The Jon Olson Project

This blog is about personal discovery. Sure it’s focused mainly on my health and fitness but damn, I’m not going to lie. My soul is being tested.

Sometimes I ask myself what my worth really is to the industry I’m in, to the members in my programs and the partners I have that form my company. It’s self doubt and we all go through it. I am lucky to have great people around me, but wow, when you get down on yourself, you can really dig yourself pretty deep. Depression? Who knows…

I wake up every day, with one goal…To teach as many people as I can exactly how I have been able to work from home full time for the past 7 years…Shocking huh, I’ve been at this online stuff for 14 years but only went full time online in around 2005. (Sorry, it doesn’t happen over night…)

Anyways, that’s all I want. To get more people working from home and get out of the 9 to 5 rat race. But the way my company and I are talked about online, you’d think we were trying to kill unicorns or something…It makes me question myself constantly. I’m trying to remain focused and positive but wow, it’s a a test.

Hey, I know I bring a lot of this stuff on myself. I open my mouth all the time, and I’ve made my fair share of mistakes and enemies but ask anyone who has met me offline, I’d give my friends my last dollar and when I meet ya, I’ll buy ya’ dinner and a drink.

I’m just a dude. I think I’m a good dude…

I’ve lost so much personally over the past few months, and yes I’ve gained a lot as well…But something is missing. It’s not a health issue. It’s not a self-improvement issue. I really do think it’s a soul issue.

Who knows….I just work here

So something funny happened today after my jog, I jumped in the shower and was about to get dressed when I realized something…I had nothing to wear.

You see, it’s spring and when spring arrives and summer is around the corner, I wear shorts religiously. So of course I found a pair but the waist line was size 48…..Yeah, I’ve kind of shrunk a little since last summer.

So I guess it’s time to go shopping, for ‘normal sized’ summer clothes. It’s a good reward for actually seeing results =)

Wanna know my secret? LOLOL I don’t have any because I’m nowhere NEAR where I want to be yet but still…Everyday, just DO SOMETHING!

So after a winter of running on my treadmill I thought it was time for me to spice things up a little bit. The weather outside is finally warm in Edmonton so this morning I’m lacing up my sneakers and running outside for the first time.

I’m pretty excited!

There are so many ‘cool things’ I wanted to try when I took my jogging outside and now I finally get to put some of those tools to work. However, if anyone has any cool ‘apps’ or tools to help with tracking my results and distances, etc…I’d love to hear them.

Ive got a few apps for my iPhone but I’m not sure if these are the best options, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Anyways, I’m pumped! I’m ready to enjoy the weather, the sunshine and the air as I take the ‘Jon Olson Project’ outside…Here we go…

Happy birthday to me, I’m old as can be….

So I started my 35th year on planet earth today and someone very special to me made me realize something last night, this is now ‘official’…I’m grown!

Young adult kind of ends at 34 and now I’m officially an adult. Urgh, scary. Why? Because I feel like a kid still. I do silly things all the time, I get myself into trouble now and again and while my ‘online business’ continues to grow and prosper, my offline life is well…Still up for debate.

I’m still running almost every day, I don’t feel like I have lost any more weight in the past few months…Things have just become blah. I dunno what I need, some kind of big shake up. A new passion? A new hobby? Maybe learn to play the clarinet…Dunno.

All I know is that I am THANKFUL that God has allowed me another year on his green Earth and I pray for many many more. And I am THANKFUL for everyone in my life, my friends, family, and colleagues who put up with my drama and still talk to me to this day.

Now that I’m a big boy, I need to make some more big boy decisions in life. I’ve reached adulthood, and I look back, it’s been a pretty fun ride so far…No regrets. Only wishes and dreams…

You know, the physical stuff is work but once you get into a pattern, it’s fun and easy. The dieting, was tough to start but now I crave veggie burgers…The hardest part of self improvement has been for me, the emotional and spiritual side of things…

I hope you enjoy the video and be sure to tell yourself once and a while, it’s o.k. to mess up. The cool thing is that we are blessed with a new morning to right our wrongs and continue on…Learn from things, don’t dwell on them!

