After this, you'll be able to handle anything.

Ever felt like banging your head on the wall and screaming “Why me?!” again and again?

We’ve all been there, so today I’m going to share a bit about my life and how I work through challenges and stress.

I’ll also show you how you can change your perspective in difficult situations and turn them to your advantage.

Keep reading for a physical solution to mental turmoil.

Understand That You Have A Choice

First things first: you have a choice.

Work issues, family troubles, money woes, and physical pains that keep us from our training programs – we all face challenges. And when problems crop up, it’s natural to get stressed out and let anxiety get the best of us. But it’s not necessary.

We may not always have a choice about the events in our lives, but we do have a choice about how we react and deal with the situation.

Allow it to drag us down? Or find a way to keep moving towards our goals?

It’s your choice.

Cliche Alert: Half Empty or Half Full?

Which one are you?

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard this a thousand times.

If you’re like me, it’s got to grate on you sometimes! I hate it when people try to look like they have a positive outlook on life ALL of the time.

It’s just not genuine.

I know I’m not alone in feeling that there are times when life is so overwhelming that I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep for a month.

And some days I try just that! But then my two kids come running into our bedroom and start jumping on the bed. At first I yell at them for messing around and waking me up. But then I see them give me the confused “What’d we do?” look, and I realize that I’m the one to blame. That’s when I snap out of my negativity-dream-land and take a look again at that glass.

The glass is not half empty or half full. It’s always full no matter how much water it holds.

There’s air in there too.

The (Complete Lack of) Zen of Parenting

When you’re responsible for kids, there are times when life starts to cave in all around you.

Especially when your kids are crying, fighting, and generally driving you bonkers. When all you want is a little piece and quiet so you can finish all the crap you have to do. But for me, having these two beautiful children running around healthy and happy puts the priorities of my life back in full view.

I’m lucky that they’re able to run around freely when other kids are weak and sick. They’re able to eat when they’re hungry, sleep when they’re tired, and simply live their lives. Without any thought, they just know their glass is always full.

My “Perfect” Life

I’m lucky enough to be a coach for many people all around the world. As a coach, I analyze people’s patterns, develop plans, and help them meet their goals. So when they follow my advice and get good results, they sometimes assume that I have all the answers and my life is as perfect as can be.

That’s just silly.

Don’t trust anyone who says they have all the answers (or even if they don’t say it but just act like they do).

I’m just like my students, we work hard, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and then keep working hard towards the top of their mountain. I just happen to be further up on that same road, so I can share what it’s like ahead for them, and hopefully make it a bit less stressful than it was for me.

The road is tough and filled with challenges, but in the end, we do what we need to do for our families and loved ones. I train so I can tackle the challenges in life and do it in a way that encourages true strength and growth.

That’s easy enough to say, but what do you do when “stuff” happens?

When you’re pulling a heavy load behind you and there’s a hard wind blowing in your face, how do you deal with it?

When The World Conspires Against You

Last year, after months of debating and decision-making, my wife and I finally decided to move the family to the US. We’d planned to be there by December in time to spend Christmas with my parents – we knew they’d love to see the grandkids.

All we had to do was finish up my wife’s visa application, and typically this shouldn’t have taken longer than three months. But, the immigration procedures changed right before we sent in the application. With all the changes in paperwork and the hassle of the transition to the new procedure, after already several months of waiting they told us it would take at least 6 to 8 more months.

That was it for getting to my folks for Christmas.

My wife and I were pretty pissed off and frankly, I was embarrassed. I had told quite a few people that we were heading to the States and informed my students in Japan that I would no longer be here. I made arrangements to turn my classes and private clients over to other instructors.

Well, it’s been over 6 months and we’re still here. Six long, rough, and incredibly stressful months.

Just ask Andy, Amber, and Jarlo. I was stressed out about my training, my business, and everything else I could find to complain about. Not to mention stressing about having to explain to all of my clients just what the hell I’m still doing here!

