Self Improvement Plan – Week 2
Posted by Scott Cofer in Improve Your Wellness, Personal Development on February 23, 2010
In keeping with the schedule I laid out in my last post, we will now move on to week two of our 13-week self improvement plan.
But first, how did week one go for you? I did fairly well, although I was on vacation with the family so I must admit to indulging once or twice. 
So moving on, our focus in Week 2 is: Silence
Ben Franklin defined silence as, “Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself and avoid trifling conversation.”
This is such an important concept. I am a firm believer in constant positive reinforcement through the words we say to ourselves. We have TOTAL control over this, and our “self-talk” has the ability to empower and invigorate us. Unfortunately, it also has the power to tear us down from within and destroy our enjoyment of life and our ability to reach our full potential.
Words are extremely powerful — make a conscious effort to choose them wisely!
And just as words have the ability to uplift our destroy our own lives, they also have the ability to do the same to others. Think about it – how many people do you know that are living lives of internal and external turmoil because of the negative words spoken to them throughout their lives? Worse yet, these negative comments in many cases were uttered years ago, but still have power over the recipient today … heart breaking.
So be a blessing to others, and only speak words of love and encouragement … you’ll make the world a better place and you’ll feel better by doing so.
And avoid “trifling conversation” and gossip. It is pointless and ultimately tears you down as well – in mind and in stature.
Onward we go – have a great week!
- Scott
Self Improvement Plan – Week 1
Posted by Scott Cofer in Personal Development, Productivity on February 15, 2010
Inspired by my study of Benjamin Franklin and his self styled 13-week self improvement plan, I’ve decided to embark on my own based on the 13 virtues he outlined.
Therefore, every Monday for the next 13 weeks I will be referencing the particular virtue to concentrate on for that week. If you’d like to join me, please feel free to subscribe to the blog feed or subscribe via email and we can go through the process together.
So then, without further ado let’s not mess around let’s get right to it!
Self improvement plan – Week 1 Virtue: Temperance
Franklin refers to temperance as “Eat not to dullness and drink not to elevation”.
This makes total sense to me as a self improvement virtue. I know that when I give in to the occasional temptation to overeat, I am miserable about 15-30 minutes later and I do not feel like doing much of anything. Food is supposed to energize us .. not the opposite!
So by consciously avoiding eating to the point of “dullness”, we can tap in to the energy our food is designed to give us and go about our day being fully productive and industrious. As a side benefit, we may even lose a few pounds!
With regards to the second part of Franklin’s definition of temperance, I do not drink at all myself. Franklin was – as am I - very aware of the crippling effect that alcohol can have on a person’s productivity and motivation. So, if you decide to drink please limit your intake to one or two drinks maximum to avoid getting to the point of elevation. This will help you keep your edge.
So then, temperance is our battle cry for the coming week. Good luck, and feel free to join the discussion via your comments!
Best to you,
- Scott
Effective Daily Workout Routine
Posted by Scott Cofer in Goal Achievement, Improve Your Health on February 11, 2010
Recently I was searching far and wide for an effective daily workout routine to jump start my health improvement action plan for the new year.
There were SO many different routines to sort through. Talk about complicated and confusing!
So I decided to keep things simple and efficient. If you are a reader of this blog, you know that ’simple disciplines repeated over time’ is my formula for everything. Therefore, I had to determine what my ultimate goals were, then design an effective daily workout routine that would move me closer to those goals on a consistent basis.
After some thought, I decided that I’d like to eventually get down to a single digit body fat percentage … a nice lean muscular look.
I had dreams of being a professional bodybuilder back in my college days, but sub-par genetics combined with bad shoulders from constant heavy lifting put an end to that pretty quickly. But, I am still healthy enough to get lean and toned without too much discomfort, and I am thankful for that.
So now that the goal was in place – lean muscularity – I needed to decide what I should do on a daily basis to get there.
Here is what I came up with, which has been a very effective daily workout routine for me. You may be shocked by the simplicity of it, but it works well and that is all that matters, right?
Monday through Saturday
30-50 push-ups performed in the morning and/or evening, followed by 30-50 bicycle sit-ups.
Monday – Wednesday – Friday
30-minute combination of walking and running, with the ultimate goal of competing in a few 5k events this summer. I found an excellent 9-week program on the Cool Running web site.
That’s it!
Like I said, this workout produces great results for me. And since it takes me no more than 30 minutes to complete, it is certainly simple and efficient – just the way I like it!
To Health,
- Scott
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