TMT005 - Fatness Without the Muumuu

Listen to Episode 5 of The Matt Trick in the player above or download it.

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The Matt Trick

Free your endorphins!

For the Matt Trick, I do a field review of my favorite running app (heavy breathing included). They have a free version, a paid version, a monthly subscription version. I don't pay the monthly subscription, but I've owned the Pro version of the app for about three years now.


I've continued to use it over time because of the great statistics that are available from the web interface. They also have excellent social tools. If you start using Endomondo, you should add me as a friend so we can give each other running motivation. Just make sure you tweak the privacy settings to suit your needs as you can share a map of your runs with your friends.

Goal Line

Going to bed by 10:00 pm. With or without underpants on my head.

Hal Elrod's podcast where he rehashes some of the fundamentals of the Miracle Morning.

The Marathon Training Academy where I recently purchased a Marathon Training plan to guide me on my way to upping my mileage.

In order to help me with my Miracle Morning and also with my marathon training, I want to be in bed every night for the next two weeks by 10:00 pm. Exceptions being when I'm out with the family or on a date with Megan.

Matt-spiration Moment

Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy...feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness. 

2 Nephi 2: 51 from the Book of Mormon.

Last week I spoke about good habits, how even if they are simple and small things, when performed regularly over long periods of time, can amount to a meaningful result. Just like Albus Dumberdore’s long hair and silvery beard which are truly magnificent, but took ages and ages to grow. I want to continue this train of thought for the Mattspiration today.

Growing up, throughout high school, middle school, and probably elementary too, I didn’t have much spendable cash like most kids. But I did have plenty of spendable time. And the two things that I spent my time on more than anything else were playing Nintendo and watching reruns of the Simpsons.

Now like I said last week, small and simple things everyday can amount to great things over time. Well, by the time I graduated high school, I could recall pretty much recall any episode of the Simpsons up to season 10 (because after season 10 it just wasn’t the same anymore). I also realized the fruit of my time investment one afternoon post graduation. I was killing time with a friend in my parents basement playing my favorite old Nintendo game, Mega Man 2. As I directed Mega Man from platform to platform perfectly avoiding every obstacle, I eliminated every bad guy as I predicted their every move from the many hours I’d invested into my favorite game. My friend dropped his jaw in amazement and said, “Wow, you’re really good at this game.” I kind of sighed and replied, “Yes I am, but it’s not something I’m proud of, all those wasted hours it took to become this good.”

In the end, the ability to quote a decade of Simpsons or beat Mega Man in under an hour did not help in any useful way in my life. You could say I’d spent my time and labor on something that couldn’t satisfy me. I still struggle with harmful compulsive tendencies that claw for my time and attention but add no net worth to my life, like compulsively checking Facebook, or since I started this podcast compulsively checking to see if I have any new subscribers, or religiously reading politics websites and polls for how the next election might turn out, or checking out new features on a super expensive phone that just came out that I might be able to afford used on ebay in a year...but like filling my life with Mega Man and Homer Simpson, these things will only leave me unsatisfied and wanting something more real.

So what do we do? How do we “delight in fatness” as the scripture says, without needing to go out and buy and Homer sized muumuu? Evaluate how you spend your time --if it is on things that are building you up and making you the person that you want to become, or if they are simply thoughtless habits that cannot satisfy. Make personal time for personal prayer and meditation to nourish your soul. Make time for good reading that feeds your mind and commit to lifelong learning and self-improvement. You could always join the Summer Reading Bingo Facebook group I set up in the second episode or make a commitment device like I mentioned in the last episode to commit yourself to something new, if you’re looking for more good things to fill your life with. But most importantly, I think, is to invest in serving those around you and building stronger personal relationships with those people in your life that you love.

In Matthew in the New Testament, Christ says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also” (Matthew 6:21). I think a good indication of what you regard as your “treasure” is how you spend your time. And I decided a while back that I didn’t want my heart to be held by any Japanese video game or a fat guy cartoon character, but that I would rather feast on the things that make this life good and delight in the fatness of a life well spent.