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Book Review: The Butterfly Effect – Andy Andrews

Jeff Miles — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:00 +0000

The Butterfly Effect continues on a concept started in Andrew’s best selling book The Noticer. In this unassuming, beautifully illustrated short book Andrews talks about how the actions of one person can affect history for hundreds of years. To elaborate more than this would spoil the experience of the book. But I can say that everyone should read this book to get a little “perspective” as Jones would say.

Weighing in at only 107 pages, this book is an amazingly quick read. I read it in the span of about a half hour. I loved the illustrations and the format of this book. The beauty of the book helped the words have their intended impact as I considered how the inaction of one person could have irrevocably altered the history of our planet in a way that would have been catastrophic. Then, Andrews pointed his finger at me and asked me to realize how my actions could affect history as well.

Overall, I would tell you that you have to read every book Andy Andrews has ever written (I have read 3 so far and every one of them is amazing). The reason that I haven’t yet written reviews on the other two books of his that I have read is that I’m not sure I can do them justice in a review. Eventually I will muster up the courage to write the reviews, but for now, just take my word and click on the [affiliate] links below and buy every one of his books.

Books by Andy Andrews – [amazon.com affiliate links]

Book Review: A Guy’s Guide to Life- Jason Boyett

Jeff Miles — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 05:00:27 +0000

In A Guy’s Guide to Life, the author Jason Boyett claims he can explain “How to become a man in 224 pages or less”…according to the cover. Even though I fall outside the target demographic, as a male, naturally I was intrigued, plus I have a 3 year old son who has already asked me where babies come from. Upon further inspection, I don’t think reading this book will automatically make you a man, but it was a very engaging read.

The book is broken into 3 different parts (mind, body, and soul) with five chapters each including such favorites as Manly Myths, Dating, Grooming, Health and Exercise, The Sex Chapter, Family, Friends, and Faith. For any red-blooded American teenager, The Sex Chapter is sure to grab their attention. All sarcasm and joking aside, I really enjoyed this book and its refreshing honesty. The author did a really good job addressing issues that are extremely relevant to an American teen in a way that keeps the conversation light, but still gets the point across. One section of the book that I really liked was his discussion on who our neighbor is. He is talking out of the context of loving people, especially loving our neighbor. Many pastors wishing to preach on the subject would do well to read this section of the book as a part of their sermon preparation.

Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5, especially for those who are parents of boys.

Book Review: You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be – Max Lucado

Jeff Miles — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:14:24 +0000

Have you ever had one of those moments where the events and circumstances in your life created a Perfect Storm? This book did that for me. In this book Lucado talks about finding your “sweet spot” in life, finding that thing you were meant to do. Lucado discusses this concept in his usual inspirational, story filled, and extremely practical manner which has endeared him to so many thousands of readers. I can’t say what decisions or ideas that came about because of reading this book, but due to me reading this book, a project that came about, and some internal heart stuff God was working with me on, I had a moment where I saw my sweet spot. There will be a lot of prep to get there and it is not something that will happen right now, it may actually be years away but in that moment of clarity, I saw what I was made to do (for that, I am extremely grateful to Max Lucado for writing this book). Thomas Nelson recommends this book for graduates, a sentiment I would definitely agree with, but I would not constrain its use to that group either. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who has ever asked the question, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” I can imagine that with the current economic situation there are a lot of people asking this question. Do them a favor and buy them this book [amazon.com affiliate link].

P90X – Day 1 – 30

Jeff Miles — Wed, 19 May 2010 05:36:01 +0000

As many of you know, I purchased P90X [affiliate links] and have been on the P90X journey since April 19th, 2010. Today marks Day 30 of my journey which in the P90X world means that you need to supply pictures. First, let me say that as you can see from the image on the right, I haven’t been able to be as consistent with the workout as I would have liked. Between 2 kids, owning my own business, being sick for a week, and traveling for a friend’s wedding I started off really well, but I haven’t been very consistent the last couple weeks. The sad part is that I really wanted to workout, I just couldn’t. I have never had a workout regimen that I looked forward to as much as I have looked forward to P90X. We are currently traveling for a friend’s wedding and on the days I have traveled I have felt not doing my workouts and couldn’t wait to press play. I worked out in my in-law’s basement today (sorry for the lighting in my 30 day pictures) and it felt great. So now on to the pictures.

Front:

Back:

Side:

The front and the back pictures don’t really do it justice, but the side shots are where it shows how much I have improved. I started my journey at 332 pounds and I have lost around 10 pounds total so far. I have lost 3 inches off my waist (even after 30 days my pants are fitting looser!!!).

