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We don’t know how to cope with stress and boredom in a healthy way.
Leo of Zenhabits; The Habits That Crush Us

This week marked the pinnacle of a project and as such launch week for said project. Which is a stressful event for anyone. Add to this my yearly performance review several days later, and it was a heck of a stressful week. Not that I was worried about my review, but still, a stress none the less.

I coped with the stresses the same way I coped with stress week in and week out. I hit the gym, I grappled and I played hockey. Everyday was something a little different. In fact I tweeted a picture of the gym with a time for therapy message. And that is what it is, therapy for me. The reality is whenever the day is rough, I can escape onto the mats, ice or weight room.

Sometimes I have to force myself to do it, other times it is purely out of the habit of it. I mean for the past several years, my life has consisted of the same basic schedule. So the habits are well formed. It is a good alternative too other habits for dealing with stress.

Once upon a time, I would veg on the couch for the night while spending the night watching TV, avoiding the gym, and surfing the Internet. Tired from the stress of the day, and hiding behind that excuse. To say I don’t do that now would be a lie. Sometimes I still find myself aimlessly surfing the Internet.

However those times are  now few and far between and, because I don’t have cable or satellite, I don’t fall into that trap with television. That is why I have these outlets that are also very much habits. They help me cope with stress, and help me with a healthier body. So it is win, win and win.

Here is more information on habits and dealing with stress.

I’ve lived within an hour of some type of ski hill for almost my entire life and yet I’ve never tried to ski or snowboard. It isn’t something the ever interested me, the thought of attaching sticks to my feet and going down hill, whilst dodging trees, just didn’t appeal to me. After reading ‘The Flinch’ by Julian Smith, I decided I want to face these things and try them.

Hence when I was invited to go to Sir Sam’s in Haliburton and try snowboarding, I hesitantly said yes. Even when I got up to the top of the bunny hill, I could feel that nagging feeling of fear and doubt. I didn’t want to fall, I didn’t want to get hurt. So I took a deep breath, and stood up and off I went. Guess what? I fell, multiple times.

But every time I fell, I made it right back up and kept on going. More importantly then that – I had a large smile on my face each and every time. And as the day progressed, the amount of falling I did was slowly declining. I even made my way onto some of the bigger hills! It was quite the experience and something I didn’t think I’d ever partake in or enjoy so much.

It is funny that this comes about the same time that I was finishing up ‘The Flinch’ – abook about facing that exact thing that kept me from doing snowboarding. It holds some valuable lessons, and although a little light and somewhat repetitive, the price is right because it is free. Read my review on Amazon.

I would like to try and get out to do it once again this season, most likely sometime in February. Although I won’t travel nearly as far, maybe I will try Devil’s Elbow or the Batawa Ski Hill. Both of which are much closer, and more of an afternoon opposed to an entire day trip.

So to start , I began with the graphic novels for the Walking Dead series, that the popular TV Show was based on. For Christmas I received The Walking Dead Compendium Volume One, which essentially covers the first four books. Before I began reading, I had some general ideas of how the show had differentiated from the series. I was surprised to see how close the series is followed by the TV Show.

After I past the point in which the show is at, I began to get really into the Compendium. The story began taking some extreme twists and turns. And I have started to really enjoying the series. In fact I have not only purchased, but also finished The Walking Dead Book Five. I could easily purchase the next several books and consume them at the very same rate (in a couple days). But I am going to read some of the other books I have on my shelf before I read The Walking Dead Book Six.

If you’re a fan of the TV Show, I really recommend trying out the graphic novels. The story is similar, well remaining unique enough as to keep you interested and not necessarily spoiling the show. You don’t have to purchase the compendium, it just covers the fist four books. Here is The Walking Dead Book One to help get you started.

And don’t be concerned if you’ve never read or enjoyed graphic novels in the past. I hadn’t read them, they’d never appealed to me. If you haven’t caught the TV Show, I highly recommend that as well. It is currently in mid-season break for Season 2, but you you can purchase Season 1 of The Walking Dead and start catching up immediately.

