Rebel Training Part 2

Hello SparkFriends!

I'm back this week with part 2 of Rebel Training. If you missed part 1 last week, here is a link if you'd like to read this first.

As a quick summary of last week's message, my 14yo son is working to reach his "outside the normal system" goals like becoming an entrepreneur, so I put together what I call "Rebel Training" to help him do this. As I did this for him, I realized that the 3 rules I put together for him apply to the SparkPeople program as well -- especially regarding our program that attempts to "rebel" against so many culturally accepted habits like nutrition and sedentary lifestyles. I heard from a few people who don't like the term "rebel." That is ok -- if you don't like the term, feel free to change it to something you like better :).

I mentioned that I would build 3 simple rules to help people reach goals. Now you'll see just how simple I mean. The first rule is: Get stuff done.

Now on to rules #2 and #3!

Rule #2: Get stuff done really well

I read an article recently that talked about how important it can be to be really good at something and how this can make a big difference in your life. This point involves skills like:

• Dedication to practice -- getting really good at skills often naturally takes a good amount of practice
• A strong work ethic -- this time going beyond just getting something done to doing it really well
• Pride in your work
• NOT being a perfectionist -- very few tasks need to be done "perfectly." This trait ends up holding many people back because they often won't try new things if they feel liket hey can't do that task perfectly right away. I'm including this to make a clear distinction between "really well" and "perfectly"
• Passion -- the passion can be for the exact project you are doing, or you can visualize this project being part of your bigger goals

It can be fun practicing how to be really good at some skills that are more "fun" and less pressure. This will help you both learn the general process of being really good at something and give you the confidence to transfer that to more important skills.

For example, my youngest will not play college or professional football. But I keep coaching him that he now knows he can be great at something and now he can transfer that process to other more important areas of life.

Rule #3: Get the right stuff done really well

Once again, we added two simple words to our original rule. These two words focusing on "the right stuff" are incredibly important. This starts at your very foundation including skills like:

• Doing tasks according to your core values
• Having a moral compass along your journey

But then advances to include two of the more powerful skills in life related to the likelihood of reaching big goals:

• Prioritization -- at any given moment, you probably could choose from 1 of 10 or 20 possible tasks to work on. What is the top priority that will help you move forward? How do you rank the tasks in terms of importance -- and even make a judgement call for "how well" as task needs to be done to be acceptable
• Strategy -- this is one of my favorite skills in life. Here is a dictionary.com definition of strategy: "a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result: a strategy for getting ahead in the world." A way to look at the value of strategy is that strategy helps you "figure stuff out" in order to "get the right stuff done really well." Good strategy often involves thinking 3 or 4 steps ahead and figuring out how to fit together many different types of pieces. For example, a big strategy aha moment for me in my life was when I thought about integrating the best of health and fitness (elements that help your body) with the best of goal-setting, motivation, leadership, and behavioral psychology (elements that help your mind). Then turning that strategy thought into a program is what led to both entrepreneurial success and the creation of SparkPeople.

This is so fun to write about. I hope you like this and use it to reach many goals!

Let me know your thoughts or read comments from members on this blog.

Here are a couple of comments so far:

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REDROBIN47
I am 70 years old and I enjoy learning new concepts and strategies to make things in life easier. I appreciate all the thought you have put into this. I like the term "rebel training."

PACEKA1
I've been sharing your words with my husband. I wish he would join Spark just for the wisdom and insight but he really liked Blog #1 and he will get a lot out of this one too. Thank you for all that you do for us.
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SparkCheers!

Chris "SparkGuy" Downie



Chris (SparkGuy)

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