out to lose weight?
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
Coffee with Jon - Monday 2nd November 2020
- Lockdown 2.0
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
Coffee with Jon - Friday 30th October 2020
- "The weekend"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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The one mindset that'll hold you back more than anything
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"What's the best exercise for weight loss?"
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"How long should I workout for?"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
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"What shall I have for breakfast?"
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"One week to go 4lbs to lose, what is the best way?"
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"Food. Sugar. Feeling not full."
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"I am struggling to cut out evening snacking."
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"Can you expand on the post about grams vs calories?"
Available immediately afterwards here on the page and on the podcast at www.myrise.co.uk/podcast
Comment below with whatever you'd like to double check, your unsure about, need a bit of help with, etc - whatever you'd ask if we went for a coffee
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We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
"I know what I need to do, I just need to do it"
"What should I have for breakfast?"
"Are macros more important that calories?"
Set up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk, access free support and ask your questions in advance
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at www.myrise.co.uk
We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030. Join the movement by setting up your 'RISE for free' account at www.myrise.co.uk
Why not?
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Is it? And is there a "fat burning zone"?
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"I already know that"
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Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
There's only one way to make it a habit
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Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
Calories are king
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Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
We're not hear for our knowledge on infectious diseases
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Compound effect | 1,000 – 5: www.myrise.co.uk/compound-effect-1000-5
Overfaced? | 1,000 – 4: www.myrise.co.uk/overfaced-1000-4
Consistent is easier | 1,000 – 3: www.myrise.co.uk/consistent-is-easier-1000-3
It gets easier | 1,000 – 2: www.myrise.co.uk/it-gets-easier-1000-2
Working smarter | 1,000 – 1: www.myrise.co.uk/working-smarter-1000-1
Slow and steady: Lessons from 1,500 blogs #1: www.myrise.co.uk/slow-and-steady-lessons-from-1500-blogs-1
Planning ahead – Lessons from 1,500 blogs #2: www.myrise.co.uk/planning-ahead-lessons-from-1500-blogs-2
Unrealistic expectations – Lessons from 1,500 blogs #3: www.myrise.co.uk/unrealistic-expectations-lessons-from-1500-blogs-3
It’s a habit – Lessons from 1,500 blogs #4: www.myrise.co.uk/its-a-habit-lessons-from-1500-blogs-4
The big one – Number 1,500: www.myrise.co.uk/the-big-one-number-1500
Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
You'll be surprised by the answer........
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And what's comfortable early becomes uncomfortable later
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Including us
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A tracker and a schedule
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It doesn't
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Pam was doing something different
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It's not what you think
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I don't doubt it
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How they sold the iPod could help you and how you think about weight loss
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He got it in 10
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Willpower and motivation are overrated
Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
If you've "no idea" about what you've eaten
Check www.myrise.co.uk for more info on what we do and our famous '20lbs in 8 weeks' weight loss challenge :)
You can if you like, but it won't help all that much
https://myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting
Most FitPros sell the equivalent of how Keith from The Office woos ladies.
See the scene at https://youtu.be/dTF_RJx8g2w
An imperfect solution is fine :)
So, we’re a week into the ‘Rule of 6’.
As a family of six, that’s no socialising for us for a while.
I sat at home yesterday while my wife and two of the kids went to see our nephew for his birthday
You’ve probably heard the same arguments about this as I have.
Seen similar posts on social media.
Picking the holes in it.
“So, I can be in the same room as twenty strangers in a pub, but we can’t go to my parent’s house?”
Or “They want me back in the office but I can’t meet up with my friends in the park?”
And so on.
Read more at https://myrise.co.uk/covid-restrictions-arent-all-or-nothing-either
Ever thought that life is too short for all this exercise and changing your eating malarky?
People are often unsure what "mindset" really means - let's start with what it doesn't mean!
We usually don't track our food "because it takes too long" - but how long does it actually take?
Find out why that 'all or nothing' mindset didn't make sense for Man City and doesn't make sense for you
A different story today - the first interview with couple. Hear about their history before we met them, how they came to join, their experiences, successes, challenges and frustrations as members. And much more :)
Hear the story of Chief Ninja Jon - his upbringing, transition from fat child to semi-pro athlete and Personal Trainer and on to creating and growing RISE!
Here the story of a how a more recent joiner came to be part of The Academy and his experience since joining
Hear Jamie's story - years of life getting in the way, two steps forward and three back and slowly slipping in the direction he didn't want to go in. And how that's changed over the last four years.
Find out about Faye's life before RISE - the slimming clubs the yo-you weight loss and gain. And hear about her journey in the five years since.
Hear about Janet's story - her life before we knew her, her joining to help gain "strength" as husband Peter faced terminal cancer and her journey since.
Hear the story of real members - where they were at before they started with us, their journey as a member, the high points and the challenges.