Another great plaque I’ve seen on military leader’s desks said “Your poor planning does not constitute an emergency on my part”. Last but not least, one had a grenade on it with a number tag on the pin you pull to activate the grenade. It reads, “The complaints department takes a number. This is why today in my business one of our core values is humor. If you can’t make fun of yourself, who can?
I have read many leadership and self-help books over the years and it seems like each one touts their simple process or system. So here are SGT Peterson’s three rules to live by.

#1 – Control Your Attitude

Regardless of how bad today or the long term outlook is, you can always control your attitude. You can put a smile on your face and attack the day with optimism. This is something you always have the choice to do. You can inspire others to have a better day just by the way you conduct yourself.

For instance, an American’s bad day might be you wake up late, miss breakfast, and don’t even have time to shower before you rush off to work. You then start your day with your boss waiting for you in his office with a few things to speak with you about. He goes on to tell you your salary will be cut by 15% because of the financial crisis. Then you go to lunch and reach for your debit card only to find that you forgot your wallet at home. Lastly, on the way home from work you run out of gas.

However a GOOD day in Africa might start off with a cup rice and beans (if you are able to get some from the aid worker that gets robbed half of the time by the local militia.) This is the same Militia that rapes and pillages towns and enslaves young boys in their militia for life. It’s a good day if they don’t get you or a lion, crocodile, or hyena doesn’t eat you alive.

Interestingly enough people in these smaller countries are usually happier than people in larger, more modern society. In Africa they are just happy to live, and they do it using these three simple principles. They may not want too, but they do it because they have to. It’s too bad that so many people in America are accustomed to complaining about things while being unhappy. They could be making things happen with a smile on their face like the less fortunate third world countries around the world.

#2 – Control What You Are Doing Right Now!

That means you are the master of your body and universe. If you want to stop drinking or lose weight you will have to make a decision to change your behavior, and it must start today or the procrastinating and self-depreci

ating will never end. Stop making excuses, and demand results by making it happen NOW!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aznUqcpgF6M

Today’s blog post is about leaders and managers and how they differ. The main difference between the two is that leaders inspire people and managers make people do things. That’s the biggest fundamental difference. Leaders stand up for what they believe in even when it’s politically unpopular or it could cause them harm.

People follow leaders because they show up first, leave last, and do what the right thing is regardless of what other’s think. Leadership, to me, is measured by the actions of somebody when the shit hits the fan. A leader is the person who eats last, who pays themselves last. A CEO of a company should never pay themselves before their workers.

Managers, on the other hand, are people who want to go home early and go on vacation all the time. They hold people accountable with a number and from a distance. They’re not ‘in the fight’ so to speak. They’re often hypocrites who say they’re going to do something differently when they’re in management and once they get there they do the same as everyone else! They take the easy way out by putting numbers on everyone and when people don’t hit numbers they’re gone.

At the end of the day, when you want to do something difficult in your life, such as getting in shape, you need to go to someone who’s done something similar to that and follow them. A leader isn’t always someone that’s a boss, coach, or someone who’s appointed. Many times it’s someone within your team, or an informal leader.

Is there something that you want to do differently in life? Here’s how: Find someone that you want to be like, someone that does what you want to do everyday. Follow that person and people like them as much as possible and you will be able to get the things you want.

So why do people follow other people?

Some people think that great leaders are able to get people to want to do things that work on their purpose, cause, and passion. Others subscribe to the belief that great managers are needed to make people do things. Still others tell people that fear is the best motivator, or some type of incentive. I, however, prescribe to the belief that if you lead by example and leave no one behind, that anything you want to accomplish will happen. I also believe that when decisions are made it must always be a win, win, win for all parties involved, otherwise someone will have resentment over the issue.

Why can some people get others to do the “work” for them?

I would say it boils down to beliefs, and taking care of your people. In the military, sergeants take care of their soldiers much like you would take care of your own child. In turn the soldiers take care of the Sergeant, not because they have to, but because they know he has there back when they need it. In the end of the day it is about team work, and knowing what to expect when you need someone’s help.

