I found this all over the inter-web, it’s a great life lesson to follow

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 glasses of red wine………

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, without speaking he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full of golf balls? They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two pints of Beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
Now, said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things; your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions; things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.’

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else; the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.’

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. Do one more run down the ski slope. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first; the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled. ‘I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of pints of Beer with a friend.’

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Part 2

Talking last about being 1% better at 100 different things, in order to do this takes Practice. Its believed that in order to be and expert at something you need to have completed 10,000 hours of practice of that particular task. This is shown in Olympic athletes, top Pro athletes.( Jordan, Woods, etc. ) top performers ( Bach, etc. ) Now you may be thinking ” I’ve practiced 10,000 hours at my work.” That makes me an expert. Which you may have but there is just one more word to add to Practice, “Deliberate”. How much time do you spend on your specific work task? How much is on other things? Now how many hours of Deliberate Practice to you have?
So now back to our Fitness theme. When your going though your fitness program how much time do you spend focusing on the movements? Or are you just trying to get though it? When you block out all other thoughts and just focus on the movement at hand, your results will change, body shape improves, strength elevates, fat shreds off and most importantly safety increases. So with your 1% improvement goals, Deliberate Practice can be applied to; Breathing, the Hike, Swing, Pop n Lock, Rooting and so many more.

Part 1

Can you make yourself 1% better? What if you make yourself 1% better at 100 things?

Many people set goals to be 100% better than someone or at something.. Is it even possible to be 100% better than someone? Probably not, but can you be 1% better at 100 things? Studies on Olympics have shown the difference between a Gold metal and 4th place is 1%. Whether its distance, weight or time it all works out to be 1%. The Olympic motto is ” swifter, higher, stronger ” not ” swiftest. highest, strongest. ” Which should mean working on getting better at something everyday. So if its good enough for the elite of the elite, why shouldn’t it be good enough for you?

Since we are talking Kettlebells, what could you do to improve your kettlebell practice by 1%. Of course each of the RKC 6 can be improved with deliberate practice. ( “Whats that?” you say? We’ll address that in the next post ) How about simple things that once improved will have a ripple effect to improve something in all the RKC 6. Here is a simple list; Power Breathing, Hike, Rooting, Hip Mobility, Shoulder Stability and the list can go on. 1% improvement of any of these techniques can improve all of our RKC 6.