Santa Monica Fun

What a fun two days. I left Toronto at 8am on Saturday and flew to LAX. Landed around noon and went to film a podcast with Tony Jeffries on the Santa Monica beach. That was cool.

Then I did a short interval session followed with an early dinner at Cafe Gratitude in Venice. It's a vegan cafe, and the food is great. I met up there with Australian personal training guru, 

Now don't worry, carnivores, I made up for it by meeting another friend for tacos at Blue Plate Tacos. The guac was killer, and I was stuffed. 

That was enough Saturday fuel for a late Sunday morning upper body workout down at Santa Monica beach.

1A) Pullups

1B) Dips

2A) Rows

2B) Pushups

2C) Abs

Followed that up with shooting hoops with Jason Ferruggia. Not it's time to join him and his wife for brunch.

Happiness is other people! 

It's been a good road trip so far, because I've been taking my own advice to heart...

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:

Make the right decisions, right now, for your right life - always.💯

Know what matters, know what doesn't, and have the wisdom to choose the right things to pursue. ✅

"Once you have determined the spiritual principles you wish to exemplify, abide by these rules as if they were laws... How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice - NOW. Stop the excuses and procrastination. This is your life! From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do - now." - Epictetus #epicquotes #epictetus #stoicism

This is your one and only life - live it right.🙏 #love

Deadlifts and LAX

Alright, time to have one more good night's sleep before heading to the airport.

I can't believe I just spent four weeks sleeping in the same bed. 

But now I am off to Santa Monica, Chino Hills, and Scottsdale this week.

I return to Santa Monica next Saturday, then Chino Hills, and then finally get down to San Diego for my big Perfect Life Retreat event on Nov 9-10th. Then I get one more day in Santa Monica on the 12th before flying home on the 13th. 

It's going to be my BEST event by a long shot, and I also have to speak in Arizona on the 4th, and do some filming with Bedros on the 30th and the 1st. 

On the bright side, I get to go out with Jay Ferruggia for brunch three weekends in a row, so it'll be a lot of fun. Plus, Bedros time. That's always good for the heart, head, and soul.

Alright, one more workout before heading to the airport tomorrow:

1A) Deadlift

1B) Box Jump

1C) Handstand Pushup

2) Sled Push

Good times.

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:
Reflect on something that went wrong this week. Don't regret it, but learn from it. Ask "What must I do next time?" Turn defeat into victory!

And...

Surround yourself with people who are better, smarter, happier, stronger, fitter, wealthier, friendlier, funnier, and wiser than you.

Rock on,

Craig

PS - Watch this...

Work-Life Mastery

Work Life Balance

Recently a client said to me:

"I struggle with work-life balance."

My Answer:
#truth => There is no Work Life Balance for us.

That suggests an equal weighting. The fact is, there is not an equal weighting between work and non-work in our daily schedule. There cannot be given the BIG goals we want to accomplish.

 

·      How could Usain Bolt have dominated for 10 years if he had Track-Life balance?

·      How could Michael Phelps have won 18 golds if he had Pool-Life balance?

·      How could you be reading this on your iPhone if Steve Jobs had work-life balance?

 

Once again, this is neither good nor bad.

It is only what we allow ourselves to believe it to be. Forget balance. Instead, strive for the right Work-Life Mastery for your dream life. An Empire, whether it is a $1 billion company, a $500,000 net income, or an Olympic Gold medal is not built on balance.

 

I like the following quote, and hope you will too. It was a favorite of Marty Edelston, a man who built a publishing empire through hard work and long hours, and who probably said on his deathbed, "I wish I DID spend more hours at the office!"

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both."

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego

    

Booze and Bench

• How you perceive it
• How you respond to it
• How you communicate it
• How long you leave it unresolved.

You can fix it, starting now. You have the resources and the skills to make progress. If you want to solve it, then get after it.

Rock on,

Craig

Yes, you CAN drink caffeine and alcohol and be a high-performer, but you have to know your limits, determine your daily dose, and use these scientifically proven principles for optimal performance.

On today's show, you'll also be shocked to know the calorie and caffeine content of your favorite liquid nutrition drinks.

Find out all of this – and the right amount of water to drink each day – for high performance...

026 - Caffeine, Alcohol, and Water: How much, When, Why, and Why not! - Early To Rise

Yes, you CAN drink caffeine and alcohol and be a high-performer, but you have to know your limits, determine your daily dose, and use these scientifically proven principles for optimal performance. On today's show,…

EARLYTORISE.COM

Deadlifts and Delmontes

Yesterday was pretty interesting. There was no workout, which always leaves me a little grumpy, but I did take a little trip within the big city over to see my friends Vince and Flavia Delmonte.

We recorded two podcasts, and the first one was my favorite, where I interviewed them as busy parents about their daily routine and the communication that keeps them happily married.

After that Vince interviewed me about Vision & Values. Both of these will be up on my Podcast in the next 4 weeks.

This morning I wrote for hours and hours and finally hit the gym at 1pm. It was another good Saturday Deadlift session:

1A) Deadlift
1B) Handstand Pushup

2A) Glute Ham Raise
2B) Abs

I did a lot of deadlifts with different grips.

Then went for a walk around the entertaining city of Toronto. I get to enjoy one more week here and then it's off on my penultimate road trip of the year (look that word up!).

