What the Health Have I Done? 2

 

Ok, so I’ve already taken the first most important step in the transformation process. I’ve set an intention and a goal – lose 30 pounds in 90 days by March 31^st.

I have also done the very important second step too – I’ve vocalized my intention and goal on video and then released it to the world. I’m now accountable to anyone who may question my progress or see me after March 31^st.

I pride myself on always doing what I say I’m going to do – I follow through and I HATE to fail!

Had I kept my intention and goal secret, it may have been easy for me to cheat on myself or postpone my progress to my goal. Now I have forced myself into accountability.

Maybe you aren’t comfortable sharing your physique or goals with the world – that’s ok. Find an accountability partner that you would trust with your life (because this is YOUR  LIFE we’re talking about here – right?). Tell your partner your intention, goal and plan of action. This accountability partner should be someone who cares about you, knows how to motivate you, and keep you on track. This person should be someone you would never want to disappoint.

If you don’t have anyone in your life who is up for the task, I recommend hiring a personal trainer or professional life coach. The financial investment in professional help will be added incentive and accountability.

Oh yeah, one more important point that I already covered in my previous video – I set a visualization for my goal. Remember those pictures of me in great shape – those will be my visual reminders, motivation, inspiration and resistance to temptation as I strive to look my best again.

If you feel you’ve never ‘looked your best’ or you desire ‘better than your best’ – then go online and find a photo of your favorite athlete or celebrity – save it to your computer desktop background or cell phone wallpaper. That should do the trick for now!

What the Health Have I Done?!

I did something crazy over the last 6 months - I intentionally gained 30 pounds. Now why would anyone in their right mind do that? Honestly, I did it to prove a few points. I’ve been 184 pounds for the last 20 years – that’s an ideal weight for a guy who is 6’4”.

Here I am after a 1.5 mile ocean swim last summer

I’ve always worked out hard and eaten healthy to maintain this weight and muscle; however, I’ve repeatedly heard from people how “lucky” I am to never gain weight, to have a great physique and no history of health problems. Even members of my family have accused me of “getting all of the good genes."

Eating a 15 ingredient salad on a kayak trip

In the last 6 months, I have departed from my normal routine to prove that I am indeed human. I also wanted to prove that when you do what the average person does, you get average results.

A shot of wheatgrass juice on St. Patty's Day 2011

There are some things that I will never compromise – like my strict vegetarian diet. I have been 100% vegetarian for over 17 years now and will maintain that until the last meal I eat. However, over the last 6 months I transitioned from a vegan diet consisting of mostly raw fruits, veggies, sprouts and fresh juice to what I call a pizza and potato chip vegetarian diet. I still ate lots of fruits and veggies, but I added in pizza, pastas, pies, bread, chips and dips and, oh yes, BEER – that’s vegetarian right?

I wanted to get closer to the Standard American Diet or “SAD”, but I still wasn’t willing to compromise my health by drinking soda, eating candy, fast food or meat.

Exercise has been an integral part of my life since I was a child, so I wasn’t willing to give that up completely either. Although 60% of America doesn’t exercise at all, I wanted to replicate what is a more typical American workout plan – sporadic and short. Instead of devoting 10% of my day (or 2 ½ hours) to walking, running, swimming, biking, yoga, pilates, and weight training daily, I decided to just do things when I felt like it – or when I had time.

Yoga on the beach

With this new “average lifestyle” I was able to consistently gain 5 pounds per month for the last 6 months. Awesome – huh? Oh yeah, I almost forgot – jeans and board shorts I’ve worn comfortably for over ten years are busting at the seams since my waist has gone from 31 ½ inches to 34 ½ inches in the same period of time.

Enough is enough. I’m not ready to go shopping for a new wardrobe yet. I’m also not happy about how I feel in my new body. I’ve developed regular back aches, pains in my hip joints and I’ve been sick more in the last 6 months than in the previous 6 years! Coincidence? I think not.

So now that I’ve demonstrated how easy it is for a 37 year old vegetarian who still works out occasionally and has good ‘genes’ to gain 30 pounds in a short period of time - I now plan to demonstrate how to right the ship and undo my sins for the last 6 months.

1.1.12 - My 6-pack turned into a pony keg!

Here I am today – I’m putting this out there for the world to see. Sean Donovan weighs 214 pounds. That’s well over 20 pounds more than I’ve EVER weighed in my life!

 Hello New Year - Bye Bye Belly!