Why do some people manage, and still have the ability to get results?

Managers usually use fear as a motivator to get people to act a certain way. Be it loss of a job, loss of a relationship, or both. Managers are masters of manipulation. They make people do things by holding them accountable to a number that everyone needs to make to hit a quota.

How are mangers and leaders different?

It simple, managers make people do things because they have to.
Leaders make people want to do things of their own free will.

The choice is your’s on two fronts. You can choose which way to be with your followers, and you can choose which types of these people that you follow. I know some of you are reading this and thinking, I don’t lead anyone, I just work at a desk, etc. But that could not be further from the truth. Everyone has someone who looks up to them, whether that be a kid down the street that doesnt have a dad and you help him fix his flat tire, or a coworker that has lost their way and needs to be cheered up that day. We all have a chance to choose what we do each day.

I know that everyone that is reading this can think of at least 2 or 3 people that look up to them. In all, lead by example, don’t leave anyone behind and I promise that your life will be much more fulfilling and you will get what out of it exactly what you put into it.

My personal proven process is what I call the rule of 3 and it is a win, win, win. This is what helps guide me when things get into what most people call the grey area. The other rule that I often apply also has 3 parts.

1. You can always control your attitude
2. You can control what you are doing right now
3. You can plan for the future (I have found that less is more in this department)

In all, after much deliberating and applying the rules to this decision, I had to go back to what I love, the Military and sharing it with the young people in the community. So I am now serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion!

Think about it, my company, for the last three years, has been run much like a military unit. Because of my time working with some of the top business people in the Twin Cities and arguably the country I have improved myself not only as a leader, salesperson, marketer, but as a person and a human being. This go around, serving and leading soldiers will be much easier for me. Last time I didn’t even have a clear idea of what my purpose, cause or passion were. Not only do I have that defined, but I have a much larger tool box to pull from to inspire the future leaders of our community. I also have many mentors that have an outside the normal military box way of doing things that I can call on to help when things get challenging!

The best part about the whole thing is I get to work with new soldiers until they get ready to join their first duty station. This often means for their first 2 years in the guard I will be leading them. There is nothing that I take more seriously then leading soldiers, especially during war time. It is the most responsibility that anyone can have, and it makes me feel alive! So if you know anyone that is interested in being a part of something that is larger than themselves, please have them contact me and I will be more then happy to help them find out what the military is all about, and how it can help them improve them and everyone around them.

SSG Tim Peterson
Recruiting, Retention and Attrition Management NCO
Minnesota Army National Guard
651-775-5901

Ingredients:

- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 3/4 cup frozen berries
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I used 1/2 scoop in mine this morning because I eat a lot of protein throughout the day already)
- 1 scoop greens mix (Also used a half scoop of this; I found a LifeTime fitness brand at the apartment I am staying at so I threw it in there and love it.  You can probably get something similar at a Whole Foods/Lunds type store.)
- A couple ice cubes

Instructions:

- Put it all in a blender
- Mix it together
- That’s it

Nutrition:

Calories: 326
Carbs: 45
Fat: 4
Protein: 32
Fiber: 6

*After looking at the nutrition information this one is making me wonder a bit. It is pretty high in carbs and protein (you want to shoot for around 30 g of carbs and 20-25g of protein), and fat and fiber could be a tid bit higher (YOU NEED TO EAT GOOD FATS TO BURN FAT and FIBER = FULLNESS).  If you take flax or fish oils that would be a great way to get your fat in if you are going to have this shake.