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve enjoyed the TV Show or the Graphic Novels already. So please leave your comments and let me know. Also feel free to subscribe to my RSS Feed and follow me on Twitter for the latest.

For example – my coffee addiction. I was at one point in early in December I was drinking at least one of several cups of coffee a day. And then I got sick. With a high fever, and then a cold. I started drinking much more tea. Now a month later, I haven’t had a cup of coffee. I am drinking two cups of tea instead. Not all broken habits are good however.

Given how busy I got with holiday stuff, and being sick, I haven’t gotten to much weight lifting in and sort of fallen off that band wagon. Not that I haven’t been inactive, I have been sticking too the jiu-jitsu and played hockey twice a week. But I certainly fell off the bandwagon for weight lifting, and have not made it in even once a week.

Another habit that got butchered pretty severely, as it does with everyone. Plain and simple, I spent the last half of December eating like a giant bag of crap. As I work to change the eating habit and starting weight lifting again, and I continue the good habit of avoiding coffee. I want to continue building good habits.

Because my goals in regards to me don’t have an expiry date – I am the project. Improving me and my habit is what I am doing, and it won’t stop this year, or the next, or the year after that. I’ll be perfect when I am dead.

Me at the OBJJF Championship 2011

“Running to train for a marathon is like being a good person so you can get into heaven. The means is right but the end is all wrong.”
Missing the Point by Ryan Holiday

I love no-gi Brazilian jiu jitsu. I train it three to four days a week. Why do I do it? Well, as for a self defense art goes, it is the most realistic. One of the few you can practice in a safe manor, in a controlled environment. It is also on the best forms of exercise I have ever experienced, and when I originally started that was exactly what I was looking for.

I don’t need to justify it beyond that. I don’t need to earn medals or win fights to make the experience and the hours I spend practicing and training worth anymore then what they are. The reality is I enjoy it, and some of the best friends I’ve made recently are the same ones that will grind elbows and jaws into my softer tissue, and intentionally try to submit me with a joint lock of choke.

Why compete at all?

With that attitude I often get asked why I compete. Well, it is simple: nothing can quite compare to the thrill of victory or the stress of competition. It provides a bench mark for where I am, and allows me another form of practice. In reality, no-gi jiu jitsu is something I am already doing three or four times a week, what is another day?

Don’t get me wrong, I like to win, but I can’t but much value in it. It isn’t the end goal for me. So this weekend, when I competed in the Ontario BJJ Championship and failed to get gold, I was disappointed. But losing isn’t a measure of my worth, I know what I am worth, and I am a big believer of failure leading to success. Because now I know what I need to work on to improve my game, and that was achieved thru competing.

At the end of the day, the reason I go back and continue to train is for the love of the game. It is because it gives me a healthy body, albeit: an often beat up one, and a clear mind. It is my reason to do extracurricular workouts, like running and lifting weights. And that all leads into me being a healthier person, a commitment I have made to myself to help live a very long and healthy life.

Brazillion Jiu Jitsu and fighting in general is allowing me to meet that commitment, well I feel strong and confident  and very aware of my own limits and body. What are you doing to help with that?

This year I’ve donated to my friend Greg, who is participating for the first year, and a team that my friends Graham, Adam and Josh have put together. It is a tax deductible donation, going to a great cause. It will help further cancer research as well as treatment and detection methods for men all over the world. So, why not donate?

Here is my photo update:

Week three update

Looks like you’d see me on a list on the internet. See the other pictures.

A personal story

In my past post about this, I eluded to the personal effect that prostate cancer has had in the office in the past year. That is why we have such an increase in numbers for participation over last year. It has really put an exclamation on how important it is to raise not just money, but awareness.

