The Balancing Act Called…Life

Hi There

One thing that I am learning and experiencing is that everything in life is about balance. We are all doing a balancing act. Some better than others.

But…

As I am all about movement and that moving better. It is all about skill and training that or all skills! Balance can be improved… Yes! One can train to improve balance.

I believe that training and skill building are a lot like life. We need to build our skills and train to be authentic in our beings. I also believe that everything can be learned. We may not become champions in what we learn but we can become better than what we were.

It is about planning. preparing and getting a routine that is flexible but stable. Every aspect of our lives needs balance to be in harmony. I also believe that when we achieve this balance, we achieve happiness…

I want to encourage you to work on balance. Especially in your goal setting! Remember your life should be a good and happy one. I truly believe that and I believe it can and will be.

Good Luck in Your Balancing Act!

Keep Moving!

Jean-Marie’ du Plessis

 

 

 

What Is Your Drug?What Do You Use To Hide Behind?

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Hi There

Usually when we think of addiction or drugs; we think of the bad picture. We see desperate people shaking and needing their fix. We cringe when we think of that.

But not only substances can be seen as drugs…

A drug is anything that can be consumed and that causes a temporary physiological, psychological change in the body. We as humans consume through different avenues. We consume through taking  and using products, our minds consume information; we are living in the information age.

There is a line in the movie Jupiter Ascending. It is where Eddie Redmayne’s Character says:”Life is an act of consumption”.

Think about it. To be alive you have to consume something!! It is so true!!

My point is that we are bombard with substances to consume and we do; without us really actively consuming. Sometimes all this consuming might not even be seen as a bad thing. But I believe this can help us to ignore the small things. It helps us to avoid being silent and do some real deep digging into ourselves.

Even something good can become a drug, an addiction. How and why we consume it plays a big role in if it becomes a drug or addiction.We become so busy with consuming we get addicted to it, that being quiet seems boring and quite frankly we lose connection with ourselves. Just like addicts do with their families and reality.We escape from everything through social media and we get so disconnected by being connected. I also want to highlight that anything can be a drug, anything we use to hide behind.

With all the technology that surround us, do we use it to make our lives better, easier or do we use it to hide behind? Distract ourselves?

This is some questions I have been struggling with and been giving real thought. Because I do sometimes hide behind “being busy” rather than spend some time by myself and getting to know me…

Do you also do this or is it just me?

Thank You

Keep Moving!!

Jean- Marie’ du Plessis

 

 

Unpacking The Box

Hi There

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About three weeks ago my Mentor gave me some homework… And you know we all love homework… Usually I do actually love doing the tasks assigned to me. I love to excel at them and show that I have learned something and value it. But this task I dreaded and felt very uncomfortable. I had to unpack my box.

This means to exam yourself and basically get to know the raw unfiltered YOU. What you hide from the rest of the world and in most cases even yourself. Having to admit something to others is one of the toughest things we as humans do, but admitting something to yourself seems to be near impossible. I said NEAR impossible, not impossible. Usually we look and exam all the outside factors, before we even come close to ourselves, sometimes we never even reach the root cause of our mishaps, or mistakes. Because we do not want to dig deep into yourselves and admit that things went wrong because deep down we have an insecurity and it reaches through to every decision we make and that is why we made the mistake in the first place. Some will never know the “why” behind their action because they are too afraid to unpack the box and dig for the root causes of their behavior.

Sometimes we need to know why we behave the way we do. Because it does affect EVERY aspect of our being, if we admit it or not.

So take time and unpack some boxes this week. Let me know how it goes. Believe me it is not easy, but so empowering and freeing, like all things good!!

Good luck!

Keep Moving!

Jean-Marie’ du Plessis

 

 

 

Why I am no Champion/Olympion

Hi There

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I always ask my athletes if they are normal or athletes. Because athletes are not normal. They do more than what is expected in EVERY training session. They ACT different when it comes to being the BEST. They truly want to be the BEST and that means WINNING the RIGHT way and DOING EVERYTHING it TAKES. Normal people either do not have the drive or discipline, sometimes both. Yes there are some elements that need to be taken in account like talent, body type and genes, but like we have all heard before… It takes 10% Talent and 90% hard Work.

I do don’t mind hard work and giving everything I got. To be honest I just do not have the drive. When I see an athlete leaving his heart out there and pushing the limits I get goosebumps! I know what it takes. What is going on in the body to produce the effort, throw in some technique and the mind that won’t let the body give up. It is amazing!!! When the soul pushes the mind with a will that will not be broken and the mind that takes the body to pressures it has never experienced and the body does what the mind tells it to. They come together and achieve greatness! AMAZING. Keep in mind that this does not just happen. Every training session, every prepared meal, every “no” and sacrifice, every injury, rehab and pain ALL part of that EXACT moment. All coming together in harmony. Beautiful!

For me being able to watch this unfold in my athletes and clients alike is pure bliss. It is what I dream of and what I work for. I am not capable of this but just to have a small part in their glory is enough.

Keep Moving !

Jean-Marie’ du Plessis

 

 

 

 

My #OneWord2017

Hi There

I do not particularly like this time of year. I love spending time with family and friends, and that everyone seems to make time for each other. But it just seems so forced. We will make time because work has slowed down, some companies even close over the holiday season.

This is also the season we spend a lot of money, more than the time spent working for said money.