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#2 – For the chocolate peanut butter lovers

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#3 – Home-Made Protein Bars: Save money by making a giant batch of your own simple protein bars! The ingredients list is short, but they add up to make a delicious snack that will help fuel your body post-workout when coupled with some high fiber fruits or veggies.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup NATURAL peanut butter or almond butter (the only ingredients in the peanut butter we used were peanuts and sea salt)
- 1 cup honey (better than using sugar or artificial sweeteners)
- 11 scoops of whey protein powder (we were running low on this, so we could only use 8 scoops; we used GNC Pro Performance Vanilla)
- 2 ½ cups dry, uncooked oatmeal
- 4 tablespoons water

Instructions:

- Combine peanut butter and honey in a large nonstick pot and warm over low heat until it is easily stirred
- Add protein powder, oatmeal and water to mixture and stir (will be thick and difficult to stir, good for the pipes)
- Press into a 9×13 pan with the bottom of a measuring cup and let cool
- Cut into 16 equal bars
- Wrap each bar individually in foil or saran wrap and store in Tupperware to prevent hardening
- Refrigerate until post workout….Enjoy!

Nutrition:
(per serving, yields 16 servings)

Calories: 287
Fat: 10
Protein: 21.4
Carbs: 34

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#4 - Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

- 1 cup Low Fat Organic Cottage Cheese
- 1 cup Oatmeal
- 7 large egg whites (or 4 whole eggs)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Real Maple Syrup

Instructions:

- Put oats in to a blender or food processor, and blend until it is the consistency of flour
- Then add in the cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon
- Once the mixture is blended to the consistency of pancake batter you are ready to go!
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, add pancakes to the griddle, when they are no longer getting little bubbles popping up and they look “dry” around the edges you are ready to flip!
- Then just check the other side and when it is golden brown you are all set to eat these bad boys!
- Top with a tsp per cake of maple syrup for taste and enjoy!

Remember, there is a difference between wanting something and having the willpower to do it. Stop just wanting to eat better, stop just wanting to get more sleep, stop just wanting to get exercise in, and stop just wanting to be in the shape you desire to be – FIND THE WILLINGNESS TO DO IT AND DO IT. We here to inspire, motivate and believe in you, so put in the hard work and some great things will happen!!

This post is inspired by a person that recently started working out with us at SGT Peterson’s. By no means is this the first or last person that will forget to listen to what we say about the intro workout. They then realize why we tell them to drink plenty of water beforehand, get plenty of sleep and make sure they have some food in them. With that said, if your trainer tells you not to eat at the Chinese buffet before you come workout, listen to them! If they say don’t come in hungover, then don’t! That is, unless you want to be praying to the porcelain god a few times. Eventually you will be laying on the ground with a fan on you, with your feet up, with your trainer trying to give you water like you are that person that got way too drunk at a college party. At that point you are basically being treated for shock, minus the blanket.

Why is it that people listen to the professionals like Doctors and Lawyers, and follow them without question? But when it comes to the personal trainer many think they know it all because they read something in Muscle and Fitness magazine last week. First of all, any professional trainer, or avid workout person, knows that every 90-120 days each of the articles in the magazine are recycled and the content reworded just to sell magazines with different headlines. There is really little to no new information about health and fitness in the last 15 years. I promise that more than 95% of the things we know today, we knew in the early 80’s. So you may ask, how can there be so many magazines about health and fitness? It’s simply because people buy the magazines and they buy the total CRAP that is marketed in most of them.

On another note, I often joke with health professionals like nurses, dentists and trainers about something. (If anyone watched the show Lost they know what I am talking about.) If a plane went down and there were no medical doctors people would look to the nurses, dentists, and trainers for help with their medical issues. As scary as that sounds I have been out in the woods with people and when the shit hits the fan they look at me like I know what to do for blood poisoning. (Which I find alarming and equally amusing because the same people would show up hung over to a workout when I told them not to!) The problem in today’s world is people trust their doctors way too much, just because they have 10 years of school doesn’t mean they know everything. Everyone has predispositions to like or not like certain things based on there own bias. So don’t be scared to seek a second opinion, maybe even from a non-traditional holistic doctor. And LISTEN to your trainer! They are a professional and have your best interest in mind just like your doctor or lawyer. (And I promise they have way less lawsuits against them.)

