I was asked the other day how I define disciplined leadership. I have thought about this for several days and have come to the following definition. It makes sense to me and hopefully makes sense to you.

I think the whole idea of disciplined leadership is the maturation process from an “it’s not my job” attitude to excellence as second nature. A deep rooted belief that  leadership is grown, desired, purposeful and develops over time.

Leadership isn’t a quality that is innate, it is GROWN, just like one’s knowledge of science, mathematics or history. Does it come easier to some more than others? Yes! But disciplined leadership takes a small natural tendency to lead and turns it into a lifestyle of leading. This lifestyle pushes the envelope on many concepts in life and is constantly looking for the most innovated, efficient ways to live life and share that lifestyle with others.

A big separation between someone who wants to be in charge and a disciplined leader, is the DESIRE to lead beyond the regular 9-5 hours, to take the heat when something goes wrong and be okay with being wrong. Disciplined leaders are okay with taking chances and DESIRE the pressure to lead (hopefully in a humble manner).

Leadership is only as powerful as the PURPOSE. A disciplined leader constantly has a purpose in mind. They may appear to be “gypsy-hearted” but deep down inside they are moving towards a particular goal. Their energy, time management and overall lifestyle are directed towards one focus.

Understanding time it essential in being a disciplined leader, because you understand everything takes time. You understand their are specific processes and protocols (but are constantly trying to break through them). With this understanding, disciplined leaders understand their own personal growth takes time and needs to be educated daily for the process to continue.

Those are my thoughts. I would like to hear yours in the comments below.

So today wasn’t a bad day for me, but it sure was for someone i had contact with today and boy did it make me think about bad days.

I think we all have bad days and to some degree rightfully so. Life can be very hard, unpredictable and challenging; but only because we are super selfish people. We want everything on our time, in our color, on our terms, and when it doesn’t play our that way… (insert reaction).

The reaction I saw from someone having a bad day (I’m guessing it was a bad day, because they were ballistic) made me really consider how I treat people when I am having a bad day.

Do I come across as a monster?

Do I glare?

Do I snap?

I’m afraid of the answers to those questions.

Today I am making a commitment to not allow my selfishness to effect my view of the world and how I rank my day.

I refuse to have a bad day! I refuse to further the chain of bad days!

Hanging with family is a great way to not have a bad day!

So today is a monumental day for three reasons.

One, I finally had internet installed at my house. I have spent the last 8 months with my phone as my only source for internet and the two months prior I “borrowed” off a neighbor’s router.

The second, reason today is awesome is I am back on the blog. Although a true excuse, the lack of internet at the home led me to put off writing til I went to the office, and of course once I got to the office, work took priority.

The third, because Christ’s love for you today is at it’s highest point! What? How is that? Well He loves us the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! Thus, today He loves us the most He ever has. Nothing can seperate us from His love, not even our sin. (Romans 8:38-39) Ponder that and shoot your thoughts to the comments.

So this week I began to count my calories throughout the day. I have never really weighted and measured my food so this is pain-staking. It’s worse than food prep.

Why you ask, because I’ve had a lot of people ask me about that recently and I never have a good answer for them. Also, the non-CrossFit world is in love with calories-in-calories-out theories and I feel this will produce some good discussion points for those conversations.

Another data point I wanted to collect (dont even know if that is properly worded) is my fat intake. I hear all this crap about how “fat is bad” “you’re going to have heart problems” “I bet your cholesterol is high” so I figured I’d track this for a week, maybe two if I can handle it and then go to the doctor and get blood work done to see how “bad” everything is.

Stay tuned…

For the past few weeks, I have been following OPT’s programming training for the South Central CrossFit regional. Today on the workout post, he put up and article discussing warm-ups. This topic has been mentioned a lot lately around the gym, because I have been playing with different warm-up styles, movements, concepts, etc.

Please read this article and then post your thoughts to the article and theses questions:

1.) What does your warm-up look like? long? short? movements?

2.) Have you ever changed your warm-up according to your workout?

3.) General thoughts on the article.

8-10 oz ground beef (grassfed), stir fry medley of veggies in coconut oil, side dish of avocado.

