The GroomsMen

What You Need To Know”We’re talking complementary activities here, like law and accounting, not law and ceramics.”We all want to be great at something. Usain Bolt didn’t end up making cocky gestures at the finish line because he was pretty good at lots of sports, Stephen Hawking hasn’t inspired legions of astrophysicists by working on his haikus and David Copperfield isn’t famous for being a great all-rounder.So, logically, in the professional world, especially in tough times, it makes sense to get really, really good at what you do. Right?Wrong. Those in the know (business leaders, recruitment professionals, career coaches) are pushing a new buzzword: cross-train.

What Is Professional Cross-Training?

Cross-training has been around in the world of athletics for some time, but the phrase can generally be used to express how the combination of two activities produces an improvement — an interaction effect — substantially greater than either one can produce on its own. We’re talking complementary activities here, like law and accounting, not law and ceramics. Think about how diet and exercise, when combined, are substantially more effective for weight loss than either diet or exercise alone (or diet and Sudoku combined).There are two types of cross-training: the kind that you pursue yourself, like learning a new language or getting tech-savvy, and in-company development kind, which could include things like job rotation or management training. Essentially, this means any training geared toward helping you expand your scope of knowledge and skills beyond the confines of your own professional discipline.If you’re a journalist, learning photography would be an effective complement. If you’re a yoga teacher, then dance or meditation might be useful. A business consultant might consider picking up skills like public speaking, social media proficiency or HR negotiations.

Why Cross-Train?

The experts agree that if time is scarce, it’s better to learn a new skill than build on the ones you already have. In most fields, honing complementary skills is just as valuable, if not more so, than delving more deeply into the area in which you’re most competent. Having many areas of expertise instead of just one will make you seem like a more well-rounded employee and more useful to have in the office if extra work needs to be done or someone is needed to cover another employee’s tasks. For example, in many cases, the guy who is comfortable with technology, communications and client relations is more useful than the guy who is just an IT whiz.In addition, the more skills you possess, the more your expertise is apparent and accessible to colleagues and management. Cross-training promotes versatility, giving you the edge in a dynamic economy, where layoffs and belt-tightening mean that fewer employees need to know how to do more. Building new strengths is more important, they say, than improving on known weaknesses — unless you’re training for the Olympics.How do you start a skill-development program? That’s next…And the stats back up the advice: Research has shown that people with two or three complementary skill sets, not surprisingly, tend to be more successful than those with just one. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review written by three leadership development consultants says: “It’s pretty easy and straightforward to improve on a weakness; you can get steady, measurable results through linear development — that is, by learning and practicing basic techniques. But the data from our decades of work with tens of thousands of executives all over the world has shown us that developing strengths is very different. Doing more of what you already do well yields only incremental improvement. To get appreciably better at it, you have to work on complementary skills — what we call nonlinear development.”

Protect Yourself During Hard Times

This is more than just a passing catchphrase. Orienting employees to do other jobs, or elements of other jobs, means that companies always have a backup in place who can take on another’s responsibilities if necessary. “Incorporate cross-training” means that you can step up to the plate in an emergency, you can adapt and redefine your role within the organization, you can collaborate more effectively with colleagues when you know what their roles involve, and you forge stronger workplace relationships when you understand the demands placed on others.And if you go it alone and spend your evenings and weekends learning something new? You’re multiplying your options in the job market, creating greater job security, avoiding boredom, and investing in new areas of interest that may turn into serious strengths.It’s the same idea on the dating scene. Sure, some women will fall for the guy who is scarily good at orgasmic back rubs because he trained at an ashram in India, but the guy who can give a decent massage, cook an impressive meal, speak another language, and plan unexpected weekends away almost always has an advantage.Bottom line: With career cross-training, you’ll have the baseline fitness to compete effectively in any game.

How Do I Start?

