Several weeks ago I made a commitment to myself that I would exercise every day with my primary exercise being hiking. My goal was to get out there and go hiking every morning. I’ve been doing it very faithfully.

My hiking morning goes something like this: I get on my hiking gear, jump in my car and drive up to the trailhead parking lot. This is about a mile from my home. The hike I usually take, especially in the winter, is up in the foothills of the mountain. It’s consists of a trail that goes in a loop where the trail runs along the lower portion of the foothills and then it heads up a very steep part of the mountain and loops back on another trail across a higher portion of the foothills and then back down to the trailhead parking lot. Got that?

I’ve been doing this every morning except Sundays and I have quite enjoyed it. I’ve hiked this trail quite a bit over the last three years but my consistency has been spotty at best. There would be months go by at a time that I wouldn’t do any hiking and then other months where I would be consistent. The goal is to do it every day. So I’ve been doing it very consistently for the last several weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you having trouble getting yourself to act on your goals? Is your motivation, shall we say, pathetic? I was experiencing this recently until I did one thing: I made a commitment.

When I say I made a commitment, I don’t mean I made a decision. A decision is good but it lacks power. A commitment is something you do that is more tangible and real.

The commitment I made was to sign up for my 10th marathon. I spent the $80 and registered. Now I am committed.

Making that small commitment has had a great effect on my daily exercise program. I was having trouble getting out every morning to run or exercise. My motivation was anemic at best. I knew I needed something to motivate me to get out there every day. That’s when I decided to run another marathon. But that was just a decision. The commitment came when I actually put my non-refundable money where my mouth was. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve decided that from time to time I would put the spotlight on individuals who are great examples of self-mastery in some area of their lives. I feel we learn more and gain more confidence in ourselves when we see what other people are able to accomplish. I’ll call these people I spotlight “Self Mastery Heroes.”

The first person I would like to shine the spotlight on is someone I know extremely well – my wife Lisa!

My hero!

There are those people who call themselves runners and then there are the true runners. Lisa is a true runner. There is absolutely nothing that stops her from getting out in the morning and doing her daily run. Every morning, as faithful as the sun rising, but long before, Lisa is up and out there running. You could set your watch by her. She has been doing this for ten years and there is no sign she is stopping. Read the rest of this entry »