TerryTom.com

When someone laughs he is risking appearing like a fool.  When someone cries he is risking appearing tender hearted.  To help out someone is to risk involvement.  When you play the stock exchange you risk losing a great sum of money.

Sometimes to love is to risk not being loved in return. Feels like I’m in highschool again…

Other risks involves our unconscious mind.  When we drive our cars we are not thinking about the risk of being smashed by other cars.  When someone takes a shower they risk slipping and falling.  When I mow the lawn I risk being stung by a bee.  Or when I traveled to Los Angeles I risked seeing Megan Fox at the mall shopping.

But risk must be taken thus the greatest sabotage in life is to risk nothing.  The person who risks nothing has nothing.  They may avoid mistakes and suffering however, they will not learn, change and grow.  It’s like a baby bird who never attempts to try and fly away from its nest. 

Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

Have you taken a risk today only to see yourself achieving something greater in the future?

One of the teachings in the Filipino martial art of armed combat is the Equalizer.  The concept of the Equalizer is fundamental for the student.

If your adversary attacks you with a knife, how will you respond when you choose to fight back?

Most martial art tactics teach us to fight back with our bare hands against someone with an edged weapon.  Statistics have shown when the victim tries to “disarm” the assailant with his bare hands, he will be cut severely 98% of the time.

Here is a quick exercise to try.  Give a kid a red marker and now try to take away the marker from his hand.  How many red marks do you have on your body?  Lost count yet?

Now if you must fight back and engage your attacker, then the Equalizer will tremendously level the playing field.  You will bump up your chances of survival…could even dominate your adversary if you are trained by presenting your edged weapon.  The concept of the Equalizer is simple, you must fight with your knife when he is holding his knife.  By doing this, your mentality becomes offensive instead of defensive.  You disarm your adversary by using your weapon, instead of using your hands or feet!

The chances of your survival increases tremendously by using the Equalizer concept.

One of the crucial way to feel fulfillment in life….is to have progress in our daily duties.  You need to feel the sense of progressing and growth to achieve long and short term goals.  When nature is not progressing or growing, it becomes stale and ultimately….dies.

Everyday we have the opportunity to make progress in our endeavors either in a minute way or in a grande way.  When we create progress, we feel content of satisfaction from living.  From our daily life we can make simple progress in our careers, with our children, in our relationships, in our personal goals, ect.

Here are some ways to create progress:

*Set small daily goals that are attainable. 

*Challenge yourself to learn something new.  With access to the internet you can get carried away!

*Meet someone you’ve never met before.  Or you may want to know something new about your friend you’ve never known before.

*Create new experiences for you that is just outside your comfort zone.

Progress makes us happy…progress makes us feel alive!  

When using Static Contraction Exercises you will become stronger without appearing bigger in muscle size. 

I remember reading about Tony Robbins endorsing and using the principles of Static Contraction Training.

Static Contraction exercises offers many benefits.  Studies have shown that Static Contraction training  developes stronger tendons and bones.  Static contraction exercises can also be done without the use of weights.

 How to develop your tricep muscles using static contraction training.  You can do these exercises with a wall. 

 1. This exercise is done one arm at a time.  Begin by standing about 4 inches from the wall.

2. Put your right hand flat on the wall and push as hard as you comfortably can for 10 seconds.  Then relax.

3. Now stand about 10 inches from the wall and push with the same hand for 10 seconds. Then relax.

4. Perform the same steps at 18 inches or almost fully extended arm.

5. Repeat the same steps for your left arm.

The principle is to hold and contract the specific muscle by breaking down each movement of a certain exercise.  Soon you will be like superman…he looks ordinary but very strong!

Its seems ok to let a nine year old to have a cell phone.  Wait…it’s a must that he should have a cell phone with him at all times.

“Hey mom”, he answered.

“Time to eat dinner, get yourself home now”, she demanded.

For the parent, there is no need to physicaly check up on their kids.  The parent can do this with a touch of speed dial.  Today’s technology becomes a speedy convience.

One day my eight year old nephew to it upon himself to walk home after school instead of riding the bike.  When he didn’t get off the school bus at the bus stop, my sister became worried.  She instantly called the school but nobody knows where he is or went.  Fortunately she found him walking halfway home.  For this reason she bought him a cell phone.

I grew up without my own cell phone.  However that was in a different age and time.

Is it a good overall idea to let kids have their own cell phone?

The other day I watched a movie called The Gridiron Gang starring Dwayne Johnson aka “The Rock”.

