I was out of town for a week on business, and the hotel gym made me realize something:  I workout more when I have the convenience of a gym nearby.  I also realized something else: 

I can swim again! 

In a former life, I was a competitive swimmer who swam up to 12 miles a day, but a 13 year career in the sport left my shoulders & elbows badly injured.  However, they seem to have healed with a decade of rest, and I'm going to get back into swimming for cardio.  So, I joined LA Fitness this week, and I already swam a mile on Tuesday. 

I feel good about it, like I'm turning a new leaf (or perhaps re-turning an old one in a different way?).  I was just measured as having 13% body fat, but I would like to get down in the 8-9% range.  My goal is to change up my workout every 4-6 weeks so that I do not stagnate. 

I also think this commitment to the gym will have an effect on my eating, because I don't want all this time and energy exercising to be cancelled out by unhealthy eating habits.

"But change must always be balanced with some degree of consistency." -Ron D. Burton

After a few months of studying, I passed the LEED AP exam this past Monday. 

For the those who have no clue what the heck that is, LEED AP stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accreditted Professional.  Simply put, it means that I am now professionally accreditted by the US Green Building Council in the area of green/sustainable building practices. 

This "Studying" habit profile was the first one I tracked from start to completion, which made me realize:  Not all good habits are endless (like recycling, smiling, or relaxing).  Some good habits are meant to have a finite lifecycle. 

I will no longer be studying anymore (except of course being a student of life...yes I'm a nerd) because I no longer have a reason to study.  So, I realized that these habit profiles should be archivable.  Otherwise, I would have to either:

• let my Time Tracker keep running - which would misrepresent the amount of time I've been practicing the new habit, or
  
• delete the habit profile altogether - which would make it impossible for those struggling with studying to find me

To fix this oversight, I will be adding an "archive" function to everyones' Edit Habits page over the next week or so.  It will stop your Time Tracker, but will still allow your experience to be sought by other members.  I hope you agree that this feature will improve the helpfulness of the site.

Don't we all have a little megalomania in us? After all, our thoughts are the only ones running through our head, what we choose to look at are the only things we see, and we choose to do everything we end up doing.

So, when I first thought of changing the world, I looked at it from the perceptive of a megalomaniac. Hoards of people whispering to one another, pointing in my direction, ‘is that him?', ‘there he is...that is him!', 'I think he just looked at me!!'

All just from walking into the room; like Bono, Tony Robbins, or the Dalai Llama, a rockstar in my own right. I own the crowd and their adoration. I am a demigod, but not the conceited type.  I am humble about my fame.  I am only really interested in helping others, and I have an almost miraculous track record of doing so.  I am of pure intention despite the flashing lights all around me, which makes me even more admirable.

Ok, so maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about, but that is what my personal view of "changing the world" first emerged as.

Over time I've realized that concept was based in immaturity, ego, and too much television. ;-)

I like the pond ripples analogy. Everything I do when coming in contact with another person has the ability to ripple through the lives of millions of people through the vessel of emotional contagion that can end up manifesting as a tidal wave - of love, hate, trust, jealousy, introspection, obliviousness, sarcasm, empathy, courage, etc. - crashing on the shore of some tropical island half way around the world.

But there will be no whispering crowds, and even if there were, in reality, it would probably just make me uncomfortable.

Are you a hippie or a yuppie?  It is an age old question, well atleast the age of the past 40 years or so.  Many people view these as two distinct and incompatible categories. I now want to throw a wrench in the commonly accepted view that "you're either one or the other".  I disagree with this idea completely.  Thus, I recently coined the term for a third category.  The Huppie.  I've always dreamed of inventing a term that ended up becoming a pop culture phenomenon, like "ginormous" or "banana hammock".  So if you identify with the huppie concept, speak up!

I think a Venn Diagram might explain it best:

As you can see, yuppies and hippies are not mutually exclusive.  One can have attributes of both groupings.  How do I know this you ask?  Well, I happen to be a huppie.  I will explain by relating common descriptions of both categories to a list of my character traits.

