What constitutes "In Shape"??

I have come to really appreciate this question and over the years my attachment to it has evolved considerably.

For many of us, the relationship we have with our body image is one that we check-in to EVEryday of our lives multiple times a day...basically anytime we look in the mirror. We check-in with this idea or connection to "in-shape" that we see on the magazines in the grocery isles, the billboards and other advertisements, desperate housewives, and a number of other poisonous interruptions to our subconscious that tend to play way to big a part in answering this question of "am I in shape?" Our question towards our physical state should not be vain asking ourself, "do I look good?"...our question(s) need to be "do I feel good and do I feel strong?"

Our subconscious conditioning through these poisonous advertisements has unnaturally polluted our perception of what it is to be in shape to a detrimental degree. We really need to wake up to this. We are very backwards in our thinking when it comes to being in shape...we think in shape means physical  when in reality it should be rooted in mental. Obviously the physical aspect of "in-shape" matters but again it should be a question of strength and feel primarily and vanity(if we must acknowledge it) secondarily.

Our physical bodies are a product of our thoughts, actions, and most importantly our EVEryday habits. When we ask ourselves, "am I in shape,?" our first responsive thought to this should most definitely be, "well how is my mind working? Are my actions aligning with my words in my life and in my relationships? Currently, are my instincts strong towards being positive in crucial or character building situations or have they been strong towards being negative? Does my routine serve me or does it take away from my potential happiness? (And thennnn)....oh yeah, let me check on my stomach and make sure it looks good!" This should be the order...tailored to the individual and the questions that keep them on their desired path of life performance.

Our level of consciousness towards the physical benefits we receive when we focus on cultivating our mental as well as spiritual strength is as valuable a resource as any we have on this earth. It should be thought of as an equal to Water!! It is measurable in our EVEryday habits. It is measurable in our relationships. It is measurable in our own self reflections. Our level of consciousness is parallel to our level of life.

Athletes that desire to be at a state of consciousness in not only their physical routine but even more importantly their mental routines separate themselves from the pack infinitely before the baseball even begins. They desire to create championship habits EVERY SINGLE DAY. They are very in tune with the conceptual question of "WHAT'S IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW?" Is what I am doing right now making me work towards being not only the very best but my very best?

Sometimes when you look in the mirror you just have to allow yourself to get chills at the presence of blessings you have in your life. If that is hard for us to do then we need to figure out a way to create a habit that can help us achieve that goal of truly appreciating what we have. This is measured in not only our quality of athleticism, sportsmanship, training, physique, and endurance, but more importantly it is measured in our quality of life. This ruthless thankfulness and appreciation of all your blessings, again, is as valuable to your life as water.

Harnessing your appreciation of the game of baseball is the first step towards becoming an elite player and an elite person. That appreciation spills over into the mirror into consciousness and realization of self when asking "am I in shape?" When you appreciate everything you have the first question you will ask is "do I feel strong?" Second question.."how can I get stronger today in the game of life?" Third question..."what can I do to help others today?"

Next time you are feeling out of shape when you look in the mirror, tell your mind to focus NOW, on creating a couple of new tangible positive habits that can get you out of your current routine and on to one that will nurture your inner beast and help you to reach your maximum abilities. Tell your mind NOW to be so ridiculously thankful that you still have that person you almost lost. Check in with your appreciation of the mirror you have to look in and the bed you just got out of.

NOW get off your ass and do some push ups.

Much love to the world out there that desires to keep getting better and appreciates the game of life EVEryday you live and get to love.

Thanks for reading,

Isaac

Reminders and Positive Advertisements

I have found that coaching younger players helps me become a much better player myself. Every time I instruct a player to do something its like I'm telling myself to do the same. Many times I will tell one of my young pitchers to "check-in" on the mound before throwing a certain pitch. For example, what is the first thing we are going to think when we start throwing in the bullpen? Fastball command. This is easily the most important aspect of pitching at any level.

Command the fastball, work ahead, and work down. (We are thinking, just do the easy things we know we have to do) Those are three "check-in" points that we have to address before each and every single time we get on the mound. Curveball check-in points go as follows...try to hang the first couple and find your release point, don't try to do too much, throw through catchers left shoulder(for a lefty) to throw for a strike. Boom, boom, boom. These check in points help us to maintain a heightened level of focus, and I teach them to all my guys....yet somehow I still manage to make the same mistakes of missing some of those check in points when I pitch. Why? How?

Simple human error always exists. The teacher must practice EVEryday if they are truly maintaining their peak level of expertise. Often times I find myself throwing a pitch and being like "really? did you seriously just do that?? What is this your 1,002,345 pitch of your career? Have you not learned by now??"...it has to make you laugh that you can still make mistakes in this game. It is the beauty of competition and the human element. And even though guys start getting to be what seems freakishly flawless as you move up the ranks, they still make the same errors all through out their careers.

Reminders help us check-in. They are tangible tools that help us propel through life zestfully opposed to just blandly. They give us jolts of happiness, even if subtle, as we see them in our paths. We can write reminders on our refrigerators, our mirrors, our car dashboards, our hats, our bodies(tattoos?), our notebooks, our calendars, our computer desktops, our computer cases, our phone screens, and anywhere else that our live's paths cross...it is our choice.

Here are a couple that I use that genuinely help me in my day to day, not just to be a better more conscious and thankful person, but to also elevate my focus so as to be a better competitor when it is time to go to war...

Refrigerator on a sticky note: "Reminder: Giving > Receiving"(because we often forget)

Car dashboard: "Attitude of Gratitude, EVEryday." and also "Breathe" (to remind me to take sets of quality and conscious breaths as I drive)

Bathroom mirror (I have 3 shorts statements on my bathroom mirror which I get to see EVEryday, why would we not advertise quality messages to ourselves?):

1) "Create" (because I am trying to create a company that will be providing quality baseball and mentorship services to youth ball players called www.madebaseball.com, even MADE itself stands for Motivation, Appreciation, Dedication...EVEryday...a brand that I believe will one day be massive shifter in lifestyles of many)
2) "NGU" (because I saw a story about 10 years ago about a guy that was determined to play football again after receiving a prosthetic leg! That dude had an impact on me! NGU = Never Give Up!
3) "TOOF" (because a great friend of mine just passed away, at his service his dad told everyone in an amazing speech that he always taught his children TOOF...or "Think of others First"....that one was new to me and will stay with me forever)

Normally, under the bill of my hat I write "GUAC"...it stands for "Give us a Chance." That means no matter what happens out on the mound that day that you go out and give every bit that you possibly have in your heart to keep your team in the game and give them a chance to win. You don't give up because of a bad inning, you stay focused on what you can control and trust that your team has your back.

These are just a few reminders that I currently use through out my day to stay on a clean and clear path to work towards what I am trying to achieve. Nothing ever goes to plan but we can still stay on a path that feels good and maintains an authentic appreciation for life. No matter what happens, if we wake up in the morning and remind ourselves to start our day with infinite thanks that we were granted the opportunity to open our eyes that day, then there is really nothing that can ever be that bad.

The key is practice, ruthlessness, and persistence....EVEryday.

Thanks for reading,
Isaac