Look into training offered by your company, and consider areas you might have overlooked before. Managers are now being told that cross-training people in different aspects of the company is a great way to cross-fertilize between departments and across regions. This gives the company the competitive edge when organizations are forced to cut back on manpower.Does your organization offer leadership training, IT instruction, financial tuition, or money for outside evening classes? Is there any possibility of job rotation or shadowing? Could you volunteer to step in when supervisors or managers are absent?In your own time, there are myriad classes out there, no matter where you live. Sports, languages, the arts, and business courses are always offered outside of work hours. Pick something you’re interested in that in some way corresponds to what you do, sign up and let it be known in the office that you’re working on a new skill. Trust us, it will not go unnoticed.

These are the 12 rules I live by.I go to bed and get up at the same time 7 days per week (9pm and 5am.) I do not deviate from this schedule unless it is due to an important (and this word is not used lightly) work or social function.  I stick to a diet of whole, natural foods, avoid caffeine after 1pm, and avoid alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime.I write for at least 60 minutes first thing every morning.I do not check email before 9am.I do not talk on the phone unless it is a schedule interview or conference call.I create a to-do list at the end of every workday and I follow that to-do list starting first thing the next morning. I also perform my daily readings at the end of every workday, and I write in a gratitude journal. I am thankful everyday for identifying my mission and what I wanted to do with my life at such a young age.I do not engage in confrontations with anyone, in-person or online. This is a waste of time and energy. If I have caused harm, I apologize and fix the situation. However, if someone simply doesn’t like something I have done or something that I do or disagrees with me, that is fine, but I’m not going to get into an argument about it. For any confrontation-like situation, I simply take a deep breath, relax, breathe out, and re-focus my efforts back on my work and goals.I am guided by these two phrases:a) “Nothing matters.” – By this, I mean that arguing on the internet changes nothing…I can only work towards the major, massive goals that I have set for my life…that I have a vision of helping others, and there is no time to let petty arguments stand in the way.b) “It will all be over soon.” – This servers me in both good times and in bad.In hard times, such as bad days, troubled times, or intense physical effort or discomfort, I know that it will all be over soon. A small amount of suffering now will be forgotten later when I will enjoy the rewards of my work. And in good times, I will remember that life is short, and I must make things count now, and no matter how good things are going I must never let myself become soft and lazy,because I have too much to accomplish in such a short time.
Everything that happens to me – good and bad – is my personal responsibility. I blame no one but myself. These are the choices I’ve made – this is the life I’m living. I will accept the consequences of my actions.I will not stop until I have helped 1 Million men and women transformed their lives – physically, financially, or emotionally.I will not be the person I don’t want to be. I will not be petty, jealous, or envious, or give in to any other of those lazy emotions. I will not gossip or speak badly of others, no matter who I am with or what environment I am in. I will not be negative when it is easier to be positive. I will not hurt others when it is possible to help. I will know the temptations, situations and environments in life that I must avoid, and I will, in fact, avoid them, even if it means loosening relationships with others who “live” in those environments. It’s my life and that matters more than what other people think of me.“I will always keep the child within me alive.” – Frank McKinney. I will laugh everyday. That’s not hard when you have the friends – and dog – that I have. And if they don’t make me laugh, there’s plenty of comedy on Netflix.“I will write with honesty and feeling.” – Ted Nicholas. I’ve long since giving up caring about how others choose to judge me. What matters more than other’s opinions is the number of people that I can help by sharing advice and encouragement in my writing. The most powerful songs are written by songwriters who bare their souls. So screw it, let’s do it. Let’s put it all out there. I’m not going to help as many people as I could if I keep the “real info” to myself. I also understand now, better than ever, that sometimes you have to “write to repel” in order to strongly attract the readers you desire.So that’s it. These 12 rules allow me to live my life with less guilt, more energy, and more productivity than if I did not have these personal philosophies outlined.Now I know there will be two types of reactions to this content. First, some will dismiss it – and dismiss me.But to those people, remember the point of the list is not for you to sit there and think, “Oh, what a total weirdo. I never want to hang around with this guy.”Instead, the point of the list, the idea, the article is to simply stimulate your thinking.And that’s the 2nd type of reaction you can have to this article.This is the reaction of the people who I’m interested in – the people who will realize what’s holding them back is not a lack of knowledge (because the knowledge is out there and freely available), but instead, it is decision making.Listen, I know that every week you make decisions that leave you full of guilt and remorse, but on the other hand you also make decisions that you know are correct – even though they are difficult to make.Wouldn’t you be better off if you made MORE correct decisions with less effort?Of course, and that is where you rules to live by, your personal philosophies, come into play.With this post, I’ve given you a model so that you can create your own personal philosophies that will allow you to make the correct decision and fewer decisions that leave you with remorse.As a result of making more correct decisions, you’ll move closer to your goals and suffer less frustration. Life will be simpler once you start adhering to your own personal philosophies – and not worrying about what others think.

