Imagine your feet firmly planted in the chocks, you’re so filled with anticipation you almost want to jump the cracking of the starter’s gun. You feel awesome and can’t wait any longer. The gun signals your start and you’re off.

Two weeks ago that was my position. But Friday I was hit head on with my biggest wall – my health. I’ve never shared my health with you, and with reason. I want the site to be more about helping you. And yet, maybe by telling my story you can benefit. So here we go.

I was born in Michigan, but soon moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas as my parents were called into the ministry. They asked their pastor where they should go to Bible school, and Texas was the answer. At around 11, my parents felt called to the the jungles of the Amazon in Brazil. As a kid, you can imagine, I was in paradise. I felt like Tarzan and Indiana Jones all rolled into one.

Most people ask about the food. And the food there was pretty good. Fresh everything. So I can’t attribute any health challenges to living in the jungle. I graduated from high school there full of life and dreams.

Back in Texas, where I ended up, I did need some dental work done. Not sure if this was because of the fact we grew up eating hard candy in the ’60′s, but I had a mouthful of trouble.

The dentist said he couldn’t help me that day. Too much swelling. He told me to take this new antibiotic out on the market that I would have wonderful results. Little did I know that small prescription would change my life forever.

I did take the prescription, but had a horrible reaction to it. I broke out all over in a rash that painfully itched.

So, I did like most anyone else would and headed to my General Practice doctor and asked for him to take a look at it. Naturally, and this is important to follow, he did not look too much to the cause but to the effect. His prescription (to counteract the first one) was Prednisone.

The Prednisone, if you’re not familiar with it, is a form of cortisone and it did make the rash disappear. But as soon as I ran out of the medicine, the rash came back! I went back to my doctor and he gave up… and sent me to a dermatologist. A biopsy later, I was diagnosed with Dermatitis Herpetiformis.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis is sorta like it sounds. Has to do with the dermis – layer of the skin, and the effect does look a lot like herpes. Thinking back, I never thought – great, I have herpes – I just wanted to find a cure. This isn’t herpes. What it is, is a form of Celiac. I asked the dermatologist, OK…what now? And he had two answers.

First, I could take Dapsone, or… simply stop eating anything that has wheat gluten in it.

What? Did I hear that right? No more wheat in my diet? That’s right – eliminate everything and the painful blisters that had made their way around my knuckles and joints would be gone.

You know, at this stage in my life, I wasn’t totally on board with healthy foods and living. I admit, I loved the high fructose corn syrup, fat filled foods. So I accepted the dapsone prescription, and went on my way – still not knowing what was happening in this stage of my life. I was simply following doctor’s orders.

In my next update, I’ll tell you the single choice I made that added years to my life, and my advice to anyone with allergies – a simple tip that could get your life back.

I started working out again, in earnest. And I know you’ve been down the road a few times, where you start something and you hit a wall within the first few days, and you’re down. Me too. I’ll admit it.

When I’m on day four or five, my brain comes up with at least a dozen ways to totally cop out without guilt (too much), and I give up – just for one day!! come on!!

But on the very next day, guess what? Right! Life gets in the way… Now, during your normal workout time, you agreed to take lunch to the kids at school, or meet your buddy at Starbucks. And you’ve just sabotaged your routine to better health.

Why in the world do we do this?

I’ve heard about the thermostat theory, and I give it credit. I.E, you never push yourself farther than your mental thermostat – and you sabotage success. Yes, it’s true… But what I’m talking about here is not that.

We quit before payday because we didn’t have a big enough reason to keep going.

It’s that simple. You know me – I love working with the basics. It’s like going on a hike in the mountains, but not intentionally shooting for anything – like the summit. You know that isn’t your goal, so you may start up it, but any obstacle is reason enough to quit and go back down.

My why is pretty cool, actually.

Next year, I plan to go on an expedition to the Amazon. I grew up there, as many of you know, and I’m going back to my childhood stomping grounds. This is a photo expedition, starting in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, and heading up the Rio Negro river to Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira. It’s going to be fun and full of life and color, but I must be fit to enjoy it.

And right now, I’m not where I want to be.

So each day, I’m working out. Getting in shape to be able to explore, endure, survive… (OK, the survive thing I threw in there…) But I want to be in total top shape. And I want to see this area before it’s gone forever from development, or I can’t go there anymore. This is IT!

Big why? Big enough for me. Today I hit the wall. It was there as I was getting my daughter ready for school. I even read in a book that muscles need time to rebuild. Everything was working toward me not exercising. Even some cool emails from friends showed up – this morning – in my inbox. Ha! But guess what?

I got out there and whipped it.

And the reason why is because I want SO bad to do this expedition. You’re invited, by the way… drop me an email or comment. I’m looking at mid-November to February as a window – 2010. So that’s me.

What is your why? And is it big enough? If you cop out – it ain’t. Make it bigger – more focused – crystallized in your mind. I love to say – if someone woke you up at 3 AM – could you tell them your WHY? Get it that clear.

And let me know how you’re doing. I love to keep in touch. Let’s have fun and do this together!

Time for some more abs!

Quick tip for the day – pay yourself first. Read that and you’re done here, basically.

When I look back at my experience in the Amazon, there wasn’t many times animals would stuff things away for eating later. And the reason for that is because things go bad there, rot, pretty fast. So no opportunity for storing anything. Because of the abundance of food, and the tropic weather, animals don’t have to do that, though a few do.

But almost everywhere else you look in nature, it stores up something to use later. Even plants do this so they can survive when times get rough.

One thing Indians do along the Amazon, which made my parents crazy, was that the men and boys eat first. Women and children last. This was their culture, and for great reason – the men and boys protected the women and children. So here, they “paid themselves first.”

This is another “habit” you have to develop. Not something that will come automatically. And the best way to do it is to automatically have something come out of your paycheck. If you do it right, you won’t miss it and you’ll build a good nest egg.

I read to my kids the classic book, the Richest Man in Babylon, and even had an audio cassette with the book acted out. It was powerful and they still remember it 20 years later. Author George Classon made the point – Pay Yourself First.

And take advantage of the tax deferral here. Because of high and even multiple tax rates, money that you save or invest without being taxed accumulates at a rate of 30% to 40% faster than taxed money.

Self-made millionaires, according to Dr. Thomas Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door, are almost obsessive about accumulating their funds in assets like real estate, self owned businesses and equities that increase in value without triggering tax liabilities.

Put away 10%. It’s a start. Graduate to 15%. And then watch how your financial life will benefit and change!