by Sean St. Onge
So I have briefly touched upon my love for music. Specifically music I LIKE. Many of you in our four walls at 212 Health and Performance in Rumford, Rhode Island take a liking to my “style” of choices in music as I tend to stray away from what could be deemed popular.
A bigger number of you, much to my chagrin, dislike my tastes and grin and bare it when attending an exercise class (or “The Show” as I like to call it) of mine.
Much like my musical tastes, they reflect my feelings on how I train and coach and, well,….LIVE.
A very unsung punk rock group that thrived in the early 80’s, The Descendents (NO, not the Disney show!), were highly influential. Deemed by peers and listeners, “the punk rock Beach Boys,” in a tumultuous time of politics and Regan economics, The Descendents went an opposite route with their sound of melodic song writing to blaze a trail for Green Day and Blink 182. They also set a tone and new message for punk rockers. They sang and made it cool to talk about love stories, being turned down by girls, being and embracing being dorks, fishing, and drinking lots and lots of coffee!
One of their glowing messages came from their 1987 album “All.”
The premise of “All” was spawned on a late night fishing trip with drummer and band leader, Bill Stevenson, who was with a close friend, Pat McCuistion. After an extremely successful night of catching fish, Bill looked to the floor of the boat to realize it was getting pretty full of fish. With fish flopping around and barely room to stand, Stevenson said to McCuistion, “Hey the boat is getting full we’d better go in.” Pat McCuistion’s reply was quite emphatic complete with full gritted teeth and wide eyes…”NO! ALL!”
Simply to suggest he wasn’t going to leave until they had done the impossible, which was to catch ALL the fish in the ocean on that particular night.
The idea, “to not settle for some, to always go for All” is not a terribly hard concept to follow. Not exactly realistic in terms of fishing, yet the concept alone should be celebrated. Do not stop doing what you want or love until you have attained ALL!
After some hard soul searching I have been reassessing my own personal wants, needs, and goals for myself.
Setbacks happen, heartbreak and disappointment come often, detours and side roads have to be taken at times. Yet, in order for me to achieve “ALL” I have to really set myself up for success as well as aim higher.
All goals are personal and important for whom that set them. I have written a lot about goals in the past 8 years here at 212 H & P.
I also often talk of some of my personal mentors whom I reach out to when things tend to be low.
In order for us to achieve ALL there is a finite order of things to assemble:
1: Face change:
Change is scary. Change after creating a relative routine or “normalcy,” is hard. But more often than not, it is necessary to get your personal ALL. Embracing change also takes time. Just when we think we have gotten over the change of our habit, we tend to find lament of what seemed an easier time when it was only easier because we made it what it was. Habit.
2: ”Control what you can control.”
My fellow pinoy and strength coach, Miguel Argoncillo, nailed it here:
https://miguelaragoncillo.wordpress.com/page/11/?pages-list
First off, list what you want and CAN control. Then, circle all them. Then, just outside of that circle list all the things you CANNOT control. When you break it all down, you can only control what YOU do about any and all situations. My favorite piece of the above picture is “Other People’s Behavior”. This is often a game changer- if you cannot get past what others say and/or do in the wake of your personal needs, it can affect your own behavior. My advice would be to go back into your own circle and be mindful of yourselves. How you externalize this process can prolong your future success.
3: Surround yourself with those who can enhance your ALL.
“The Key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best."- Epictetus
Create your own circle of genius. By surrounding yourself not just with friends or those whom “agree” with you, yet challenge you and can be deemed “better than you.” By being around people who inspire you to be more than you currently are, will push you to be like them and potentially more.
4: “Build your escape plan.”
Bob Evans, a mentor, great friend, and former coach and wrestling buddy, has always had a saying that has stuck with me. When something goes awry and not how you wish to continue, he would tout, “build your escape plan.” If you are not in a desirable situation, there is only so much time allotted in the grand scheme for bitching and moaning. Action uber alles (above all.) In order to invite action is to plan. If you, for instance, didn’t like your job, you wouldn’t just quit with no recourse for potential income in the interim. You would need to have listed out where or what else you wished to be doing to supplement your responsibilities. Then, manage out how and when to leave your position. Then, referencing your long term goals, make sure this new change is really for the better in the future as opposed to “fixing” and changing the current status. Thus, being sure not to make a lateral move.
So by creating a clean slate for yourself with facing change and accepting it, controlling what you can control, creating your circle of genius and building an literal escape plan from your current situation provides you with the opportunity to achieve ALL!
Despite this humorous list of “ All-O-Gistics” commandments below…what ARE YOURS?
Start today, create your own ALL list. And repeat after me…NO! ALL!
SOAP BOX OUT…