Showing posts with label wife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wife. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2009
Baby's First Halloween
Our daughter, Kaitlyn, is having her first Halloween party tomorrow and we got some vid of her "flower costume". (I'm just wearing my usual headgear, LOL!).
Just shy of a year old and she's already started to do a little walkin' on her own... I'm pretty damn proud. What more can a guy ask for in life?
It's moments like this that remind me of what's really important in life, and that becomes increasingly important as life gets busier. I remember something that stuck with me from the movie "The Secret", which is to always have an 'attitude of gratitude'. Well, I'm sure grateful.
-Josh-
Friday, June 19, 2009
My First Father's Day!
This weekend it will be my first Father's Day as a father! It's crazy to think that I'll now be a father for the rest of my life... that's awesome. I'm looking forward to celebrating by taking the day off and spending it with my wife and our daughter, Kaitlyn.My daughter already got me a great gift (with a little help from my wife, I think): a new wrist watch that I've wanted for a while. How thoughtful of her, especially for a 7 month old!
Regardless of how busy life becomes, or how ambitious and hard working you are, it's important to make the time to spend with loved ones. It's all about balance.
Happy Father's Day
Josh
Sunday, June 14, 2009
What Inpires You; Who Are Your Influences?
I'm dedicating today's blog to Father's Day.
All of us have had to overcome difficulties in life. At some point we have all needed to dig deep and find that inner strength to help us survive tough times. Can you think of an example of one of these instances? Do you remember what inspired you or motivated you to stay strong and make it through? With the current recession, perhaps you are experiencing this challenge right now.
I've found the last few months quite challenging, myself. It's difficult to balance being a new father, working on a growing business, training more clients, studying, attending seminars, and still finding time to train and compete. Spending time with my wife and daughter still needs to be a priority. Considering the time I spend working on related projects (my upcoming ebooks and DVD's), that leaves little time for sleep at present.
Being busy can be exhausting, but if I take a step back I realize how blessed I am to be "busy" with things I love: my daughter, my wife, my business, my education, training, fitness, etc. I understand that the time and energy invested now is building a strong foundation for our future.
In contrast, I can remember some truly tough experiences in my past. When I was 17 years old I was a passenger in a major car accident - as the vehicle was traveling over 100km per hour on the highway, a tire blew out and it rolled three times into the median ditch. I was catapulted through the window and thrown about 20 feet into the ditch (thankfully not into traffic!).
When I landed I felt a sharp pain in my lower back and knew instantly it wasn't good. The paramedics boarded me up and brought me to the nearest hospital for X-rays. I was told soon after that I had suffered 3 fractured lumbar vertebrae (spinal compression fractures). The doctor said it was likely because I had been lifting weights regularly that I had not suffered any serious nerve damage.
After several days on my back on morphine, and a couple weeks of bed-rest at the hospital I was permitted to walk again wearing a supportive corset around my midsection. I was told not to lift heavy weights again, especially not deadlifts. To me it did not make sense that the same training which had protected me from serious injury was now considered "bad". So I learned as much as I could about strength training and post-injury fitness, and as soon as I was able I began lifting even heavier!
Years later, in 2003, I completely tore my ACL in Judo and had reconstructive knee surgery. Post surgery recovery was MUCH more painful than the actual injury was! This took much longer to heal than I had expected and kept me away from serious training for a few months, although I still did what I could to stay in shape.
At this point I had already started my personal training business and was self employed. At the time I had quite a significant debt, and being unable to work for several weeks without any "vacation pay", was pretty stressful. However, I took advantage of the down-time to study and improve my knowledge base, and as soon as I was able I started training clients again. (FYI, today my knee and back are stronger than ever!).
During every challenge I've encountered or whenever I feel overwhelmed, I think about those people in my life who have inspired me. I find that this motivates me to meet the tough times head on and come out on top. For me, the most influential person in my life was my father.
My dad, Edward, was a giant of a man, standing 6'5" tall, with broad shoulders and sporting a full beard! He was a leader, an activist, a philosopher, and a family man. It's no exaggeration when I say he was the greatest man I ever personally knew. When he passed away from cancer at the young age of 46 it turned my world upside down. But even while he was fighting cancer, I never heard him complain. There are two things he said that I will always remember:
Another person who has been an inspiration to me is my wife. She is a beautiful, patient, caring human being, and an amazing mother. She grew up in Russia during the collapse of the Soviet Union, and experienced first hand the extreme poverty and struggles that affected the entire country.
She moved to the United States in her teens, where she got her University Degree, while working full time. Within a couple of years of moving to Canada, she became the Creative Director of an internet marketing company, managing the entire web design department.
My wife taught me to be ambitious and set bigger goals for myself, rather than just "coast" through life. I owe my business success and the strength of our relationship to her motivation and strength of character.
I don't often discuss these events / memories from my past, because they carry with them a strong emotional charge. But they also helped to shape who I am today, and it's useful to realize that the inner strength that carried me through then is even stronger now. I hope reading this has been useful to you as well, to help you reflect on what inspires and motivates you to overcome obstacles you face. You can draw on that inner quality whenever you need it, and use it to drive to you success!
Check out this video, where Rocky shares a little of his philosophy of life with his son. I found this incredibly inspiring as well.
