Mark Cigos

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with a group of my peers on everything from eating better, to losing weight, to hitting the gym, to getting as much physical activity into their daily living as possible. Many promised that tomorrow would be the day that they would start their diet, begin jogging for 30 minutes each morning, making smarter choices when it came to food – yet none of the majority that chose to make moves towards a healthier life, mentioned anything in regards to simply changing their lifestyle. Its as if cold turkey was the only route to go, and that tomorrow’s day would be that of a new era with ease and instant results.  

Then I laid it on thick and simple. Its not about a suddenly-shocking-life-altering 180, its about day to day steps and progression in the quest to lead a more empowered and ultimately healthier lifestyle.  

The overall reaction of the group was nothing less than that of an A-HA! moment. Like they had heard something in regards to this somewhere along the course of their life, but weren’t too sure where they had picked it up or what it was all about. And then I explained. It is human nature for us to want to achieve something we desire in the least amount of time possible, with the least amount of resistance. Whether it be the reality of shedding 20 pounds off the belly, the ability to run 10km without stopping once or the will to eat nothing but organic and stay true to a healthy diet. The brutal and blunt reality of it is that nothing, and I mean nothing worthwhile in life comes fast nor easy.  

If we want to make moves towards a better life, if we want to ensure living a more empowered and healthier existence, then we must realize that there is no new era, no temporary nor quick fix recipe. The only honest and progressive advancement to successful accomplishment is through the lifestyle we choose to lead. And that is where many fall short of success when wanting more for themselves and from life – they view it as something that can be achieved by swallowing the all mighty magic pill.  

When we are capable of understanding that the integrity of the journey is what matters most along the path to success, then we will unlock the ability to accept that it is consistent and life long steps that bring us closer to our desired goal or goals and that will make our achievements and accomplishments all the more sweeter.

Why do you think you do the majority of the things that you do? What motivates you to move? What inclines you to buy? What entices you to decide? Why did you run that marathon? Why did you buy those new shoes? Why did you sign up for that public speaking course? 

Hope and Feel, that’s what and why. 

It wasn’t long ago, that I had bumped into an old acquaintance, a very successful and extremely intelligent senior sales executive whom I had the privilege to have worked with in the past. As we chatted for a while we got onto something remarkably interesting. We were discussing what “it” takes, what successful recipe moves people to make a decision to choose to act. What are the reasons that people buy? What are the reasons they are persuaded to purchase and decide to choose that particular product in which they are spending their hard earned money for? So simple – its HOPE and FEEL. 

And then it hit me. If I told you that by eating healthy foods and exercising, you would not only lose weight, but would experience more energy, endurance and be able to do more – would you accept the offer? If I could offer you hope – shedding pounds, tight body, ripped abs AND could ensure a feel of energy, unbelievable endurance and the ability to move mountains on the bike and/or in the gym….would you go for it? 

See the biggest challenges here are the believability of hope – Is it a scam? An empty promise? A non-guaranteed fix? AND the patience needed for feel to be present, for nothing worthwhile ever happens overnight. Feel happens over time, dedication and great effort.  

All this being said, this is why selling a healthy lifestyle may be one of the greatest challenges mankind must ever face. We can pitch hope for all – living a healthier, longer more enjoyable life with the ability to prevent disease before it ever occurs. AND we can pitch the feel for everyone – energy levels through the roof, good mood elevated to another level, endurance to run more miles than ever thought possible and the ability to play with the kids and play hockey till your 99.  

It’s a hard sell – but one well worth our effort. Keep pitching people.

I recently read in Men’s Health magazine how laughing can save your life: by decreasing blood-sugar levels and boosting vascular health, say Japanese researchers.  

Interesting, you wonder then why we have so many glum faces walking the streets these days. People taking themselves WAY to seriously. Laugh it up folks, you only live once. And now, according to Japanese researchers, laughing can actually enhance our life, enabling us to live and lead healthier lives, by decreasing our blood-sugar levels AND anteing up vascular health. Not a bad trade off at all.  

As I read this bit in Men’s Health a few days ago, it made me reflect on all the times I laugh out loud, to the point where my eyes tear. The high I felt during and after that extreme burst/s of laughter. The uplifting feeling you experience when you laugh. All negative tension is gone, you are in a state of hysterical laughter and nothing else matters at that very moment. The best laughs are the ones that keep on rolling out. Like the laughs I shared with my family this past Friday night, as we sat around the dinner table. Priceless moments that keep the soul and the mind exhilarated for hours, if not days afterwards.  

After reading those words in my magazine, and experiencing what I did Friday night, I have made it a priority or call it a belated-New Year resolution, to laugh even more than I already do now. And trust me, I’m the type of person who still thinks he’s in 8^th grade with an audience of his peers riling him on to crack ‘em up even more. If laughing and laughing more does more good for my health as well as my state of mind – then why not? As we look for ways to enhance our lives and increase our health, why not do what we should be more than happy to do. Like laughing – for the last time I checked, even the most sour soul at some point in their life laughed out loud and most likely enjoyed it.  

