Life in the LongWhiteCloud

Tough week... Getting crap Xmas shifts at work, uncertainty about enough work over summer, lingering doubt about work choices, and above all an uncontrollable urge to do something for the planet but confused and unsure what I can do. It came to me that composting is the most logical option, learning as much as possible about how to do it right and make a business out of it, by selling sweet wooden bins made out of recycled pallets. It will take a bit to get off the ground (See Givealittle) It took a fair bit of mental energy to make a decision, but felt great to and gave me a clear direction, when before I was feeling a little out of sorts. The ideas that flow on from a project like this are limitless, who can say how far reaching this will become? For now its not about money just making a positive difference, to neighbors and Kingsland residents. New ride... Picked up a great secondhand bike from T-whites, absolutely love it. Incredibly fast, lightweight and agile it suits my...

Found out I've got heaps of time off work this week... It's a strange paradox when your given heaps of time and have lots of ideas for positive change in community for sustainability, helping those in need (given the festive season), with creative solutions through music, art, etc... But confusion about where my efforts are best spent stops every plan in its tracks. Doubt is an reoccurring rain-cloud hanging over my overactive mind. Pick one. I have free time. That is certain. What am I most passionate about? Democracy in NZ, protecting environmental links crucial to our survival, pollinators, sustainable farming, clean waterways, controlling carbon emissions. Whats closest to my heart is protecting NZ's beautiful coastline, beaches, fauna and flora having grown up on the east coast up north. Protecting this from pollution through oil drilling seems the biggest issue and threat to Northland (and Auckland's) ecological value. Sometimes I lose hope and it seems the ...

Been a while since I made a post, this one talks about a recurring trend in all aspects of life, be it acting, sport, business, arts, whatever. Being 'in flow' or 'in the zone' if a concept based on finding your optimal challenge to anxiety balance, with a situation which pushes you to your limit in physical or mental competency, without tipping over the edge. How can you achieve this? Finding the quite place in your mind before a big game, public performance or whatever the situation is. Greater the importance of an event, more anxiety, so more important the mental approach! This practice I want to develop to increase performance in sport, work presentations, and any other challenges which come my way Things to practice Awareness of attitude heading into challenge, how am I feeling? frustrated, unprepared etc. What attitude do I need to face this challenge with skill and confidence? Stop and check Quite negative thoughts. These will happen, can be blocked ou...

Change of season means fresh ideas and  new challenges ... This past 2 weeks has been equally challenging and rewarding, with a snow trip following Uni nationals week proving to be equally refreshing and enjoyable, with its own challenges in tacking the mountain with my board (as of now unused) which now has plenty of new dings to show for my efforts. Some incredible scenery which seemed almost unreal, out of a dream, with a fresh snowfall overnight, to a perfect blue sky the next day. Taranaki falls was amazing, and made coming back to auckland a challenge, though I realized I missed this familiar little suburb more than I guessed... plus my own bed. Athlete development has been great this week just past. With a shaky start to week, and a tough decision over the weekend was stuck in a hole that took over all parts of life... was able to climb out and give my best efforts on the school group days, proving to be very rewarding and satisfying, putting new skills into practice and ...

This week has been a strange one. Missed opportunities with AD from bad planning, sleep problems, lots of research work. Big this to work on is just be more lighthearted, not going to a friends flatwarming on shore? no prob, don't fret, see them another time. Let it be, whats next. Do what you feel, whats best for you, and what you truly love. "Everyone has time, but its what we do with the time thats given to us that matters". Split directions I have so many ambitions about what i want to do and be, sometimes it can be hard channelling these into something meaningful and fulfilling, dedicating my all to something. with postgrad commitments, AD coaching, icebreaker, applying for new jobs, and future outlook keeping me busy on career side of things, and music and ultimate keeping me busy in the social and recreational side of life. Clearing up a big maybe in a love interest helped re-focus a good amount of my attention onto these pursuits, this last week has still been...