This is also the time of year, or for me at least, where we reflect on what we have done, what we still need and want to do. In other words it is a time full of stress and self doubt.  Is there time to reach the goals I have not yet gotten around to? Can I write this year off as a success? What qualifies as success?

My Mentor once told me that new year’s resolutions don’t work. What we should do is think of a word that will be your focus next year. This one word will carry though in EVERYTHING you do and in EVERY aspect of your life next year.

This year’s “#OneWord” was Confidence #2017Confidece. When I speak I do it with Confidence. If I failed, and I did, I did it with Confidence. I also picked myself up with Confidence. I started blogging, with semi- Confidence. It is getting better. I even spent a bit to much money with a bit too much Confidence, but I am admitting to it with Confidence and paying my dues with Confidence.

My Confidence has increased immensely. It has really been amazing. By just focusing on my word #2017Confidence my life has changed. I am Confident in a way I never was.It truly is like a muscle.

I am also taking this time to think of my #OneWord2018 that I can carry through next year. Next year will be a big a year with a lot of changes waiting to happen…

What will your #OneWord2018 be? Will you join me in growing more confident in every aspect? Leave your #OneWord2018 in the comments and lets start preparing for next year.

Sharing the love

Chimera Dreams posted a vlog on Negativaty without any function. Click on Chimera Dreams for the link to the vlog. Also leave a comment either here or on the vlog for other intersting topics for Wisdom Wednessdays! 

Before I carry on just read this…

We spend time like it is an endless commodity… I see this every day. I think I percieve time differently (others in the same position as me) because I get paid by the hour… so every minute of my time is valuable. The 10 min break means a lot to me. Like insanely so… Also when this is the case you really absorb that every minute counts. 

What you do with your time plants seeds in your future. I truely believe this. If you spend your time productively and invest in good actions you are automatically literally building your future. 

What I am trying to get across is build your future using your time to do good, to invest in people by truely being with them and to live in the present. Don’t wait for anything, that is wasting time, do something in the time you wait productive (follw link where I state the difference between productive and bussy…. Time well spent). This takes a lot of effort and is time well spent. Your time is precious, don’t waste it on the non-deserving or negativity. 

Keep Moving✌

Jean-Marié du Plessis 

I Cannot Do It For You… You Need To DO The Work

Hi There

I do not want to step on any toes but I am going to be brutally honest. As a Sport Scientist I work with a lot of people! And in my capacity as a Pilates instructor and Personal Trainer I get a variety of different people, different goals and different focuses… (Something I love and keeps me challenged)

I am not an restaurant or even worse a drive thru. It doesn’t help to “order” what you want to achieve in other words your goals. YOU need to DO the WORK. I am there to help, guide and educate you through the whole process.I will motivate you, I will support you, I will walk you through it. I CAN NOT DO IT FOR YOU. Believe me if I COULD I WOULD!!! But I WILL be there with you the entire journey! You will not go through this change alone. I will celebrate your successes with you, I’ll re-evaluate if you don’t reach your goal in the set time period but we WILL get to where you want to be.

This is something I tell my whole clientele, from athlete through to Pilates and Personal Training. You need to do it for YOU. You also need to understand what your goal is and why you are doing it. BUT YOU get OUT what YOU put IN!

Keep Moving

Jean-Marie’ du Plessis

Tough Words For A Monday

Hi There

I have had one of the best Monday ever. My motivation has been on a low and you know what it is on me. I had a good talk with me mentor and had to hear some tough but true word. I am now ready to push forward!! Thank you #MentorWisdom

We can not blame others, our motivations, our successes or lack thereof on how we feel. None of the above mentioned can influence how you feel neither should you allow it. How we feel has nothing to do with where we are going, how we do our job, how we get to where we want to be. We need to just follow Nike and… Just Do It. We don’t even have the choice sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong we are human and we do sometimes feel low, which is natural. I am just saying that it can not rule over everything else. When we start feeling like this we need to talk about it, get re-energized and re-focus. We need to “see” the situation different.

I also tell my clients as well as athlete’s the body does what the mind tells it to. This seems to be the hardest part, but I believe the hardest part is convincing the mind it is in control. We are in control of what we think.

Keeping Moving

Jean-Marie’ du Plessis

 

 

As with Charity Change Begins at Home

 

Hi There

Been really sick these few days. Had a lot of time to feel sorry for myself and think. In my line of work I get to work with a lot of different people. This means when I get sick I end up isolating myself and hopefully the germs attached to me being sick. I do not want to spread the germs and cause my clients or people I work with to get sick as well. This to me is torture, because I love people. I hate being on my own and this forces me to be.  So my mood… not good. But I had time to think and really reflect on what I am trying to achieve with my business and #NeverStopMoving.

Change such a small word with the biggest of meanings. It means you will do…verb… DO things differently. In a different, new way. So easy to say and comprehend, but the hardest thing to. It needs to be a conscious act. The problem is for change to actually happen around us we need to change consciously. We can not expect the world around us to change and blame everyone around us, even rightfully so. No, we need to start at home. Change the way you think about the world. Open your mind, do not believe what media feeds us, especially about movement.

Change is scary, but we need to embrace it. Focus on starting at home at changing yourself. Not worrying about the others outside yet. We will get there when we are ready.

I myself am going to change how I am trying to grow my business and start getting people moving.

Lets move toward change. Changing towards a better future together

Keep Moving

Jean-Marie’ du Plessis