Laugh it up folks.

Many readers of this blog ask me how and why. How do I have the time to contribute the content that I do when faced with an already busy schedule? How do I come up with these ideas, subjects and words that appear nearly seven days a week on this blog? And why do I take the time to post on this blog? Why, out of all the things I could be doing in my free time, do I choose to make this blog happen? 

The reason, or should I say reasons I do all of this are simple. 1) Its my passion – writing, empowerment and health AND 2) Its my way of giving back to the world, to a healthier, more empowered society.  

A while back I had the great privilege of speaking with a very remarkable, very well known entrepreneur, who over the years has built AND based his truly successful business on giving back to the community. The passion he has for what he has created and for the community are what has driven his organization and brand to the top. It is not fake nor is it executed out of “what’s in it for me”. He does this strictly because he wants to. Because this is the make up of his company and the core of his character.  

And this is why I do what I do. I write these words not because I have to or because I am searching for fame or reward. I do this because I love it. Its my passion. And I feel that it is my destiny to be of some good to this world, being of assistance or guidance to our society by encouraging and motivating all of us to lead and live a healthier, more empowered lifestyle.

YOU just gotta believe. You have to believe that your health, that your life is worth more. You have got to believe that you can safely and successfully lose the weight you need to lose. You gotta believe that you CAN get into the shape you need to get into, in order to play full out each and every day and give this world and your life every single ounce of quality you’ve got. You know you can do it. You gotta believe that you have what it takes to build the muscle you so badly want. You know you have the will, the determination and the discipline. Now enjoy the journey and never lose sight of its integrity.  

Because at the end of the day, no one will ever care more about you than YOU – that’s simply the brutal, honest truth. And no one will ever have the ultimate incentive to believe in you more than you. Sure people care for you, they want the best for you and they will be there to support you and push you to ensure that you succeed. But when all is said and done, no one will ever build the mental foundation it takes to successfully accomplish what you set fort to achieve. When a human being is faced with the reality that their health is on the decline as a result of being overweight, out of shape – the common sense transparency of it is that only that human being, that person can move their entire core effectively enough to ensure that all effort and time is not for waste. People will push you and they will try to motivate you, but you very well know, that pure will and the ability to believe in yourself are what its going to take to make that goal a reality.  

Its like any professional sports team gunning to win the championship. A budding entrepreneur with a vision to build an empire. A marathon runner with tunnel vision on the finish line in record time. It takes a thought of one goal and a belief that you can. Sounds so simple, but the reality is that the word believe is often killed before any great vision or dream ever takes off. A lack of belief is what kills the possibility of having more leaders, more icons, more trailblazers in our world. Its what kills many great ideas, inventions and world changing initiatives.  

All this to say that only we can believe in ourselves. If you feel that losing the pounds you know you need to lose is not possible, if you do not believe it can be done, then who will care to believe. People may care to tell you you need to lose weight, they may push you to shed pounds and they may yell at you to get off your ass – but in the end, you gotta believe in you. You gotta believe you can, cause if you don’t, who will?

Nothing better then that morning ritual to set the tone and your mood, to ignite you, energize you and empower you for your big day – Nothing like infusing your day with a little intense morning workout.  

I was at my gym this morning, bright and early at 6am sharp. It had been almost two weeks since I had walked through those doors, a 14 day hiatus to rest my body both mentally and physically. I needed it bad. EVERYONE needs a hiatus like that once in a while. I was a little rusty at the start, but then got full swing into it. Pumping out reps and sets as I made my way through my newly created exercise program – Wow what a feeling! You just can’t beat it. I could feel my entire body rejuvenate itself. As I left the gym, I felt like I was walking on air. Cloud nine baby! 

What infuses you? What makes you spring out of bed early in the morning and what fuels you throughout your VERY busy, VERY important day?  

For years I would train in the evenings, leaving the daily workout till well after 6pm when the workday was done. My energy levels were low, no matter how hard my day was or was not. My motivation was weak, the busyness and stress of that day sidetracked my focus and diminished my intensity levels for the workout I was about to execute. Out of 5 planned/scheduled workout days, I may have honestly only hit 3, maybe 4 on a good week. My training was not going anywhere worth mentioning and nowhere worth noticing. I needed to switch it up, I needed to dig deeper and take it up to another level. Change the game and ensure that I was getting the MOST out of the effort and time that I was putting into my visits at the gym. So I decided to stand on the shoulders of giants – people who have effectively and successfully been training for years. Mentors, people to look up to, those who could offer me advice, inspiration and guidance as I looked to up my health and wellbeing status.  

