Movement & Meaning

By Scott Godwin

We all know exercise is good for us, but “Movement & Meaning” tells the rest of the story. It's been described as "Lord of the Rings" meets a 21st century manual for stress management. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast, athlete, or totally inactive and unmotivated, this book will forever change your mindset when it comes to being mentally healthy, happy, and strong, by teaching you how to use physical activity as an antidote to stress. Times are tough, the world is changing, and Americans are increasingly struggling to cope. Movement can change your life from the inside out and this book could be the solution you need, a map to successfully navigate the world in front of you and strengthen your mind, body, and spirit for the tumultuous years to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott Godwin
• Release date: Jul 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9780996272629

Scott Godwin

When we move with a purpose, then motivation, happiness, and health will follow. The Japanese have a word for this - Ikigai - a reason for being. Movement can strengthen not only the body, but the mind and the spirit. Scott Godwin has a passion for helping people use physical activity to live a better life and perform better. He is the founder and owner of Live Well Inc., a health, fitness, sports, and wellness consultancy with individual and corporate clients all over the US and has helped 1000s of people achieve their goals, including Fortune 100 Executives, Olympic and Amateur athletes, and individuals with disabilities, among many others from all walks of life. Scott has spoken at many prominent organizations, such as The Capital City Club and Natural Body Health Spas, and Auburn University, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University and has been featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and on NBC and several national and international radio stations. Scott earned his MS in Exercise Science from Georgia State University and his Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Auburn University and enjoys living an active life and giving back to the community.

Book preview

Movement & Meaning

Building Mental Strength & Managing Stress through Exercise

Scott Godwin

Edited by Ashley Easton

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 by Ashley Easton

Roots Publishing Co. ®

Atlanta, GA

Graphic Design by Michael Durham (www.designerMD.net)

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the following organizations for making a compassionate difference and for upholding the values of this work:

Special Olympics

http://www.specialolympics.org/

Blaze Sports America

http://www.blazesports.org/

The Wounded Warrior Project

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

For more information:

www.scottgodwin.net

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the many friends, family, and acquaintances who encouraged me and supported me in writing this book. You know who you are and I sincerely appreciate it.

-Scott

Endorsements for Movement & Meaning

"Movement and Meaning will forever change your outlook on the crucial nature of exercise in dealing with stress and building mental strength in the modern world."

- Tim Irwin, Ph.D.

Organizational Psychologist

Best Selling Author of IMPACT: Great Leadership Changes Everything

"Stress is the silent killer of mental and physical health. In Movement and Meaning Scott offers a powerful and practical prescription for conquering stress, living longer and stronger, and enjoying each day of life to the max!"

- Steve Franklin, Ph. D., Business Leader & Entrepreneur, Former Associate Dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, Bestselling Author of Celebrate 100: Centenarian Secrets to Success in Business and Life

This book will give you a prescriptive approach about how you can use fitness and exercise to improve your life in ways you didn’t think were possible. Scott will redefine for you the meaning of success", walk you through the history of fitness – from fad to what really works – and share the hidden benefits of exercise that could change your life forever!

- Frank A. Argenbright, Jr., Chairman and CEO, SecurAmerica

Scott has admirably researched and tackled a subject of great importance to society. His insights and recommendations in this book on how to manage stress through exercise are spot on and very timely - well done!

- Dr. Ben Johnson, Chairman of the Department of Physical Education and Exercise Science, Brooklyn College of NYC, Former Director of the KSU Global Center for Social Change, International Academy for Disability Rights, International Academy for Women's Leadership and Sport for Health, Development and Peace, and the GSU Biomechanics and Ergonomics Laboratory.

"Scott Godwin delivers a challenging book that will inspire and motivate in a surprising way. With passion, conviction, and a wealth of knowledge of the backdrop of exercise within the context of history, industry, culture, anatomy and more, he skillfully illuminates in Movement and Meaning the essential value of exercise and its positive impact on fitness, health and well-being.

Bottom line takeaway: We need to get moving and we need to do it now. No excuses!"

- Penny Rue, MSW

Clinical Social Worker and Community Volunteer

"Scott Godwin enthusiastically and uniquely reminds us in his book "Movement and Meaning why it’s more crucial than ever to remain active in body and mind.

- Mike Eskew, Former Chairman and CEO, UPS

Movement & Meaning and Scott's Bio

Scott Godwin at The Acropolis, Athens, Greece

When we move with a purpose, then motivation, happiness, and health will follow. The Japanese have a word for this - Ikigai - a reason for being.