Had it not been caught in such an early stage, the out come could have been much, much different. But don’t take my word for it, Mike Reader is the executive director of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and in this past weekends Angler and Hunter Radio he talks about his personal story with prostate cancer. I’ve embed it below, and I really recommend you listen to the 14 minute interview and share it.

Download

It cannot be stressed how important it is to be on top of your health, it arguable saved Mike’s life.

A special thanks to Nora of Studio-N (twitter page) for her donation, and my co-worker Jay Callaghan for his donations! Check them out on Twitter and spread the karma.

Also – if you haven’t heard of this guy who has been crafting videos for people who donate to him. Hilarious, and bordering on creepy, like the one for his mom:

The other problem, I don’t very often reply to emails on my phone. I often use a computer with a full keyboard, that allows me to reflect on the email. So then I am reading emails, and sometimes I forget to reply, other times I drop what I am doing right away and respond. It creates busyiness, and stress – and I am looking to remove those from my life. So starting today, I am no longer going to be receiving emails on my phone.

Enter Timeblocking

Time blocking was a concept that was introduced to me well working for a small technology company in Peterborough, Ontario. The idea that you block a certain time to do a certain task and limit multitasking and distractions. For this example, I am only going to check my email twice of three times a day.

This applies to both work, and personal emails. I am will try to check it every morning, although with personal that maybe a bit of a challenge, and around lunch time. Finally once more at the end of day for work, and into the evening for personal email. Another part of this is to not spend more then 15 or 20 minutes doing this task. That includes writing emails.

The reality is, being busy is hurting other things in my life. I was distracted by Facebook for a various reasons, so I deleted it. Email on my phone causes a certain amount of distractions and sense having something important to do. Often I interrupt conversations to check the latest emails, when really the majority of things can wait or can just be deleted.

So almost a year and half later, I try once again to gain control over my email. Not just for productivity, but in an attempt to become less busy.

In fact, 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Think about seven men in your life that are important to you – and one of those men could easily be affected. If the cancer isn’t detected early enough, they could have major complications from it. You may know of someone already affected by prostate cancer, and that is an even better reason to donate. It is a tax deductible donation and is going to a great cause. It will help further cancer research as well as treatment and detection methods for men all over the world. So, why not donate?

This past year we had a member of the office diagnosed and receive treatment for Prostate cancer. To my knowledge it was caught in a very early stage, and has since been dealt with. He is back to work, and everything seems to be clear and as to be expected. Had the cancer not been caught in its early stages this may not have been the case.

Key Stats

• 25,500 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year alone (2011). 4,100 men will die of the disease this year. During his lifetime, 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with the disease.
• Over 90% of prostate cancer cases are curable if detected and treated in their earliest stages.
• The disease has no symptoms in its earliest, most curable stage – so if you are 40 years old, it is recommended you talk to your doctor about a prostate examination.
• Prostate cancer is often slow growing: in some patients, close monitoring may be sufficient treatment. Others, with more aggressive disease, warrant radical treatment with surgery or radiation.
• Thought to be a potentially preventable cancer in many cases, but more research is needed and government support for this research is inadequate.

For more statistics and information, please visit Prostate Cancer Canada website.

How to get involved

Well, you can donate to my movember campaign or team MOFAH. If you’d like to donate your face you can join the Movember site and start collecting donations. If you’d like to just grow a mo, that is more then fine! But more importantly – start talking about it. With your friends, your family, your coworkers and even strangers on the street.

This is doubly so for those men who are north of the 40 mark. They are high risk, and should be reminded to speak to a doctor. So don’t be afraid, you could easily save someone the complications, maybe even their life, by raising awareness.

Last year I donated to several friends, and this year I will be doing the same. So I am contributing to the cause as well. I will provide updates below as the month rolls on, including who I choose to donate too.

Updates

I will be providing updates as the month wears on – you can also check out my mo’ space and twitter as well.

Donate today!