The reason for this article is simply for men and women to feel understood when it comes to their emotions and WHY people exercise. Emotions can drive people to react in ways that outsiders see as irrational. As much as men want to pretend they don’t make decisions that are emotional based, I know it’s a straight lie. I find it very entertaining that most men, when engaged in “Guy Talk,” make light of theses emotions when women display them. Basically I am saying guys are to proud to admit they have feelings. With that said, let’s talk about where emotions come from and how your brain processes them. This idea was originally inspired by Randy Humola, and is more recently influenced and broadly distributed by Simon Sinek who I had the liberty of seeing speak in Minneapolis in June. This is Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle.

Simon Sinek basically says:

WHY is all about a person Purpose, cause or belief. The ‘Why’ is your driving motivation for action.
HOW is a person’s guiding principles, the ‘Hows’ are the specific actions that are taken to realize your ‘Why.’
WHAT is the Tangible proof, or results. The ‘Whats’ are the tangible ways in which you bring your ‘Why’ to life.

Randy Humola says to “Peel Back The Onion” with four basic questions to get to the emotional reason for “Why” people workout. It is uncanny how the two versions parallel each other, especially in respect to the 10 years of difference in when they were created.  Mr. Humola’s question’s looked something like this.

1. Calisthenics – Use body weight in multiple planes as resistance to develop muscular strength and endurance.

2. Yoga – Similar to calisthenics this has even less impact on the body because it is 95% static holds. Yoga is also a great way to increase flexibility.

3. Light pool/resistance training – This training puts the least amount of stress on your joints and muscles because your body weight in water is ⅕ that of its out of water weight.

4. Medicine Ball Training – Can strengthen your core and provide dynamic stability training without much impact if done correctly.

5. Walking – Is the most underused and effective exercise to lose weight and it is very low impact.

6. Swimming- Is less impact and is probably only second to skiing in terms of burning calories.

7. Range Of Motion Exercise s- This is simply moving your joints through all of their respective ranges. This is usually reserved for people that should not build up certain muscles, or for individuals that can’t build certain muscles because of disease.

8. Cross Country Skiing- Is pretty much the king of exercises if you want to lose weight and need your exercise to be low impact. With that said, people with shoulder issues may have trouble.

9. Isometric Exercises – Can be done with any muscle group, you just squeeze the muscle without a load for a duration of time, then rest and repeat. Pro bodybuilders do this backstage to pump up there muscles, and often they say it’s one of the hardest workouts they get.

Techniques that can be used to help with this sometime painful journey are stated below.

1. RICE – Also known as REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, and ELEVATION. The rest allows your body to repair itself. The ice reduces swelling (the cause for pain in most non ligament damaging injuries.) The compression helps support the joint so it doesn’t have to work as hard while its healing, and the elevation also helps remove the swelling.

2. Train to pain, don’t tough through it – What I have found in my own training and by training others over the last 11 years is that if you train and there is a sharp pain, or pain generally over a 4, on a 1-10 scale 10 being the worst, then you are just hurting yourself, and you will actually make it harder for yourself to workout in the future.

3. Medicine – Generally speaking I am not a big advocate of taking pills. But when you get injured or you have a disease like arthritis that causes painful inflammation, taking an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen, Neproxin sodium, and other prescription versions have helped my clients and I immensely. This is especially helpful within 24-48 hours of the injury occurring.

4. Massage/Foam Roller – To relieve tension get a massage. If you can’t afford a professional try the do it yourself version by using a hard foam roller.

5. Acupuncture – I can not speak for this myself, but many of my clients and one of my former trainers (who was the captain of the US Female Rugby team) swore by it.

6. Heat Treatment (sauna, whirlpool, hot water bottle) – Most people know that ice is good to use when treating injuries, but most people forget about heat. Heat will bring blood flow to an area, which brings nutrients and speeds up the repair process. It must be used in reverse of the ice. In all ice and elevation get the blood to go towards your heart. Heat gets it to travel back the sight of the injury.

7. Hydrate – Your body and blood are largely made up of water. If you want all the nutrients to get to the injury and back to the heart faster than lubricate your body and blood with lots of H20!

What are your tried and true methods for working out with injuries? Tell us about it in the comments section!