Yesterday I got to the gym early to try and hang some merchandise back on the racks, after taking it with me to my seminar the following day.  So, I had some time alone in the gym and I looked around at all I had accomplished. 

Without trying to cloud my mind with all the things I still have to do, I tried to just admire the things I had done already and where I had come from.  Then, suddenly in walked three new people that were eager to train for the first time.  However, this didn’t really make me change all the things I was thinking about because this is actually one of the things I am most thankful for.  Every time someone new comes into the gym I have yet another opportunity to help them accomplish their goals, whatever those goals may be, and I am truly thankful to be in that position.

After showing our new members around, and giving them a quick lesson, I returned back upstairs to find that many more people had already arrived and had started their open mat session in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Since they were already practicing, I sat down and really got a chance to appreciate their skill level and how far they had come in the time they had been there.  It’s amazing to see their thought process, skill level, and control while practicing.  We truly have an amazing gym and amazing members that are only going to get better as time goes on.

After watching them all compete, laugh, and have fun while practicing, I started to realize how things went much deeper then what building we were in or what new moves people might have been doing.  Everyone out there was truly a friend of mine as well as a friend to everyone else in the gym that day.  We had all actually been out to dinner, a movie, a party, or another event at one time or another.  In fact, most of our wives and/or children are also friends and without the gym none of this would probably have happened.

For a long time now, I have wanted to implement some goal setting for each and every person in our gym.  The reason is, we all need to stay motivated and the best way to do that is through accomplishing personal goals and milestones again and again.  If you aren’t already doing this, you truly aren’t getting enough out of your training.
 
In every aspect of our lives it’s important for us to set goals, because having a goal enables us to focus our energy on devising ways to achieve it. When someone makes a decision and begins focusing on achieving a specific goal (and even better in a specific period of time), the powerful subconscious mind goes to work and begins playing with ideas and developing strategies of various ways to bring about the successful completion of the goal.
 
When you set yourself a goal both your conscious and subconscious start working on it and begin to develop an action plan. You will find you begin asking yourself questions about what needs to be done to enable you to reach your goal. You may find yourselves coming up with amazing ideas and solutions to problems or obstacles that have been in the way of achieving your goal.
 
Solutions and ideas that you are surprised you ever thought of may start popping into your mind. Our subconscious is an extremely powerful tool.
 
The more often you remind yourself of your goal, the more your mind will work on ways for you to achieve it. Some people find answers come to them when they are asleep and dreaming. Have you ever noticed that there is no correlation between being wealthy and having a high IQ or a university degree? If there were, every doctor and university graduate would be wealthy, and as statistics show, most of them end up in the same situation as 95% of the population.
 
The main thing that the majority of independently wealthy people have in common is that they have set goals for themselves and achieved them. They invest time in reading and learning about wealth creation and are happy to learn from other people’s mistakes and experiences, as well as their own.
 
They set goals, and realise that they will be far better able to achieve them if they familiarise themselves with the ways in which other people acted and the things that others have done to succeed. Wealthy people create wealth by carefully utilising the income that they have available to them to their best advantage.
 
They know that working harder and longer hours is not the way to achieve financial freedom, instead they have to utilise what they have, and make it grow.
 
Setting Goals. When you begin to work out your goals you need to make them as specific as possible. A vague idea or generalization like “I want to lose weight and be in shape” is not enough. You need to be much more detailed.
 
“I want to lose 20 pounds in two months.
 
I will make sure I do 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week and I will stop eating sweets at night.  I will do research and come up with a better way of eating and stick to this for the rest of my life.  I may even add a weight lifting program 1-2 days per week to give me more muscle, so that I can burn more fat.
 
I will join a gym close to my house to make sure that I can workout properly and I will also talk to a personal trainer to make sure I get the proper advise, and guidelines, to make sure I accomplish my goal.” This is a specific goal, and you could add a lot more to it.
 
Because your goal is specific your mind immediately begins to ask questions such as “What are the best gyms to join? How can I change my diet and still be happy and healthy? Can I afford the gym and a personal trainer or do I need to cut back somewhere else?”
 
Specific goals help you to create specific, realistic action plans and as the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. You will find that if you write down your goals on a piece of paper, and put it in a prominent position, so that you will read it often, your subconscious as well as your conscious mind will start asking questions and coming up with answers, and you will find that you have already begun to take the necessary steps to achieving your goal.
 
It is helpful to have a series of goals, ranging from daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, ten yearly and thirty to forty yearly. You can always refine and change your goals as time goes on and situations change. You may find that it is easier to start at the 40-year mark, and then work backwards. Try to work out what steps would be needed to achieve your 40-year goal, and spread them out over the different time spans, to what you would need to achieve to end up with the final result. Try to make your goals realistic and achievable.
 
Do not set a goal that is too hard. Set lots of small, easily achievable goals and work step by step to achieve your road to success. Stay positive. Believe in yourself and your abilities to succeed, even if other people patronise you or try to put you off, or tell you there is no point. Setting and achieving goals help you to create a stronger character. It is always helpful to remember that our brain cannot entertain both positive and negative thoughts at the same time.
 
