Holiday Party Week

“Champions act like champions before they become champions.”
– Bill Walsh

What’s Going On?

Holiday Potluck Party and White Elephant Exchange
Location: CrossFit Palo Alto
Saturday, December 7th, 5-8pm
Dress: Any Degree of Formal (partly, semi, etc.)

Holiday Schedule Changes
12/23-25 – CLOSED
12/31 – CLOSED
1/1/25 – 9am Only – “Murph”

Overheard in Class:
“Make it obvious.”

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE Some people are visual learners and may find this video helpful. And humorous.

Someone’s Deep Squats (Thoughts)

We’re having a party on Saturday at 5pm. Bring your family, some food and some white elephant gifts. It’s going to be a blast. And even better when you’re here.

Today’s focus is the history of the White Elephant Gift Exchange as told by Wikipedia.

A white elephant gift exchange,[1] Yankee swap[2] or Dirty Santa[3][nb 1] is a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged during festivities. The goal of a white elephant gift exchange is to entertain party-goers rather than to gain a genuinely valuable or highly sought-after item. (AKA Have Fun.)

The term white elphant refers to an extravagant, impractical gift that cannot be easily disposed of. The phrase is said to come from a perspective about the historic practice of the King of Siam (now Thailand) giving rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him, so that they might be ruined by the animals’ upkeep costs. However, there is no actual record of the King gifting a white elephant specifically to burden the recipients, and white elephants are considered to be highly valuable and sacred in Thai culture, so much that any white elephant that is found must immediately be brought to the King according to his legal ownership.[4] While the first use of this term remains a matter of contention among historians,[5] one theory suggests that Ezra Cornell brought the term into the popular lexicon through his frequent social gatherings as early as 1828.[6]

Rules

Each participant supplies one wrapped gift, usually of similar value.[3] The gifts are placed in a central location, and participants determine in which order (often by numbers randomly drawn prior to the start of the game) they will take turns selecting a gift. The first person opens a wrapped gift, and the turn ends.[3] On subsequent turns, each person has the choice to either unwrap a new present or to steal another’s. When a person’s gift is stolen, that person can either choose another wrapped gift to open or can steal from another player.[3] Each gift can only be stolen twice per game. The game is over when everyone has a present. At the end, the first player may, if desired, steal any gift – according to some rules, even a gift that is out of play. The first player plays twice.

Note sure what to get for a gift? Here are 70 suggestions! (LINK)

Timfluencing

It Takes What It Takes by: Trevor Moawad

Trevor Moawad is a mental conditioning coach who has helped professionals from all walks of life, from Ft. Bragg to Harvard Business School, the NFL to Fortune 500 companies. Moawad’s mission is clear: motivate the motivated.

Now, for the first time ever, Moawad shares the formula he has exclusively used to help these elites with everyone. It Takes What It Takes shows you how to deal with even the most challenging circumstances—and thrive. Moawad reveals how top performers hone their competitive edge by effectively managing both negativity and failure as well as positivity and success: Neutral thinking is the key.

Neutral thinking is a high-performance strategy that emphasizes judgment-free thinking, especially in pressure situations. It acknowledges that the past happened. However, the past isn’t predictive. If you can absorb and embrace that belief, everything can change.

Tim’s Takeaway: I love that he focuses on the motivated. I have realized that I can’t motivate someone that doesn’t want to be. So I don’t. This is a book for those that want to make a change in their lives because they know they can be better.

Thank you for your support.

I look forward to what we will do together.