Among many invaluable pieces of wisdom shared with me – none could have been more valuable than the strong suggestion of switching my training to early morning. I was warned, at first it will be tough, your body will have to adjust and get used to it. But once you are rolling, you will become addicted, you will not have it any other way. Morning workouts will be your caffeine, they will fuel you for your day and will help you build more muscle, burn more fat and sleep like a baby at night.

We all should. We all should be reaching for our dreams, making moves and laying the groundwork that will build the foundation for the career and lifestyle we TRULY WANT TO HAVE. NO EXCUSES. NO B.S. You have one life to live and our time here on earth is not some practice or recital, it’s the one shot we’ve got to give it all we’ve got in the quest to be everything we have always dreamed of being and are remarkably destined to do. Because the brutal reality is this: If you do not do what you truly love doing and are so extremely passionate about, someone else will, someone else will pick up the life you were destined to live, and YOU will fall into a life that was not truly meant for you, nor was it ever what you really wanted.  

I have great talks about this subject all the time with a good friend of mine. My friend manages a very young and dynamic sales staff. He has a good amount of employees over 19 retail stores in the territory that he is responsible for. He understands that a good majority of his staff are simply passing through, part timers making some cash and gaining some experience as they make their way through college and hopefully onto something they truly want to be and do. Him and I are about the same age and share the same passion for the work we do (we are actually in the same industry) and the lives we lead. My friend recently confessed that he feels no limits in regards to what he is capable of doing, in what he is capable of becoming. I agree with him. He’s young, sharp, intelligent and motivated. But what sets him apart from those who say they want more, but focus more on complaining through the words “I wish” and “I should have”, my friend will actually do and be. He lives a life of true enthusiasm, passion and influence.  

All of this being said, do not think for one second that his journey has been or will be easy. He’s worked hard to get where he is, and will work even harder to get to where he wants to go. He’s married with two very young children, a nice new home, and like most of us, many bills and responsibilities to pay for. But his remarkably positive attitude and energy will make all of what he wants a reality. See for many, once they are in a role of extreme responsibility, such as marriage, kids, house, bills to pay and so on, they feel the dire need for security. They realize that the “safe” bet, the safe place, would be to stay in the job they are in and ensure an assured income. I mean really, who has the time to go after what they really want? Who has time to write that business plan when the kitchen needs renovations? Who has time to meet with potential customers who may be interested in purchasing our most prized invention when the kids need to be taken to daycare and the boss wants that report on his desk ASAP? Who has the time to go for what they truly want in life? Who has the time to be what they have always wanted to be? Who has the time? Knowing very well that our time here on earth is the only time we will ever have here.  

Crazy thought eh? Let me repeat that part one more time for you. Who has the time to go for what they truly want in life? Who has the time to be what they have always wanted to be? Who has that time? Knowing very well that our time here on earth is the only time we will ever, EVER have here. 

Why would we live and be any other way? Next time you are doing something you do not love nor are passionate about……get up, walk and leave…….and then go do something that fuels you so do deep that you never stop doing it.

You know it just simply amazes me the power of our minds. How much we can do and move when we use the power of thought. Thinking about the right or wrong things can truly do such incredible good OR detrimentally bad. Which sparks the excellent question and conversation starter – How strong is your mind? How effectively can your thoughts move you and everything around you? When you’re thinking clear and positive, are you playing full out and changing the world around you for the better? Or are your thoughts clouded and negative, propelling you to think ill and radiate a dark cloud over everything that you set forth to do? 

Scary stuff when you think about. Scary in the sense that you can either be everything you have ever wanted to be or have OR scary in the sense that you could waste entirely your life here on earth never being or doing what you always wanted. The reality is that the power of your mind, its strength and its ability to grow/progress, pave the way for whether or not we lead a remarkable life or a life that could have been.  

If you do not think your mind is a powerhouse, with the ability to either land on the ultimate side of great OR just good, excellence OR mediocrity, then look no further than yourself and how you think and react on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. Was today a great day for you? Or was it simply just a good day for you? Did you excel at everything you did today (and I mean everything from the healthy foods you ate to the presentation you received a standing ovation for)? Or did you just go quietly about your day doing nothing of real impact nor significance (eating the same old sub par foods, opting out of that promise made to rejoin the gym and surfing the web endlessly to kill time at the office)?

Its all in your head. Its all in your mind. So how strong is your mind? Do you think the GREAT thoughts? Do you think the EMPOWERING thoughts? Do you put your PHYSICAL and MENTAL health at the top of your priority list? And do you ensure that all of this is done with a grand old smile on your face, infusing humor and fun into everything that you do? I mean what’s the point of doing anything in life if you do not enjoy nor have any fun doing it?  