Fear does not get any smaller as I get older I feel, however confidence in certain areas definitely grows, and this shows. Need to focus on what I know I can do, and what I can push my limits on and be uncomfortable, take risks. Do it for yourself, do it every day. Words to live life by next few weeks. Another way to think about life... living to the fullest of my capability is by far the most satisfying thing, so ask yourself, are you living to your full potential? If not what can I do better. Relationships Can learn a lot from different people and personalities... Through retail get a lot of exposure to this. One particular of interest is Georgia, sharp, direct, know what you want kind of nature. Having a personality tilting toward more unobtrusive and sometimes unwilling to step on others toes... If you want something take it! Likewise if my gut feeling is something is not for me (research?) ditch it. Be obnoxious if I have to, disregard others perception, rather than miss an o...

Emotions: Relaxed, euphoric, satisfied. People Most are OK, many are good, some are excellent. This describes the people I've been around lately well. Finding those excellent ones is tough, and want to keep them around me when I find them. Helen is good, Tim is great, Sam is pretty great too. If you become who you surround yourself with, then gather much more talented, positive, knowledgeable and caring individuals to help make me the best version of myself.  Training Recap (last 4 week block) 4 weeks and 6 days out from NZUUC, and 2 weeks and 5 days out from Winter league start. Preseason build to Mixed Nat's in Auckland. Pumped! Approx 2-3 linear speed (hills) and lateral technique (1-2 stick) sessions and 3 unilateral strength sessions over last 4 weeks, including this one at weeks end. As this training block draws to a close it is time to plan the next one. Recovery has been moderate, average 2 days off p/w, with week 2 being light, bout 3-4 days off.  ...

Emtions: Unmotivated, annoyed (slightly at different things), tad isolated. Feel like a bit of momentum has left me from last week. Bad sleep coupled with maybe not doing enough after work contributed. Have my first day with AD tomorrow so wanna make sure I'm good to go for that. Success is less? Pick one thing to focus on improving in a day, will get much more out than fragmented focus, trying to jump from tasks in an effort to keep improving in lots of areas (study, guitar, fitness etc) Todays plan: go to markets, get outside before work, get mind into more focus and clarity. Improve on guitar today, especially picking Yeahhh.

Emotions: Tired, slightly anxious (should I be?) confident, What a big first week back. From great morning sessions with Tim to my first AD experience to almost not getting into postgrad, and lots of coffee in between there is a lot to cover here. Right now though I will focus on one this only.  Trust my gut Best thing I can do going into tomorrow is just wearing the confidence I have earned on my sleeve, and going with whats natural, also with what my gut tells me. It's not a big deal, It will be happening in many different ways elsewhere in the world.  Main thing, be honest, and straightforward. I know myself to beat around the bush when I'm putting things off/fearful of an unknown outcome and naturally want to play it safe. Playtime is over though, this is the real world, I need to make things happen, if I want them to happen, which I truly do.  "If you want something you've never had... do something you've never done" Working in retail...

Perceptions Time is a funny thing. It warps and changes your view at a given point and then being exposed to other things change it to something completely different. Or some shit. In other news I am stoked to have found and realized a new direction for my life, and a schedule which should keep me busy for July through till December, with an income from part time work. A risk worth taking? Going back to uni to do postgrad was always going to be a risk. What I know is that I have gotten a lot of life experience from the BSR programme over the last few years and I am grateful for that. From surfing and marae stays to formal conferences to showcase a year-long project before peers and industry professionals, it has sure been a great ride with its highs and lows. If one thing is for certain it should put to end any doubts about taking this particular direction for my career. Sure, I could have done engineering, but that would of sucked. I still can. But not in this chapter of my life...

