Train smart and live easy

With January round the corner, it’s almost that time of year when many people start thinking about making resolutions.

My wife and I long ago agreed that we should create our day-to-day life in such a way that we are not always looking for a holiday to escape from it.

Doing a similar thing with resolutions seems like a no-brainer: always living in such a manner that we don’t need to go making a bunch of resolutions every year.

Here are a few simple ideas we live by:

1. Get rid of stuff. I’m a minimalist. I don’t like owning things. Possessions tie you down like anchors and limit your freedom.

Buy a house bigger than you need and you spend the next 20 years working like a slave to pay for it. Once you get rid of stuff you can move into a smaller living space. Don’t buy what you don’t need and you can afford to earn less money (and take more time off to do things you’d rather be doing).

2. Be honest. I’m far too old to tell lies. Besides, I’d soon forget which lies I told to which person and would get caught out very quickly. So, if you approach me, be ready for a dose of the plain truth. You prefer sweet-talking, hug a politician.

3. Sing every day. Now you don’t have to sing classics from the 60s every day, as I do, but have a look around and find something in your life worth singing about; something you are really grateful for. Can’t find anything? Look again.

4. Do what you love and the rewards will come. Sometimes I change this around; do something you love, and then find someone who will pay you for doing it.

Of course, there’s always the wise-guy who claims to love, “doing nothing”. Yet if that’s the truth, why be alive? The “rewards” for doing what you love might not always be financial, but you shouldn’t care; look at point one again; you don’t want to own a lot of stuff.

5. Be here now. Ever realised you didn’t notice something that just happened or that you spent the last half-hour daydreaming?

Some people walk through their whole day with eyes wide shut; worrying about something that has already happened or something that could happen (but might not). Instead always pay attention to what you are doing now. And now is always right now; the ever-lasting present.

6. Be optimistic. Here’s a bottle containing 50 per cent liquid, what’s your first impression; half-full or half-empty? In other words, do you always see the good in a situation or do you tend to see the negative? Work on being more optimistic about life but do like me and deliberately avoid negative people; being with them can drain all your energy.

7. Make a list of five things you really need. Think of five things you would save if the house went on fire. Look at the remainder and consider point one.

8. Make a list of five people who really matter to you. And keep in touch with them. A good way to remember the priorities in life.

9. Live easy. If daily life seems to be a grind, you’re doing it wrong.

Back off and have a look at how you are going about things. Then watch the way an expert does something and somehow it looks graceful and easy. In training terms we might put this point as; don’t train more, train smarter.

It’s not about blood-and-guts. Apply this mindset to other areas of your life. You don’t get extra points for always doing everything the hard way.

10. Get fit and healthy. Says it all. Don’t ignore the therapeutic value of exercise. Sometimes tiredness is primarily mental, the result of a stressful day. Your muscles are fine, it’s your over-stressed mind that’s the problem.

Make an extra effort to get out the door. Start walking/jogging extra gently and the fresh oxygen and blood sugar often blows the cobwebs away and you finish feeling great. The more stress in your life, the greater the need for exercise. Stress will kill you if you let it. The importance of eating well should go without saying.

Latest update

Huge record field in the UJ-M2S tomorrow morning (over 370).

Hope to see you there. If not, be careful out there and enjoy your training.

johnzwalsh@yahoo.com