I'd love to hear your story... feel free to comment below.
Happy Father's Day!
Josh
All of us have had to overcome difficulties in life. At some point we have all needed to dig deep and find that inner strength to help us survive tough times. Can you think of an example of one of these instances? Do you remember what inspired you or motivated you to stay strong and make it through? With the current recession, perhaps you are experiencing this challenge right now.
I've found the last few months quite challenging, myself. It's difficult to balance being a new father, working on a growing business, training more clients, studying, attending seminars, and still finding time to train and compete. Spending time with my wife and daughter still needs to be a priority. Considering the time I spend working on related projects (my upcoming ebooks and DVD's), that leaves little time for sleep at present.Being busy can be exhausting, but if I take a step back I realize how blessed I am to be "busy" with things I love: my daughter, my wife, my business, my education, training, fitness, etc. I understand that the time and energy invested now is building a strong foundation for our future.
In contrast, I can remember some truly tough experiences in my past. When I was 17 years old I was a passenger in a major car accident - as the vehicle was traveling over 100km per hour on the highway, a tire blew out and it rolled three times into the median ditch. I was catapulted through the window and thrown about 20 feet into the ditch (thankfully not into traffic!).When I landed I felt a sharp pain in my lower back and knew instantly it wasn't good. The paramedics boarded me up and brought me to the nearest hospital for X-rays. I was told soon after that I had suffered 3 fractured lumbar vertebrae (spinal compression fractures). The doctor said it was likely because I had been lifting weights regularly that I had not suffered any serious nerve damage.
After several days on my back on morphine, and a couple weeks of bed-rest at the hospital I was permitted to walk again wearing a supportive corset around my midsection. I was told not to lift heavy weights again, especially not deadlifts. To me it did not make sense that the same training which had protected me from serious injury was now considered "bad". So I learned as much as I could about strength training and post-injury fitness, and as soon as I was able I began lifting even heavier!Years later, in 2003, I completely tore my ACL in Judo and had reconstructive knee surgery. Post surgery recovery was MUCH more painful than the actual injury was! This took much longer to heal than I had expected and kept me away from serious training for a few months, although I still did what I could to stay in shape.
At this point I had already started my personal training business and was self employed. At the time I had quite a significant debt, and being unable to work for several weeks without any "vacation pay", was pretty stressful. However, I took advantage of the down-time to study and improve my knowledge base, and as soon as I was able I started training clients again. (FYI, today my knee and back are stronger than ever!).
During every challenge I've encountered or whenever I feel overwhelmed, I think about those people in my life who have inspired me. I find that this motivates me to meet the tough times head on and come out on top. For me, the most influential person in my life was my father.My dad, Edward, was a giant of a man, standing 6'5" tall, with broad shoulders and sporting a full beard! He was a leader, an activist, a philosopher, and a family man. It's no exaggeration when I say he was the greatest man I ever personally knew. When he passed away from cancer at the young age of 46 it turned my world upside down. But even while he was fighting cancer, I never heard him complain. There are two things he said that I will always remember:
- "Everything happens for a reason; that doesn't mean you're going to like it."
- "The way to become immortal is to positively influence the lives of other people. Your actions will live on in the memories of others."
Another person who has been an inspiration to me is my wife. She is a beautiful, patient, caring human being, and an amazing mother. She grew up in Russia during the collapse of the Soviet Union, and experienced first hand the extreme poverty and struggles that affected the entire country.She moved to the United States in her teens, where she got her University Degree, while working full time. Within a couple of years of moving to Canada, she became the Creative Director of an internet marketing company, managing the entire web design department.
My wife taught me to be ambitious and set bigger goals for myself, rather than just "coast" through life. I owe my business success and the strength of our relationship to her motivation and strength of character.
I don't often discuss these events / memories from my past, because they carry with them a strong emotional charge. But they also helped to shape who I am today, and it's useful to realize that the inner strength that carried me through then is even stronger now. I hope reading this has been useful to you as well, to help you reflect on what inspires and motivates you to overcome obstacles you face. You can draw on that inner quality whenever you need it, and use it to drive to you success!
Check out this video, where Rocky shares a little of his philosophy of life with his son. I found this incredibly inspiring as well.
I'd love to hear your story... feel free to comment below.
Happy Father's Day!
Josh
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Beside Every Successful Man...
I was just thinking back on how much my life has changed (for the better) over the last few years, and I was considering how fortunate I was to have the influences I've had. At one time I was satisfied doing enough to just "get by".... I had minimal ambition, aside from my training. In fact, I was under the delusion that I was "playing it safe" by working at a 'secure' job to pay the bills, while avoiding the risks of building my own business. I had no idea of the incredible potential we human beings have!
Thank God I met my wife, Olga. I can honestly say that this was a sharp turning point in my life, where things began to evolve, and haven't stopped since! I left behind the mundane jobs that were putting me to sleep, and I'm happy to say I now run my own training business and love every minute of it. Not to say that it isn't hard work, but I'm growing something that is mine, and I'm doing it because I want to. And it is in large part because of the support, encouragement, and wisdom of my wife and the faith she had in me that I was able to start doing what I love for a living!
When you feel you've accomplished something you gotta give yourself a pat on the back, but it's also important to give credit where it's due. This props goes out to my better half!
JH
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