Emotions: Unfocused, relaxed, creative. Morales Had an incident today which brought me to think about how I react to situations, and giving in to anger and doing things I will regret. This particular event happened when I made a mistake, and was unwilling to accept that and instead took it out on someone else. I want to be the sort of person who is willing to admit to error and look for a solution to how I can improve for the future, being humble and committed to personal improvement always, not getting too ahead of myself. Directions I learned today also that setting short term goals for the day, or Sunday afternoon like today it gives me more direction on both days off, and at work. Achieving goals, even simple ones (get forehand huck to sit in wind, good distance, lead a reciever), provide a positive boost, and the process of figuring this out can be fun. Stimulates creativity! For example: trying to think of creative ways to sit the disc out in front of receiver, visualizing...

Monday. 13th June Emotions: Tired, relaxed. satisfied. Today I am focusing on relaxing and recovering while I have the chance here at home up north. Weather is beautiful, should be a good next few days. Learning that the trick to keeping the day from slipping away is simply practicing mindfulness. Just being focused on the present moment, and what lies immediately in front, tasks, environment, etc. This can be done without trying to be over-productive and still giving the body and mind a restful day. Effort The key word used so often to separate the good from the best in all sports. Ultimate is no different, so no surprise that the best got to where they are by putting in that extra sprint in practice, layout bid, throwing session, sideline voice. All of it adds up. Extra effort in all areas to better oneself can be done in a more planned way, like choosing a personal goal/ focus in training to work on. Using time available to refine the more crucial skills would be a great h...

Tuesday 30th May: Emotions: Calm, relaxed, focused Been thinking about overthinking lately. The more I learn I realise its better to not try and control negative thoughts, a good technique is to just observe and be aware. A higher kind of awareness doesn't follow negative thoughts down dark passages, but just legs them crash harmlessly like waves against rock. Today I have been letting go of the sense of urgency lingering in my mind the last few days, that I need to try harder and push more toward finding more work opportunity, keep moving forward. Friday 3rd June: Right here, right now. This is all I will ever be, the best I can be. Recovery running. Awesome feeling, great friday night activity. Need to keep more variation in my training schedule to let body recover and adapt properly. If I'm too tired to do hill sprints, strength session, go for a recovery run! Making concious decisions to do whats best for me, even though I don't want to sometimes. Sitting on inte...

What am I meant to do? This question has irked me for 22 years, I feel I've never truly found the answer. Last week I realised resourcefulness is one of my key attributes, in finding new ways to prevent waste, saving money on food, inventing new workout types etc. I am not a strongly logical or rational thinker, my decisions are more controlled by impulsive or emotional reason. I am highly empathetic to other people and living creatures, nature. I enjoy helping others but would rather make a difference to nature and the wider world. I am highly concientious, feeling guilty if I give less than my best, this can lead me to push myself when I need recovery at times. The past week has been a bit of a blur, with plenty of work, ultimate and spending time with my favourite people, through brass monkey, AUUC, icebreaker, and the showcase games. Lost my sense of rythym and in need of a better, more consistent sleep routine, currently feel lethargic in morning and late arvo. I have a...

Emotions: Tired, elated, happy, connected The weekend just been had so many great moments I couldn't count them all on two hands. 3rd and so far best Brass monkey yet, although I am very average at indoor. Realised I have a lot to work on in my current game, in this week to come if I am to play the barbarians at the weeks end. Indoors Indoor Saturday made me feel unsatisfied. Bad play, partly teammates expectations, resulting in a simmering annoyance after the final. Will provide the drive I need to get to the top, getting into good throwing and training habits and switching on early before games. Throwing Hucks: Forehand was either too much IO for wind conditions or not within the field of play. Option taking was better than execution, however throwing too early in cut, making the throw require more hang time, e.g. dump truck play. Unders and break side: Throwing too close to bidding defenders, be patient, can dump off. Cutting: Good lane cuts, getting out close to t...

