NineFrogs Networking Night

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - 6pm - 8:30pm 
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But I don’t have time to go to the gym!

Ah yes, we’ve all said that one about a million times. Who has time to go to the gym? Answer: No One! Not one person I know has time to go to the gym, including myself. Yet, I manage to get there on average 5-6 times a week. Do I do it because I have loads of free time? Please, I don’t have a spare minute just like everyone else. Do I do it because I love? If you have read my previous posts on the gym and exercise you will know that answer is no. Not that I hate it mind you, my gym happens to be a lovely place filled with many nice people, it’s clean, has great equipment and beautiful showers, but if I had a choice I’d rather get a manicure or a massage, let’s be real here.

No, I make the time because I have this thing in my head that I made a commitment to myself long ago that once I decided to take the gym seriously and work on my body and health, I had to follow that up with my commitment to make sure it happens. And the only way that happens, is to get myself there 5-6 times a week. If I go longer than two days without going to the gym, I seriously start to have major guilt and will move mountains to make sure I get there on the third day.

Now, some of you may be saying you don’t like the gym, or can’t afford the gym and I can appreciate that. Then substitute that with say walking, or jogging, or doing an exercise tape at home (you can rent them for free at the library) or taking a Zumba class…the list of activities you can do is endless. Only it has to start with a commitment. 

The reason I talk about the gym is that I have found most people (not everyone, most) will not follow-through on a home-based exercise program. It’s too easy to fail. How many people reading this blog have a piece of exercise equipment in their home right now that is being used for a towel rack instead? Or is collecting dust in the basement? Or was moved to the garage because it was taking up too much space?

Trust me, we’ve all been there. I have had countless pieces of exercise equipment in my place over the years and countless exercise DVDs. I started up with my commitment just fine, only after a bit of time it was too easy to find an excuse not to do it. When you exercise out of your own home I find it’s too tempting not to do it. Most likely because we are too comfortable. I mean really, you come home from a long day of work, take your work clothes off, put on your comfy pjs…it’s cold outside. Who wants to go back out and go to the gym? No one!!! 

That’s why you bring your clothes with you and go straight to the gym. Or you go before work. Maybe you work from home and make your own hours, then work around that. Whatever your lifestyle, you make it work around that if you are truly committed to making a change. It is very easy to SAY you want to change. It is very easy to SAY you want to be twenty pounds lighter by summer. Or a size smaller. It is a whole other thing to follow through on that statement. 

So if you are really committed to making a change, start today. You don’t even have to do anything today. Just start the thought process of HOW you can make it work in your life. Maybe you already have a gym membership and just haven’t gone in some time? Maybe you need to find a gym? If that’s the case, my advice, find one that is close to your home or place of work. Get one that’s too far away and there’s another excuse, too far. My gym is five minutes from my house, I can and do, literally roll out of bed, through on my gym clothes and I’m off. I also keep my gym bag handy and fully stocked so that once I’m done working out I can take a shower. When I walk out of the gym in the morning (I mostly go in the morning, but if I miss the morning, I get myself there at night), I’m ready for the day and don’t have to think about when I’m going to get there. 

If you are serious about getting healthy and in-shape, you will find a way to do it. It’s that simple. We somehow complicate the process. 

Lastly, I leave you with a quote:

“you don’t always get what you wish for, you get what you work for” 

NineFrogs – “Where Style meets Motivation and = Success”

Patti Bokowski
www.NineFrogs.com

How to Have Sheer Determination?

I’ve been thinking about this topic quite a bit these last few weeks. What does it take to have sheer determination? To have that “thing” inside you that says, you are going to accomplish whatever it is you have set your mind to no-matter-what! 

It’s not an easy thing to do. Plenty of people start out to accomplish something to only

give up when it gets too hard or inconvenient. And the struggle, don’t even get me started on the struggle. The struggle can suffocate you. It can make you question every move you make and wonder why in the hell you even started this venture because surely, this is never going to happen. And yet, every person who has reached any kind of great success will tell you that they went through all of these things. Struggle, indecision, anger, sadness, fear, mistakes, this list is endless.

There’s a great Tom Hank’s quote that says:

“If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

And oh so true! It takes a lot of work. Hard work and determination to reach your goals. Think about that quote for a second, if it were easy, everyone would do it. Only it’s not easy which is why most people don’t do it. 

It does take a lot of work; and energy, time, money, persistence, determination, time away from family and friends, ups and downs, failures, missed opportunities, feeling like maybe you are on the wrong road to no-where! And yet, if you want it bad enough, you stick it out. 

