2007 was an especially good year for me. I finished my first book and sold over 1500 copies of it, even though there was a two month period in the height of the selling season where I was completely out of books. I fully expect my book to reach best seller status by the end of next year, all without it ever touching a bookstores shelf. I also began what has turned into a very profitable venture back into the mortgage industry. I took on the role of Managing Partner with MortgageBrokers.com and successfully built a self sustaining referral network and team of four (soon to be five) hungry and very talented mortgage associates. With my foray back into the mortgage industry, I also succesfully launched asknolan.com, a web based information portal for the mortgage, real estate, and finance industries.

2008 looks even brighter, there are an additional 3 books which are planned to be released in 2008, one golf related, one finance related, and an additional title which will essentially take the lessons of Golf Balls Don’t Float and put them into a format that everyone can enjoy. In addition there has been a keynote created based on Golf Balls Don’t Float that is perfect for any sales organization. On the mortgage side of things, asknolan.com will continue to take on a refined form, and we expect to grow our team to a total of 10.

2008 looks to be a phenomenal year, look for the up and coming post on goal setting for the new year.

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There is no question about it, there is a fundamental flaw to personal training. There is one sole reason that 90% of people who start a workout program quit. The last 30 days have proved this without a doubt as far as I am concerned.

For those of you who haven’t been following along, 30 days ago I wrote a post about what I think is flawed with personal training. The major flaw as I see it is that personal trainers are more interested in teaching someone how to do a set program that they are paid to create, rather than simply teaching clients that the first thing they need to do is get active at the most basic level, and at a level that the client is comfortable with. That doesn’t mean creating a once a week program of cardio and weight training, it means telling someone who has never been active before to get active, once a day, everyday, until your body adjust to being used physically. This can mean anything from doing a 15 minute walk every morning to working a different muscle group everyday for a 30 day period.

The 30 day period is based on the thirty day principle, the principle that can teach anyone how to form or break any habit, no matter what it is. It is thought, and has been successfully proven by NASA, that if someone changes anything in their life for 30 days consistently, their body will adjust and subsequently form a habit as a result. Thus, in order for someone who is not used to working out to start exercising regularly, they must do so consistently for 30 days.

My past experience with the theory has lead me to several outcomes successfully, some of which have been quitting drinking Coca-Cola, one of the most addictive drinks on the planet, and eating healthy. This time around, I have consistently created the habit of working out everyday without fail, for at the very least 15 minutes. What has this done for my body you may ask? Well I have lost fat, gained muscle, and overall look and feel better than I ever have before. It has also created a base that will now allow me to go to a personal trainer and have a program created that suits my needs, one that I will be able to continue indefinitely.

The thirty day principle works, and it can work for you if you want to get fit. All you have to do is introduce yourself to physical activity everyday for thirty days, and you body and mind will thank you.

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The number one search engine query that drives traffic to my website is the question “do golf balls float?” The simple answer is no they don’t, unless of course you get creative in your thinking.

You see, if you simply put a golf ball in water, it will sink. However, if you think outside of the box, there is a very simple way to make it float. The key is you have to think outside of the box.

Making a golf ball float is similar to making adjustments to anything that happens in your life. Nothing is impossible as long as you are open to and always looking for alternate methods to solving life’s problems. For example, Will Smith played Chris Gardner in the Pursuit of Happiness, the story of a man who looked outside of what was possible within reason and became the worlds most successful African-American investment specialist. Instead of doing things the way that his company had set out for him, he looked outside of the box and pursued the biggest customers he could possibly attract. He looked for an alternate method to a problem, keeping his child housed and fed, and found the answer in an atypical, but spectacular manner. There was an answer to the problem out there, it just took creative thinking to find the answer.

So what is the outside the box answer on whether golf balls float? Well if you think outside of the box, there is in fact, a very simple method, that will make any golf ball float with ease. Simply fill a glass with water and add about a third of a cup of epson salts. Drop the golf ball in the water and watch it float. If it does not do so at first, add more salt. Eventually, you will have a floating golf ball.

A simple outside the box solution to a simple query.

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It has been an interesting 8 days so far. I have been both criticized and praised for the 30 day theory and its potential as a tool to help anybody become active.

A 25 year veteran of the personal training and golf fitness industry has voiced his opinion stating that asking anybody who has not worked out before to exercise everyday is setting them up for certain failure. My response was that anybody who hasn’t worked out before should not be going into a full fitness routine once per week, but should be getting into the habit of being active and physical on a daily basis by walking for at least 15 minutes a day just to get their heart rate up.

On the other side of the debate, a Muay Thai Boxer and internationally renowned success expert and speaker who recently trained with some of the best athletes in the world, agreed with me. He stated that when developing the habit of physical fitness, it does not mean that you have to be in the gym lifting iron everyday, but on the days that you are not, you should be keeping active by doing something else that will keep your body in the habit of being used.

My personal experience has so far been a positive one. I have done some level of physical activity each day for the last 8 days. Some days I found myself in the gym, testing both my strength and endurance. Other days I have found myself running near midnight as my day did not allow me to take the time to exercise any sooner. On one day in particular I nearly went to bed without exercising, having been exhausted from a long day at work. Yet I managed to pull through and felt truly inspired and full of energy afterwards.

I knew it would not be easy, but I can feel my body getting used to the extra use. I have already noticeably lost body fat, and have added at least as much weight in muscle as I have lost. I am up three pounds and noticeably bigger through my legs and upper body (keep in mind my goal is not to lose weight but gain muscle). I am fully confident I will make it to thirty days. It is truly a different perspective having the goal to create the habit instead of the goal to change my body. I believe the difference is that most people quit exercising because they do not see results. This method takes the emphasis off of the results and puts it on the habit.