Nutrition Plan:
I can’t talk about P90X without talking about the nutrition plan. I absolutely love it! I have never eaten this much, I am on a 3,000 calorie diet. If I get hungry it is my own fault (or the fact that my metabolism is in high gear). I have tried to stay true to the nutrition plan even with everything going on that I have had going on but I will admit, I haven’t followed it completely. However, I have noticed a few things:

I feel great! Like I said, I have never eaten this much, but I am eating really good, natural foods, and not a lot of carbs (on my current phase I am allowed 1 portion of carbs a day). I have a ton of energy and just feel better.
I can feel it when I deviate from the nutrition plan. Mostly when I eat more carbs than I should, but if I deviate from the nutrition plan, I am sluggish and just feel altogether gross.
I am craving junk food less and less. This was a major revelation for me. I haven’t given up soda (one of my biggest vices), but I am needing it less and less. This also applies to sweets. Mandy and Caleb will have ice cream every once in awhile and I have no desire to have any whatsoever because I know how it will make me feel if I eat it…and it is not worth it.
Before P90X I was starving myself and that is why I was gaining weight. I am a part of the P90X Fan page on Facebook (an amazing forum for encouragement) and I regularly see people who can’t believe how much food they are supposed to be eating because like me they were used to starving themselves which pushed their bodies into starvation mode where your body stores everything as fat.

P90x Fan Page on Facebook:
I know they really aren’t called fan pages on Facebook anymore, but that’s what I am going to call it for right now. If you are doing P90X and are not a part of the P90X Fan page on Facebook you are missing out. The people on this page are amazing. They are constantly encouraging each other and pushing each other to do better.

Equipment:
One of the first questions people ask when they consider P90X is what equipment will they need…here is the equipment I use.

Gold’s Gym 6-Piece Puzzle Mat – I really like these mats…I have duct taped them together by flipping them over and running duct tape down all the seams and absolutely working out on them.
P90X Pullup Bar – This bar has been tested up to 500 pounds whereas the other ones wouldn’t work for someone my size.
Gold’s Gym 40 lb Cement Weight Set – I actually have 2 of these sets so that I can switch between weights pretty easily. On this trip I have weight bands with me, but I haven’t had a workout yet that requires them so I can’t recommend them yet.

Resources:
Besides the official teambeachbody.com site and the P90X Fan page on Facebook, in order to help keep myself accountable, I created a tracking spreadsheet in Excel to help me track my progress. Check it out.

In my next P90X update (Day 60) I will post a picture of my workout area and why I really have no excuse not to do P90X which has helped me out a ton. Hopefully, you are encouraged by my progress to the point that you join me on the journey. BRING IT!!!

Using the P90X Spreadsheet

Jeff Miles — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:21:19 +0000

UPDATE: This tutorial also works with the Insanity spreadsheet I have built.

OK, so you have gone here to download the spreadsheet I created to help you track your P90X progress and now you want to know how it works.

First, I recommend saving a copy of the spreadsheet and working with a copy so that you can use the spreadsheet multiple times and keep a record of your progress.

Second, one overarching rule in this spreadsheet is do not put data in columns that are predominantly gray! There are formulas in the sheets that are specified in gray columns, if you enter data in the gray columns it will delete the formula.

My wife and I are doing P90X together, therefore, this spreadsheet is configured to track information for 2 people.

Next, open the spreadsheet and go to the Configuration tab. One the configuration tab, you will see the following 3 options.

Enter the names of the (up to) 2 people that are going to be tracked with this spreadsheet. Then, enter the 1st day of your workout program. This will come in handy in helping you figure out what workouts you are supposed to do on a given day.

Next, open the Tracking Sheet tab you will see on the left hand side that your dates are now filled in for you.

(Note: I am doing the Lean track so the workout column is set up to display that progression, if you want to do the Classic or Double Track, just replace the information in this column).

