Creative Design 1: Why I had being a "creative" all wrong

Most artists can't draw. But all artists can see - Roy Simmons

I won't lie, I'm pretty good at a lot of things. This isn't bragging, just reality. I was always above average in gym class in whatever sport we played, (and this was before I got bit by the lifting bug) I've always been good at my jobs, receiving promotions during every tenure. Technology comes easy to me. Bartending for 5 years taught me how to carry on a conversation. Detail work has become my speciality but I'm no stranger to big picture planning (see my Ultimate Vision post coming soon). There's always been one thing though I wish I was good at. That is drawing (or handwriting for that matter. Thank God for computers). I've always wanted to take a blank sheet of paper and create something awesome. I've had the belief up until recently that, since I couldn't draw, I was not a "creative".

This was until I came across Seth Godin's book "Linchpin". Also understand that this is the first time in my working career that I can express creativity and that it's apart of my job. Bartending is creative in a way. Carrying on a conversation while making 4 different kinds of South Sides is a skill (a South Side is a famous Long Island club drink that has more sugar in one drink than you are supposed to have in a week and goes great with basically any liquor). It wasn't until I was able to work on Niyi's podcast that my definition of being a "creative" shifted. Brandon Crocker, now back in the producer booth, while I was training to replace him at the time, said I had an ear for audio. Back to Roy's quote, you don't have to produce art on a piece of paper to be an artist. My ear has definitely gotten better with practice. My newest from scratch podcast (Flow State of Mind, which is killing it out of the gate) is a great example of this. I curated the intro to slowly increase in volume and crescendo at the peak time, then taper off at the 45 sec mark where the voice intro of the episode occurs. I love the intro. I fully believe now I am a "creative" and I've given myself permission to be one.

Seth describes an artist as "someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it personally." "Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn't matter. The intent does." This very blog is art. I put emotional labor into each post, speaking from the heart, and use my current insight to speak on topics. My boldness will increase with reps and I believe that is a natural progression of any art. 

I believe reframing what it is to be a creative has given me permission to try new things and be bold without asking for permission. In my short stint of being a freelancer so far, I've learned that I possess the talent to not be told exactly what the client wants and exercise creative freedom. So much of corporate America and any "job" I've had before this comes with detailed instructions on exactly how something needs done. While that can be valuable from a certainty standpoint, it takes away from creative opportunities that could exist. Running a cash register at Best Buy? Maybe doesn't need any creativity. Launching a podcast with the intro matching the host's personality or creating a website to reflect who the site represents? Need a lot of creativity there. While progression with reps is a given, my advice to anyone is: give yourself permission to explore multiple ways and different styles of anything you're trying to create. Art is a gift. A labor of love and exploration and passion. For the Flow State of Mind podcast, I created about 8 different intros. I believe from start to the 8th one, I got better and better and finally got a sense of what the final product would sound like. Same way with my logo creation that Igor did (post coming soon). I believe creating art for the world is in every human's best interest. It allows us to be completely in our own head and not listen to anyone else. It allows us to be authentically, us. 

My Training through Duggaesthetics

"The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that" Arnold Schwarzenegger

(This post is being written in week 6 of the first training phase)

I've been training myself since 2014. I remember the first time Mitch, Naden, and I joined Synergy fitness because Frank got us a "deal." Wasn't really a deal but I digress. Loved that first gym. It was a nice mix of corporate and "meat-head" vibe. It had a great selection, good amenities, a great steam room, and punching bags/speed bags. They also had a large racquetball court turned into a half basketball court. Anytime I hear "Come and Get It" by Selena Gomez, my mind goes straight to that court (that was my first song many times at the time). From there I joined Lifetime Fitness in Syosset. God do I miss that gym. Platinum gym that looked like a giant mall full of equipment. Ran into Tobias Harris many times in the locker room (he's super nice and I wish him well with the Clippers). When I moved back to Ohio, I was still apart of Lifetime. They have locations in Dublin, Easton, and Pickerington. I enjoyed learning how to lift. What worked and what didn't. At some point, your own expertise will plateau you. This is why getting yourself a coach is so important to progression and optimization. They see things you don't. They are objective. The good ones know what they are doing. And the great ones live their words. 

Jordan and I have been working together now since June 6th. We have a unique arrangement set up. Back in the good ole days, people traded services for other services instead of money. We are doing the same thing. More on that when it's live! Anyway, since June, I've been on my first 6 week training program. I've been looking forward to this for awhile. I had been happy with my progress for a few years. I knew there were things I could be doing better though. An earlier post I also admitted a mistake I made my first year of grad school. I think it's entirely possible to focus 100% on multiple things if you have the right mindset and systems behind it.

