I survived assassination attempt

Take a good look at the photo of Sam below. Sure, she might look friendly and all.......but she's not! You see, today Sam tried to kill me.

The Smiling Assassin!

I mentioned a few days back that I asked Sam to train me and get me back into some sort of shape. After doing a lot of exercise over the years - I've done plenty of Ironman Triathlons, Marathon running, Marathon swimming, etc - I simply have no motivation.

As gorgeous as I am (I'm, like, totally, a total hottie!! Can you tell I have a 13 yo daughter??!) I've put on weight and turned into a slob.

I joined the local gym a few times, started running infrequently and tried regular tennis and a few other things. But nothing has worked at getting me motivated and back to the level of fitness I want to achieve.

So I met Sam at the Tallebudgera Recreation Centre car park. It's beside a creek that runs into the Pacific Ocean. Just gorgeous. And it's next to Burleigh Headland - a national park right on the ocean. The headland is actually a pretty big hill.

We set off for a brisk walk (Fool!)

So we have a chat about me getting fit and then set off for what was a brisk walk. After a few minutes Sam starting running. Not wanting to make a fool of myself, I tried to keep up (Sam is actually a great runner. She's won the 2 major marathons here in Australia.).

Then we stopped and walk. I managed to suck some deep breathes in. Then Sam started running again, dragging me with her. We ran along the flat walk around the headland. And then Sam started running up some hills at the base.

I was thinking she's going to stop any minute now. By this stage Sam was chatting away. I wasn't talking back - I was having enough trouble with just breathing, let alone forming my exhaling breath into words!

Sure enough, she dragged me to the top of the hill....gasping even more for breath (me, not Sam). We walked for a minute and then ran down to the bottom. And then we did it again! By the time we reached the top (did I mention for the 2nd time/?!), I was a heaving, noisy, gasping mess!

She was trying to kill me......I have no doubt

She was trying to kill me......I have no doubt. But she tried to disguise that by doing more walking................. and then we ran down to the bottom.

Then she bought out some boxing gloves. I thought "Great! I can get my revenge!!" After all, Sam's only a little woman. Surely I could beat her??!

She didn't want to fight

But she didn't want to fight (Wimp!). She produced some boxing pads and had me punch at them for a while. 'Punch' isn't quite the right word. Perhaps 'touch with the force of a feather' is more apt.

After about 60 seconds on the boxing my arms were like jelly. Man, that's a great workout and very, very tough. (Give it a try if you want a great workout.)

After an hour or so of exercise, Sam finished me off with some stretches.

I'm now sitting here writing in the food diary (that Sam gave me) what I've had to eat today:

* Nothing for breakfast (had a 6.30 am meeting)
* A handful of cashews at morning tea
* Sushi and a Diet Coke at lunch
* 600 ml Iced Tea for afternoon tea
* Grilled fish and boiled potato for dinner
* 1 litre of water

Interestingly, Sam said that people who write down what they eat each day lose more weight than those whose don't.

Anyway, Sam has also sent through a program for me to follow. Tomorrow is a 1.5 km swim. The next 10 days are mapped out as well.

And we have measurement goals along the way to reach - i.e. stronger, lower resting heart rate, lost weight, etc.

Long and tedious story with some fantastic business takeaways

There are some lessons in this story for both business and personal.

# 1: If what you are doing isn't working, try something different. That way you'll be sure to get a different result.

No sales at present? Run an ad. Do a letterbox drop. Call up some clients. Try some networking. Try something different today.

Unfit and overweight? Try something different. Stop eating fatty foods. Start exercising. You'll get different results to what you are getting now.

# 2: Get the right advice. Experts know more stuff than you do about their area of expertise. If you get their advice you're more likely to be successful at whatever it is you're doing.

Want a great marketing plan that works? Call me because I'm an expert.
Want to get fit and lose weight? Don't ask your overweight friend. Ask Sam. She knows what she is talking about and she knows what works.

# 3: Have a plan Stan. I know what training I'm doing over the next 10 days. Because of that plan and the fact that I'm accountable to Sam, means I'll follow Sam's plan.

Want to enter a different market? Write out a few simple steps (a plan). Implement those steps.

Want to get stronger? Write a plan for exercise, lifting progressively heavier objects, etc. That'll work.

# 4: Measure your progress. Only then can you be sure that what strategies you have implemented are working.

In business, you need to do budgets and measure everything. Only then can you see what's working.

In health, regularly measure the key performance indicators - might be blood pressure, heart rate, weight, general feeling of wellness. Then you can see if it's working.

# 5: Be accountable to someone. And have someone accountable to you. If I deviate from the plan, Sam is going to want to know why. She'll get me back on track and focused on the goal. And if I follow her plan to the letter and don't see results, I'll be asking Sam why her plan isn't working. Which would get her to readjust the strategies I'm sure (that means I'd be running up that ^%$#^@$!* hill 7 days a week!).

In business, I have some mentors who ask me the hard questions if I don't achieve what I set out to achieve.

# 6: Write down your goals. It's motivating and it keeps you on track with what you are supposed to be doing.

# 7: Have someone push you for maximise effort. In business, it can be the Bank manager or the husband/wife! In my fitness case, it's Sam. (Although I'm sure things will get easier, I wouldn't have pushed myself as much as I did today if it wasn't for Sam.)

Yep, getting fit and business are similar. But I still say Sam tried to kill me!

Cheers and have a good night.

Brendon