The following columns are specified in the spreadsheet to help you track your progress:

Workout Completed – I either put initials or notes in this column
Person 1 Weight – track person 1’s weight in this column. Notice that if you put Person 1’s name on Configuration tab it shows up in the column header.
Weight Lost – do not enter information into this column, as you enter more data, this will become an auto-calculating column.
Person 2 Weight
Weight Lost
Person 1 Body Fat – enter your body fat into this column. We have a scale that gives us this information. If you do not have a scale that does this, don’t worry about this column or the next.
Diff – the auto-calculating column keeping track of how much fat weight you have lost.
Person 1 Body Fat % – our scale tracks this separately so we are entering it in.
Diff
Person 2 Body Fat
Diff
Person 2 Body Fat &
Diff
Person 1 Waist – we purchased a cloth measuring tape to measure our progress as well as just looking at our weight. We measured our waist at the belly button (it is important to have a point of reference when taking measurements).
Diff
Person 2 Waist
Diff
Person 1 Bicep – we are measuring our biceps as well to see how our bodies are changing.
Diff
Person 2 Bicep
Diff
Person 1 Thigh – we are measuring our thighs to see how our bodies are changing.’
Diff
Person 2 Thigh
Diff

After you start entering data on the Tracking Sheet tab, you can go to the Person 1 Graph and Person 2 Graph tabs to see a graphical representation of your measurements.

Good luck on your P90X journey, don’t forget to Bring It! Hopefully this spreadsheet helps.

The spreadsheet is free for personal use, but if you use it to train clients, please consider using the donate button below.

Please note the donate button links to my business PayPal account since it was one that I already had created and was set up to receive payments. My business website is http://www.twomilessolutions.com in case you have any questions.

Did they really need to say it?

4/23/2010 – Follow Friday

Jeff Miles — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:14:11 +0000

If you are on Twitter, you are probably familiar with the concept of FollowFriday or #FF. The idea behind FollowFriday is that you share people in your network that you think that others who are followers of yours should be following. I don’t think this should be limited to just Twitter, that is why I have decided to start featuring 2 people on my personal and business blogs that I feel you should be following. So without further ado, two people you should be following are:

Michael Hyatt – http://www.michaelhyatt.com – http://twitter.com/MichaelHyatt – Michael is the CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers. He regularly blogs on leadership, productivity, and social media. I have really enjoyed the time I have spent reading his tweets and blogs. Michael is a very giving man, regularly giving away books on his blog. I also found out about the BookSneeze program through Michael’s blog. Two of my favorite posts are:

Dave Ramsey – http://www.daveramsey.com – http://twitter.com/ramseyshow – Many of you have heard of Dave Ramsey, but I wouldn’t be doing you justice if I didn’t mention Dave in one of my first FollowFriday posts. Dave is known for his rock solid financial wisdom that has led thousands of people to financial freedom. Mandy and I are currently working our way out of debt using Dave’s plan.

Have a great time getting to know these two great guys!

Book Review – What’s in a Word? – Webb Garrison

Jeff Miles — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:33:11 +0000

In my time reviewing books for Thomas Nelson publishers through their Book Sneeze program I have tried to make sure that I review several different types of books. I continued with that trend when I picked out What’s in a Word? by Webb Garrison. I was intrigued because I love random trivia so I thought this would be an engaging read. As I write this, I am torn. There were parts of the book that I really enjoyed but at times the book was kind of a drag. Garrison breaks the words up into 17 different categories then discusses the roots of over 350 words. Am I more enlightened because of reading this book. Yes. But would I recommend this book as an engaging read for someone to sit down and plow through in a couple sittings? No. This book would make a great coffee table or bathroom reader. The type of book that you read in bits and pieces. Overall it was a good book, but you have to approach it with the right attitude. Some of my favorite definitions are:

Character – p.37
Bring Home the Bacon – p.117
Cheese – p.121
Crisscross – p.201

If you are a trivia buff or random fact buff then I would recommend What’s in a Word? to you, but otherwise, I would recommend a pass.

Would someone light a match…

Jeff Miles — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:22:38 +0000

Tomorrow marks 4 years of marriage for me and my wife (get that guys, I even remembered the day before my anniversary). Things have been great, my wife and I have a great marriage. A couple weeks ago, my wife made a comment though that kind of stopped me in my tracks. After I walked out of the bathroom after stinking it up she said,

“Can you light a match, you used to do it all the time, but you don’t anymore.”

For the uninitiated, women’s poop doesn’t smell, but men are known to lay down a few stinkers and nothing shows her you care more after you drop the duece is getting rid of the green fog by lighting a match…There is something about the lighting of a match that gets rid of the nasty smell.

After she said it I realized the implication, I had forgotten to be considerate of her in the small things. (I’m pretty sure) My wife would tell you that we have a great marriage and that I am a good husband, but somewhere along the way, I had forgotten the little things. A good friend of mine before I got married gave me some sound advice, he said,

“Take a walk…when you have to fart, go in the other room, she doesn’t need to smell it.”