I am part hippie because:

-I embrace life to the fullest
-I promote peace, love and happiness, and stick up for what I believe in
-I have a strong sense of extroversion, gentleness, and humility
-I am very social and can tend to be a push-over
-I love to interact with others, even complete strangers
-And my idealism probably comes off as sickening to realists or yuppies

but I am not all hippie because:

-I don't tend to be an intuitive rather than a logical thinker
-I would have qualms about hitchhiking across the country just to meet some interesting people (in an ideal world I would love to do this but need to be concerned about paying back college loans!)
-Personal hygene is important to me

I am part yuppie because:

-I'm an ambitious young adult
-I am working towards a professional career and an affluent lifestyle
-I tend to compensate for insecurities by trying to improve my outward appearance
-I am a bit more scientific than spiritual
-And I probably come off as square to hippies

but I am not all yuppie because:

-I don't  flaunt success, nor am I attracted to people who do
-I am not emotionally reserved
-I am not a groveller

Here is the deal.  To summarize, I believe that being classified as a yuppie is lifestyle-focused.  What you look like on the outside.  What car you drive, what neighborhood you live in, how you dress, generally your appearance.

Conversely, being classified as a hippie is state-of-mind focused.  What your world views are, how you would invision a brighter future, how connected you feel to the whole of humanity, generally your substance.

I feel like a hippie at heart wrapped up in a yuppie society.  But how can one differentiate one over the other?  Yes, I have that anti-establishment mentality associated with the hippie culture, but I'm also a product of the establishment and can never fully break away from what I've been preconditioned to conform to on an unconscious level since birth.

This list was in no way meant to be exhaustive (or even correct).  I am half-kidding here, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Earlier tonight I was reading a blog post by Tim Brownson called Image This.  The post is basically a visualization exercise geared at getting you to take a look at the things that are truly important in life and the things you take for granted.  Well thought out and well written, I recommend it as a read.

So how does Mr. Brownson's visualization exercise relate to Chocolate Chip Pancakes?  For you, it probably doesn't.  For me, reading about how we take things for granted took me back to an experience I had last spring.  (as the non-existent camera blurs and fades to black in flashback-like fashion)

Day 1:

I wake up.  It's Sunday, and I can hear my wife tooling around in the kitchen.  She must have heard me wake because I am quickly greeted by a "Good morning honey".  A moment later I hear "Come and get some chocolate chip pancakes".  I'm out of bed like a flash, with thoughts like:

• 'Chocolate Chip Pancakes!'
• 'Thank you, this was unexpected!'
• 'I am one lucky guy!  I love this woman!'

My thoughts quickly turn to 'Plate, fork, pancakes, chair, mmm...'

Day 2:

It's Monday morning, and I am woken with "Derek, it's time to get up.  Come get some breakfast."  I groggily get up and walk to the kitchen.  When I get there, I am jolted to life like a cartoon character being awoke by a pale of ice water to the face.  CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES AGAIN!  The thoughts flood...

• 'HOLY CRAP!'
• 'She got up early on a workday to make me my favorite breakfast again!'
• 'I am truly the luckiest man on earth!'

Then 'Plate, fork, pancakes, chair, mmm...'

Day 3:

It's Tuesday morning, and I am woken by the alarm.  When I get out to the kitchen, bubbling with anticipation, what do I find?!  An empty stovetop, a box of cereal, and a wife hurrying to get ready for a busy day.  And then come the thoughts:

• 'Where are the chocolate chip pancakes?'
• 'What is she in such a rush for anyway?'
  
• 'I knew this wasn't going to last.'
• etc. etc. etc.

In hindsight, this chain of events (or should I say chain of thoughts) was a huge revelation for me.  I realized that it only took exactly three days for me to lose my gratitude.  I realized that a sense of entitlement can develop towards a new and unexpected pleasure in as little as three days, and that is a scary fact!  When I lose gratitude for the things in my life, it sucks the joy out of the most joyful events. 

So, I just need to stay grateful right?  The tricky part is that life has a way of always keeping it fresh and interesting.  Sure, I'll be well prepared to handle a pancake disappointment in the future, but if the past is any indication of the future, I am pretty sure that this issue will continue to manifest in other ways for the rest of my life.  God knows it has since last spring.  The kicker is that most new manifestations will not become apparent to me until after I've already fallen from gratitude.  I wish I could always anticipate and override defective thinking before it begins to build upon itself, but that doesn't always happen.  That's because I am human.