I plan to lose 30 pounds in half the time it took me to gain it. That’s right – starting January 1, I’m going to throw my arsenal of tactics back on my physique and be back at my ideal weight of 184 pounds by March 31.

Keep in touch and follow me to see just how easy and healthy weight loss can be.   

Word of the Year

Recently I was challenged by my friend and fellow motivational speaker Alin Jacobs to implement a new annual ritual called “word of the year.” The concept is to select a single word or even coin a new word that will be your mantra, motivation, inspiration, and the defining characteristic of the upcoming New Year. This challenge has made a remarkable impact on my thinking over the last several weeks since Alin bestowed his wisdom and challenge upon me.

After much deliberation and contemplation, I first decided to re-visit 2011 in hopes that the past year would help me define next year. In retrospect, I decided that my word of the year for 2011 must have been “development.”

This year has allowed me to develop wonderful relationships both personally and professionally that will fuel my success in 2012. I kicked off 2011 by completely redeveloping my website SeanDon.com - which was an arduous and time consuming task, but proved to be well worth the effort. Once the website was launched, I then shifted my focus to developing a new marketing strategy and identity for workplace wellness programs – thus, the Grassroots Reform Organization (GRO) was developed. With GRO, I was able to seek out and develop new partnerships with other “healthy businesses.” Almost magically, I was connected with an organization that funds employee enrichment programs – enabling me to develop new programs for businesses who previously could not afford them. As always, I strive to develop and improve as a speaker, author, life coach and health advocate; therefore, I put a tremendous amount of effort into the development of exciting new content, programs and writings. I was even able to be instrumental in helping my top corporate client, DME Benefitness, redefine their corporate culture and workplace wellness by developing a new website, blog, newsletter and employee enrichment programs. Every day I strive to develop health and happiness for myself and those around me. Thanks to my development in 2011, I am now poised to create new corporate culture and revolutionize workplace wellness for many companies in 2012.

My personal zeitgeist for 2011 was great, but enough about the past. It’s now crystal clear to me that my word of the year for 2012 will be “wellthy.” No, that’s not a typo.

Wellthy (adjective) - synergistically benefitting from the combination of health, wealth, happiness, and wellness.

A wellthy individual realizes that their greatest wealth is in their health and that their success and overall wellness can be measured by the size of the smile on their face.

Personally, I’ve invested thousands of hours of time and immeasurable thought and energy into becoming wellthy. I believe that H.E.A.L.T.H. stands for Helping Everyone Always Leads To Happiness; therefore, I created a business that truly helps others attain health, happiness and success. The focus of my efforts, programs, writings and speeches are all aimed at developing wellthy people and businesses. By helping others and leading by example, I’m certain that I will become abundantly “wellthy” in 2012.

My first wellthy action is to pass on Alin Jacob’s wisdom - and challenge you to define your 2012 with your own personal “word of the year.” Before you make futile New Year’s resolutions that will be forgotten by February or set unrealistic goals that you will never pursue this year, put some serious thought into defining your purpose in life. This introspective thought exercise will magically reveal your word of the year and empower you to make a difference in the world – starting with a Happy New YOU!

Recipe for Resolution

Happy New You - For those who made or want to make New Year’s resolutions, I have a special recipe to help you do it successfully. For the month of January, I will be posting my “Recipe for Resolution” on my blog and offering discounts on personal coaching packages. Whether you want to lose weight, find happiness, become more successful or just feel better – I will help you make 2011 the most positive, profitable and productive year of your life.