Exercise, fitness, and sports have an enormous impact on the mind. Disciplined movement can play an integral role in alleviating the modern epidemics of stress, anxiety, and depression by changing the brain, altering our hormones, and by helping build self-mastery. By understanding the deep power of movement, we can harness its benefits.

Movement and Meaning is an ambitious project. It is a book and blog written to inform and inspire readers by painting a picture of the world we live in and letting us see how to solve our problems and achieve our goals with the help of physical activity. Health doesn't come from the latest diet fads, newest type of fitness program, or most recent development in healthcare technology, health comes from having a reason to live.

Scott Godwin earned his Master of Science in Exercise Science from Georgia State University and his Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Auburn University where he graduated from both with honors. He is the founder and owner of Live Well Inc., a health, fitness, sports, and wellness consultancy with individual and corporate clients all over the US and has helped 1000s of people achieve their goals, including Fortune 100 Executives, Olympic and Amateur athletes, and individuals with disabilities, among many others from all walks of life. He has spoken at many Atlanta companies such as The Capital City Club and Natural Body Health Spas, and Auburn University, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University and has been featured on NBC, in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and on several other prominent radio and television stations.

Scott is a drug-free powerlifting champion and record holder, runner, martial arts enthusiast, hunter, and fisherman, and loves to ski, surf, do yoga, and hike. His interests and areas of expertise relating to Movement and Meaning include classical economics, civic leadership, and international travel and historical research. He is very active in the community and has served on the board of Special Olympics, Heartbound Ministries (a prison ministry), and has volunteered and served with the US Army National Guard, The MS Leadership Council, The Center for Visually Impaired, The Shepherd Center, The Brookhaven Health Alliance, The Buckhead Rotary Club and The Livable Buckhead Organization.

FOREWORD

Frank Argenbright, Jr.

Chairman and CEO, SecurAmerica

I grew up in a small Southern town in north Florida. Although I excelled in sports, I was a terrible student. I always tell everyone about how my own mother, who was one of my high school teachers, flunked me in my senior year!

Despite my miserable educational achievements, I went on to earn a criminology degree from Florida State University and with just $500, I started Argenbright Security, which eventually became the country’s largest polygraph company.

In the early 1990s, Argenbright Security morphed into AHL Services, growing to become a $1 billion global security and aviation services company with over 200 offices and more than 50,000 employees. After selling my business in 2000, I founded another aviation services business, AirServ Corporation and most recently, SecurAmerica, which has become one of the most respected and fastest growing contract security companies in the U.S.

What has carried me through all of the stress and pressure associated with my career, including the incredible challenges of 9/11 and global terrorism, has been exercise.

Soon after I started my airport services contract with Delta, I was involved in buying an office park where a Gold’s Gym was located. Interestingly enough, this was the same gym where heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield worked out. I not only used this association to help me stay in shape, getting up every morning at 4:00AM to work out, I also brought my customers to meet Evander for inspiration to and have photos taken with him. Evander was incredibly gracious and we used the gym to help disadvantaged kids get off the street, learn boxing, and become disciplined.

To this day, I get up and work out every day at 5:30AM. Exercise has been my remedy for dealing with some of the most stressful times of my life. When I was ready to give in, and feeling down and out, there was always one drug that made me feel better-exercise. I’ve been able to build mental strength, toughness and stability in addition to building my physical strength and fitness.

Scott’s book, Movement and Meaning, offers a roadmap for readers to follow, find, embrace and sustain not only physical health but mental health as well. The stresses many Americans face today are enormous and can seem overwhelming. We hear more and more about teenage and adult mental illness caused by stress and anxiety. And with each passing year, we hear about more stress-related tragedies.

This book will give you a prescriptive approach about how you can use fitness and exercise to improve your life in ways you never thought possible. Scott will redefine for you the meaning of success, walk you through the history of fitness – from fad to what really works – and share the hidden benefits of exercise that could change your life forever!

Frank A. Argenbright, Jr.

Chairman and CEO

SecurAmerica

PROLOGUE

Millions of people in America, young and old and rich and poor, struggle to manage stress and stay mentally strong.

Wealth does not bring immunity. How do famous, successful, and wealthy Americans like Ted Turner, Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger, Brooke Shields, and Robin Williams end up with mental illness? They each had more money and fame than most of us will ever have. Rampant mental illness in a prosperous America makes no logical sense.

America is a wealthy nation, with the largest economy in the world. Still, millions of Americans suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. The pharmaceutical industry makes billions of dollars selling mental health drugs, partially subsidized by US taxpayers, to help people with these issues. The writers of the American Declaration of Independence envisioned a free nation offering life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but they never guaranteed we’d all be happy.

