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BOOM Podcast Episode 10: How Do You Measure Your Success?

August 10, 2017 by Roger Yale

Youth motivational speaker and Amazon bestselling author Jeff Yalden is a big believer in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [CBT] because he can attest to its positive results in his own life. Yalden has long been transparent about his own struggles with mental illness and dealing with major depression, bipolar II disorder and PTSD. He has been through major spinal cord fusion and recently became free of diabetes as a result of a lifestyle change following gastric sleeve surgery. “I’m down 85 pounds and I’m feeling great,” he said, adding that he still goes through the peaks and valleys in life, just like everybody else.
In this episode of The BOOM Podcast, Yalden drills down on the topic of success – and specifically the question of how to measure success. One of the takeaways from his counseling was that he was really dependent on being a numbers guy – calculating his success based on a spreadsheet: Was he losing a pound a week or two pounds a week or saving ten percent of his income – issues that everybody struggles with at times. “If I would fail or not come close in one category, then it was like I just let go of everything else,” he said. His therapist went to work with him on lessening his dependence on playing the numbers game with his progress. The proving ground for the elimination of numbers-based tracking is at his fitness boot camp at iSi Elite Training in Garden City, South Carolina – not far from his home in Murrells Inlet. He simplified his approach by taking a much less rigid view of his progress there. “My goal is to work out – to show up, to just be committed to doing my best – and to be consistent. That specifically was by goal back in January,” he said. Many people in the gym wear a heart rate monitor, including Jeff. After every workout, he receives an email with his ranking for the day. To be blunt, Yalden works his ass off at iSi – sometimes burning up to 1000 calories per hour class and easily twice as much as anybody else – but he noticed that he is always in last place. “I gave it that 10 percent – I pushed a little bit harder today. I was sweating like crazy, my heart rate was up and I felt great. I still came in last place.” But when he got home and saw the results, the realization hit him: Who cares? “I am not competing and I think this is one of the messages that I want to share with you: Are you measuring your success in life in comparison to somebody else? Are you measuring your success by who lives in a bigger home – who drives a nicer car – who makes more money – who’s got a bigger boat?” Are you measuring your success by who goes on a nicer vacation? Are you measuring your success based on who is a better parent? “When you get caught up in that game and you get caught up in that cycle of keeping up with the Joneses, it’s hard to break out of it.” We discover newfound freedom when we realize that we’re not competing against anybody else in our journey and that everybody’s journey is different. “I came in last place today. I came in last place every day, but I am not competing against anybody. I am competing against being my healthiest. Competing against being a better person today than I was yesterday,” he said. According to Yalden, sometimes we stress ourselves out by trying to be who we may never be – or by trying to be somebody that we are not. Listen – sometimes we stress ourselves out – with trying to be who we may never be. Sometimes we stress ourselves out with trying to be somebody that we are not. No matter what age we are, it’s really important to get to know who you are and to become comfortable with who you are not. “I am not one of the top fitness competitors in my gym,” he said. “That’s OK. I don’t need to be. My goal is to show up every day, be consistent, do the best I can – and to cheer, support and encourage other people in their workouts.” Because he pushed a bit harder in today’s workout, Yalden said he got an epic feeling of fulfillment and joy – and plenty of energy to tackle his day. Coming in last on a graph made absolutely no difference. He cited good friend and fellow author Richie Contartesi and his theory about the three percent. “You grind every day. You give it your best – you get up early – you really push towards those goals – you are part of that three percent. Anybody can be part of that three percent. You make less excuses and you get the job done. That’s kind of like the BOOM.” As Yalden wrote about in his Amazon bestseller, BOOM! One Word to Instantly Inspire Action, Deliver Rewards, and Positively Affect Your Life Every Day, the BOOM is a factor and an effect. The BOOM factor would be getting up in the morning and going to work out even if you don’t feel like it – and the BOOM effect would be the rewarding feeling of having done it and given it your best. “BOOM! One word changes everything,” he said. How do you measure success every day? Are you measuring it by comparing yourself to others or are you measuring your success based on the plan you are exercising every day? “Set a plan. Make sure the plan is clear. Take action. Let’s not complicate the big picture. Let’s simplify it – and I think you will be greatly successful.” To find out more about Jeff Yalden, go HERE. Subscribe to The BOOM Podcast HERE. LISTEN to this episode of The BOOM Podcast. GRAB your copy of BOOM! JOIN the BOOM Nation Facebook group and share your BOOM moments.