1. The first and most important step in the resolution process is to make the conscious decision to change. Ignite the fire internally and set your desire into motion. Flip the switch that mentally turns on a new you. Decide to make immediate, definite, effective, lasting changes in your life. Commit to doing things differently - remember Einstein’s definition of insanity: “To continue doing things the same way, but expect different results.” Know that new effort and changed direction will take you to new destinations. Resolve to make change today. 
2. Change your vocabulary – permanently remove the following words: “Can’t, try, maybe, consider, and eventually” – and replace them with “Can, will, definitely, resolve, and now.” Be cognoscente of your language daily – are you speaking with empowering words or are you subconsciously limiting yourself with your own vernacular?  Change: “Maybe I’ll eventually consider trying to change, but right now I can’t.” To: “Now I will definitely resolve to change because I can do whatever I put my mind to.”
3. Create a mantra to repeat to yourself. Examples: “I will make every minute of every day productive in some kind of way” or “2011 is gonna be heaven” or maybe “I’m going to fit into my favorite jeans again.” Make a habit of saying this mantra throughout the day. This activity will keep you focused and motivated toward your resolution.
4. Imagine your life vividly 1, 5, 10 years from now and make mental and written notes as you see yourself. Use these notes to create a “dreams list” of all the things you would have in your life if time, money, fear, experience, location and all the normal limiting factors were not present in your life. Imagine how much easier it would be to make resolutions and create new dreams with a professional life coach on your 'team'. Visit my coaching page for more.
5. Forget about all of the things that you ‘have’ to do on a daily basis and think about all of the things that are truly important to you. Make a “priorities list” of the things most important in your life in the order of their importance (time and health should be tops on the list). It’s okay to be a little selfish here – this is YOUR list. My philosophy is that “If you put yourself as your own highest priority and maximize your own life first, then you will have abundant health, energy, love, success and money to share with others – plus, you get to lead them by example. The alternative is to neglect yourself, break down, get sick, lose your job, your energy, your youth, your vitality and then become a burden to those around you – as they will have to take care of you!” Here is an example of the top 5 things on my priorities list:
   1.      Health – maintaining optimum health, increasing energy, preventing disease and slowing aging so that I can live a long, productive life.
   2.      Time – making the absolute most of every day – making every minute productive in some kind of way.
   3.      Positivity – maintaining a positive attitude at all times – even in the face of adversity
   4.      Accomplishing Goals – reading and revising my to-do list, goals list and goals accomplished list daily - revising when necessary
   5.      Father - Be a great role model and provider for my daughter and future children. 
6. Take a good look at your schedule and calendar. Think about your daily routine and how you spend your time. Is your time allocation congruent with your priorities list? Many people I coach say that their health, GOD or family are their top priorities, but after a coaching session, they realize that their time is not indicative of their priorities – for instance, they realize that they spend 40 hours at work, another 10 hours getting ready for and traveling to work, 14 hours watching TV, 60 hours sleeping, 11 hours are spent goofing-off or time that cannot be accounted for. On their top priorities, they spent less than 2 hours working out or exercising, less than 4 hours of true quality time with the family and only 1 hour at church. My life-coaching can help you get your life in balance and find “extra” time to do the things that are high on your priority list.
7. Now that you have made the mental commitment, empowered your vocabulary, created a mantra, envisioned your dreams, listed your priorities and looked at your schedule – it’s time to set some realistic goals. Make each goal measurable and attainable with a completion date. Use smaller “stair-step” goals to reach larger ones – ex: if you want to lose 30 lbs by March 31, make a series of stair-step goals – I will lose 10 lbs by January 31, 10 more pounds by Feb 28^th, and 10 more pounds by March 31 to achieve my total goal of 30 pounds. Group your goals by personal, business, travel, family etc… List from short term to long term in each category. Most importantly, WRITE THEM DOWN.
8. Go back and review your dreams list and priorities and compare them to your goals list that you created yesterday. Ask yourself “Are my goals congruent with my priorities, dreams and how I actually spend my time?” Revaluate your goals, priorities and dreams in relation to one another and make additions, subtractions and changes in your timeline or order of importance if necessary. This area is a life coach's specialty – having a coach on your team or personal “board of directors” can be beneficial and profound.
9. Important step – read your goals list every day. Make your goals list a Word Document that is saved and resides prominently on the desktop of your computer. If you like paper better, print it out and tape it to the fridge or put it somewhere that you are sure to see it multiple times throughout the day. Form a habit of reading your goals list at least once a day – this will keep fire in your desire. 
10. Identify the difference between a goal and a task. A goal is a destination, a big picture dream, desire, want, need, etc… A task is something you do to reach a goal and is only a step on the staircase to the goal… The bigger the goal, the higher the staircase. Tasks are part of the plan of action that gets you to where you want to be.
