Mindset Monday 11/28/11- What is Determination?

To succeed in your goals, you need to be Determined. What is Determination? And how does one become Determined? Passion is the first prerequisite for Determination. You will not be determined for long if there is no passion as the foundation. Difficulty will arise, and if you do not quit right away, eventually you probably will, without passion. Make sure first that you are doing something you love. OR, and this is big, CREATE LOVE and passion for what you are doing. Even if you are not crazy about nutrition and exercise, be creative and find things you like about them. Build on this and turn like into love, love into passion.

After passion, Knowledge and Acceptance will give you Determination. You need the knowledge that successful people fail many, many times before they reach their ultimate goals. Read biographies, talk to successful people, you will see. You need to internalize that mistakes and bumps in the road are part of your journey to success. You can eliminate failure forever if you view it as feedback. To succeed in your goals, you cannot be afraid of making mistakes. Errors and relapses are to be expected and ACCEPTED. Accept your mistakes. Accept yourself as less than perfect. Once you accept yourself as less than perfect, you can forgive yourself for mistakes you made in the past, and mistakes you are currently making. You will be able to move forward and focus on what you need to do.

Determination = Passion(Knowledge + Acceptance)

Live with passion. Make a list of why you love what you do. Remind yourself that failures and mistakes are part of success. There is no success without mistakes. Finally, forgive all your past mistakes, forgive your present weaknesses, and forgive your future errors. Focus solely on becoming the best you can be.

Fanatically yours,

Gene Zannetti
Owner of Z-Fanatical Fitness
Z-Personal Trainer, One-on-One Consultant & Motivational Speaker
(908) 337-6143
genezannetti@gmail.com
www.zfanatical.com

Mindset Monday 11/21/11- Know your plan

“Failing to plan is planning to fail”
“Plan your work, work your plan”

Okay, so you have a goal to lose weight or get stronger. You know you need to exercise and eat better. You know this. You cannot expect this to just occur automatically. What is the action you will take to get from point A to point B? What is your action plan? You cannot leave this up to chance.

You may have friends who exercise and eat well on a regular basis. You may ask them what they do and they do not give you an exact and specific action plan. Consider that this is because they have already internalized exercise and healthy eating as part of their life. You have not yet. Therefore, you cannot move forward without a plan of some kind.

There are many reputable exercise and nutrition plans out there. We recommend you do Z Fanatical Fitness. We created this for your success in the shortest period of time. Each workout lasts just 10 minutes, which means you would exercise, at most, a half an hour a day for 6 days a week with no equipment. Your nutrition guidelines allow you to maintain your energy levels while cutting out unnecessary calories that add weight and slow you down.

Even we must admit that the choice you make between exercise and nutrition plans is negligible compared to the consistency and intensity you must have in executing either plan. This is why we add a mindset mastery element to Z Fanatical Fitness. Fitness is never just physical. You can look at several different exercise and nutrition plans and see what works best for you. You could even intelligently modify one of them to make it fit your personal preferences. After you choose what works best for you, you must follow it consistently and intensely. Z Fanatical also provides Mindset consultation to make sure you have the tools mentally to follow your plan.

The bottom line today is: make sure you have a plan. In the beginning, do not get too caught up in what plan it is, so long as you plan on following it.

If you are clueless on what plan works best for you and/or have trouble following any plan you are on, we strongly recommend Mindset Consulting from Z Fanatical Fitness where Gene Zannetti can personally walk you through the mental steps to be consistent and intense.


Gene Zannetti
Owner of Z-Fanatical Fitness
Z-Personal Trainer, One-on-One Consultant & Motivational Speaker
(908) 337-6143
genezannetti@gmail.com
www.zfanatical.com

Mindset Monday 11/14/11- Top 10 Reasons You're Still Out of Shape

Still don’t have the body you dream of?

You tried everything and nothing seems to work?

HERE IS WHAT YOU ARE MISSING:

Top 10 Reasons You Don’t Jump Levels; and Z Fanatical Fitness Solutions

Your physical limitations
1. You don’t train hard enough -> Contains a Progression System so everyone can train at their max.
2. High intensity programs are too difficult to keep up with -> Modifications for all exercises.
3. You don’t have enough time -> Each workout is, at most, 10 minutes
4. Equipment is a turn off, too risky, or too expensive -> No equipment

You haven’t mastered your mindset
5. You have not made a real commitment to your goal -> Mindset Mastery Lesson #1
6. There is no social element to your exercise -> Mindset Mastery Lesson #2
7. You still look at exercise & dieting as a verb, something you “do” -> Mindset Mastery Lesson #3
8. You do not understand the true meaning of Motivation -> Mindset Mastery Lesson #4
9. You have not learned to how to tap into your true potential -> Mindset Mastery Lesson #5
10. You don’t have deep confidence that you will achieve your goal -> Mindset Mastery Lesson #6

Learn ALL 6 Mindset Mastery Lessons from Gene and have the body of your dreams!