Emotions: Tired, confused, disengaged, connected (ultimate people) Had a good catchup with an old friend and recent grad today (cee) along with a few other ulti people. At work had a good productive day, getting in a new client for an hour, doing some early-morn exploring around Ponsonby. PT work Have come to the realisation my hours are taking too long to grow, needing another 2 months almost to reach 25, and a decent wage. Gut feeling: fuck this place, on to the next one. Heart feeling: developed good relationships with the other trainers, especially Tom. Does this work still align with my long term goal? At the start it did, with AD in mind, learning good goal setting practices, technical training skills and communication. Now I may be coming to a point where my progression will continue at a slower rate. Good time to take a risk, and a new challenge! At current am not getting enough challenge or fulfilment from PT. Evening shifts are not something I want to keep doing 2 n...

Emotions: Connected (ultimate, work, art/creative scene), motivated, tired,  Long week. Great conversation today about how coming up against barriers in training, career, life and how you respond to these determines how successful you will be in that pursuit, and in other areas of life. Adapting to challenges and continual self-reflection and application so important in an ever-changing world. Example: Fitting to suit culture better in sport team, what do i need to do? Better planning in weight training, around injury to knee. Strength days, conditioning, rest. Keep track of periodisation for 2 months.  "To achieve something you've never had, do something you've never done" Felt great to go to a play this week, atmosphere was incredible and never seen shakespear performed better with more wit. Great comedy, great thing to do with good friend of mine. "Be not afraid of greatness, some are born great, others become great, and some have greatness thrust u...

Monday Emotions: Fully energised and engaged, satisfied (Connection with ultimate friends), refreshed Physical: Injury to knee going backwards, pain threshold after playing back up to 3-4/10, from 0-1/10. Sleep: Getting back into a good sleep routine over the weekend, and getting multiple nights in a row, Friday 8, Saturday 9.5, and Sunday 8.5 was the formula for an good recovery and bounce, improvement and growth, mentally responding to challenges from last week well. This response is something I feel I have not done as well over the week before. If I'm pushing myself in condition grey from Monday to Saturday, occaisionaly slipping into black in short periods, I need to get plenty of sleep in, at right timing.  Nutrition: Getting in more frequent lower GI meals this week has helped heaps, especially the oats, avoiding cravings and feeling hungry after workouts etc. More sources of protein, beans, eggs, chicken etc.  Physio? Pros and cons Physio seems...

Emotions: Tired, detached (unsure what next step should be), satisfied (training Jess, Tony, Jaz) Lack of sleep catching up to me today, tough day. Feeling like I could do better, could have more potential elsewhere, same old story. I have a lot of energy, basically in the prime of my life and can give 100% to whatever I put my mind to. Experienced a big increase in confidence over past 4 months with job as a Trainer, but still feel I have lots to work on and perfect. At present finding it difficult to give my current job 100%, due to nagging fears and self-doubts. Split into following Self-doubt: I cant be a great trainer, over-critical of my mistakes, put big pressure on having perfect time-management and productivity, this isn't always practical or realistic Fears: I'm personally, along with the other trainers am getting ripped off by a much bigger company only concerned with the bottom line. Nagging thought that I'm wasting my energy, and should be enjoying life...

Emotions: Confident (skills as a trainer), engaged (with new challenges, hapkido), comfortable (working with team in studio), satisfied (with daily challenges as a trainer, run club, motivated clients) Wednesday was a great day for me, came back to train some afternoon clients (Jaz) who had a great sessions with deadlifts. Tried Hapkido which have been meaning to do for ages, was good fun and learned heaps, great atmosphere to train in. Looking forward to next Wednesday (albeit late). Considering AGM tomorrow, or heading out to Piha Friday night. Need to bike into work tomorrow to make it work. AGM should be good fun, have a few drinks after with the club members which don't get to do too often, make most of it. Head out to piha early Saturday, looks like ideal plan. Work-ons: Knowing and keeping track of what kind of program being followed, beginner, superset, dropset,  how hard I need to push, and what kind of verbal cues I will provide throughout. Example: Jasmine need ...