How I Turned It Around

That's right. When I feel overwhelmed, I write a book in a foreign language.

I’m glad to say that I broke through being angry and depressed and got my ass back in gear.

I worked on and released a book in Japanese with a major publishing house, started the Ryan Method (GMB for the Japanese audience), and just recently found a quality gymnastics center to work on my skills.

Most importantly, my family has grown stronger.

My wife and I have come to accept that there are some things that we can control and others that we can’t. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. It’s a normal part of life and you’d be totally abnormal if you’ve never felt this way. But it’s not okay to stay like this forever.

Here at GMB, we always say that being strong is more than just how much you can lift, or how high you can jump.

It’s about how you deal with the challenges in your life. Pour your heart and soul into what you can change and you’ll continue growing and moving forward.

That’s the mental part, now here’s a physical strategy that I use to help keep me on an even keel.

Physical Practice For Mental Grounding

Athletics and training have been a steadying influence for so much of my life, so it’s no surprise that I use physical work to manage emotional setbacks and challenges.

I have done various types of sitting meditation, but I always find myself coming back to active movement.  It’s probably a function of my personality, but it just works better for me to be moving and working physically.

Over the years, I’ve discovered a variety of exercises I like to do that double as “moving meditations.”

Recently, because of all the ring training I’ve been doing, handstands have been ideal. I’ve found that concentrating on doing the straightest handstand possible really clears my mind and removes a lot of pent up anxieties.

And within three minutes, I feel calm and in control again.

It takes a lot of focus to hit that perfect balance point in a handstand. It’s also such a familiar thing to me (by this point in my life I’ve probably spent thousands of hours total in a handstand), so I’m fine tuning details rather than learning a new skill. Since there isn’t any significant technical frustration, the activity helps me relax.

Handstands are my happy place. They may not be as easy for you, and that’s OK.

Something is.

I’d love for you to find your own personal movement to drive away stress and anxiety.

Discover Your Own Zen (Definitely Try This At Home)

Find your own "zen activity" - something fun and relaxing that you can do anytime you need it.

I like handstands because they require concentration but no longer cause any kind of stress for me. You can use the following tips to discover your own zen activity.

The activity you choose should:

• be familiar and comfortable (though not necessarily easy)
• demand concentration to keep your mind in the present moment (so you don’t start thinking of stressful stuff again)
• be able to be done anytime
• not require much time – less than three minutes is a good rule of thumb
• not be too strenuous (if you have to rest from your relaxation, you’re doing something wrong)
• be easy to do daily

You probably won’t find the perfect activity right away. It’ll take a little trial and error – and you’ll need to remind yourself to actually do it – but it’s worth the effort.

Experiment and find what works for you.

And remember that nobody is perfect.

We all face challenges – every single day – but we each have a choice to decide how we’re going to react when things aren’t easy.

Choose to move. 

Photos via SuperFantastic, f minus, and imgur. 

The GMB posse is growing – we’ve got over 7000 posse members and over 1100 active Facebook members (connect with us!) working to build real strength for real-life.

Lately, we’ve really started to see more individual members of our community taking on awesome challenges and kicking ass. So we’re going to be featuring their accomplishments on the blog semi-regularly.

Ready? Let’s get started!

Jim recently finished both levels of Rings One. What have you been up to?

WIN of the Week

Jim Wheaton is a 34-year-old software engineer from Vancouver, B.C. who recently finished Rings One (both the Novice and Intermediate levels)!

He started R1 primarily to build strength that would translate well to doing the things he loves – mountain biking and rock climbing, and said: “I loved the program and the results. R1 is awesome!” His next challenge? To conquer Floor One!

(Have you finished one of the GMB programs recently? We’d love to hear about it!)

Our Newest GMB Trainer

We’re excited to announce that Junior Vassiliou is our newest GMB Trainer! Junior just completed his trainer apprenticeship with us, and you can join him at his facility Progressive Health & Fitness for GMB training in Queensland, Australia.

