Roadturn

Featuring The DEEP and How to LIVE

Without This, Nothing Else Works

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The great end of life is not knowledge but action.

(Quote attributed to T.H. Huxley)

I love to learn.

I love schools, desks, books, and good teachers.

I’m the type who is always enrolled in one class or another, and it could be anything from how to sing harmony, to optimizing search for local business, to identify edible wild plants.

I love the entire learning experience.

Sometimes, though, learning is just one more way to avoid action.

Rather than do the work, I can justify a delay while I learn more about the project.

Rather than go to the gym, I can watch YouTubes of exercise sets.

Rather than control my eating, I can read a book about the newest diet.

True story: One morning, I was at my desk reading a book on how to be a better father. My son walked up and asked a question. I told him we could talk later, that I needed to finish reading first.

Many times, I’d be better off just acting on what I already know. My children won’t always be there waiting for me to be ready to listen. I need to be there for them now.

Action is the great end of knowledge.

Roadturn Challenge: What is there that you’ve been thinking about, studying about, asking people about that you really could do without collecting more information? Set a deadline for yourself and keep it. Decide to act.

Roadturn Principle: Much of the time, we know what to do. The real problem isn’t lack of knowledge; it’s lack of action.

Let’s talk about it.

You Must Be Convinced of This One Thing

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There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

(Quote attributed to U.S. President John F. Kennedy)

You’ve decided something about your present situation isn’t acceptable. You refuse to put up with it. You’re ready for change.

But moving from griping and resenting to doing something about it requires  a ‘program of action.’

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

There’s one thing you must be convinced of before that can happen: the costs of taking action are far less than the costs you’re suffering right now by doing nothing.

You get what you settle for.

Roadturn Challenge: Pick one thing in your life that absolutely must change. Write it down. Then make two columns. In the first, write down what it’s costing you to do nothing. In the second, write down what it will take to change the situation. Then weigh the two. Which is most expensive?

Roadturn Principle: We’re always making our own bed. If you don’t like it, change it.

Let’s talk about it…

You Either Want It or You Don’t

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Putting up with it is the same as endorsing it.

(Quote attributed to Larry Winget)

Let’s face it: you either want it or you don’t.

What’s “it”?

  • Could be that roll of fat around your gut
  • Could be the dust in your wallet
  • Could be your ability to maintain a loving relationship
  • Could be anything you keep putting up with, but can’t stand

If you’re putting up with it, you’re endorsing it

You get what you settle for, friend.

That’s the bottom line.

If you can stand the situation, it will persist.

If you can’t, you’ll do what needs to be done to change it.

Roadturn Challenge: Consider something in your life you’re sick and tired of. (Don’t start with your spouse, though :). It’s probably better to choose something simple to practice on — like that perennial sink of dirty dishes, or a car in severe need of cleaning.

Decide, right now, whether you can live with it the way it is, or whether the situation is going to HAVE to change. I’m not asking you to DO anything here, just to make a decision. Do that, and the solution will follow.

If you decide you CAN live with things the way they are, then quit griping and stressing about the situation. Give yourself and everyone else a break.

If you decide you CAN’T put up with it, then make your decision. This MUST change. Put you foot down. Draw the line. Make up your mind.

Roadturn Principle: In the end, you always get what you’ll settle for.

How does that feel?

Let’s talk about it….

The Best Reason of All

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Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows.

(Quote attributed to Michael Landon)

I first became interested in working out and staying healthy because I wanted to make the team in junior high.

Later, my aim was to look good for the ladies.

Once I was married-with-children, I wanted to be a good example to the kids.

Then life took over.

I was too busy to get to the gym. In too much of a hurry to eat right. Too worried to pray and meditate (incredible, but true), and eventually too tired to do much of anything.

The next time I got serious about health was after the doctor told me I should start taking medications for high blood pressure and cholesterol issues.

I looked like the poster guy for a man ready to have a heart attack.

Surely, there’s a better way…

The best reason of all to take care of yourself

Here’s what I discovered. It’s something so obvious that I should have realized it all along: Health provides its own reason.

Don Sturgill - best reason of all - RoadturnIt’s good stuff. I love having energy. I love being able to walk and run and swim and jump. I love the feeling I get after working hard or choosing a salad over a pizza.