Emotions : Satisfied (training for ultimate, weights/conditioning) Connected (with workmates at both jobs and ultimate friends) Significance, acceptance (of being an integral part of a good team culture). Feel like I could do more to improve knowledge and practical skills for my career pathway this week/today Winter on its way, and with it a new season of game of thrones. Enjoying a more relaxed lifestyle lately, surfing in Piha yesterday with some good friends, great conversation about work in retail, training for ultimate, surfing and everything in between. Great laughs on the Saturday too with workmates Brad and Hels, always a fun day to work and start weekend. Kaizen The principle of doing lots of small tasks, to build towards achieving a much larger goal or ambition, consistently every day/week. Many changes accumulated over time. End result of thinking big changes come about from taking on big challenges, and taking big steps at a time result in burning out.  Moving...

Friday started at 5am for a team session in the studio. Good workout, bad for my program. Finding running group on thursday/friday easier, more in control, but still need to work on showing stronger leadership and being more confident. Friday evening feeling good, been a long day and going to have a quiet one, nothing much on the social calendar anyway (Kira??) Maybe get out tomorrow night. Sitting on back porch in dusk is so peaceful after a long and fulfilling day, breathing in fresh air, enjoying the sounds of nature: crickets, neighbours talking, wind in trees, without cars or busyness of town hubs where I work. "It is what it is" Wise words from brad, more I think about it, the more important they are. Strangely different from what society teaches us, we are not our thoughts, possessions, or even past experiences. Instead we are what we choose to be in the present moment. Choice being the key word. Sure, possessions can alter our egos, social media can influence ou...

Emotions: (last few days) Satisfied, connected, included, empowered (today) confused about direction, unhappy, unfocused, irritated at work, like I could do better, a need to contribute Today started badly, with a terrible sleep, and strange thoughts at 4am about dying. Not sure what these mean, but have something to do with how I felt today at work. Strongest emotion this week so far is to make a difference in protecting this planet, helping to undo and prevent damage from humans in years to come. Read an article saying London could be made redundant by sea rise in last quarter of the century. Wow. Big decision coming up here, should I study teaching/sports science or Environmental science, in next year or two? There is also environmental engineering where I could make a real difference in NZ and overseas, another 4 years though? Myself or wider contribution? Choice is either making a difference in sport/personal training, and learning to coach others, to help achieve goals En...

Emotions : Happy, satisfied, well connected, fatigued, excited Very good mood today, had a great morning in the studio, with a tough block with group class and 3 clients, but rose to the challenge confidently and calmly, running a great group class and 3 great PT sessions. Good chat with the vision crew today too, particularly Tom and Meghan for coffee. Overnight oats are amazing. Period. Work at Icebreaker was a fun time as usual with Brad and Georgia. Got thinking in some time to myself about how fired up I am to keep training this offseason, and the next clash with Taniwha coming up in Auckland, should provide all the motivation I need. Career More than ever I realized I need to keep planning and making moves toward my goal of coaching athletes (AD), and I need to start looking into more high schools for conditioning coach roles. Meet with Kelly next week to find out any possible opportunity's. Patrick Davenport at Remuera is another priority. Contact Patrick on Monday...

Working at vision PT has always been a trade off. Great personal development through personal training technical skills, anatomy knowledge, individual coaching skills, leadership (run club/group class), and fun practical work experience day to day. Trade off : Great personal skills development/Money and job flexibility (early mornings late nights) Talk from family and colleagues lately has put my focus toward pay standards, and less toward my wider goals in the sport industry.  I already know this, no reason to lose a step and not keep working hard. Values: Commitment When I attempt a new skill, hobby or career, give it a good shot. Make decision then commit to decision.  For personal training, 6 month minimum. Review progress 16th June, no earlier Commitment towards my goal at Athlete Development Development: Opening different tabs with Ipad, weekly report, VVT, Tracker Loui Simmonds, GPP, recovery