Junior also has a passion for teaching kids, and recently opened classes children: Mini Muscles

Here’s a ring training clip Junior recently shared with us. When he first started, he could barely do a muscle up!

What else are GMB posse members up to?

Alpha Posse member, Matt Tripp, just opened his new gym in San Francisco called move-sf.

And between handstand practice sessions, posse member Brad Hogle has been bootstrapping his massage therapy business. Check out Vibe Shiatsu on Facebook.

We also wanted to share Howie Brewer‘s recent progress with Floor One:

Last night I was able for the first time to maintain a discernable, controlled Crow pose. Each time I start make strides in new movements I realize that my limiting factor is my core strength. I’ve had the upper body strength to perform Crow all along and I thought I had a strong core. Only last night did I FEEL the difference. Until then it felt like it was a balance issue. But now I understand is wasn’t balance, but strength. Although not the kind of strength that one typically notices or feels. It’s been an interesting journey and I continue to notice new things that I hadn’t even realized existed before.

Great job Howie! And best of luck to Matt and Brad for taking on one of the biggest challenges of all – owning and operating a business!

Alpha Posse Monthly Challenges

The monthly challenge is something special for this community. It’s a wonderful opportunity to 1) work on something specific in “real time” with your cohorts, 2) try new things you didn’t know you wanted to, and 3) affirm that you WILL improve in just a few short weeks. This is where the posse becomes a team. – Amy Wolff, Alpha Posse Community Leader

One of the members only benefits of the GMB Alpha Posse is the opportunity to participate in GMB’s Monthly Challenges.

It’s always different, and it’s always fun. And it’s for a good cause – A $25 donation to the charity of your choice. Here’s a short summary of what our Alpha Posse has been working on over the past couple of months.

Challenge 11 – “Hurry Up & Get It Already”

This challenge had everyone focusing on ONE skill to master during the month. We all have those movements or progressions that we’re “sort of” working on that we’ve failed to nail – but during the month of March, everyone picked one thing to work on for the entire month, and Ryan created some great tutorials on the progressions to finally nail the move! Our members were working on things like the crane pose, l-sit, and the kip on a bar.

Everyone showed some serious improvement! In the end, Matt Sanderson impressed us all with his progress on the l-sit in just a few short weeks!

Challenge 12 – Balancing on Narrow Stuff

This one was a bit different and a lot of fun. We asked our posse members to go back to their youth and play around with balancing on narrow platforms. The entries were really diverse – our members were conquering fallen trees, slacklines, highway fences, and incorporated elements like snow (in Scotland!), as well as costumes and music (keeping in line with the April Fool’s theme). See how much fun we’re having?

Again, everyone made some great strides throughout the month, but Amy Wolff wowed us with the variety of surfaces she walked across! Check out Amy’s final video submission:

Hope you’ll join us this month – we’re working on a flow routine that combines cartwheels with scales and pirouettes. This one is especially good if you find yourself stressing out or worrying about stuff often. It’s a good way to quiet your mind and adjust your focus to performing a simple physical routine.

Last but not least, the Post of the Week

On our forum this week, GMB Trainer Junior Vassiliou addressed the common misconception that shifting from one type of strength training to another will cause one to lose strength.

After working through our trainer apprenticeship program over the past four months, Junior was amazed by the strength gains he had made through bodyweight training when he went back and applied it to weight lifting. (Junior basically throws around 550 lbs tires for fun).

[Losing strength is] …clearly not the case – you will however lose technique in your lifting but from my experience not strength!  Don’t get me wrong I still love my modified strong man training and O-lifts and am going to introduce them back into my training regimen, however the majority of my training will be GMB style training because clearly the results are in the pudding with training that can be done absolutely anywhere, anytime and be done safely!