That being said, the important thing for me to take away from this experience was to always rectify my attitude once I become aware of the fact that it has gone south.  That takes a great deal of honesty and humility, but it is far better than the alternative:  trodding through a painful existence under the veil of ego and the inability to admit my own shortcomings.

What's been on your plate?

I saw the new Burger King commercial for Breakfast Shots during one of The Office's commercial breaks tonight.  Basically, it is a follow up to a previous "Burger Shots" commercial that recieved a great deal of criticism for its use of dwarfs.

I have to preface what I am about to say with the fact that I do not consider myself to be someone who is easily offended. I watch South Park. I think Andrew Dice Clay was funny in The Dice Man Cometh. Heck, I didn't even see what the big deal was when everyone was freaking out about Marilyn Manson's "Dope Show" video. So what if he's wearing a 1 piece with boobs built into it?

That being said, I was caught a bit off guard when I saw this new BK commercial. I wish I had a clip of it, but I am presently unable to find it anywhere on the net. If you can find a copy, let me know and I'll update this post!

For now, I'll have to give you a very rough sketch by copying a post I found on someone's myspace page:

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO I JUS SEEN A BK BREAKFAST SHOT COMMERCIAL DONE WIT A MIDGET!!!!! LIKE THE BREAKFAST SHOTS R MINI VERSION OF BREAKFAST SANDIWCHES AND A MIDGET WAS DOIGN THE COMMERCIAL N I FIND THAT COMPELTELY TOTSALLY OFFENSSSIVE BUT ITS SOOOOOOO FUNNY I LOVE IT N I CANT STOP LAFFIN N I HOPE U C THIS N GOOGLE THE COMMERCIAL N LAFF WIT MEz!!!

Thanks Brown Bear, I couldn't have said it more eloquently myself.  But seriously, seeing the commercial made me have flashbacks to when I was sitting in Consumer Behavior class five years ago.  As a marketing major, the one thing of which I can assure is you can never assume the best when considering the intent of TV advertising.  Advertising theory goes deep into peoples' hidden motives and subconscious psychology.  If you question whether a commercial meant to imply something . . . it did (and probably more).

People think dwarfs are funny; it's the bottom line.  But why do people think they're funny?

I believe that a culture which focuses so exclusively on comparisons (the haves and the have-nots / the bling and the bust / the hotties and the uggo's), inevitably breeds competition.  If I demean someone else, I look better by comparison.  They lose, and I win.  That is middle school mentality, but somehow it has spread throughout adult society like a staph infection. 

But about BK's motives, who knows?  Perhaps they had no ill intent.  Perhaps they're just mini sandwiches so mini people naturally correlate.  Perhaps, as I suggested, they are trying to play on peoples' closet amusement with dwarfs.  Or perhaps they're actually trying to offend people in order to get more press (in which case I guess I'd be part of the problem!). 

For those of you who have seen the commercial, what do you think?

...update: someone who read this blog post last night had the Office episode saved on their DVR and was nice enough to upload it. I've embedded the video below.  Thanks you digital Zorro!

Have you ever seen the opening scene in Office Space where the guy is rapping on the way to work, only to turn down the music and lock the door when he sees a black guy selling flowers at the side of the road?  For those of you who haven't - here it is:

Well, the look on the guy's face right after he locks the door is about the toughest I get when driving in my car.  That's why what happened to me earlier this week was so hilarious.  Let's do a visualization exercise to hopefully give you a vicarious chuckle similar to the one I got on Wednesday morning.  I will try to be extra descriptive so you can really visualize the scene....

• You walk outside and it is uncharacteristically beautiful out for NJ in February.
  
• It's 50 degrees, the sun is shining, and it puts you into a good mood instantly.
  
• While you are getting into your car, you are also putting your work bag on the passenger seat. 
• You snag the side of your fingernail (on your right index finger) against the handle of your bag - tearing it away from your finger slightly and causing a purplish blood blister to form under the nail.
• But it isn't excrutiating pain, it's just feeling sorta bruised.
• So now you're driving down the road thinking about your fingernail and you're sort of flicking downward on it with the inside of your thumb - looking at it at the same time.
• When you pull up to a stop sign you see three Eminem wanna-be's walking toward you, about 50 yards ahead, squarely in the middle of the street.
• But you don't pass judgement, you don't think your usual 'get the heck out of the way', because you're in good spirits and also still a bit fixated on this bruised fingernail of yours.
  