I will not even get onto the health and mental illness that results of a mind focused on negative, suppressing and suffocating thoughts. I feel in our world today we hear enough of what is wrong with us as a result of doing this and that. The reality is we know what we need to change and we know what we need to do. It is not for a lack or resources that we fail to succeed with positive and empowering thoughts, it is more so for a failure to acknowledge and act that we fall short of what we truly can be and do, when, we put our mind to it.  

Think strong.

Imagine if you could see into your future, far into your future, like not just 10 years from now, but 30, 40 years from now. What you would see, would you like? If in 30 years from now, you could see your health declining, your inability to do even the most basic physical activity, would you start eating better now, and would you start opening up to nutritional supplements that may prevent disease and prolong your life? Would you exercise regularly and make it a top priority to always keep in tip top shape? I mean if you knew that what you were doing right now would enhance and prolong your life, you’d keep doing it without question. It would not be some sort of fad, quick fix or 2 week program – it would be YOUR LIFESTYLE, a part of you and something that comes of second nature to you and everything that you do. And if you were not doing those things, but were leading an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle, would you be surprised at the outcome you would forsee 30, 40 years from now. I mean it would only be understandable, it would only make plain sense.  

So since you cannot forsee into the future, and you have no idea whether you will live for another 2 years or live to be 120 years young, why not do EVERYTHING in your possible power to make sure that you ALWAYS put your best foot forward when it comes to your health. Now in all honesty this mentality is not limited by any means to just your health – putting your best foot forward by making the RIGHT choices as you plan for your future can be utilized in everything that you do: from saving, investing and planning for retirement, to educating yourself endlessly so that your mind is always sharp and your personal value increases to the employers worldwide, to making time for yourself, by meditating, relaxing, reading and self-empowering every single ounce of your core. You may not see the immediate results, but COMMON SENSE (which I believe has more and more in our world today lost the understanding of common) along with research, science and technology enables us to grasp a better understanding and realization that what we do right now today either paves the way for a smoother journey down the stretch, or one helluva rocky road voyage on the way to nowhere remarkable.  

Its our choice. If we only knew, would we do? Would we do the things that would make us better? The steps needed to be made to enhance our lives and provide us with everything we ever wanted – our great health, loving family, financial security, peace of mind and self empowerment. Would we do what we found out would eventually not only change us, but change our world for the better? Is it ever possible? Do we stand a chance? I believe we do. In our world today we have all the humanly possible resources and opportunity right at our very fingertips – its simply a matter of us reaching out for it and doing what we already know is the inevitable result of what we do now.   

As we move along this journey called life, every single thing that we do to help us grow and to enhance our lives – no matter how small or big – ever goes unnoticed nor is ever a wasted effort. Every single step we make and take moves us closer to our desired goal or goals. A mere thought put to action enables our dreams and desires to become reality. Everything we do is never for nothing – and as we move along with our minutes, hours, days and years, we must continue to remember that we can truly have everything we want, if we simply move with the courage in knowing that nothing we do is for nothing.

I deeply believe that nothing I do is for nothing. In fact, it is all a series of events, a chain, a link that brings me closer to what I want and where I want to be. I say what’s done is done, the past is the past, we should focus on the now and the future – but I highly recommend, that once you have achieved/accomplished something of great importance to you, take a look back at the steps you took, all the effort and hard work, and the series of events that made it all possible. Its self reflection at its best and a review of WHAT IT TOOK – what it took to enable you to get what you so passionately wanted, and/or what it took to get you where you so badly wanted to be.  

Think about it and you may lay to rest the impatience and anxiety that overwhelms you when you make your moves and work your ass off with no immediate results or rewards. I mean we’re all guilty of it – feeling discouraged and distraught or even giving up all together because we don’t achieve nor accomplish what we ultimately want overnight. Let me tell you that the percentage of those overnight success are VERY small. Sure you may hear about them from time to time in the news, but think realistically of the millions and billions of people in the world who do not hit that get rich, win it all lottery without time, patience, hard work and perseverance. Nothing worthwhile in life is easy. Nothing.  

From the guy or gal trying to shed 50 pounds, to the young entrepreneur looking to build an empire, to the aspiring artist looking to inspire and change the world. Nothing is for nothing. All the moves you make from hitting the gym at 6am on a cold winter’s day, to spending countless and endless hours reading and researching, to doing whatever it takes to get your name and work out there to the decision makers who matter most and can help direct you down the right path to success. It all starts with a thought, and then taking that thought and putting it into action. Heck this blog was created on that very recipe: thought + action. It will equal getting somewhere, moving you in the direction that leads to what you want and where you want to be. Be thoughtful and move gracefully, make sure you know WHAT you want and WHERE you want to go. Planning makes the actions you make and take all the more purposeful and purpose-driven.

Remember my friends, you want better health, you want a better physique, you want to run that marathon, well realize this, you cant get anywhere in life without taking A STEP. That is so true in anything that enables us to move forward and equally true in participating in a marathon. Each step brings us closer to the finish line.