We also really liked what Alpha Posse member Stephen Stern had to say:

One may lose technique of a particular skill if not practiced for awhile…. however doing a well rounded bodyweight program helps a person skillfully respond to the demands placed on the body. Especially, if it’s challenging bodyweight stuff that focuses on balance, coordination, and strength.

GMB programs help a person’s body to function in more efficient and effective ways. The nervous system becomes more refined and muscles/tendons/ligaments have improved synergistic connection. In relationship to the world and the demands placed on it… overall body technique evolves, which allows one to tap into his or her (natural) strength in a more dynamic fashion. Pretty cool!

There’s a lot of great discussion in the Alpha forums, but there’s just one voice missing – YOURS. (Ok, ok, I know…that was cheesy).

But really, our Alpha Posse community is a diverse group of down-to-earth people supporting each other and navigating challenges together. We’ve said this before, but big life changes are 100 percent easier to implement with the support of a great network of people to encourage you during the tough times and hold you accountable when life gets in the way.

Make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. We can help.

Your Turn

Did you meet a major milestone in your goals this week?

Share it with us so we can celebrate with you! Or leave a comment below to congratulate our posse members on their hard work over the past couple of weeks.

Help our Posse grow! Know anyone else who values being strong and flexible for real-life? Help us spread the word by sharing our stuff on Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter. (I keep trying to get the guys on Pinterest, but somehow that isn’t sticking. Go figure. )

I think we can all relate to how the formative experiences in our childhood and young adulthood build our character in both subtle and obvious ways. After he finished writing his story, Ryan told us with surprise:

Damn, writing this is bringing back a lot of memories. I didn’t know just how much I’ve already done in my life!

We weren’t too surprised ourselves, because Ryan’s go-go-go! personality has him tackling one challenge after another, and with this attitude you should expect a build up of quite a few accomplishments.  But this nose to the grindstone drive can disrupt your sense of where you’ve been, and you have to take a brief rest to look back and realize the progress you’ve made.

Your history inexorably leads you towards your future, and realizing where you’ve been and what you’ve done helps you to continue growing.

Here’s some facts about Ryan that you probably didn’t know.

Childhood Dreams

What's going on here? Your guess is as good as ours.

1.  Ryan began playing violin at a young age and was second chair violinist in the symphony at his high school. He’s known around the GMB office as “The Fiddler on the Rings”.  (Ok, he might not have been a child prodigy. We’re just glad he didn’t quit his day job to pursue his musical dreams). 

2.  When he was young, he would regularly go to the Walnut Valley “Winfield” Bluegrass Festival with his dad (a tradition he hopes to start up again once he’s back in the States).

3. Music has always been a big part of Ryan’s life, and he actually met his wife when she was singing in a blues band. If you ever have the chance to go out to karaoke with Ryan’s family, you want his wife to sing more songs than he does. Trust us.

4.  He saw the ocean for the first time when he was ten, and now has swam in the ocean every birthday since he was twenty one.

Turning Japanese (we really think so)

Probably not going to be the new trend in your town.

5.  Ryan is an Eagle Scout (and also a huge outdoors/camping enthusiast) and was chosen as the interpreter for the Crown Prince of Japan at the Boy Scout International Jamboree in Mishima, Japan.

6. Unfortunately, he sometimes completely blanks when it comes to certain English words (and he’s terrible at remembering numbers too).

7.  Though now fluent in several dialects of Japanese, his first visit to Japan was as a home stay student for 3 months, during which he spoke no Japanese at all! His host family would almost certainly be surprised to hear his “gangsta” Kansaiben (the local speak in Osaka).

8.  He once decided to make a fashion statement and climb Mt. Fuji in boat shoes, but they were stolen at a hostel. He ended up having to make another kind of fashion statement and wear “toilet slippers” on the bus back to Tokyo. Later, girls of all ages were seen sporting “the Ryan Hurst look” in Harajuku.

Yes, Ryan is big in Japan, thank you for noticing.