• The suburban homies slowly (and barely) creep aside to allow just the absolute minimum clearance for a car to fit through.
• As you're passing them, you have your right hand up and extended slightly forward, knuckles facing you, and you're pressing on the side of your index fingernail with the end of your thumb.  
  
• Next, you look up into your rearview mirror and you see one of the gangstas noticiably riled - saying something in anger to his roll-dogs as he turns around and gives you the single finger salute.  It is the kind of scene that, as soon as you see it, you know that guy's day is off to a bad start.
• And you can't help but burst into hysterical laughter.  

Why am I telling you this?  Because the first thing I thought of when I saw him flipping me the bird was how our persona, the subculture we fit into, the role models we follow, and the lives we lead influence our reaction to everything that we come across throughout the day.  It was hysterical, because in this kid's misinterpretation of something that had nothing to do with him, I saw myself.  I saw everyone that finds problems in all sorts of things that aren't problems.  I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger obsessing over his "puny calves" in Pumping Iron.  I saw my own misguided fears, percieved inadequacies, and negative reactions.  

No, I didn't actually see all these things in that moment, but I felt it.  And all I could do was laugh because life is really good, and we bring the hardships upon ourselves.  I am no guru, but it sure feels good to have some self-awareness and not take myself too seriously.

Who are your roll-dogs?

Building our membership base has been slow but steady over the past month.  Each week we've seen a consistent stream of new members coming from Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon.  Until today, we haven't seen any sign-ups come by way of celebrities, authors, or subject experts.  (I am considered somewhat of a local celebrity, but only amongst my wife, my mother, and my three cats - sad, I know)

That being said, we are extremely excited to have Christopher Kennedy Lawford in our midst at NüHabits (profile).  Christopher is son to actor Peter Lawford, nephew to John Kennedy, recovering alcholic/addict, NY Times Best selling author, activist, and public speaker.  Here is a promo video for his most recent book Moments of Clarity: 

Next up, Tony Robbins, Suzie Orman, & Oprah. :-)

I sit here hesitantly.  Should I really get into this subject, potentially ostracizing my future membership base?  Despite my mixed emotions on this post, here goes nothing:

Is it me or are there 1,000,001 members on Twitter claiming to be able to fix your life?  There seems to be a palpable "I make people happy", "I make people rich", "I make people healthy" vibe on several of the profiles I have visited.

I keep asking myself, what is it that annoys me so much about these peoples' pages?  I like self-help, I believe in balance, prosperity, and a healthy lifestyle.  Is it the way they are marketing themselves?  Then it hit me, these people are no different than the person at Starbucks that gave me unsolicited advise when all I really wanted was someone to talk to.  They are external reminders of that part in me that purports to have "the answer" to everyone else's dilemmas. 

Here's a timely example of what I mean: 

A friend who often comes to me for advice was distraught back in early January.  He had just lost his job that morning and needed someone to confide in.  I listened to what he had to say, and then, I suggested that he immediately start focusing on his next steps.  I said that he needed to put the layoff behind him and focus on sending out resumes, dozens and dozens of resumes.

After that conversation, I felt empowered.  I felt like I knew how to apply the solution to any problem.  I thought, if I lose my job, there will be hidden benefits that come with it - focus on the positive in everything Derek.  You will get to learn the lesson of the impermanence of all things, detachment from material possessions, etc. etc.

Then the next week rolled around, and I received an email from the CEO of my company saying (in my words): 'we will have to reduce the workforce by 10%'.  Panic ensued.  It was no longer a theoretical situation that I could pontificate and wax-philsolphic about from afar.  The bottom line is that I am no guru when it comes to potential calamity in my own life.  I never have been, and I don't know that I ever will be.

Alright, well I've never done a musical blog post before, so here goes nothing.  Here's a little song I wrote for my wife back before she was my wife.  It has nothing to do with personal change, but it does have to do with love, lasting commitment, and all that good stuff.  The beginning conversation was from a recording of us talking on our honeymoon, sitting out on our porch in St. Lucia during a tropic downpour.  (p.s. anyone who hasn't been to St. Lucia - make plans to go at some point!)

Click here to see the whole photo album