If you stay positive you will dispel negative thought patterns. Even if you come across little obstacles that get in the way of your goals, don’t give up. Focus on finding a solution. Rather than focusing on the problem utilise a positive response.
 
Focusing on finding solutions enables you to put your brain to work, to find ways around things. If you just see an obstacle as a problem and just accept that life has dealt you a blow, and let it stop you in your tracks, then you will never learn and grow.
 
Remember that children learn to walk by falling over. Focus on the long-term achievements that you want to fulfil, and it will be easier to overcome your problems.
 
Butch Hiles
www.advancedbkj.com

—credit goes to Debra Lohere for the second part of this article

Guys,

This is a reminder that classes at the gym are canceled this Thursday and Friday, to observe the holidays.

Have a safe Christmas and we will see you soon.

Butch Hiles
www.advancedbkj.com

I just wanted to write a quick post and say how great I think “Healthy Life Market” is.  It’s located in all Drug Emporium stores and has just about anything you would ever need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

I’ve had a couple of friends who mentioned this store to me in the past but they never really went into detail about how great it actually is.  I finally went about a week ago and have been back at least five times since then.  They have a huge selection of protein and supplements, which is great if you need something quick after a workout or just a healthier snack (and that’s my main reason for being back so frequently recently), but they really have a little bit of everything.

There are tons of organic foods, gluten free, grass fed meats, unprocessed, and just all around great stuff to choose from.  I have been big on the large selection or raw, organic, and unsalted selection of mixed nuts they have there, because it’s nice to finally find so many varieties available.

I highly recommend this store to everyone.  You can really change your cooking habits for the better (healthy cooking oils and baking materials) and also possibly change some of your unhealthy snacking habits around.  I really think you guys will be impressed with the place!

http://www.healthylifemarket.com/

Please let me know what you think,

Butch Hiles

www.advancedbkj.com

Guys,

I will be working on getting all of our new apparel on the site and at the gym, but there is a lot…  This means not all of it will be displayed at the gym and it may take me some time to get it all listed.

There are plans to get some adidtional pictures tonight but time is really tough to come by these days.  In any event, here is some of the new gear (men’s and women’s) and it can be purchased asap off the site.

This link won’t be found on the site, until I do some updates, so save it if you navigate to the other merchandise sections.

www.advancedbkj.com/apparel

Please let me know what you think,
Butch Hiles
www.advancedbkj.com

Butch Hiles November 2009

After posting the 11% body fat article, along with my ab picture, I got quite a few questions about what I eat, workouts, etc. I am sorry I didn’t respond to everyone directly, but I definitely didn’t forget about you guys and I am definitely here to help.

I was in terrible shape about a year or so ago due to bad eating habits, and the bottom line is you have to have your workouts (cardio and weights) and diet in check.  You really cannot have one without the other.  We all have the tools out there to do it and it’s just a matter of putting it all together and sticking to it.  I have always gone through cycles of being in good shape, then bad, then good, then bad, and so on, but it basically breaks down to not keeping both of those things in check at all times when that happens.  When I don’t, I suffer because of it.

So, here’s some easy information to get your diet in check, and it’s what I do as well.  After talking to my friends, Jeremy Mullins and Dan Stickler, Paleo is the way to eat.  Here is some information about this lifestyle change and why you should do it: http://www.paleodiet.com/

I am not going to make this little post all scientific.  Do your own research and read the info on that link or do a google search.  I happen to agree with the information behind the principles of this way of eating, but most of all I have personally seen tons of in shape people who follow this same diet.  By in shape, I don’t mean skinny either.  Many times, being skinny doesn’t necessarily mean you are physically fit or healthy, and sometimes these people are worse off than the overweight people we know.  By in shape, I mean ripped, overall physically healthy, and can compete at the highest level athletically.  That is the true measure of the nutritional part of your lifestyle.

As I said, this post isn’t meant to be a research article.  It’s just a short informational blog to help some of you out.  I can answer individual questions at another time or, preferably, in the comment section of this post. 

This bit of information will help get your diet and nutritional needs in check.  Afterwards, you will need to start to get your fitness in check.  Obviously, we all do a lot of martial arts (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, MMA, etc) at our gym (www.advancedbkj.com), but we have also added our Ultimate Cardio & Conditioning Class to help everyone out as well.  These are my main forms of cardio but I also add in some running and weights in my spare time.

It’s great to be around a lot of motivated people.  This really helps keep everyone on track and accomplishing their personal goals.  I am very lucky that we have that at Butch Hiles Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA, LLC but there are also many other places that can help you reach your goals.  Both of my friends, that were previously mentioned, run great crossfit gyms and there are also other great martial arts gym around.  In the end, I just hope everyone is able to accomplish whatever goal it is that they are setting for themselves.  If you need help, you are always welcome at our gym.

As always, I am here to help.  Train hard and see you soon!

Butch Hiles

www.advancedbkj.com

Lisa Hiles

My wife, Lisa Hiles, worked very hard and passed her MRI certification today. She is now officially a registered MRI Technologist!!!

Congrats and Love,
Butch Hiles

www.advancedbkj.com