And when I make the wrong choice… I suffer.

If you’re staying active and watching what you eat, you KNOW what I mean. If you’re stuck in the misery end of the cycle and can only vaguely recall what it felt like to be healthy, I’ve got good news for you: It doesn’t take that long to start getting turned around.

Get to the gym. Talk to a staff member. Get a buddy for accountability. Belly up to the facts and do what you need to do. You know what that is.

You can do it. You know you can.

Need help?

Let’s talk….

The Secret to Overcoming Adversity

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The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

(Quote attributed to William Arthur Ward)

Adversity is a fact of life, and overcoming adversity requires effort.

Getting out of bed requires effort — whether you rise before dawn or in the afternoon.

Eating requires effort — even if you get your food at a restaurant.

There is no free lunch. In one way or another, you pay for everything you get. Nothing comes easy.

You think going to the gym is tough? Try sitting on your butt all year eating donuts. Inactivity costs plenty.

The secret to overcoming adversity

William Arthur Ward photo - Roadturn - Overcoming Adversity
William Arthur Ward (Fair Use license via Portal to Texas History)

Obstacles exist. That’s just the way things presently are. Once we’re willing to accept reality, our choices are plain:

  1. Complain about life and how unfairly we’re treated
  2. Look forward to a day when everything will be different and life will be wonderful
  3. Square up to the present situation and deal with it

Please don’t think I’m being a pessimist here. Pessimism is dwelling on how bad things are and how much worse they are going to be. My aim is to speak from realism: This is the situation. Face it. Now what?

The secret to overcoming adversity is to admit it’s constantly present and doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon — then to leverage that adversity into a force that makes you stronger.

Pushups make you stronger

For example, pushups are one of the best exercises you can do. They require no equipment, and you can do them just about anywhere. Pushups build strength and help with endurance (especially mental endurance). They are only able to provide those benefits, though, because of the adversity provided by gravity. If nothing opposed your motions, there would be no benefit to them.

To overcome adversity, practice mental jujitsu. Use the weight of the opponent to make it easier for you to win the match.

Roadturn Challenge: Choose something you want to do, but you’ve not been able to succeed at doing. Maybe getting out of bed earlier, maybe losing some weight, maybe getting regular exercise or eating better — choose one thing. Then identify the forces working against you. What’s stopping you? The first step in defeating the enemy is knowing the enemy. Set aside some thinking time. Look deeply. Record what you find.

Roadturn Principle: If nothing opposed your motions, there would be no benefit to them.

Let’s talk about it…

What Would Happen?

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What Would Happen If You Really Tried?

(Roadturn Principle)

When someone asks you why you’re not trying harder, how do you react?

Are you angry and offended?

That’s the normal response.

Worse yet, how about when you say you’re trying your best… and someone fires back with “Well, your best isn’t good enough!”… how does that one feel?

Let’s not worry about what others say or think for a few minutes.

Let’s be concerned with what WE think about ourselves and our efforts.

What would happen if you really tried?

The first turn in any serious discussion about ‘trying harder’ normally leads to a look at commitment. How badly do you want to achieve the goal? Are you committed to it (aka the ham and egg breakfast — the chicken was involved, the pig was committed), or are there other things more important to you that block progress.

Strength coach Charles Poliquin says it all comes down to one thing: Do you value your health more than you value donuts?

After the commitment question, a deeper discussion lands on the Why — what is your motivational driver? The illustration here is the monk who wanted to achieve enlightenment. The teacher took him to a river and held the student’s head under water, almost drowning him. The lesson: When you want enlightenment as much as you want air, you’ll achieve it.

Armed with the lessons of commitment and a strong reason Why, we nod our heads and keep doing the same old stuff. Rarely do we find real, lasting change.

So, let’s skip the semantics, skip the Zen koans, skip the months and years of thinking about it, and stop avoiding the question.

What would happen?

This is personal. It’s just for you.

Roadturn Challenge: What would happen if you really tried? Is your dream really possible, or are you setting yourself up to fail right from the start? Set aside some thinking time. Look deeply. Record what you find.

Roadturn Principle: You can do it… if you want. But you can’t stop trying.

Let’s talk about it…