Sean Barcellona

The future can be a scary place.

There are unknowns, uncertainties, and challenges waiting for us. Sometimes, we prevent ourselves from thinking about the future because it can give us anxiety, depression, or doubt. But when we prevent ourselves from planning for our future, we prevent ourselves from creating the future we want.

What do you want to do with your life? What are your dreams, goals and ambitions? Ask yourself those questions. You have to know what you are working towards in order to put together a plan to get there. Reaching our goals takes hard work and persistence.

When we prevent ourselves from planning for our future, we prevent ourselves from creating the future we want.

To be successful, it takes doing the right thing day after day, month after month, and year after year. We’re all capable of doing this if we’re passionate about what we do, and we remind ourselves why we’re doing it.

Let’s break it down. Keep the following tips in mind when you’re setting goals and taking the steps to achieve them.

1. Don’t be afraid of failure. Instead, use it as a learning experience and apply those lessons to your future.

2. Break it up. Create smaller goals on the way to your larger goal.

3. Don’t dwell in the past! Whether something good or bad happened, give yourself 24 hours to reflect and learn, then move on.

4. Take it day by day. Focus on giving your best effort today! Don’t focus on what you have to do tomorrow.

5. Give your dream purpose. When you set a goal bigger than yourself it holds you accountable and gives you that extra push when you feel like giving up.

Working toward a dream can feel a lot like hiking a mountain. Our goal is to get to the top and enjoy the view, but we have to start at the bottom and work our way up until we get where we want to be.

There are plenty of up’s and down’s, unexpected challenges, and setbacks during the journey, but we have to stay focused on our goal and continue putting one foot in front of the other.

The easy thing to do is turn back and head down the mountain. It’s not easy to keep climbing when you’re tired, but nothing worth achieving is easy. You have to push yourself outside your comfort zone, you have to keep taking that next step, and eventually you will get to the top and get to enjoy that view you worked so hard to reach.

Anyone is capable of accomplishing great things—it just takes patience, determination and an unyielding optimism.

Looking up at the mountain from the bottom can be intimidating and can even prevent you from starting your hike to the top. But don’t let it.

Instead, when you have a big goal you’re working toward, break it down and focus on taking that next step—don’t think about the entire journey. Anyone is capable of accomplishing great things—it just takes patience, determination and an unyielding optimism. Make the choice to take that next step!

Sean Barcellona is a trainer at Burn Boot Camp Cornelius (North Carolina) as well as a Burn HQ employee. He began his journey with Burn in 2017 and is the man behind the daily protocol, continually creating unique workouts for all Burn Boot Camp locations across the nation. He is passionate about hiking, exercise, and spending time with his wife, Lindy, who also works at HQ.

Maggie Greene, the mother of one of our headquarters staffers, willingly volunteered to blog about her ninety day journey with Burn Boot Camp! Maggie is taking it back to the basics – starting with day one. She’s providing you, our readers, with the ability to walk through the Burn Boot Camp journey; the good days, the hard days, and the days where you achieve more than you ever thought possible.

Let’s start at the beginning….

May 1

“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” – Robin Sharma

I embarked on a new adventure today. Not one where I get to sample all sorts of new wines from around the world or sample new and creative desserts; instead I agreed to work with Burn Boot Camp for the next 90 days to fully immerse myself in their program and share my experiences. Crazy? Sure. Intimidating? Definitely! Outside my comfort zone to share something as personal as my fitness journey and details about my body? You bet!

But I am at a point in my life where I really need this challenge. We’ve all heard the term, “dad bod,” and I think society is a little scared to utter the phrase “mom bod” because that just wouldn’t fly. I’m here to tell ya, I have a mom bod. I’m 49 years old, have two grown kids, been happily married for 25 years and have spent the past few decades caring just a little bit more about the three of them than myself. Sure, I walk on the treadmill every now and then, walk the dogs, try to follow the newest exercise circuits on Buzzfeed or Pinterest, but I needed something challenging, inspiring and consistent.