Emotions (today): Satisfied, happy being myself around friends, and making great new ones. Little disappointed about not going out for dumplings tbh, could have managed with better time management, not being nervous.  (past 2 days): Conflicted, Frustrated (at job progress). Unconnected (with friends and ultimate). Overtired, fatigued, mentally drained after work all day, low energy for social life. I have known for a fain while now that failure is completely okay, and I need to embrace it in order to learn more about myself and achieve goals. But that didn't stop me being scared of failure still, even though doing something, and making an active decision in the risk it may not go my way, and there is a decent chance of failure, I will feel much better having attempted the risk than not trying.  Example: going to social events, captaining a team, running a goal session, running group class Life is better lived not thinking and acting based on feelings and impulse...

Today I discovered the real importance of decisions and action if I want to live the life I truly want, "Once you make a decision, follow it up with a conscious action!"  Tony Robbins Ask that girl out! Write down what I will say, ask Adam for tips etc. Go to a salsa class, martial art. The pain /pleasure principle also helped me have a greater understanding of evolution, through a subconcious process of assigning either painful or pleasurable signals with certain experiences, feelings,  for example, linking learning about human emotions and needs with pleasure, as a greater understanding can lead to mastery of ones own emotional state, and provide clarity to life. From my understanding this process can be conscious, with a focused assignment of pleasure to positive action, for example pushing plate away, attending conditioning Tuesday nights, or assignment of pain to NOT acting, for example the pain involved in not asking that girl out will be much greater than doing it. ...

Good Friday highlights Spending the morning taking group class at 6am, doing some adventurous vision promotion up ponsonby road and herne bay on a beautiful Autumn morning, getting breakfast with the crew, running some boxing with clients (jaz), training and lifting mechanic chats with Tom, along with some general banter mixed in made my Friday morning that much more awesome than spending the day at the flat sleeping in. Getting up early for an enjoyable job I can apply my passion to makes the day much more fulfilling than an average 9-5 desk job, once I made the adaption to my sleeping pattern, shifting sleep back earlier at night. Nothing interesting/useful happens after 9 anyway most weeknights!!! Social events like music club, ultimate, games nights, drinks with ultimate friends often finish around 8:30, if social events go later I can always pull the  work tomorrow card and leave early. On weekends, Friday and Saturday good to go!!! Not doing nights till 1-2 pm anymore, messe...

Emotions: Vulnerable, brave, This last week I've learned that living life fully by taking all opportunities in creative avenues, social life and sport I want to pursue is overwhelming but satisfying and fulfilling. Biggest challenge this weekend was not being there with my team at nationals to push myself and the team to new heights, against my best friends and rivals from around the country. Not being there was hard, made even more so by the level I've pushed myself to in training and successes of Twin Harbour, personally and for the team. To finally start to find my groove within this team, although I have a long way to go. Weekly Values/Attributes Decisiveness Pick a direction and go with it. I've though for a while now I need to be more decisive, but thinking that doesn't make it happen. Only deliberate action makes me feel in full control of my life, even though I feel uncomfortable/nervous about the decision. It was during a game of secret Hitler I figured ...

Emotions: Happy, satisfied, little anxious Studio This week so far at the studio has been good, running some good sessions with clients including Jaz and Chris, Meghan's clients. Finding I have some good relationships with some of the bigger personalities in the studio, like Mel and Marnie, come about from running good group classes, with a little drama (music not working) but finding alternate solutions and having a laugh out of it (Adele broke it!) This is a great step towards building a good reputation as a trainer, and being a good role model for my clients, with great rapport. Thought about aiming for a target client base of 20 hours (more realistic) in next 6 months, to give more time in evenings for social life. Aside from the positive, the colour run is looming and with a rego fee of $70 I'm not so sure about it and having second thoughts, with some of the other trainers bailing. Frustrating the company can't cover our costs, a bit nervous about telling Dean I...