One year ago I met Dallas and Melissa Hartwig for the first time when I attended my first Whole 9 nutrition workshop. Since that weekend I have completely changed how and why I eat specific foods. Does that mean I stopped eating Tropical Skittles, donuts orGlenlevit 18 year? No, but it does mean I am much more aware of the dangers those items present to my health, immediate mood and my training.

During the month of June 2010 I completed my first Whole 30 Challenge, broke it with a few donuts which lead to a headache and a belly ache. The side effects were enough to straighten me up for the next few weeks leading up to the CrossFit Games 2010. Those next few weeks, I experimented with different foods pre and post workout and took mental notes on how those foods affected my performance, recovery and mood/sleep.

A few common themes were found; (1) Whole 9 was right, this stuff jacks you up! (2) Preparation is EVERYTHING (3) I am a stress eater.

Most who know me, know I very easily admit others are smarter than me. This is one of those times. Whole 9 was pretty much 100% correct on everything they said in their seminar and in their follow up consultations with me.  Dense carbohydrates with little nutritional value (aka grains) trip up your gut and the digestion process, leading to bloating, extra bathroom breaks and the infamous post meal belly ache.  Prior to Whole 9, I was constantly having gas, feeling bloated and regularly had to run to the bathroom after a meal. Post Whole 30, I was pretty much gas free, realized I can be full and not bloated after a big meal and frequented the bathroom less than half as many times daily.  These changes led to me feeling better and thus a domino effect on other aspects of my life.

Changing how I approached pre/post workout nutrition was hard to embrace, because of years of “crap” I had been fed via supplement advertisements and traditional nutrition thinking. Removing my 3 year love affair with Muscle Juice as a post workout /recovery drink was one of the best things I have ever done in regards to improving training and recovery. I replaced it with hard-boiled egg whites, chicken or the occasional steak for my protein. For my carb replacement I used sweet potatoes and occasionally carrots. I also discovered adjusting post-workout nutrition according to the duration and type of workout was key in optimal recovery.  I feel confident saying these changes in diet (which were implemented by all CrossFit Denton County team members) lead to our top-30 finish at the CrossFit Games. (Side note: If it wasn’t for a crucial mistake during WOD #3, we would have notched a top-20 finish, but who’s counting right? Obviously, we weren’t J )

Being able to have good healthy options readily available sure makes cook time faster and more enjoyable. Food preparation played an important role in helping me make healthy food choices. I found if I had something already cut, diced, sliced, peeled, cooked, grilled, etc. then I would eat it, and be able to fight the cravings for something unhealthy.

When stress would hit so would the desire for sugar and grains. So weird I never thought I would ever admit this, but I was someone who was an emotional eater. This was controlled by the implementation of the above mentioned food prep. If I had something ready to eat it made it more difficult to make an unhealthy decision. I was very dumbfounded at the truth of how eating something REAL unhealthy made me feel, just for a short time, better. It freaked me out the first few times after I figured it out. It was a bit of a double-edged sword because I knew in all reality it didn’t solve any issues or decrease stress, but it did give me a temporary “high”. So I would often (and still do) have interesting discussions with myself in regards to

In conclusion, one of the best ways to optimize your performance is begin to eat whole foods, eliminate grains, sugars, soy, alcohol, legumes and dairy. I have adopted a dietary regiment that provides me with a little leeway here and there, but overall is leading me towards solid workout performances and has been pivotal in improving my overall quality of life.  Please examine the label on your foods, if you are able to find a label you might want to rethink eating that product.

PS – Please don’t think I am pretending to be a perfect angel when it comes to nutrition. I have had good days and bad weeks, but all my decisions on eating were made by ME and I knew the consequences. I do plan out poor eating meals/days and realize there is a price to pay. I accept that price and move on. With that being said, I think you need absolutes in the beginning so you can spend 30 days knowing what it feels like eating clean and healthy.

Here is a small collection of some of my training for my first Olympic Lifting meet this coming weekend. It is Locked and Loaded hosted by Spoon Barbell Club.

I entered the meet more for the mental competition aspect versus winning. However, I am still going to try and do my best. This will be something COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone but will be good for the soul.

Lastly, I want to credit Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights for the music in the video.

Please enjoy! PS – If you are a coach and have any tips, I would love to see them in the comments. I know I need to fix the my jumping backwards, but cant seem to figure that out.

Spring O-lifting from crossfit denton county on Vimeo.