Always consult a physician before beginning any type of exercise routine.

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Some people have questioned my blog from earlier this week about the 30 day principle to start and continue a workout routine. My premise being that the traditional method of working out for five days and then taking a rest day doesn’t work for the beginner simply because it does not allow them to create a habit. My belief is that it takes at least 21 days (I like to use 30 days for assurance) to create or break any habit, and that the thirty days must be consecutive, meaning if you are trying to quit smoking you must not take one puff for thirty days, and if you are trying to begin a workout routine, you must do it everyday for 30 days. My belief is that anytime you take even one day off while trying to create or break a habit, you will need to begin again.

Some have directly asked me if I have any experience myself with this theory, and the answer is yes. Approximately two years ago I quit drinking Coca-Cola (which I was extremely addicted to but loved so much). I was completely addicted to the stuff, drinking nearly two liters per day. I can’t even imagine how much sugar, caffeine and artificial dye was being pumped through my body. I had tried to quit on several occasions, going through withdrawal headaches and the shakes every time. That is however, until I discovered the 30 day theory.

It was July 7, 2005 when I finally was able to quit for good, that was the day that I decided to go the full 30 days without a sip of coke. While it was tough, it worked. To this day I only have coke every so often when I am out for drinks with friends or at someones house where the options are limited.

The theory without doubt works, and I would recommend it to anyone. I truly believe that if you can choose to do anything for thirty days, you can do it for a lifetime.

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What if I told you that if you did exactly what I told you to for 30 days, without falter, I could get you to form or quit any habit, good or bad? In fact, what if I didn’t even have to be there to tell you what to do to quit smoking, or to learn to work out on a regular basis? What if I could just tell you how to do it, and you could make or break any habit you desired for the rest of your life in just 30 days? And what if it was such a simple concept even a child could do it? It would be a pretty profound piece of knowledge wouldn’t it?

Well, the fact is that I can tell you how to make or break any habit you want to in 30 days and it is really quite simple. Gurus such as Jack Canfield and Robin Sharma have known and taught this technique successfully for years, although Sharma uses 21 days instead. What is it? It is simply to perform the habit you are trying to create or break for 30 days without fail, in order to make it a habit for life. This means that if you can go without smoking, or go to the gym everyday for 30 days, you will have the ability to do so until you create another habit which counters it.

This isn’t just some made up theory either. In an early NASA experiment, scientists place convex goggles on would be astronauts which made everything appear upside down. The experiment was designed to help figure out what effects the disorientations of space would have on the human mind. What they found was that after 30 days the astronaut’s minds had completely flipped the image back so that everything appeared normal even though they were still wearing the goggles. In further experiments the goggles were removed for one day on day 15, what was found in this instance was that the 30 day period would have to start all over again even though the goggles were only removed for on day. So the inference is that the mind can make any new function normal in just 30 days.

So what does this have to do with Personal Training’s fundamental flaw? It is the fact that personal trainers world wide all preach the same thing to beginners, six days on, one day off. In almost every case, personal trainers preach that there should be a rest day. And to an extent I agree, however this one rest day is in almost all cases the core reason why a person fails to continue a workout program. As soon as you take one day off, it becomes easier to take a second day off, and a third and so on. When someone who has never worked out for an extended period of time before begins a workout program, they need to make sure that the going to the gym is consistent for the first 30 days to build the habit. Even though common theory tells us we need a rest day, in order to ensure we continue our workout program beyond the initial week or so, we need to make sure a workout habit is formed. The only way to do this is to workout for thirty days straight, and then worry about a rest day every six days starting in the second month.

Of course, never work yourself past exhaustion and make sure you consult a physician before you start any exercise program. To prove my theory works, I will be testing it myself starting tomorrow and will blog about the results.

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The defining moment of the day came when Robbins said the following, “Change your blueprint, change your life.” I of course heard this as, “Change your blueprint, change your life golf game.” Its a simple yet profound concept. If you can figure out what motivates you to do the things you are most proud of and apply that to the things you need to improve on, you can effectively change the blueprint of why you do things, making yourself more successful. For example, if you can figure out that what motivates you to play a round of golf rather than practicing is the fact that you like to see if you can break your previous score, then you can figure out that if you apply a scoring system to your practice, you will be encouraged to do it more often.

From the same seminar, if you use Jack Canfields approach, and make a habit of practicing everyday for 30 days straight to from a habit, it will become a part of your blueprint that will be hard to break. Simply by changing your motivations and then putting them in to place for a sustainable period of time, you will be able to move beyond your current level of success to one closer to where you want to be.

Next time I will talk about the fundamental flaw of personal training and why people have so much trouble continuing a workout program based on the current methodology used by most trainers.

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Last week I had the pleasure of playing in the first annual Here’s to Billy Charity golf tournament in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. What was truly an honor was the fact that I was asked by Bill to play in his place, given that he is a cancer patient and didn’t have the strength to play on his own. I am proud to say that our team represented Bill well, winning the tournament and making Bill Patton the inaugural winner of his own charity golf tournament. Congrats Billy!

For those who don’t know Bill, he is the mortgage industries greatest personality. It is hard to travel anywhere where someone doesn’t at least know of him. His friendly greetings which always begin with a hug rather than a handshake are legendary, his wit is second to done, and he is simply the most friendly person in an industry that is known for its fun loving members. He is without a doubt the life of the party.

Thank you Bill for providing me the honor of playing in your place! Here’s to Billy!

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