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:
The past is the past. No one, and no amount of regret, can change it.

Get a motivational quote everyday from TheMorningMessage.com 👍

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego

    

Handstanding and Getting Out There

It's an amazing day in Toronto with the weather sunny and near 70 degrees. After a few hours of work I jumped over to Bang Fitness for an upper body workout and an old-school exercise.

1A) Military Press
1B) Pullups

2A) Handstand Pushups
2B) Shrugs
2C) Ab Wheel

Good times!

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:

Who you associate with is more important than most people imagine.🤔

Step outside your comfort zone and connect with good people - they ARE out there and want to help! 💯

Don't isolate yourself.

That's the worst thing you can do if...

- you are an #entrepreneur 
- you are an #introvert 
- you have #anxiety

Get out of your head, get out of your bubble, and get connected✅

If I can do it, so can YOU.

Craig Ballantyne

Published by Craig Ballantyne · 8 hrs

Take that chance today.💯

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego

    

77 Days Left

What an awesome, yet busy day.

Started with early AM writing, then created a Thank You card and filmed an Instagram story on my morning walk.

After that made a TON of connections for my Perfect Life Retreat, had some good meetings, and then rushed to a workout.

It went like this:

Warm-up => Had a trainer teach me some clubbell movements.

1A) Squat
1B) Box Jump

2A) Front Squat
2B) Glute Ham Raise

Tomorrow will either be a walk or mobility work.

After that I had a call with Marcus Sheridan, a very interesting guy, and connection from my friend, Carrie Wilkerson.

Then it was more meetings.

Good thing I got a lot done because my team reminded me of this today...

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:

#noexcuses!

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego

    

Deadlifts Speeches and Pizza

What a fun day it's been.

I got up early, did some writing, and then practiced my main presentation for the Perfect Life Retreat. Actually, this part of the day was not fun at all. Ha!

But when all of my work was done, I rewarded myself with a trip to a really cool gym here in Toronto called Bang Fitness. They have great trainers, and nearly a 1-to-1 person-to-squat-rack-ratio. Crazy, huh?

My sessions:

1A) Deadlift
1B) Box Jump

2A) Halt Deadlifts (1/4 of the way up)
2B) Overhead Squat

Man, it's been a long time since I did overhead squats. Just using the bar will probably leave me sore tomorrow.

Alright, off to see J-Roc and have some pizza.

I guess NOW the day is getting fun!

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:



Rock on,

Craig

PS - I get this question all the time:

"Should I get up at the same time on weekends?"🤔

The truth is that YES you should get up at the same time everyday. ✅

If you do, you'll have teenager-levels of all day energy every day, all day.

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego

    

Slingshot Friday

This was a fun week in the big city of Toronto. On Wednesday, I was out late for a dinner and then watching the Yankees game. It was awesome to see Brett Gardner's epic 12-pitch battle that resulted in a 2-run single in the 9th.

I always cheer for the older guys in the league. :)

Thursday was an off day because I only had 4 hours sleep. The problem is that it doesn't bother me to sleep that little. And as much as I love sleep, I wish I could go without it.

Anyways, I caught up with 8 hours last night and then had another really great day today. Because of a lunch meeting, I didn't train until 2:30, which is really, really late for me.

But it was awesome, and I tried this cool powerlifting tool called "The Slingshot". It's for your bench press, and replicates training with a stretchy bench press shirt. Fun times!

1A) Bench Press
1B) Face Pull

2A) Slingshot Bench
2B) Mobility

3A) KB Overhead Press
3B) Face Pull

Tomorrow I deadlift again... in the afternoon!

Then I'll meet up with CTT, J-Roc, for some pizza and catching up on old times! On Sunday I drive home to hang with Bally the Dog.

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:

Place a higher value on your time. Don't let others steal it away.

Remember…Every moment wasted in meetings, traffic, gossip, etc. steals minutes from your family, health, and impact.

Be ruthless with your time for the sake of your legacy.

__________________

Rock on,

Craig Ballantyne

PS - Challenge! 💪

Make one NEW connection EVERY day for the REST of your life. (And twice on Sundays.) 😜

That's 400 new friends anyway, 2000 new connections every 5 years, and a powerful lifelong network that will bring you everything you want in life. 🙏

So go out there... ADD value... be generous... be cool 😎... and get to know good people - online and offline.💯

Because if an #introverted, socially awkward, dorky farm boy like I can do it, then you can too! #noexcuses

💥

PPS - I love you. 😊

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego

    

Sleeping and Squatting

Had a great sleep last night but for some reason I didn't want to get out of bed... The only reason I didn't hit snooze and got my butt out of bed is because of ACCOUNTABILITY to YOU.

And because I did, I had an incredibly productive 90-minutes of Magic Time this morning. Thank YOU!

The good news is that I was also well rested for when I went to the gym today for a squat workout. I focused on form and speed, rather than the heaviest weight, because it had only been two days since deadlifting. But I need to take tomorrow off & wanted to do this workout before the weekend.

Fun times.

1A) Squat
1B) Box Jump

2A) Front Squat
2B) Glute-Ham Raise

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:
Most people choose to sit around & feel bad, but high performers like you choose to move ahead, take action & attract opportunity into life.

--

Craig Ballantyne

Author, The Perfect Day Formula

Join me at the 1st-ever Perfect Life Retreat in San Diego