Family Man

9.  Ryan’s wife is an acupuncturist and uses him as her test subject for all her new needling techniques. Ouch! Their first date was at an acupuncture museum. Super romantic!

10. He has a blue-gray 7 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Brianne Artio who has been featured on Japanese TV (and who is, without question, the best dog ever).

11. His wonderful wife introduced him to the magic of snowboarding, and he now enjoys taking his family out to Nagano whenever they can.

Ryan with his biggest fan snowboarding in Nagano

Recluse or TV Star?

This is the other, less good-looking, Ryan Hurst.

12.  NOPE! He’s not currently starring in Sons of Anarchy. (Although, we wish! Attention casting directors and screen writers: GMB is very happy to participate in any upcoming Hollywood Blockbuster or prime-time television series).

13. Though he won’t win any academy awards, the movie Le Grand Blue had a huge impact on Ryan’s life and how he looks at inner self and our relationships with those around us. Check it out.

14. Ryan’s also a bit of a recluse and luddite and hates being online. It’s ironic, since that’s such a huge part of what we do at GMB, but he believes that talking and sharing your thoughts with your eyes and your body language, and being able to see the other person do the same is “the golden.”

Thanks for reading this somewhat random list. We really hope it gives you a better idea who Ryan is and what he’s about – beyond the usual stuff we do at GMB.

If any of that resonates, you should add him as a friend on Facebook and stay in touch.

And in the spirit of sharing, how about leaving a comment below and telling us one detail about yourself that very few people know about. I’m sure it will make Ryan feel a little better, and we’d love to get to know you better as well.

Like every good story, there’s a healthy mix of heroes, dragons, women…you get the idea.

Our hero as a young man. No women or dragons yet. They show up later in the story.

Meeting My Mentor

Here I am - full of big dreams.

I was in the fourth grade when I met a man who would change my life.

Mark Folger was my PE teacher, and our classes always included rope climbing, pull-ups, tumbling, and balance work. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was scouting out talent for his gymnastics team.

Mark was an NCAA Silver Medalist in the 80′s as a gymnast and in 2009 voted USA Gymnastics National Coach of the Year.  He must have seen something in me, because he convinced my parents to sign me up at his gym. I started training with him and continued all the way into high school.

I remember countless early Saturday mornings when my dad would drive me all over Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, and anywhere else we had a competition that weekend. I competed under Mark’s guidance at the state and national level, worked hard, and we racked up lots of medals. Looking back at it now, this is definitely where I developed my competitive drive and my devotion to hard training.

As I would later find out, this would be both a blessing and a curse in my life.

Mark was, and remains, amazing at creating incredible gymnasts. He not only values the importance of garnering medals, but also of keeping his athletes healthy and happy.

It’s because of Coach Folger that I am where I am today in my training. He was the first coach that instilled the concepts and practices that allowed me to excel as a movement artist. There aren’t a lot of people like him. Besides being a great competitive coach, he’s just a flat out great person.

I consider myself lucky to have him as a coach, friend, and mentor even to this day.

Enter The Gaijin

Ryan demonstrating Iaido. He's the white guy.

Like a lot of young kids, I started practicing martial arts after seeing a movie.

The movie was about Aikido, and I was intrigued by the flowing movements and how they talked about the discipline as a way of life. This was when I was fifteen, and I began practicing martial arts along with all those hours in gymnastic practice.

Needless to say I was pretty busy, but when you’re a teenager you can train that much and still have energy to spare!

This accident became the catalyst for much of my training to come.

But I guess you can say it finally caught up to me when I injured my knee right after graduating high school. You’re probably expecting a super cool story with a crazy death-defying stunt, and I wish I could give you one (dangit! I should have just made one up!)

But nope, it was just a stupid thing where I was kneeling with one leg out and a guy fell on top of my knee. The medial ligaments of my knee were torn and I had to get surgery.