Filed Under: BOOM, Motivation, Personal Development, Podcasts, Success Tagged With: Amazon Bestseller, Author, Bipolar II, BOOM, BOOM Podcast, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Fitness, Goals, iSi Elite Training, Jeff Yalden, Major Depression, Measuring Success, Motivation, Podcast, PTSD, Richie Contartesi, Success, Youth Motivational Speaker

Jeff Yalden Welcomes Lona Sargent to The BOOM Podcast

July 20, 2017 by Roger Yale

In episode 6 of The BOOM Podcast, speaker and Amazon bestselling author Jeff Yalden welcomes certified personal trainer, health coach and fitness model Lona Sargent. Sargent spoke with Jeff from her home in Delray Beach, Florida, where after some struggles and personal revelations, her career is now thriving.
  Yalden and Sargent share a connection, a personal trainer and friend named Brian Carl Story, who sadly succumbed to the disease of addiction last year. Sargent met Story after she moved to South Florida and made the decision to seek a personal trainer. Sargent grew up in Maine, and played sports there. When she first came to Delray Beach, she got into a cycle of drinking and the party scene – but realized that she could not continue like that. “I went and got a personal trainer,” she said. “I sat down that day in LA Fitness, the head of all of the personal trainers there was like, ‘I’ve got someone for you who will whip your ass into shape, and he pointed to Brian.” From day one, Sargent said Story inspired her in so many ways, pushing her in her routine – and the pair became very close. Yalden said he watched Story’s journey from when he got out of rehab to when he was getting really focused, losing weight and shredding. “I was just always inspired by his motivation and determination – and his presence. I followed him, and when he did his fitness competitions, I would send him a video. I just really fell in love with this guy,” he said. When Sargent first started going to LA Fitness, she was still going out and drinking, but she would tell Story about what she was up to. He would constantly tell her that she needed to clean up her act. “He was just a really good friend to have – a great trainer, but he was like my therapist too. I came to him with all my problems and he always had the best advice. It wasn’t just beating around the bush. He told me how it was, and I really respected him for that,” she said. Even though she was doing regular workouts, Yalden suggested that she wasn’t yet ready to bring the BOOM and make immediate change. But Story kept pushing and encouraging her. “I had no confidence,” she said. “He was trying to pound it into my head – ‘you come in here and barely try and you look good. Can you imagine what you would look like if you pushed it and gave it your all?’” She never liked hearing it, and because she thought he was just being nice, she didn’t really take it to heart. Story was Sargent’s personal trainer for about a year. Little-by-little, he would confide in her about his own struggles with addiction. “He would just be very honest with me, and I thought the same way I could be honest with him. There is no judgement there ever. That just made me have more respect for him – to see where he was in such a short amount of time. He had come so far – so I really was inspired by him,” she said. The plain fact is that we all have our own struggles and demons to overcome. “Everyone has them,” Sargent said. “No one is perfect. You might look at someone and think that they have it all together, but they don’t. Everyone has their struggles, and it’s just really important that we all recognize that.” Yalden is a big believer in transparency – especially in the journey to improvement. “One of the things I often say is that, if you look in the mirror and you don’t like the reflection – don’t blame it on the mirror,” he said. “The first place it starts is when you look in the mirror and you become truthful and real with that reflection.” After a trip back home to Maine, where she said she went through a couple of traumatic things, Sargent finally had her BOOM moment when she went on a cruise after returning to Florida last summer. “I said to myself – OK – something’s got to change.  I can’t just keep waking up every morning and feeling like there is something missing. I just was not happy with my life at all, and kept making the same horrible choices.” On the last day of the cruise, Sargent logged on to Facebook and saw the tragic news that Brian Story had passed away. “I never had that feeling before, but after that I was like, ‘alright – my life is changing from here on out. I felt like the only thing I had left of him was to do what he always said I could do.” Lona brought the BOOM and prevailed. She is now someone to watch – an up-and-comer in health coaching and fitness modeling – empowering other women to bring their BOOM. “I like working with women in their 20s and 30s or 40s – and people who were just once in a good place and kind of lost it,” she said. We’ve all been there – and that’s a lot of my clientele – that’s mainly who they are. Women like that. And I just help them to get their confidence back and uncover things that they never thought that they were capable of.” And her future couldn’t be brighter. “I changed my life and that feels great – but changing someone else’s life is a feeling I never even knew existed. It’s just surreal.  Amazing.” Listen to the full BOOM Podcast episode HERE. Check out Lona Sargent’s YouTube channel HERE. Visit Lona’s website HERE. Grab your copy of BOOM HERE. Click HERE to discover more about Jeff Yalden. Join the BOOM Nation Facebook Group HERE.

Filed Under: BOOM, Leadership, Motivation, Personal Development, Podcasts, Success Tagged With: Addiction, Author, BOOM, BOOM Podcast, Brian Story, Fitness, Fitness Coach, Health, Jeff Yalden, LA Fitness, Lona Sargent, Motivation, Personal Development, Personal Trainer, Recovery, Self-Improvement, Youth Motivational Speaker

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