Start Z Fanatical NOW!
Contact Gene Zannetti: (888) 804-1819
Ask about the 6-Step Mindset Mastery Plan

Mindset Monday 11/7/11- Growing Confidence (Factor 3 of 4)

Growing Confidence

I spoke at the University of Pennsylvania Coaches Clinic at Wrestle-offs yesterday. I spoke about the ideal mindset in sports and performance- Flow. One of the five factors that lead to the Flow state is Confidence.

We all know how important Confidence is to our success. Most coaches tell their athletes to be confident and believe in themselves, without telling them exactly how to do this. Perhaps this is because most coaches do not know how to do this themselves.

Don’t be too hard on the coaches, sport and performance psychology is still relatively new. It is however a scientific field, and we do know how to improve confidence.

One of the four major ways to improve confidence is Verbal Persuasion or Pep talks. This is a way many coaches choose to appeal to athletes. Probably because they have seen this approach work in sports movies.

But this verbal persuasion goes beyond pep talks from coaches. It extends to the individual’s personal preference even to an unconscious level.

If you are looking to raise your confidence, you need to have a good understanding of your own personal confidence buttons. What movies make you believe in yourself? What songs give you more swagger? Are there speeches you have heard that make you believe? Are there quotes that make you believe that the world is yours? If you do not know your buttons, you will certainly not be able to press them when you need it most.

Write down your confidence buttons on paper. Review them frequently. This will ensure that in moments of doubt, you will have your buttons fresh in your memory. Control your confidence levels. Come to a Z Fanatical seminar and Get Fanatical!

Gene Zannetti
Owner of Z-Fanatical Fitness
Z-Personal Trainer, One-on-One Consultant & Motivational Speaker
(908) 337-6143
genezannetti@gmail.com
www.zfanatical.com

Mindset Monday 10/31/11- Fanatical Trick-Or-Treating

Fanatical Trick-Or-Treating

As a kid, few holidays were as fun as Halloween. The idea of free candy was a concept my friends and I just ate up (pun intended). Every year we would go out trick-or-treating and absolutely crush it. We would sometimes have so much candy it would last until the Easter Bunny would re-stock us.

Why were we so successful trick-or-treating?- Fanaticism. Looking back, we did a lot of things right from a mindset point of view.

*Preparation-
We knew our group we would trick or treat with weeks in advance. We would ride our bikes the day before to finalize our route. We carried extra bags and backpacks. We knew at what point we would have to stop back home and dump our load because it would be too heavy. We were detailed oriented in our action plan.

*Attitude-
We would often quiz new friends who wanted to trick or treat with us. The attitude was- if you see a sign that says take one piece of candy what do you do? The correct answer was to take everything and the bowel! (We never took the bowel, but wanted this as their answer to prove they were on the same fanatical level as us). We would also repeatedly say, “This ain’t no charity function.” In other words, this was business to us. We were out to accomplish a mission- as much candy as possible.

*Effective Use of Time-
We always left promptly at 4:07pm (a time we felt gave parents enough time to be home after picking their kids up from school. We never wasted too much time at one house, giving each home no more than 10 seconds to answer their door or we were already off to the next house. We would run back to that house after we hit the next one if they came too late, which they often did. We did not procrastinate or waste time on things that derailed us from our goals.

*Urgency
We did not stop running on that night. Our younger siblings were not allowed to come with us if we felt they couldn’t keep up. In other words, we surrounded ourselves with people who had the same goals as us and disassociated with people who would slow us down.

*Passion
We went hard, but we enjoyed the process. We laughed and had the best time just being together going as hard as we could. We got our kicks out of being Fanatical in our pursuit of our goal- free candy. We had far more fun working to get the candy than we did eating the candy. We loved what we did and we looked forward to it. Even though we knew the next day we wouldn’t feel our legs.

Happy Halloween! Get Fanatical about your goals today!

Gene Zannetti
Owner of Z-Fanatical Fitness
Z-Personal Trainer, One-on-One Consultant & Motivational Speaker
(908) 337-6143
genezannetti@gmail.com
www.zfanatical.com

Mindset Monday 10/24/11- Your Harshest Critic, Your Best Friend- YOU

Your Harshest Critic, Your Best Friend- YOU

In another one of those strange ironies in life, your harshest critic and your best friend in this world needs to be the same person- you. If you want to be successful, you must be harder on yourself than any coach could possibly be. You need to be perfectionistic, strict, and brutally honest with yourself. You must know your weaknesses, downfalls, flaws, insecurities, and embarrassing idiosyncrasies better than anyone else. You need to know your defense mechanisms, your issues, and your go-to excuses. You must know when to call BS on yourself and your self-deceiving “rationalizations.”