Middle of March, end week entry Emotions: Satisfied (training), tired, impatience Have been feeling exited recently about my future and present career in fitness industry, and how I'm just where I want to be. Stories about unfufilling physio jobs (georgia) have helped, along with new boss Brad, who has big experience in fitness industry, who I can learn a lot from. Truly thankful to have such a great team to work with at icebreaker, and vision PT. Sometimes its easy to forget that my line of work is much more interesting as a standard office job, and the skills I'm learning are fantastic toward building a successful career in the sport and health industry, for whatever path I end up taking. This week I have done a lot of research on mental training and goal setting, notably Tony Robbins being my main source. The key pickup is to attach feelings of intense pain with bad habits I want to get out of. E.g. Indecision, belief that I can't relate to friends and acquaintan...

March, Mid week entry Emotions: happy, satisfied, competence, tired Achieved GS assessment with mean 120 score. Lots of dedicated practice, role play, coffee and chicken salad beforehand paid off. Stoked and ready to nail nutrition next week. Learned more about anatomy and movement mechanics for basic leg exercises today than 1 month of uni. Great for long term goal, couldn't have been a more productive day so far. Mentally fucked right now, still have team ultimate training, possible les mills class, group class design to go still. Mental training/Self belief Constructive thought processes I'm prepared as I can be for this, I've done all the work, all I need to do is relax and focus with confidence.  I can achieve a good career in the sport and fitness industry, I have the work ethic and people skills.  I can help athletes achieve their goals, through good goal setting practices and a focus on values true to them. I know how to challenge peoples though process...

Emotions: Confused, tired, indecisive As the week came to an end, on Sunday had thoughts my weekly goal was not strong enough, had conflicting emotions and thoughts about where I should go with my career (Greenpeace?). Some of these thoughts were spurred by the money I could make (close to double what I get atm) but sacrifices the lifestyle and learning benefits of Vision. Working at the studio gives me the choice of developing myself towards a career in the general health side of the industry, or towards the athlete and elite development side. Both start with PT work, this is the foundation of a good career in the health and sport industry. But I want to make a difference! I know I could work for greenpeace and make a positive contribution, but I could also focus on making my household cleaner and greener too, and give my current career choice my BEST shot. The pursuit of less/focus on a single discipline is the only was to achieve real success and satisfaction in life. I'm ...

Emotions: Tired, fresh, regret (not flirting more with new girl at work) Having overcome the feelings over overwhelming stress from the week previous and changing my language around my work to a lighter viewpoint, focusing on the benefits such as continuous learning and skill development, studio access, culture etc I feel a lot better about my position in life in Auckland. Changing from a fuck it attitude, I understand although it may be the harder path, it will make me a better person for it.  Ocean beach and twin harbour were two incredible weekends and pretty much made my summer. Months of practices with countless turnovers, late nights, pain and frustration came together in a somewhat perfect tournament for me, notably Sunday. Don't be afraid to fail in practice, Got thinking today about travel around world, especially to Japan, europe and london after learning a few languages first. When could I do this? 1 years time? After a worlds campaign? Possibly meet up with S...

Emotions: angry, annoyed, tired This week I feel angry at my work, vision because of the big commitment this has, and the impact it is having on the rest of my life, ultimate, social life and my icebreaker job. My initial though response to this stress was to quit for a more manageable lifestyle work work, sport and social elements. After opening up with some of my colleagues and boss, I let them know my life has been hard over the past year, and the reason behind my dip in motivation, body language, negative attitude over last week. We talked about language and the thought process behind this being a key influence in how we approach challenges in work and establishing a good life balance. After a great weekend at Ocean beach I can to appreciate my friends in the ultimate community and those close ones from high school. These were brought together for a great weekend of ultimate and fun at my favourite small corner of the world, up in Whangarei heads. I guess coming down off this h...