I have never been a morning person. To be quite honest, I truly believe the alarm clock is the creation of the devil and something all mankind could do without. I prefer to wake up on my on time and what is remarkable these days is that I am actually waking up in the mornings….O.K. not as early as most people…But still, it’s morning for me lol

This begins my daily…And here’s what I have been scheduling for myself for at least the past 6 months…

First, I try to have 5 minutes of ‘me’ time. Basically I just sit on my bed and thank the Big Guy upstairs for allowed me to exist another day. My dog is usually pretty impatient so that means after my reflection she needs to be fed.

I then have the first shake of the day where I have become a huge fan of my Visalus shake mix, a banana, blueberries, & almond milk. I take my multi-vitamin as well and then head downstairs…

Work time! I usually check in with my business partners and our team, check emails and see what’s on the agenda for the day. I spend a few hours at work but then it’s time to ‘get to work’ physically…

Up to the treadmill I go. This is where I try to (as you guys know) plus one every day. If I run for 20 minutes, the next day I try to do 21. If I ran at 4.1 yesterday, I run at 4.2 today. It’s worked wonders for me and even though sometimes I fall back, I still keep this routine at the beginning of each week.

After my shower (and shave somedays lol) it’s time for lunch AKA my second shake of the day. My new favorite has become a chocolate almond milk, peanut butter and banana creation that is basically like drinking a banana split. It’s awesome…

Then comes the juicy part. This is when my daily ‘online TV show’ starts and I really get a kick in the rear…This pumps me up like nothing else and after that I keep working on things until it’s ‘Jon time’ again…Which essentially means playing Call of Duty for the evening. Yes, I love video games. I’m a nerd.

Dinner is ‘normal’, as I no longer eat meat finding things to cook for dinner can be challenging but I do not ‘watch’ how much I eat. I just eat. And it’s working, I can’t explain it LOL

Pretty boring so far huh?

Well the end of the night is my reflecting on the day I had, thanking God for allowing me to be productive and healthy and then I end the night either watching a movie or sticking my nose in a business or self-improvement book.

And that…In all it’s boring glory is 24 hours in the life of Jon Olson. Ta da!

I love self development. I’m a huge fan of positive thinking and all around self improvement each and every day. It’s at the core of every thing I try to do in my life, my career and my physical fitness. I was checking out Twitter today and came across this video by one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history Ray Lewis.

This is basically 2 minutes of goose bumps. I am so inspired by listening to the passion and the feeling that Ray expresses in this video. It truly is remarkable and there is quotes in here that I intend to live by each and every day.

Get ready to be inspired and SHARE this with everyone you care about!

“If tomorrow wasn’t promised…What would you give for today?”

“Whatever legacy you are going to leave….LEAVE your legacy! And it’s found through effort!

“If you aren’t pissed off at greatness, that means you are o.k. with being mediocre…”

WOW!

This is a ‘saying’ I tweeted earlier today on Twitter and it got me thinking while I was running on the treadmill…This would be a great post for my business blog, but why not feature it on my personal development blog…

I hope everyone has a great Monday and be sure to knock it out of the park in everything you do today!

I admit, sometimes I don’t do a very good job of following through with my commitments.

It’s not that I’m lazy or mean to, I just honestly forget things and well, this blog hasn’t been used for a few weeks. For that I apologize. I will get back into the habit of breaking some new milestones shortly =)

I hope you all have an awesome day and +1 in everything you do in life, work and play!

So one of the awesome aspects of being an ‘extra large’ guy over the past decade and eating garbage food was the appearance of the gout. For those that don’t know, it’s called the ‘disease of kings’ and basically it’s a very painful form of arthritis that comes in spurts. About once a year, I have a ‘flare up’ and it puts me on my butt for about 3-4 days.

Painful, doesn’t even begin to describe it and in recent years it’s been o.k. but this past week WOW…It really hit me. I thought will all the exercise I’ve been doing and healthier eating, I could curb it…But alas…I’m stuck with it for life.

Anyways, I couldn’t walk never mind jog this past week but finally I had the ‘guts’ to get back on the horse per se yesterday and ran for 25 minutes. It didn’t ‘hurt’ but it was a challenge. Today I ran for 30 minutes without any problem…

So I’m back to running again and wow, I’m praying and hoping I don’t have to go through this again for another year. Hopefully with even more weight loss and better health I can manage the gout even more…But it’s amazing the repercussions you have to deal with from stuffing 5 pizzas a week down my throat. I have no one to blame but myself. It’s a lesson in life =)