Here are 39 ways that would be a good start.1)    Eat only organic produce and organic,grass fed meat. Avoid any factory farmed meat like the plague and try your best to avoid conventionally grown produce when possible.2)    Eliminate sugar from your diet completely. Fruit doesn’t count.3)    Cut out all processed foods.4)    Dairy, soy, wheat, sugar, white flour and legumes are inflammatory for the majority of people. Get rid of them.5)    Don’t piss away all your money on bogus, bullshit supplements.6)    Drink a gallon of water per day.7)    Cut out all other beverages. Except for green tea, a limited amount of coffee and some vodka now and then.8)    Practice intermittent fasting on a daily or weekly basis or at least go longer between meals.9)    Get to bed by 10:30 or 11pm every night.10)    Have a routine that helps you wind down each night. Lower the lights, read, etc.11)    Get off of the computer at least two hours before bed. The screen over stimulates your pineal gland and messes with your ability to sleep.12)    Buy the most expensive mattress and sheets you can afford. It’s where you spend a third of your life.13)    Use big compound barbell lifts, gymnastics and strongman exercises to create a well rounded, functional, strong, muscular physique.14)    Focus on a handful of exercises from each category and stick with them until you are really good at them and can no longer make progress. This will probably be years.15)    Train heavy (but in a safe manner). I can never say this often enough.16)    Stick with programs for more than a few weeks. Months or years might be more appropriate in some cases. This also bears repeating. Too many people are program jumpers and get nowhere.17)    Put all of your efforts into a few things that actually make a difference, instead of trying a million options that all do next to nothing.18)    Find a way to get focused. Somehow, some way. Most people have zero focus and thus zero control of their lives. Don’t be another multitasking, confused, out of control, getting nowhere fast member of society. We have more than enough of those.19)   Don’t replace real strength training with some clown like “metabolic conditioning” workout because you think it will help you lose fat faster. It won’t.  You lift weights to get bigger, stronger and more explosive. Remember that.20)    Keep a training journal. Record everything. Always try to improve, slowly,  over time. Not necessarily workout to workout but over months and years.21)    Train outside more often. Fresh air and natural Vitamin D production are very underrated.22)    Do hill sprints.23)    Pick up and carry or drag heavy shit.24)    Get at least 20 minutes of sunlight per day without sunscreen.25)    Floss daily.26)    Eliminate excess clutter and bullshit from your life. Minimalism…27)    Have sex three times per week, minimum. Preferably with hot chicks.28)    Never allow yourself to get too fat.29)    Never allow your conditioning to slip too much. Always stay in shape.30)    Meditate.31)    Play a sport or perform some type of fun physical activity once in a while, even if just on weekends with friends. Hike, surf, play volleyball, tennis, flag football, swim, whatever…32)    Read a book. In fact, read lots of books. Aim for at least two per month.33)    Never hang out or associate with negative people. Cut them out of your life permanently.34)    Reduce stress in your life.35)    Check email far less often than you do right now.36)    Watch less TV than you do right now.37)    Never hate or be jealous of anyone. It takes too much energy; energy that could be used to better your life.38)    Listen to Public Enemy.39)    Read this site daily.

The WSJ had a good piece last weekend listing the optimal times to do certain activities. Some notable highlights: Best time to send emails you want read: 6 a.m.Best time for thinking: Late morning.Best time for creative thinking: Creativity can be improved when we’re tired, so try brainstorming when daytime sleepiness peaks at around 2 p.m.