Constant Pedaling and The Reinvention of Comfort

The other day I was at the gym, workin' on my fitness. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's time to grapple the beast of effort and turn her into a beauty.
"Slow and steady" says the horse
And slow and steady I rode.
Having not really been to the gym in several months, one look in the mirror and I said to myself
"Where shall I start?"
Basics. Start at the basics.
Knowing full well that it will not hurt to burn a few (or 500) calories, I jumped on the bike.
I hate the bike.
Not because it's hard or challenging, but because it's BORING.
As is the elliptical machine, the treadmill, the stair-master. BORING.
But I did it, and like clockwork ...
the dreaded dialogue began in my head.

I looked around at many of the "pretty" people lifting weights with their big muscles, or the dashing blond beauty running a marathon on the treadmill with her perfect little ponytail trailing in the wind.
I looked up at the Television screen to see the very studly and inspirational silver fox, Anderson Cooper, just beaming back at me with that killer smile, in that perfect "Athletic Cut" Dolce & Gabbana Suit.
Then I looked at the clock on my bike.
I had been riding for ten minutes, burned about 50 calories and had ... a very long way to go.

Then it hit me.

THIS is the problem. THIS right here. Not ME, not THEM, not IT.

This good ole human trait (which I clearly have mastered) of "What's Next" and "I want.. This ... I want That" are probably one of my biggest blockages. Constantly thinking about "What's next?" and "When?" gets me anxious and preoccupied with things that are completely out of my control.

So I stopped. I took a deep breath, looked at my reflection in the blinking Plexiglas of the console in front of me and I said "Relax". Paradoxical isn't it? Get on the exercise machine to ... Relax?

Yes. Relax, let go, and just BE.

Be in the moment of feeling what is going on between you and your body, of whatever music or tape you have on your listening device. Feel the beat, focus on the lyrics. Put your mind in a dreamland where you are happy to live for those twenty minutes. For me, I put on a little Madonna in anticipation of the big concert next month that I can't wait for. That led me to so many more amazing things, like memories of past Madonna concerts, being with people that I love, of how HARD someone like Madonna works (at 53 mind you!) to deliver her best ALWAYS.
That alone was enough to make me pedal harder.

Before I knew it, the time was up.

The next day, I went to work and found myself at various cross roads during the day, PEDALING back to that same place of "What's next?"

and again, I applied the same technique to those moments too. The results were astounding. Instead of looking at the clock wondering how much longer I was gonna be there, instead of turning to my Twitter feed, or playing Words With Friends perpetually, I opened up my computer and I began to write.

By the end of the day, I completed a project that I had been concocting in my head for the last two weeks. Then I remembered my previous post on Reinventing Comfort.

Constant Pedaling friends.

#reinventingcomfort

What do you REALLY know?

I sorely admit, I have pontificated the subjects of health and fitness over the course of the last several years.

There I said it.

I have advocated my vegetarian lifestyle, my love of juice cleansing, my cocktail of vitamins, endlessly in an effort to do ...what ? Convince myself I was on the right path? Or convince YOU that I was on the right path (or maybe so you won't judge me because I was blowing up like a balloon!)

Now all that dogma I have spouted has come to bite me in the ass - and weighing in at the most I have ever weighed in my life - There's a lot of ass to bite off.

It got me to think about was how much "talk" one can weasel in ones life. The talking, talking, talking, the "Damn, will he ever shut up?" you may have felt while in my company, I apologize for now.

I admit, I know nothing. Let's start there.

I'm hoping that by admitting I know nothing, I will open up the door to learn a lot more.

If At First ...

You get to the gym and the scales say you weigh more than you ever have, your entire life...

DON'T FREAK OUT! :-)

Remember your commitment to redefining comfort.

Reinventing Comfort, For Now

There are a hand full of people that I admire, that I truly watch their every move to see what they do next. There is one common denominator that binds them all; a relentless ability to never give up, never show exhaustion and never settle for anything less than perfection.

I was watching an incredible interview with one of said role models over and over recently. At thirty-three years old he changed the world of fashion, nearly over night. Within 10 years he reimagined, redefined, and reinvented the industry putting him at the top of his field. If you Google him today, he turns up more hits than fashion’s godfather, Karl Lagerfeld. While he carries a surname that would insinuate a legacy of American fortune, TOM FORD, built his empire, with his own two hands.

Twenty-five years ago when he met his partner, Richard Buckley, (nearly 20 years his senior), a young bright-eyed Ford told Buckley. “I will be a millionaire by the time I’m 35, running an empire”. He exceeded his goal nearly two years before predicted.

Moderator: “In order to succeed is it TALENT or HARD WORK

[That’s More Important]?”

Ford: “It’s a combination of both, but I would say that it’s slanted toward Hard Work… Slanted towards OBSESSION, There are many designers who have much greater talent than I do, But they may not have my drive, they may not work as hard, they may not have the focus, the desire. But you have to have the talent too, without that you can have all the other things, but if the pair of pants you make don’t make the person’s butt look good, they’re not going to buy them”

“And you have to be really TOUGH”

Since hearing this interview, I have read this statement over and over (and over!) again. Evaluating my abilities on a scale, each a grain of salt trying to balance the other against the former. While I’ve never thought I lacked either, I have to believe that the results that I’ve yielded in my life are just one step behind my empire. One step behind may not sound like a lot, but weighed against my own standards, it feels like an eternity.

The Kryptonite? Comfort.

I live a very blessed life. I take home a handsome paycheck working in the field of my choosing, with the most amazing people on the planet. I have the most incredible support system around me, led and championed by my Partner of seven years who believes in me more than I do myself. I have the support of an entire army or friends and family that cheer from sidelines far and wide, all over the world waiting to sing my praises at every little accomplishment I achieve. It makes it easy, very easy, to bask in such light. While I take none of it for granted, I know from history that if I don’t continue to earn it, it will be gone.

So what about this prison of comfort?

It’s a lovey place (or so it appears) where I don’t really have to watch what I eat or how much exercise I do. Where I can choose to spend money a little more frivolously than if I were sinking my resources back into my business. Where choosing to watch TV or playing games on my devices take precedence over writing the script of all scripts, or where developing and studying characters that have the ability to inspire people to achieve their own dreams gets lost behind the excuse of working a sixteen hour day. It’s a place where I barter with myself so skillfully that I convince myself “You Deserve It”.

What an illusion.

What I deserve is to run a multi-million-dollar conglomerate company that supports all facets of my creativity, servicing the maximum amount of people possible, balanced against philanthropy -not for the sake of making me look more humble and gracious- but by making the world a better place.

Time and time again, I have self-reflected and written in stone plans to make concrete steps toward achieving this success, but time and time again, comfort sets in and I find myself back at where I began.

I write this, not because I need any pity, or shoulder to cry on. I write this, not because I have a natural inclination toward self-deprication. I write this because maybe this time I will find the strength to reinvent comfort as a place where MAKING MIRACLES happen through hard work and effort IS COMFORT, where sitting on the couch sipping a martini is not the reward, but the punishment for missing the opportunity to change.

Let’s see how this goes. Thank you for reading, and by the grace of G-d and my hard work I hope you can turn back here regularly to watch my progress.