It’s a true story based on a former football star(The Rock) turned warden of a juvenile detention center.  He has an ambition to challenge all the juvenile to play football.  He hopes to convert their beliefs that they can excel in playing football and in anything they do.  By doing this, he can re-focus the mind of each kid to stay out of trouble when they leave the detention center.

Along the way each juvenile has to first learn how to communicate with each other without doing harm.  It’s a very challenging task for The Rock.  However, through hard work and some humility he finally earns their attention and respect.

One of the most heart felt moment of the movie for me was not about the physical transformation of the kids.  It was when each individual kid had put his ego aside and unite together as a true family.  The kids instead of stepping into the practice field, decided to show care for their warden(The Rock).  The juveniles showed care by giving their coach a bouquet of flowers and a get-well card signed by each kid for his(The Rock) dying mother in the hospital.  And one of kid decides to dedicate his next touchdown to her.

…wow, a very inspiring moment for me.

…need some fresh air in here.

Since this movie is based on a true story, it proves to the individual that he or she CAN change the beliefs of a group.

What movie or shows inspire you?

“Hannah Montana or MIley Cyrus?” I asked my little girl.

“Mmm, Hannah Montana daddy!” she replied almost instantly.

Just in case, Hannah Montana is a show about an ordinary teenage girl(Miley Cyrus) who lives a double life as a rockstar named Hannah Montana.

We all have a “double life” in some small way or we can be like Miley Cyrus.  007 or James Bond always intrigued me.

Sometimes I become a rockstar when I’m taking a shower.  The other side of me comes out naturally when the water starts pouring down my head…and nobody’s around.  Other times I’m like Miley, just being myself.

Or…is being like Hannah Montana the real me?

I become “another me” when I’m playing flag-football.  I would scream and occasionally talk a little trash, but I would never do this at home.  The purpose is to develope IT as a secret weapon for your motivation.  It takes warming up…to be the other me.

For my little girl, she’s like an on/off switch.

We all know there a endless benefits to exercising but the first step is to sign up for the local health club.

Good health to the wise: When you first join up, most of the time you will have a complimentary training session with a certified trainer.  Always take advantage of this.  As a result, the trainer will show you and make sure that you are performing the exercises correctly.  Thus making your exercise forms 1000% more effective on your body.

Meet someone new: Being at the club will give you many opportunities to expand your social circle.  It can also be a great place to enhance your social skills because you already have similar things to talk about.  “Hi, what do you think about the new Rumba class being offered?”

Have a “Dumbbell Date” with your significant other: Take your spouse out to the gym for some time to each other.  Keep in mind that most gym or fitness club offer child care.  When you want to know someone a little closer, then you could invite him of her to your health club.  This is a great way to have a casual date.

…remember to keep your sweat to yourself.

Affordable: All you have to do is make or bring your lunch once/twice per week.  Let’s say lunch cost on average $10.  If you were bring your lunch you would save $40-$80 per month.  Most monthly fee for popular gyms cost a lot less than $80.

The equation is simple- bring your own healthy lunch once/twice per week and have all the health benefits from your gym….or….buy  greasy drive thru foods and not have health club benefits.

Variety keeps you strong: At the gym there are thousands of exercise combination to play with.  You can hit the racquetball for 20 minutes, run on the treadmills for 10 minutes, play 3on3 basketball, step into the yoga class, relax at the hot tub or swimming pool, or get on the ab machine and show off your ab muscles for 1 minute.

Just have fun by mixing it up.

Keep these in mind and your local health club will be a great place to be.

When Michael Jordan scored 63 points in a single game…he was not thinking about playing the game.

He was the game.

A boxer has trained for nine weeks for his bout and the day of the fight has arrived.  He begins to warm up in the ring as the announcer introduce him and his opponent.  He throws light jabs, hooks, and combinations to stay warm.

“Ding, Ding!” the fight starts.

Now he must focus on his opponent…he must forget about his jabs, his hooks, and everything else.

If he moves, you move faster…If he hits you, you hit him harder…If he hits you harder, you knock him out.

Detach from the past and the future…stay in this moment.  Just feel your heart pound.

My prayers and thoughts go out to the victims and families of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.

How do we view this horrific event in a way that causes less or no fear?

What is your ultimate belief about the final destination for the victims?  For me they are in a better place serving a higher purpose.  There is a reason that this happened which I may never understand, however; I must have tremendous FAITH (the fear eliminator).

When I feel this ultimate faith everyday, my fear dissipates over time.