11. Mid month checkup – review your accomplishments so far this month. Are you happy with your progress? How many goals have you crossed off of your list? Have you read your goals list daily? Have you organized your priorities? Did you write down your dreams? Did you take a close look at your schedule and re-assess your time and how you spend it? If you are happy with your progress, then good for you – you are on your way to implementing powerful resolution. If you have room for improvement, then go back to step one and repeat – it’s never too late to start, but time is precious and there will only be one NOW. Focus your efforts on what you can control and do it today!
12. Create plans of action. Dreams are your thoughts, priorities are your world, goals are your destinations and the plan of action is the detailed series of tasks or the navigation system and roadmap that gets you to your destinations. Start with your top priority goals and make a detailed plan of action for each. Example: Top priority health goal may be to lose 30 pounds by March 31^st. Break this goal into more measurable and manageable stair-step goals – I will lose 10 lbs per month Jan, Feb and March. Plan of Action – Join the gym and workout a minimum of one hour per day there – exercise to include cardio (bike, treadmill and aerobics), nautilus and free weights. Stop eating fast food immediately and permanently. Take a 30 minute walk on my lunch break. Take a hot yoga class twice a week and visit the sauna on days that I don’t do yoga. Shop healthy – buy fresh organic fruits and veggies. Eat 6 to 8 healthy meals a day and consume portion sizes smaller than my fist. Limit couch time and TV watching to only one hour per night. Each of these tasks or mini-resolutions are part of a detailed plan of action that will lead you to accomplishing your bigger goal. Remember, the most important part of a plan of action is the ACTION!
13. Lucky #13 – My definition of Luck: “when chance meets opportunity - and you recognize it, and most importantly, capitalize on it”. Always keep your senses open and pay attention to the signs. Resolve to create your own luck daily! 
14. Review your plan(s) of action for your top goals and create a daily minute-by-minute schedule and incorporate time for your all of your new plan of action items. Using recipe #12’s weight loss goal and plan of action as an example: Monday, 6:15 am – wake up, read goals list, drink one liter of water, put on gym clothes. Monday, 7:00 am join the gym. Monday 7:10 to 8:30 am workout- stationary bike 20 minutes, nautilus equipment and free weights 40 minutes, sauna and stretch 20 minutes. Monday 8:30 to 9 – shower, drive to work, eat an apple on the way. Monday 10:30 am – eat a banana. Monday 12 noon – take a 20 minute walk, eat a prepared  salad from home on the picnic table outside of office. Monday 12:45 practice breathing exercises and rebound/stretch for 5 minutes. Monday 2:30pm – eat an avocado at my desk. Monday 5:30pm – stop at grocery store on the way home to buy fresh produce. Tuesday and Thursday 6:30-8pm – Hot Yoga. This is just a basic outline of a schedule for one plan of action – try to account for every minute of your day (even sleep time). The more detailed your schedule the better – the detail and practice of scheduling may seem excessive, but remember – you are forming new habits and taking control of your time, life and health so that you can reach your ultimate goals.  Stick to your schedule daily – remember to incorporate reading your goals list daily into your schedule. After approximately 21 days of doing this, you will find that the new items on your schedule will become new habits in your life. Your time (and health) are the two most important things in the world – give yourself 10% of your best time each and every day and you will find that the other 90% of your time will be exponentially more productive (you will even sleep better at night knowing that you lived your day to its fullest).
15. Delegation – form “partners”, advisors or “board members” to help you accomplish tasks that you are not necessarily good at. These advisors will also hold you accountable to your goals and commitments. 
16. Create a daily “to-do” list based on your plan of action items and schedule – read it along with your goals list every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to sleep.
17. Create a “goals accomplished list” and a “to-done” list – when you complete a task or accomplish a goal, highlight it and cut it from your goals list or to-do list and then paste it over to the goals accomplished or to-done list.
18. Example – Dream list #1 is to be able to fit into your wedding dress or the bikini you wore on your honeymoon 15 years ago. Priority list #1 is Health. Goal #1 is to get into better shape by losing 20 pounds by January 31, 2011. Plan of Action – join Gold’s Gym, join Hot House Yoga, order TrimULean supplement on monthly autoship. Go to Golds Gym 3 days a week, Hot House Yoga 3 days a week, walk every morning Mon-Fri. Schedule – Monday, Jan 3^rd 5:15pm – go to Gold’s Gym after work and join. Monday, Jan 3^rd 7:30pm go online and order trimulean. Monday Jan 3^rd 10pm – read goals list and to-do list.
19. Checklist – create an excel spreadsheet and assign daily tasks and point values to each of your routine daily tasks. Check off each daily task as you do it. Example: Drink water quota, Eat an avocado, 45 minutes of cardio workout, take TrimULean supplement twice, 1 hour of family time…
20. Habits – it takes 21 days to form a new habit, but it takes a second of thought plus willpower to break an old or bad habit. Resolve to make positive change in your life. Remember Einstein's definition of insanity: "To continue doing the same things the same way, but expect different results".