Inspiration vs. Motivation

Hi, how are you?

I want to wish you a prosperous New Year!

I want to also say that my heart goes out to everyone who has lost property in the terrible fires over the last few weeks. Many people were displaced from their homes and are still coping. You have my deepest sympathies and please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

As everyone around me packed their bags for evacuation or possible evacuation, we all got a sense of what was really important to us. How much does our stuff mean to us compared to our relationships, our health and our mental state? I think it’s a subject we should make a point to revisit often, and not just during times of disaster.

I’d like to reshare a blog a wrote during the pandemic about remembering that something inside you is stronger than you circumstance. My job, as a fitness professional is to help people be strong and part of that is finding inner strength as well.

Remember That Something Inside you is Stronger Than Your Circumstances – WELCOME TO HEROES TRAINING

I started the New Year feeling optimistic but also keeping in mind that anything can happen. My character resolution for this year is to practice keeping a cool head no matter what happens. Unforeseen disasters like the fires are bound to happen but the question is, how do we handle them?
I have taken up full contact, Muay Thai kickboxing and will have my first fight next week. The main lesson I am learning is to keep cool when being attacked and to keep my eyes open and my mind calm. If I react emotionally, I overreact in a way that gives my opponent the advantage. It’s not just about learning to stay calm and meditate. It’s about staying calm and making the right choices during times of extreme pressure and unpredictable circumstances, without shelling up or running away.

I also resolve to inspire more. Motivation means having a reason to do something. Inspiration is more like an inner spark that pushes you forward. Another definition for inspiration is to draw in breath, to inhale. So, when you feel stifled or stressed, remember to breath.

When I took up my first sport as a teenager, my motivation was to lose weight but what kept me going was the inspiration of my coach who believed in me even though I was the slowest person on the team. I was inspired by my teammates and the teams who ran against me. They all fed me encouragement. I forgot why I was doing what I did. The motivation became less important than the inspiration I got from having these new, amazing experiences. 
I updated my blog on these experiences if you’d like to read more:

Memoirs of a Chubby Kid Who Wanted to be an Athlete – WELCOME TO HEROES TRAINING

If you still need motivation or know someone who does, this is a great video that you can listen to while driving, working out or doing the chores. It gives the best reasons to exercise. It is that magic pill that has been scientifically proven to work above most other medications and therapies:

23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

Why do I focus on internal resolutions such as improving patience, humility or other character traits over external goals such as losing a certain amount of weight, saving a certain amount of money or advancing my career? 
I’ve always said that it is because we can’t change external goals if we don’t have the internal character to do it. But now I’m also thinking that we need to focus on character more now than ever. I feel that anxiety and depression is becoming an epidemic and that part of the cause might be because people spend too much time comparing themselves to others and looking for outward status while neglecting their internal character.

Ralph Waldo Emmerson once said, “nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”

My blog on internal resolutions:
Why Some New Years Resolutions Don’t Work According to Benjamin Franklin – WELCOME TO HEROES TRAINING

I just finished reading “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murry.
This book rose to the top of the bestseller list when Philadelphia Eagles receiver, A.J. Brown, was shown reading it during a football game.
I believe that if everyone reads this book, the world will be a better place because Murry doesn’t just teach us to reach our goals. He also teachers us how to do that with the greatest of dignity, while living a full and meaningful life. Remember that just because you reach a particular goal, it doesn’t always equate to happiness. 
My favorite quote from this book is, “there is no failure, only feedback.”
Amazon.com: Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life (Audible Audio Edition): Jim Murphy, Jim Murphy, Academy of Excellence – New York – Rome – Tokyo: Audible Books & Originals

I hope that this email turned on a little fire in you sand you continue to make your health a priority.
Congratulations to everyone who kept up their fitness regimen during the holidays!
That means that you have managed to make fitness a habit and it is now less of a struggle.

If you’re tired of overcrowded fitness classes, I started teaching new classes
at Porter Valley Country Club on Wednesday evenings. Let me know if you’d like to come in as a guest.
It’s Cardio/Sculpt at 5pm and Yoga at 6pm.

I still teach semi-private classes on zoom and in person with no membership required.
You can learn more on my services page and schedule page:

Schedule – WELCOME TO HEROES TRAINING

Services – WELCOME TO HEROES TRAINING

“I believe that man will not merely endure he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.”
–From William Faulkner’s speech at the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, December 10, 1950