The Japanese have a word, Ikigai, which means a reason for being. Our reason for being, or reason to live as Americans, is not what it once was. Life has changed forever and living a meaningful life is more confusing than it’s ever been.

Family, religious, and cultural life are starkly different than in the past, becoming more and more diverse, democratized, and autonomous every day. The definition of what constitutes a family is changing, for better or worse. Work life is more autonomous, volatile, and unpredictable than ever. The explosion of the internet and digital technology have changed our lives in ways we can’t fully comprehend.

The changes we’ve seen in America, though some are for the better, have brought more stress and ironically less ways to cope with it. Human beings have always had stress. It’s silly to romanticize the past. Life is easier now in so many ways, which makes the pervasive presence of mental illness in the modern era even more puzzling. The past was often brutal, barbaric, and harsh, but not all changes are for the better. Some things called progress are not really progress at all.

In the past, we found refuge from life’s stress and uncertainty in family or tribal life, in a close-knit community, in sacred rituals or sacred places, in a trade, a craft, or a predictable and stable social hierarchy. Nowadays, stress is difficult to escape. Negative media is ever-present. Traffic is getting worse. Social isolation is increasing and Americans seem to be wondering where they fit in, if at all. We’re busy all the time with countless gadgets and diversions to make us happy, but we aren’t as fulfilled as past generations and we aren’t optimistic about the future.

Up until a few thousand years ago, the idea of an individual was unheard of. Man had always lived together in small tribes and the idea of a single person free to think, live, and work on his own didn’t exist. The democratic societies of today are vastly different than the societies in which most of our ancestors lived. Living as individuals within a free world, though exciting with possibility and potential, brings stress, isolation, uncertainty, and insecurity for the human psyche.

The way we deal with stress determines our mental health. Contrary to popular belief, not all stress is bad. Some stress is actually good for us but overwhelming stress will eventually extract a price. We want to escape stress and feel better. Many Americans go shopping to get some reprieve and end up making things worse with a mountain of consumer debt. Some turn to alcohol, drugs, and other addictions. Some of us get so busy we hardly notice life passing by until something tragic happens, when we find we have no way to cope.

Some modes of dealing with stress make us stronger and some make us weaker. Exercise, I will argue in this book, is one of the best ways to deal with stress. The battle against stress is not between us and them, left and right, between men and women, north and south, or this system or that, the fight for mental wellbeing begins and ends inside each and every one of us.

When stressful things happen, where will we turn to cope? The answer to this question will determine our future. One thing’s for certain. Change and conflict are constant. To be alive is to feel stress and to feel conflict. There will always be stress. No one can predict or control the future. The one thing we can control is how we respond to whatever comes our way.

The story of exercise and the mind is one of the physical world and the psychological world, both the way we feel physically and the way we see ourselves. 100s of people have asked me, Wouldn’t it be great if we could just put all of the benefits of exercise into a pill? Yes, I thought, that would be nice. I thought about this for years and decided that the closest I could ever come to providing a magical solution would be to put all of the mental benefits of exercise into a book which would convince people to take action. The best pill I can ever give someone is motivation.

For twenty years, I’ve been working with people to help them be healthy, fit, and to perform well. I took the last five years to study, take notes, talk to hundreds of fitness enthusiasts (many of whom were on the brink of mental collapse at one point in their life), and as a result of my research I learned exactly how people use fitness to become mentally strong and deal with stress.

Exercise can change a person’s entire life-mental, spiritual, relational, and even financial- not just their body. I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times and I’ve lived it.

This book is not about fads, supplements, high-tech gadgets, or workout programs. It’s not about secrets or quick fixes. There are none.

If we want to go somewhere, it’s helpful to have a map. This book is a map. This book shows us a map of where we live and the roadblocks and traps all around us. When we know what the world looks like that we’re traveling through, we can navigate safely and successfully. With our map in hand, we can not only cope with stress but we can enjoy the journey, learn something about ourselves, and finish stronger at the end.

- Scott Godwin

In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection.

-Plato

Table of Contents

Part 1: Lost

Chapter 1: Progress?

i. Science & Exercise

ii. The Why and the How

iii. Small Town America

iv. A PE Journey

v. The American Dream: Success

vi. Grandpa & Success

Chapter 2: Success Redefined

i. Managing Oneself

ii. A True Paradox

iii. A Typical Day

iv. The Problem of Prosperity