First Six Weeks: Reality Check

“My greatest weapon over human beings begins with me getting them to drift. When a person begins to drift on any subject, he is headed straight to the gates of what you earthbound call hell... I can best describe the word “drift” by saying that people who think for themselves never drift, while those who do little or no thinking for themselves are drifters. A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind. A drifter is one who accepts whatever life throws in his way without making a protest or putting up a fight. He doesn’t know what he wants from life and spends all of his time getting just that. Once any person hesitates, procrastinate or becomes indefinite about anything, he is just one step removed from my control.” Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill

HOLY CRAP! The first week I thought I was going to die. I was incredibly tight in a lot of areas, was winded about half way through, and couldn't finish the second day of training. This was a true wakeup call for me and the fact I have drifted off of the way I used to train. I remember after 2 quad exercises and after my first set of dumbbell lunges, I couldn't move. Embarrassed, I did finish the workout. A heavy dose of reality was given to me and only confirmed my suspicions that I was just going through the motions.  A large portion had to do with nutrition (my experience with bulletproof and possible food fear in a future post) I believe. I was putting in a lot more work. The body will naturally need more energy to fuel and recover. Here's the BIGGEST thing I can tell you 6 weeks in: Track your lifts. I rarely see anyone with a journal or something to write down their lifts. You are not that good at remembering your past lifts (trust me I've tried). I attribute that to being a huge component to just going to the gym, doing the same lifts, and not getting any better. I was doing a little less than maintaining. 

My nutrition plan was a huge adjustment and a pain point for me the first 4 weeks. I made excuses for not following my macro plan the way I should have. "It was too much food" or "Everything I read constricts what he has me doing." I think we can all fall into this trap with the amount of information that is out there. Here's the thing: there's more than one way to get the result you need. Here's another thing: Jordan knows a lot more than I do about nutrition. I do my research and I'm aware of a lot but he trains individuals to GAIN muscle systematically. I think a lot of these diets don't take this into consideration. It wasn't until Jordan and I were talking on the phone going over my check in and he said, "You're going to be a professional." THAT lit a fire under my ass. I always wanted to represent myself to anyone I work with that "I have put myself through the fire and I'll never ask you to do anything I have not done myself." I think those are the best coaches. Not to say I will be in the elite shape that the professional athletes will be working with are but somewhere near it isn't out of the question. It also makes me more relatable and believable as a coach. I'll be honest, I rarely have a black and white mentality on most concepts but anyone who is in the health, fitness, or human performance field that is dedicated to helping athletes and high performers achieve their highest potential and treats THEIR OWN body or mind like shit is a fraud will not succeed. YOU literally have the answers to the test of how to be healthy and if you don't take advantage of that, you are imposter and have no business working with athletes. There are levels of this of course but some baseline principles are necessary. If my accountant is broke, he clearly doesn't know what he's doing. So, the fifth week of my fuel plan I nailed. I had sat down that Saturday to figure out my Q3 goals and our new GPS system had me inadvertently choose one goal that had been holding me back from all of my goals. I had come to the conclusion that VICTORY OVER LACK OF MENTAL STAMINA was my new focus. I could execute my fuel plan perfectly on Monday and it just went down hill from there. I vowed to work on this goal and have tremendous success. Now this week, I want to do even better.  

It is authenticity, not mimicry, that best serves as the coach's initial linchpin toward establishing a strong connection with others. It is only by cultivating this authenticity that the last step of the three-part "Stages of Internal Identification" framework - where we close the gap from who we are to who we want to be - is possible. Conscious Coaching

I have finished up my first 6 week protocol and I'll tell you I've never felt better. I'm typically hard on myself so I tend to focus on what's been lacking but looking at the numbers have really helped. My chest growth isn't where I want it to be (this is me being hard on myself my bench has increased from week 1 to 6 to the highest I've ever been able to do) and Jordan suggested a slower eccentric motion and I had just started that this week so I'm excited to see the increases there. Here is where my lifts have gone in 6 weeks that I'm most proud of:

• Rack Pulls: Week 1- 1x5 225lb, Week 6- 1x5 315lb 
• Straight Bar Cable Rows: Week 1- 1x5 135lb, Week 6- 1x4 200lb 
• Dumbbell Rows: Week 1- 1x8 75lbs each side, Week 6- 1x8 95lb each side, AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) 1x20 45lbs each side finisher 
• Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly's: Week 1- 1x15 15's, Week 6- 1x15 25's (May not seem like much but for me it was huge)
• Close Stance Leg Press: Week 1- 1x8 360lb, Week 6- 1x6 630lb
• Bulgarian Split Squat: Week 1- 1x8 85lb (not great form), Week 6- 1x10 155lb
• T Bar Rows: Week 1- 1x6 75lb, Week 6- 1x5 170lb
• Deadlift- Week 1- 1x5 245lb, Week 6- 1x2 315lb (Back to my PR)
• Sumo Leg Press- 1x10 270lb, Week 6- 1x15 540lb

Again, I wish chest had progressed better (I'm the strongest I've ever been so can't complain too much) but overall I'm happy with my results thus far. It took until about Week 4 until I had the stamina to go after each lift with maximum intensity. I attribute this phase to the big dial when you're dialing something in (most of you don't know what I'm talking about do you?) and this next 6 weeks will be getting the fine tune dial down. I'm excited to see some body fat drop along with gains in the chest and more overall muscle development. 