A fantastic weekend with a great team and family. Great bonding with both groot and rocket over weekend. Good to be the cream of the crop team and take out the trophy though, felt exhilarating to win a final and contribute a decent amount. Overall felt I played the best I have over the past mixed and current open season, and feel ready to build into an exiting finale at Nationals in Wellington. I also had a great last week at the PT studio, running an awesome group class and getting positive recognition from Dean which is no easy thing. The class went so well due to applying all I had learned from the previous class, and designing multiple different circuits for variety, and doing all the 'little things' right, such as timing, communication, technique feedback and music. My overall weekly goal for the studio was to get team MVP, which I did. Reasons behind successes: I feel the reasons behind my success this weekend were not by chance but due to careful mental preparation...

Emotions this week: Frustrated, disheartened, unsure, regretful. PT Development Boxing Boxing training going well, with multiple sessions done this week. Points of interest were pad holding technique, timing/number of reps and explanation of exercises. Explanation: Ask about injury E.g Jasmine groin, affected running. Explain components engaging core, such as straight jabs (core engaged) and hooks, uppercuts (hips, obliques) Explain entirety of program before start, E.g. warm up shoulders, chest on grinder, followed by straight jab sets (20-30), and then moving into combos (slips, hooks, uppercuts) and then moving to 50 straight jabs, uppercuts, hooks and highs (Oscar) or moving combos Holding Technique: Keep pads lower on uppercuts, resist moving upwards Keep pads lower and closer to client on hooks, resist moving sideways Timing/Reps Limit hook and uppercut exercises to pairs as much as possible, can put in singles.  Face the clock, bring a wristwatch ...

PT Career Lately have been focusing on the money and financial side of my young career, through thinking about property investment and saving money. Although it is good to look ahead and plan my moves, its had the effect of also enjoying the job less, and becoming disinterested in the mentee program, which is providing me with important skills for my long term career, in the NZ sport industry (client interaction, weight training knowledge, nutrition, goal setting). Although most of these are related mainly to weight loss, it is true the foundations of these skills can be transferred to strength and conditioning for sport. Skills to transfer: Boxing technique  Weight training variables (supersets, dropsets, rest periods, time under tension, core activation cues) Actions to focus on: Staying in the moment, just enjoying training clients and learning more to implement in my sessions Less emphasis on money, I'm earning a good weekly amount.  2016 is my sport industr...

Its Wednesday already, week is flying by and need to keep track of progress so I can use experience to learn, and apply key improvements every day at the studio.  Remember:  always chasing the big goal, leadership, being significant in the strength and conditioning industry.  Keeping options open for wider fitness industry, vision has a massive potential market within NZ Key learnings from this week so far (experience, what I failed at, plan of action) Thinking ahead Being forward thinking in this job is crucial. For example: setting up equipment for next exercises, planning conversation about clients lifestyle, along with important nutrition and exercise probes. Keeping goals realistic and achievable. Would you be able to do that in 9 weeks? If lose track one week overcompensate next week (2 accelerator days).  Action plan: Be more confident, and professional in PT sessions.  1st priority: Results (look up each clients background ...

1st February, Monday Emotions: Tired, relaxed, annoyed (injury). Weekly achievements: Learning more about selling at icebreaker, through trial and error Budgeting well this week, by only buying necessity's such as food, rent, petrol. Having sensible rewards at end of week (buying a sweet longsleeve, pub).  Continuing to build great rapport with clients at vision. This one and the next set of long weekends have given me some time to relax and catch up with jobs needing doing, like registering reps for PT, baking, knee rehab and an overall break from training (not going today). Also has reminded me how important at least one day off every week is, and some time to myself to get away from people and social environments. Its also made me think about goal setting and working hard without a direction, which is what I and a lot of other people do, which is pointless. From now on, I will always stop and think before a hard training session, gym session or other job, is i...