improving yourself | The Caleb Barney Collection

Ways to improve your physical health

As we approach the new year, and with it , New Years Resolutions, it’s time to think about how you can improve your physical health. I’m a firm believer that you have to think of the body holistically, and to be the healthiest version of you mentally, emotionally, etc, that you need to be the healthiest version physically as well. But where do you start? Here are a few thoughts…

Start with natural movement. What do you do in everyday life? Squat (like when you’re going to sit in a chair or on the toilet), deadlift (like when you’re picking up groceries), do farmers carries (like when you’re carrying those groceries inside), overhead press (like when you’re picking your kids up over your head), do sit-ups and Turkish getups (like when you’re getting up off the floor), etc.

Change the variety, volume, and frequency of your movements. Sometimes do light weight (or body weight) for high reps. Sometimes do heavy weight for low reps. Change how often you’re working – whether that’s changing rest periods in between sets or occasionally throwing in a second workout for the day. Keep your body guessing – but don’t do things on a whim. It should still be structured/be according to a plan.

Change your movement types. Jump, crawl, run, hang, push, pull, twist, walk, run, climb, carry, improve your combat/self-defense skills, and practice swimming or being in the pool.

Be barefoot outside. Get dirty. Workout in cold weather and warm weather. Work out for functionality, not just for aesthetics. Work out for utility and longevity.

Strengthen your ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and neck.

Do yoga (isometric holds, stretching, balance).

Do an obstacle course or make your own version…practice on the balance beam, monkey bars, and agility ladder. Use 5-gallon buckets for carries, go over short walls to hurdle or flip over, tall walls to climb, have a sprint zone, a bear crawl/crab walk zone, 5-cone agility, pull-ups, squats, pushups, handstand holds/pushups. Go ruck in the woods.

Lastly, to make sure your body has enough energy to do all of this, get enough quality sleep, drink enough water, and focus on eating a good/clean diet.

Reaching our potentially by consistently failing

How will we ever know what our limit is until we hit it?

Sometimes you have to fall down to get back up and reach a higher point. Many times you have to fail before you get to success.

If we consistently fail, learn, try again, fail less, learn more, try again, master one subject, try something related but new, fail, learn, and keep repeating the process, we can’t help but to maximize our potential. We will likely never truly maximize what we’re capable of doing, but I think it’s a worthy endeavor to try our best.

How to succeed when dreaming BIG

Anything is possible. You just have to set your mind to it and avoid distractions. What is the most important thing that I need to accomplish today? What actions do I need to take to accomplish that? What resources do I need to accomplish that? If I’m unable to accomplish it on my own, who do I need to connect with to help?

Once you figure all of those questions out, go out and do the one thing. But don’t get complacent afterwards…instead, figure out what the next most important thing for you to do is and start the process all over again.

The universe rewards action. It’s not what you know, it’s what you do. Who cares if you have the knowledge but don’t do anything with it?

Dream big. Don’t dream for just an above average or realistic goal. What would your best life look like? Why not try to accomplish that instead?

It’s your choice

What you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become. — “Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become.” – Heraclitus

What you think about and what you do on a daily basis is who you become.

Are you thinking positive thoughts or negative ones?

Are you surrounded by optimistic people who lift others up or people who gossip and only talk about what’s wrong in their life?

Do you walk around with a smile on your face or do you mope around like Eeyore?

You get to choose who you become by controlling your thoughts, words, and actions. You can’t change what you’ve done in the past, but you can make a decision to do better today and, more specifically, start with your next action. Live intentionally and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish/who you can become.

Train your mind to be stronger than your emotions

It doesn’t matter how much you want something, if you don’t train your mind to be stronger than your emotions, you’ll constantly be taking one step forward and two steps back.

Think about wanting to get in the best physical shape of your life. First, you need to set a SMART goal. Then, you need to figure out why that goal is important to you. After that, you need to put a plan in place to achieve your goal. During the planning period, you may be doing research to complete the perfect plan (which doesn’t exist), but that should not stop you from getting started (done is better than perfect). Lastly, you need to find an accountability partner who makes sure you are actively and consistently working towards your goal.

If you let your emotions take over (especially your negative emotions), you’ll find an excuse to not do what you know you need to be doing! It feels better (at the time) to stay in your warm, comfy bed and sleep in. It feels better (at the time) to eat another serving or to have dessert or to have a bedtime snack. It feels better to sit on the couch and watch tv or scroll on Instagram. For every short-term pleasure, there is a long-term consequence. And if you really want to achieve your goals, you have to train your mind to be stronger than your emotions (and just doing what feels good in the moment).

So what’s more important to you? A little extra sleep? Or getting up, keeping that promise to yourself, and striving towards your goals?

Trust me, in the end, you will feel so much better about yourself knowing that you set a difficult goal and you achieved it. You persisted through the ups and downs. It was simple, but it wasn’t easy, and not many people are willing to do what you do to get what you want.

Train your mind. If you listen to your emotions, listen to the positive ones that are pushing you towards your goals. Use those! But steel your mind. Make it so strong that your negative emotions cannot overcome you when you put your mind to something.