Relationship Design 1: The Friendship Acquisition and Your Inner Circle

House - "You're wearing that shirt for someone." Wilson - "The health department. They frown on topless oncology."

As much as we don't want to admit it sometimes, we depend on our friends for comfort, companionship, and keeping us sane. Think back to your most cherished memories: were you alone? Or were you surrounded by friends? My guess is the latter. The past year I've dealt with periods of loneliness and isolation. Graduation school has some to do with that. Entrepreneurship/freelance work probably has more to do with it. Although I meet with my team virtually 5 days a week, it's not a replacement for actual human interaction. I've also adopted the mindset that it gets harder to acquire close friends as you age. Charlie Harper and Dr. Gregory House reaffirm this theory. However, my Junto accountability partner Igor called me out on this belief last week and I think he's got a great point. Even though I believe as we get older, we are most selective of who we choose to spend time with, I think it's an excuse to say it's harder. I want to provide an example from a year ago to illustrate this point.

Scene: Olympic training center welcome center. I am the only one who doesn't know anyone because everyone is a second year grad student. Awkward standing/sitting. Mild chit chat. I did know one person from undergrad though and was eagerly awaiting her arrival so I had at least one person I knew. I also knew she was dating a guy who on the "social media surface" level seemed cool. He was also big (only strength and conditioning guy) and had a pretty sweet arm sleeve. I know it's silly but thinking back, I'm like "I dig this guys ora". So Aaron (the guy) and Meghan arrive and we sit on the couch and start chatting about who we are. Is it only me or is this like the most awkward part of getting to know someone? It's not your "real" voice, we hold back certain information, and only embellish the surface level information. It's what we do though! We use our deep voices to make us sound more manly. However, I knew we had some things in common and the first interaction went well. I had some anxiety going into this week's long trip. I have moved a few times (more on that in another post) and it gets harder and harder to say goodbye and cultivate real relationships with people, knowing they will leave. But that's life right?

Turning point: I love this part. So we are on a bus to go to... I think the mountain climb that almost killed me and Catey and I said more swear words than... I honestly can't come up with a good analogy because there were so many. I came in 4th though! Anyway, back to the bus. I'm asking Sarah in front of me about herself and she says she's from Australia. "Okay, friend test time" I thought. I look at Aaron and say, "Austria, wellll..... good day mate! Throw another shrimp on the barbie!" (Quit reading and google that and watch Dumb and Dumber right now if you don't know that quote) You know that genuine, can barely breathe, deep belly laugh? Aaron busts out laughing and that's when I knew we were gonna be close.

From there, we bonded over our appreciation for The Office, meme's, stupid people, and our struggles and successes. Through breakups, steak nights, and our one round of golf (which I won obviously ;) ) a friendship grew into a bond. It took time. It took building trust. It took a deep appreciation for quoting Family Guy and Michael Scottisms to perfection. His graduation I met his family and pretty much spilled my guts about my philosophy and my dreams (3 consecutive tequila shots contributed to that; thanks Brian!) He definitely got me through my first year of grad school. 

I tell this story for two reasons: expressing appreciation for an individual and to show it's possible to cultivate a quality relationship when you put the time and effort into it no matter how many times you move or tell yourself it becomes harder. Again, I think we become more selective because we've had more time to reflect on what we want in our friends. If that leads to quality or quantity, that's the way it's supposed to be.

"Circle got smaller everybody can't go." Nipsey Hussle

 Whether you enjoy hip hop or not, there's wisdom in this quote. As you grow and become the person you are meant to be, you separate yourself from the masses. Those who don't grow, reflect, and progress are the masses. You do not want to be apart of this group. This large group has no self-awareness. Lack of self-awareness is average and leads to average results. There's nothing wrong with average. I'm guessing if you are reading this, you don't aspire to average. Average is easier for sure. Life's not worth doing easy. So, as we grow and mature, we see past the bullshit of the masses and start to gravitate towards like minded people. These like minded people will do the same to you. The reality as I mentioned before is that this is a minority group. While you can go out drinking with your co-workers and have fun, there's a difference between that and having a deep connected conversation about life, principles, and purpose. Don't take for granted someone in your life that can do this with you. For these type of conversations to occur, one must build trust and a connection. This takes time. Try doing this with 20-30 people. It's impractical and impossible. Would you want to trust that many people with all of that? I'm not saying don't have a lot of "friends." There's a difference between a friend and an inner circle member.

An inner circle member understands you from a deep philosophical level. They know your values, why you do things, don't pressure you to go against your values and principles, and has your best interest at heart. They genuinely want you to succeed. You trust their advice because you know they know you and your past. Your relationship isn't perfect and no relationship is. But in your inner circle, ego doesn't exist. Care and empathy exists. You can trust your inner circle because you know their opinion is based on logic and genuine love for you.  With that inner circle, you will be able to fulfill your potential. 

"The older I get, the more I realize the value of privacy, of cultivating your circle and only letting certain people in. You can be open, honest, and real while still understanding not everyone deserves a seat at the table of your life." Unknown