This effectively ended my gymnastics career, and I didn’t start training seriously with gymnastic movements again for almost 20 years.

After about a year of rehabilitating my knee, I started training in martial arts again, adding in judo to the mix. Because of my success in gymnastics and with Coach Folger, I knew that I wanted to find the best training possible so I entered an exchange student program to Niigata, Japan.

I don’t have to tell you this is a long way from Wichita, Kansas!

There I explored all that Japan had to offer and trained very hard with lots of great people, earning my black belts in Judo, Kendo, and Iaido.  After I graduated, I moved to Osaka for work but the stresses of my job became overwhelming and I couldn’t train often or enjoy the arts as I did in Niigata.

I spent a year living with my Kendo instructor in Japan. This photo is from my black belt exam.

Facing Off With The Dragon Lady

Next came a time in my life that, though it came close to killing me, helped me to find the path I am on now.

My official work photo (which looks more like a mug shot). Yikes.

I was originally hired to work for a company’s advertising department, but on the way over it changed to the “information planning” division, which really had no meaning at all. They told me on my first day of work that the manager I was supposed to be under had quit and they hadn’t figured out what to do with me. They were to give me three months to learn certain skills (which I was not prepared for at all) and if I couldn’t perform they would send me back.

Luckily, or unluckily as I would soon find out, I passed and was put onto another department with a boss that I’ll politely refer to as “the Dragon Lady”…

It was an incredibly difficult work assignment, made even harder since I was still learning the local dialect at the time. I spent most of my time out in the field in Osaka, Tokyo, or Nagoya doing research and traveling. I was supposed to have Sundays off, but since I was usually away from my apartment, or out of the country, I was essentially working seven days a week.

The job took me to Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, and all over Japan.

It was hell because I’d usually start off at seven in the morning and wouldn’t get home, or wherever I was, until past midnight every night. I was running around with no sleep and a ridiculous amount of stress, and it completely burned me out. It was absolutely horrible and completely different from what I was originally hired to do.

The average resignation rate was six months, which was very different than the typical Japanese company. My boss was constantly telling me I was worthless and that I should pack up and move back to the U.S.

Being the stubborn son of a bitch that I am, I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of quitting!

What Doesn’t Kill You… Makes You Smarter?

As you’ve probably figured out by now, my personality and life revolved around being able to excel and succeed at whatever I put my mind to. I stuck it through to the end of my one year contract, but the unyielding stress along with no support system made me very ill.

After resigning from the company, I spent the next six months getting well with the use of holistic medicine, yoga, and returning to my regular exercise training.

My time in the Japanese information planning industry nearly killed me, and it may have been foolish to gut it through because of my pride, but the experience taught me so much about my life and my priorities.

I knew that I would never let that happen to me again, and I decided I would devote my life to helping others find the balance in their lives as well.

To Be Continued…

Looking back at some of these early experiences, I can really see how they’ve shaped me as a person and shaped what GMB has grown into as well.

Do you really need more reasons?

When the GMB Team gets together, we consume a healthy amount of the black stuff.

Looking back at my expenses from our meeting in Seattle last month, we spent enough money at Starbucks to power all the elliptical machines at 24 Hour Fitness for three weeks of non-stop going nowhere.

Of course, there’s the ongoing debate about whether or not coffee is really all that good for you.

Depending on whom you consider an authority, coffee is either a delicious treat that also has a variety of health and performance enhancing properties, or it’s a dangerous and highly addictive substance that literally shaves years off your life, one sip at a time.

Well, you’ve probably figured out that we are firmly in the pro-coffee camp.

Here’s a brief testament:

Knowing that coffee (not hard work or anything crazy like that) is the true secret to Ryan’s superpowers should be enough to convince you of coffee’s worth.