And those are certainly all good draws – who doesn’t want to feel fitter, be more energetic and happy / peaceful? And as a jiu jitsu practitioner I certainly wouldn’t mind increased flexibility and strength. Beside, adding yoga to my current exercise regime of Jiu Jitsu, Weight Lifting and Hockey only really makes sense. A relaxing exercise that helps stretch and strengthen the body, aimed at calming the mind, and unity both mind and body with the spirit (not that I particularly buy in to that)? How could I not at least try it?

What is Hot Yoga?

From what I can tell with my limited Yoga experience it is simply yoga performed in room heated to 34 – 38 C with raised humidity (up to 40%) and fresh air always circulating in for ideal “hot” yoga conditioning. The combination of passive heat, fresh air flow and humidity enhances circulation, helps prevent injury, warms the muscles, and allow for a deeper release within the body.

I’ve never done hot yoga, for a span of several months years ago I was attending weekly classes at the YMCA Peterborough. I switched to Gold’s in Peterborough, and just have never been able to make the Yoga classes they offer. And although I dabbled a bit with the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinect, I feel that is like saying I could go to war because I’ve played some Call of Duty.

The experience

Well, first of all, I was the only man in the class – which was a little intimidating. And it didn’t help that I got some very judge-mental looks from the women in the class. Relax ladies, I am not there to try and meet you; and chances are good, I won’t ever talk to you first. The instructor of Hot Yoga Peterborough, Tracey, was very friendly and proved to be very knowledgeable.

The room was heated to 37 C and about 37% humidity, and I could feel it even in the waiting room. Let me tell you, the heat immediately made me tired and actually feel very loose. The ambient sound and light colors of the heated room, combined with the act of laying and waiting for the class to start was relaxing on it’s own. If you’ve ever attended or looked into Yoga, I will tell you, there was no surprises. The only thing that caught me off guard that we did was a little chanting of ‘ohm’.

We did it twice, once towards the beginning, and again towards the end. I was much more into it the second time, but both times were very relaxing. The movements weren’t overly difficult for me to complete (I think anyways). One thing I noticed over the duration of the class was how my hips and shoulders felt. Those areas are defiantly ‘problem areas’ for me, so no surprises I guess.

The other thing I noticed is how much I sweated during the class. The only thing I can compare it to is grappling during large heat waves in the summer, when things tend to get soup-y. I feel like I lost a fair amount of water weight, and felt like I had a wonderful workout. Best workout I’ve had in a couple weeks hands down really.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. And have signed up for the month. If your looking to try yoga, I’d recommend Hot Yoga Peterborough. Located in East City, directly on Hunter Street.

So how do we go about enjoying something? It is actually really very simple: be present. That is all it takes to enjoy something more.   But guess what? It is harder than you think and without practice and dedication, it is damn near impossible. Where is good place to start practicing this? Well, for most people, it is with work.

When you leave work, don’t just check out physically, do so mentally as well. Don’t even think about it till you pick it up again, or walk in the office. Just be present for whatever you’re doing, focus on that, and you will instantly start enjoying things more. When you sit down for dinner, focus on the people around you, and not the thoughts in your head.

Another example is focusing on the past or future and not paying attention to the now. You can’t change what has happened. Unless I missed the memo, the past is the past and nothing can be done about what has already happened. Not to say to not pay attention to the past or your failures, learn from them, they’re the stepping stone to success.

And again, you can’t control or predict the future. Certainly you can affect the future, but you can’t always anticipate how this will play out. All you can control and change is what you do now, here in the present. I am not saying don’t plan, instead, don’t stress about the plan or over-plan things. A million different things could change in a second, and your plans maybe as wasted as the time you took to form them.

So don’t worry about yesterday, or tomorrow. Once you are done with something, be done with it till you deal with it again (IE: Work). Don’t let things take you away from what you are doing. This will not only increase your enjoyment, but reduce the stress you feel. It is something I am working on all the time.