Enter Burn Boot Camp! Full disclosure here…I learned about Burn because one of my kids works for them. As a proud (maybe nosy) parent, I was checking out the website and social media of this company my son, Will, was now working for. I would look at the workouts posted on Facebook and was completely intimidated, but also a bit curious.

Today was my first camp and though I don’t know if the word ‘fun’ is necessarily accurate, I did walk away with a huge sense of accomplishment. Was I the fastest or strongest? Um, NOPE. Did I collapse on the floor after the first set? Proudly, I did not (nor did I collapse after the last set!) It honestly felt really good to be in a room with women that are at all different fitness levels, but were working side-by- side in the journey. I had a complete stranger tell me after class, “good job!” I don’t care how old you are, getting that validation from another woman felt really great.

The nerves of day 1 are done and behind me. I took the leap, I pulled on the old sports bra, laced up my shoes and I walked through the front door – now I just need to do it 89 more times! (Ok, maybe not 89 times but you get the idea!) Besides working on my own physical and mental health, I hope that in some way I can inspire another woman with a little nugget to nudge them into taking the first step through the door!

May 2

“The first step to getting anywhere is deciding you’re not willing to stay where you are.”

Kjflspmerkwkfkdg…. Wooo, excuse that massive misspell. That’s what happens when you hit arms and upper body at Burn Boot Camp. My arms were literally feeling like noodles when I walked out of the gym. Have you ever been presented with an exercise to do and you think, “okay, that looks tough but I got this?” I had that happen to me today.

Picture this, you have a mini hurdle, aka an equalizer bar, in front of you and you lay down under it and try to do a pull up. My body did not move the first few times. I felt like a roach stranded on my back just flailing around! Eventually I managed a couple, but it was tough.

Another good camp with many encouraging women. So excited to see how my body feels tomorrow! LOL.

Here’s what I ate today…

Breakfast: Egg on toast with avocado spread, cold brew coffee with milk
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Chicken breast on flatbread with hummus, spicy mustard and spinach; cantaloupe
Snack: Greek yogurt and strawberries
Dinner: Grilled chicken breast and cauliflower salad with kale and sun dried tomatoes; “mocktail” (V8 juice and low cal orange juice)
Snack: Strawberries with cool whip

May 3

“If it’s important to you, you will find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.”

Happy Hump Day! I’m someone that likes routine and structure and I know with this new exercise routine I have to stay at it 110% to really get in the groove. I had an appointment this morning that went longer than planned and I knew I would be pushing it to get to the gym in time for the last morning camp.

I think the old me would have said, “well, I planned on going, have the workout clothes on, but it is not worth the effort to fly down the road to get there. There’s always tomorrow.” But I’m proud of myself that I shut off that conversation and hopped in the car to get to the gym by the skin of my teeth (not proud that I probably broke a couple speed limits to get there, but we won’t focus on that…)

I’m so glad that I rushed to get to the camp because it was LEG DAY. I did a camp Monday and Tuesday that were not called “leg day,” but somehow my leg muscles were already making themselves known… and a full mini camp of all leg exercises was tough. But I persevered and made it to the end, along with my fellow campers.

Maybe it is the honeymoon phase, but I am still pleasantly surprised each time another woman gives me a high five for a job well done. As I continue on this 90 day journey, I hope I can give someone a high five that helps them get through a tough set.

Here’s what I ate today…

Breakfast: Egg on toast with avocado spread; toast with Simply Fruit spread; cold brew coffee with milk
Snack: Banana, almonds
Lunch: Vegetable soup, salad, Coke Zero
Dinner: Turkey burger on bun with cranberry/apple relish and spinach; sweet potato fries

Wow! Maggie is working hard and hitting the ground running. What advice would you give her? How did you handle your first 90 days at Burn Boot Camp? Sign up below and tune in next week to see how Maggie tackles week 2 of Project 90!

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