But just in case you need more…

Why You Should Drink Coffee

• Because you have a crush on your barista
• Because it stimulates the nervous system
• For its cognitive-enhancing effects
• For its fat-burning properties
• Because of its effect on insulin sensitivity
• Because it’s freaking delicious

Seriously. If loving coffee is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Coffee is amazing for you, so don’t let the nags shame you into giving up something you love.

When You Should Drink Coffee

Best Times for a Caffeine Injection

• Before training - Drinking a cup of coffee about 30 minutes prior to exercise has been shown to increase testosterone level and nitrous oxide production during training (e.g., it’s “anabolic”). It also increases pain tolerance and focuses the mind.
• After training - Caffeine decreases insulin sensitivity in the short term, allowing you to give your muscles the carbohydrate they need to grow without some of the other nasty effects of eating a ton of sugar.
• When you get hungry between meals - Recently, coffee has been shown to suppress hunger signals, which can be extremely useful when fasting, or simply trying to make it to your next scheduled meal time (because consistent meal times are hugely important for metabolism and energy levels).

Times to Lay Off the Shaky Sauce

• Within a few hours of when you plan to sleep - This one’s a no-brainer, right? You’ll never get any rest if you’re all hopped up.
• When you haven’t been sleeping well - Your body needs sleep, and when your sleep cycle is out of whack, it can take some time to restore your natural circadian rhythms. Artificially stimulating your energy systems will only make it harder on your body to adjust.
• When you’re under stress - Everyone’s under too much stress these days, so don’t exacerbate matters by overstimulating your nervous system when you should really be taking some time out to relax and breathe.
• When you feel sad or angry - Caffeine can intensity aggressive or negative emotions, so think happy thoughts before you pour.
• When you feel tired - This one might surprise you. Isn’t that what coffee’s supposed to be great for? Sure, a cup of coffee can boost your lagging energy in the short term, but using it this way is a crutch for lacking nutrition or sleep. Crutches turn into dependencies, so you’d do best to avoid drinking coffee when you’re tired.

What About My Morning Cup?

If you need this much coffee to start your day, you should probably take a hard look at your lifestyle.

You may notice that drinking a cup of coffee first thing in the morning isn’t listed on either list above.

To many people, myself included, a cup of coffee in the morning is part of a daily ritual. Mine also includes pig’s blood and chanting, but none of that gets underway until I’ve made use of my excellent home espresso machine.

Rituals are great, and I’m a big believer in building healthy habits into your lifestyle.

But some people take things too far. Rituals become obsessions, and habits become addictions. This isn’t what we want for ourselves, but it’s hard to see our own weaknesses sometimes, so here’s some things to watch out for:

• “Needing” coffee to wake up - This is straightforward enough. You should be able to wake up in the morning and function in the world even if you don’t have any coffee.
• A cup turns into a pot - For “daily ritual” purposes, a single cup is usually sufficient. Unless it’s the weekend and you just happen to have time for a second cup, it’s best to keep to a limit.
• You rush trough your coffee while doing a dozen other things - Reading the morning paper while you enjoy your brew is one thing, but gulping back your coffee while running around the house like a crazy person isn’t a great routine.
• You get headaches if you skip your coffee - A sure sign of either psychological or physiological dependence. Coffee, like most things, should always be an option – one you can do without if need be.

Coffee’s Place in a Healthy Lifestyle

Health breaks down to three main components overall:

1. Nutrition – The food you eat and how efficiently your body makes use of it
2. Work – Your training and other daily activities
3. Rest – Sleep and active recovery

Coffee affects your body on all three levels, so be aware of how each cup is going to either play for or against your goals.

The same can be said for a lot of other things in our lives too. When it comes down to it, being healthy means making good lifestyle choices on a daily basis. In anything you do, consider the outcome on your health and decide if the thing you’re about to do will move you forward or back.

And it’s OK to take a step back, as long as you know what you’re doing (so stop lying to yourself).

Like this article? Help spread the word by sharing it with a friend.

And don’t forget to join the GMB Posse for more great articles and tutorials. Just click the important-looking button below…