Simultaneously, you must also be your own best friend. To be successful you must first unconditionally accept yourself. This is not to say that you will settle for less than your best. What it does mean is that no matter where you are at, whatever happens, you must love yourself. You need to forgive ALL of your short comings, errors, mistakes, and downfalls. Strive to improve, do not settle for less, but FORGIVE YOURSELF. You forgive yourself and other, for them, but also for yourself. When you forgive, you let things go. You let go of the weight you have been carrying. You make it easier for you to move. Even when other people come down hard on you, you must be able to let it go. if you don’t forgive your imperfections and mistakes, you will never have the strength to soar higher. You will be weighed down.

Many people are too self-conscious and unsure of themselves to be brutally honest with themselves. Almost all of us are guilty of this at times. Ignorance is bliss. We would rather preserve the illusion of things being good, as ourselves as superman. Other people are so hard and unyielding on themselves that even when they accomplish things, it is never good enough. They cannot tolerate any imperfection. They may ascend to great heights, but they are never happy. Quite the contrary, some are severely depressed.

Fanaticism is about having your cake and eating it to. We want to be highly successful and happy at the same time. After all, why do you strive for success, money, and glory? Probably because at some level you think it will bring you happiness or contentment.

It is interesting how highly successful people can balance critique and forgiveness. Forgiveness without critique breeds oblivious meandering. Critique without forgiveness may bring some success, but is a recipe for depression. Mastery follows those who have the self-control to be both.

Amateur golfers make a bad shot and then berate themselves to no end. They let the last shot affect the present shot, and thus are more likely to screw up again, as they often do. Professional golfers make a mistake, learn the lesson, forgive themselves, and hit the next shot with a clear mind. You cannot allow an opponent to beat you twice. Amateurs will, professionals won’t. Who are you trying to emulate?

Have the courage and self-discipline to be your own harshest critic and best friend. Get Fanatical!


Gene Zannetti
Owner of Z-Fanatical Fitness
Z-Personal Trainer, One-on-One Consultant & Motivational Speaker
(908) 337-6143
genezannetti@gmail.com
www.zfanatical.com

Mindset Monday 10/17/11- It's what you do AND how you do it

It’s what you do and how you do it.

Most people know the common saying it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. This is half true. It also matters what you do. You need both. Wise action without swagger is half-hearted and lifeless. Swagger without wise action is careless and foolish.

Anything worth doing, is worth doing well.

It does not make any sense to take actions that are not based on some rationality, logic, or reputable information. Whatever you are striving to do, it makes sense to ask someone who has been there already for advice. Seek the advice of the greats, not just people around you, like friends or family, who may or may not know what it takes. There are successful people out there you can tap for information and if you want to be successful, it is your job, repeat YOUR JOB to find them. You must always put the responsibility on yourself, because you are the only one you can control.

What you do should not be based on pure intuition, superstition, or random guessing. These will not bring you success. What will bring you success is having a systematic approach to goal attainment and problem solving. What you do should be evidence based, meaning that the information is coming from either research studies (scholarly articles, not some random poll in a vogue magazine), logic, and experts opinion. You can trust the opinions of others if they are experts in their field. Just make sure you find out who the real experts are, not just people who say they are. Look for their productions, achievements, and knowledge. Do not let an emotional, ego driven pitch lead you to follow them. True, you can learn from everyone, but why not learn from the best?

You should be referring to research and experts constantly in your life. Get the best information and apply it. I do not want to say it will save you time and energy because the reality is, you will need to put in a lot of time and energy. What this will do is ensure your great time and energy will produce the maximum output. You will be economical and efficient and thus get more from your great efforts. It doesn’t mean you will cut corners or go easy.

Determine from an evidence-based model (research, experts opinion, and logic) then formulate a CONCRETE and SPECIFIC Action Plan to follow every day.

Once this Action Plan is in place, it now matters HOW YOU DO IT. Do it with confidence and swagger. Expect to get the best results. Be mindful that you may need to modify your action plan from time to time. But, whenever you do take the action, it is better to dive in 100% with full confidence and no hesitation, than to proceed tentatively and with reserve.

Fanaticism is about WHAT YOU DO and HOW YOU DO IT. Live Hard, Get Fanatical!



Gene Zannetti
Owner of Z-Fanatical Fitness
Z-Personal Trainer, One-on-One Consultant & Motivational Speaker
(908) 337-6143
genezannetti@gmail.com
www.zfanatical.com