Birthdays, Batons and Kick Ass…

Shane McShea
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

I’m definitely someone who tends to think about things too much and getting a year older usually accelerates this.

Over the last couple of days I’ve been figuring out how things have gone over the last 365 days and looking at it, it’s been another busy year with some real positives. And lots of lessons learned. Like..

Our Health: Chatting to people over the year I’ve heard a few concerns that some might have. But being truthful they all 100% disintegrated when it came to peoples health — either their own or that of people close to them.

Fitness Lesson: Nobody will ever convince me that our health and fitness is not the most important thing we have — whether that’s mental or physical. And that there is any better time to start looking after it than now.

People: The photo attached is from two of the best weekends craic I had over the last year — in New York with my brothers and dad. I’m someone who is very comfortable in my own company but over the year the best times I’ve had were with groups of people. I’m also lucky in that I find running and working in the Christchurch Fitness Centre awesome but I know that it wouldn’t be anything like what it is without Marcin (Personal Trainer) and people like Michelle and Laura helping out with the social media etc over the year. And most importantly it wouldn’t even be there without the people who train in it and who really make the place what it is — which I’m very, very aware of and grateful for.

Fitness Lesson: Make other people a part of your fitness routine. Whether that’s as training or accountability partners/class mates/personal trainers — whatever. It is much easier, more effective and fun when it’s not just about yourself and your abs/bench press or whatever.

Don’t Leave it with Regrets: At times I think that the best things that have happened to me came about because I sometimes don’t have the smarts to realise that there could be downsides to the things I try to do — or I don’t take the time to consider them. On the other side being honest there are a couple of things I didn’t take quick or decisive/strong enough action on this year which would probably annoy me more for not doing than any mistakes I’ve made.

Fitness Lesson: Don’t procrastinate and start going for the things that you want to achieve with your fitness. If you aren’t in the shape you want to be for Summer get going now and make sure you’re in the best shape of your life for Christmas or the next big event you have coming up.

Never Getting there so Enjoy the Process: As a kid growing up at times I hated it if mum and dad had visitors as I was so shy and found it hard to talk to them. Before a certain age I used to wish I could talk to anyone without feeling nervous. Then I wished I could talk to girls. Then I wished I could talk in front of crowds and do presentations. Since last year I’ve finally gotten to the stage where I really love presenting. But now but there are loads of other things I’d like to improve whether it is to do with me and my personality, CFC or in here. The point being there will always be something to improve on so no point in beating ourselves up about not getting certain things yet and enjoy the process of improvement.

Fitness Lesson: Always enjoy the process. As you have wins along the way, acknowledge them. Find somewhere you enjoy working out and people you enjoy training with. Otherwise you’ll wonder what the point is and more than likely end up giving up.

None of Our Business: It seems like a cool thing for some young lads to do around Dublin is to walk slowly around with their hands rustling down the front of their pants, their mouths half open and staring blankly into space. Maybe I’m getting old but it used to bug me when I walked past them. Then one day I saw a group of them sitting on a wall with their hands down their pants and I thought to myself that it would be awesome if someone dressed like the Kick Ass character would come around the corner, whack them all in their privates with his baton and give them a reason to have their hands down their pants like that.

Then I realised where these cool dudes put their hands is none of my business, so why let it annoy me?

Fitness Lesson: There are loads of people posting about their fitness and health regimes on social media or maybe people around you are improving and you’re not feeling good about yourself for not making enough progress. Don’t let it annoy you — only your own progress is your business. Also don’t sweat the small stuff (too much!) and take action every day to make the improvements you want to make.

Best Book and a Valuable Lesson from it: I read fewer books this year because I actually wanted to take action on what I did read. The best book by far that I read was the New Psycho Cybernetics. And one of the best points in it was to work every day to help people feel better about themselves and smile. Which is a good thing to do — not just in a Mother Theresa kind of way. The book explains that by trying to do that you have to be happy and full of life or you won’t be able to — ever see someone in a bad mood make someone else smile?

Fitness Lesson: Do you go to the gym with the intention of lifting the workout or inspiring others with your work ethic? Or even lifting the mood of the session by being so excited about what you can achieve in it and the improvements you are about to make? If you don’t, imagine if you did that for 6 months and how far it would help your training progress.

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