Another one that I hadn’t been doing a good job on… I even know a couple who has been married for over 10 years that has never farted in front of each other. In fact, now it has become kind of a competition…(ok, the bodily functions will cease to be discussed after this). Wouldn’t that be something, have a competition to see who could be more considerate of the other person?

It wasn’t even just bodily function related, things as simple as cleaning the dishes after dinner. We have a rule in our house, whoever cooks does not clean the dishes, but somewhere along the lines between the kids, owning our own business, and the myriad of other things we are involved in, that rule has gone by the wayside as well. Here is what I realized though, if the little things are slipping then you have a problem…because you don’t see the little things slip away…they just slowly slip away and then one day you realize that you have nothing left. (Please don’t read into what I just said, Mandy and I are great, our marriage is not in trouble). But after Mandy pointed out that I wasn’t lighting matches anymore, I realized that I needed to step up my game…I needed to start treating her again like I did when we were dating.

Our pastor is doing a marriage series right now (I asked Mandy to take me off the children’s church schedule so that I could make it to every sermon, I have to miss this weekend’s because we will be in St. Louis, but I built the website, I know where the secretary puts the sermons…) and 2 weeks ago, he said something that really stuck out…He said (and it was our assignment):

When you think something good, SAY it.
When you think something special, DO it.
When you want something special, BE it.

Well, here is me trying to BE it. I have always loved this quote by Mahatma Gandi

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi

It is a quote that I have tried to live my life by, in my business, in my ministry, but I had forgotten to do it in my marriage. It is easy when during a bout of intense fellowship for when Mandy says something in a tone that I don’t like for me to fire right back…that’s not the way it should be. Christ called us to give up our lives, to love her as Christ loved the church…(yeah guys, the Ephesians passage doesn’t stop at Ephesians chapter 5 doesn’t stop at verse 24, the heavier stuff comes after it…)

Wives and Husbands

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰for we are members of his body. ³¹"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
- Ephesians 5:22-33 (NIV)

For those of you paying attention in the audience, she has the easier part of the deal, she just needs to submit to you (which if we are doing it right, it should be easy for her to do, because let’s face it, how hard is it to submit to someone who you know without a doubt loves you, is willing to die for you, and has your best interests in mind) we, as husbands, have to be ready to lay everything down (notice I didn’t just say die, I meant work, ministry, everything needs to be an item that is chopping block material if it is what is needed).

Here’s the kicker, I’m excited to step my game up, because what could be better? I want to have a good marriage. Early on, Mandy and I decided that each year, we wanted to go to at least one marriage seminar or do at least 1 focused thing on our marriage each year. After the debacle that was last year’s marriage seminar (don’t bring someone who is not going to bring what the Bible has to say into a Christian Marriage ministry event), we didn’t go to the annual Madison Family Ministry this year, but we are excited to be going to the Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage [DVD] [Book] small group that our pastor is offering. We have been to the live event but are super excited to go through it again with a group of close friends. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to work on their marriage. Mark’s story is a good story on how he got into doing marriage seminars (our pastor knows Mark so I know the story) but I’ll let him tell you some day.

Sorry this was such a long post, but I wanted to 1. kick myself in the butt and get myself going & 2. encourage people who might read my blog to do the same. And for those of you who are wondering, I get to take my wife to the restaurant she has always wanted to take her husband to down in St. Louis, it is the restaurant that her dad took her to on her first date ever. (Smart man by the way, he took her on her first date so she would know how she was supposed to be treated on all the dates that followed. I’m going to have to use that one with Carrie)

So, we’re a little behind on the Christmas Card

Jeff Miles — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:16:53 +0000

I know, we still haven’t sent anyone a Christmas card from 2009…and it looks like it just isn’t going to happen so here is the picture we were going to send you.

On another note, here are two more pictures that we wanted to show you as well. Buster finally got his spring trimming done…he doesn’t even look like the same dog…but you be the judge…

At least now he looks more like a terrier than a sheep dog…

I have a great family

Jeff Miles — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:36:11 +0000

Prevailing opinion seems to be that I don’t blog enough about my family so I wanted to throw up a couple more pictures taken from this last weekend. Enjoy!

Carrie is now 5 months old and starting to enjoy the pleasure of rice cereal & Caleb just rocks. Mandy plays superwoman as she watches both of our kids and usually at least 1 other child to help some friends out. Things are going well, we can’t wait for the Spring so that we can get outside more!