How many famous people were told when they started out they would never make it?
Thomas Edison – was told he was “too stupid to learn anything.”

Walt Disney – was fired by a newspaper editor because he said he “lacked imagination.”

Oprah Winfrey – was fired from her job as a television reporter because she was deemed “unfit for TV.”

Michael Jordan – was actually cut from his high school basketball team.

Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds & Clint Eastwood – were all told when they started out that they had no talent and to forget show business.

And that is just a mere few of the names of successful people who struggled to get where they are today. There is no fast track for most. It is an arduous task at best. It takes everything you have inside and then some. If you let it, it will eat you up and spit you out. 

You must continually work at it, from every angle, with everything you have and with an unfettering belief that you have what it takes. You actually must feel you are the “success” before you even arrive at the doorstep of success. 

As Dr. Joyce Brothers says:

“Success is a state of mind. If you want success – start thinking of yourself as a success!”

You have to want success so badly that nothing can stop you. Not failures. Not money. Not people or situations. Because, for the most part, those are all a given as a problem. You can pretty much count on having to figure those issues out. Your job is to endure, to rise above, go around and collectively, without a moment of disbelief, keep reaching for that which is yours.

Wear it on your heart. Know it in your head. Feel it in your body. This is what you were born to do. Don’t let anyone or anything get in your way. Be FEROCIOUS! Pick yourself up when you are down. Cry when you must. Yell if you have to. And if you have to have a melt-down or two, go ahead. We’ll be waiting. Oh, and that’s another thing about reaching for success, so much better to do it with others to cheer you on and vice versa!

Will Smith, who has now made himself a legend through hard work and determination, is on record for saying the way he achieved stardom and success was through hard work. He has said, others may be more talented, but no one has more endurance than him. He will be the last man standing while others are sleeping. That’s what make one a success. The absolute knowledge from within that you “own it”, that success is yours, even before it shows itself to you. 

I leave you with a line from the great book from Napoleon Hill, “Think and Grow Rich”, which says, ”that nothing is impossible to the person who backs desire with enduring faith! 

NineFrogs – “Where Style meets Motivation and = Success”

Patti Bokowski
www.NineFrogs.com

Mother Teresa Knows Best

As mother Theresa has been quoted as saying "no one ever went poor by giving" yet so many people think that if they have to “give up” something, they are losing something as well. Giving comes in many forms. Giving is not just money or material things. Giving a smile to a stranger. Opening the door for the person behind you. Donating old clothes to the Salvation Army. Saying thank you to the lady who serves you lunch.

Acknowledging the guy who cleans your office with a hearty hello and how are you today! Simple things everyone can do every day to give of themselves, yet so often do.

You see it everywhere that people have this attitude that if I give something to you, then I lose something. When in reality it's the opposite. The more you give, the more you receive. That’s how the universe works. It gives back to you what you give out. So if you are giving out your kindness and generosity that is what you will receive. It’s that simple.

For example, if "Jason" gets a big promotion at work I should be happy for him and congratulate him. Not be jealous or envious. If I'm genuinely happy for Jason then I'm sending out happy thoughts which in turn will come back to me! If I'm jealous and envious of him, then that's what I put out there. Those negative vibes. And you know what happens when you put those negative vibes out there? They have a boomerang affect and will come right back at you.

Here’s an issue I see often on Facebook. It seems like people are afraid to be happy for someone who shares good news. As if, liking their post or saying something nice. Let me tell you to that person somehow takes away from them. It just doesn’t work that way.

Let me tell you how I feel when I get invited to someone's house and I step inside and it's beautiful, say a much nicer house than mine. I don't walk inside and say to myself, "wow, why can't my house be this nice" or "why do they deserve a nicer house than me?" Hell no! I think, I am the luckiest girl in the world that I know people who have such a beautiful house and that I got lucky enough to be invited! This thought process also applies to parties, cars, business, boats, vacation houses, opportunities, people and places. The list is endless.

Come to think of it, maybe that's why I get invited to a lot of places? Not because I go around telling people how I feel, which I don’t. My guess is people sense my gratitude and my sincere appreciation. And that feeling is contagious.

My success is not tied to anyone or anything and neither is yours. Which I guess is why I can give a smile so easily and be nice to people. Whether they like me or not, it doesn’t really matter. I will continue to put out those good vibes because I know whatever I put out is what I am going to receive in return!

NineFrogs – where attitude is everything!

Patti Bokowski
www.NineFrogs.com