2022-10-12 16:00
I grew up spotting my dad in our home’s garage gym. Almost as far back as I remember, my father had me standing behind him as he pounded out reps on his old Weider bench press. I would… Read More
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johntprather.com
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Fitness motivation, mental coaching, and life coaching to help you achieve the best results you can from life.
2020-06-25 17:13
Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a joke he tells about having his fifth child: "If you want to know what it's like to have a fifth kid, imagine you are drowning....and someone hands you a baby." Th… Read More
2020-03-18 17:01
Disruptions happen all the time. But rarely do they happen to everyone at the same time on the scale they are happening right now. Most disruptions happen to other people; they have a child… Read More
2019-11-28 22:29
Six months ago my wife and I were sitting on our couch when we got a message that said our daughter had a new sister. We were already parents of two one-year-olds and a two-year-old and quit… Read More
2019-08-20 21:22
This is a big week for me. Almost a decade ago I did something stupid. Something I was terrified to do. But because I did that thing that I was terrified to do next week I get to do somethin… Read More
2019-07-30 13:00
Some people are fond of asking if others can tell what you believe by looking at your life. The truth is the answer to that question is always yes, because you always live what you actually… Read More
2019-07-01 13:30
There is an old Yiddish adage that says "Man plans and God laughs." I'm not sure that's true, but if it is, then I bet when God needs a good laugh he looks at my plans. My whole life has bee… Read More
2019-06-04 13:00
Most of you know I hate hip phrases and trendy topics. Currently one of my least favorites is "mansplaining." I hate that term. I also hate the phrase " locker room talk." With that being sa… Read More
2019-05-22 18:01
There is a famous quote that boldly states, "Where the mind goes, the body will follow." It turns out the statement is true. Your mindset determines your life. Most of us are willing to lear… Read More
2019-05-07 17:25
Two years ago my wife and I went through a very difficult situation involving our housing. Finding affordable housing (affordable being relative) in Los Angeles is always a tall order, but a… Read More
2019-04-09 11:30
A little while back I had an audition for company that is a giant in the fitness and nutrition industry. I walked into the waiting room and saw there were dozens of other fitness actors and… Read More
2019-04-03 20:15
In the Bible Jesus tells a story about a king who goes away for a while and leaves three of his men in charge of his money. He gives a small amount of gold to one man, a medium amount to the… Read More
2019-03-26 12:00
There is a famous quote that is usually attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt that encourages everyone to “do one thing every day that scares you.” I like that idea. It’s the ide… Read More
2019-03-19 11:00
Getting up at 4 a.m. is all the rage. That didn't used to be the case, but Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg started sharing their early morning workout experiences on Instagram and getting u… Read More
2019-03-05 16:57
When I turned thirty (several years ago) I made some decisions about some things I no longer wanted to do. I don't know why, but thirty was a turning point for me. I decided there were some… Read More
2019-02-27 17:40
I was in Memphis last month when a lady overheard me talking to a couple of my brothers in a restaurant. Upon finding out that I was a Christian who was living in California she asked me, "W… Read More
2019-02-05 23:23
People sometimes look at me and think I have everything. Maybe not financially, but at least relationally. People see that I live in Los Angeles and have a wonderful wife and three great kid… Read More
2019-01-29 23:19
Most of my loyal readers know that my wife and I began taking foster care and adoption classes a month after we got married. I've shared how we both knew we were eventually going to adopt an… Read More
2018-12-18 11:00
You want to be a rebel? You want to be unique? You want to stand out from the crowd? Here's a tip: Fighting about politics doesn’t make you special. Thinking what society tells you to… Read More
2018-11-14 22:41
I’m writing this post on the set of a photo shoot as I sit and wait for them to set up the lights and camera for my next shot. One of the reasons I like to work in the entertainment in… Read More
2018-11-06 18:05
Dear Daughter, I've taken the time to write down a few things I want you to remember. Sometimes daddies aren't very good at expressing their feelings or knowing the right words to say, so I… Read More
2018-11-06 18:05
Dear Daughter, I've taken the time to write down a few things I want you to remember. Sometimes daddies aren't very good at expressing their feelings or knowing the right words to say, so I… Read More
2018-10-30 18:07
Dear son, There are a few things I want you to remember. Think of them as a cheat sheet for life. When you get lost you can refer back to this list. Most of these observations come from less… Read More
2018-10-24 17:16
In a recent interview I was asked to name the achievement I am most proud of. I didn’t have to think for very long before I had my answer. I'm not sure my answer was what the inte… Read More
2018-10-08 13:00
Recently I wrote a post entitled 3 Things Jesus never said and while I thought the post might be popular and maybe a little controversial, I never imagined how much people would respond to i… Read More
2018-10-02 13:00
There is a famous study from the 60’s and 70’s called the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment that showed that children who were able to delay gratification tended to have better lif… Read More
2018-09-26 13:21
This blog post marks my one hundred and first blog post! Over the last two plus years I have posted ONE HUNDRED blogs. Pardon me while I take a moment to celebrate that feat. When I started… Read More
2018-09-11 13:00
My website has been hacked several times in the last few months. (Don't worry, reading this won't get you hacked as well.) Getting my website hacked is incredibly annoying, but otherwise rel… Read More
2018-08-28 13:00
Have you ever wondered if you think a little differently than most people? If so, this post is for you. Do you ever get the idea that you want to try things other people are afraid to try? I… Read More
2018-08-22 19:45
Every single day thousands of people move to Los Angeles and every single day almost as many move back to where they are from. So there is a certain amount of pride someone in Los Angeles ha… Read More
2018-08-15 00:38
I think Donald Trump is the worst president the United States has ever had. I don't refer to him by name, only by the number 45. I just made half of you really angry. I think Donald Trump is… Read More
2018-07-31 11:00
In my early twenties I went on a ski trip to Colorado with some friends. I had been skiing once before and had found learning to ski to be relatively quick and easy for me. So on this trip I… Read More
2018-07-25 01:12
There is a book that was popular not too long ago called, Eat This, Not That! The book gave food choices that were healthier alternatives to popular bad foods. For example it would… Read More
2018-07-17 11:00
There's a song my dad used to sing to me when I was young. The song is an old school country song about a muscular guy who was "broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip" named John. My da… Read More
2018-07-10 10:00
I like to challenge myself. Sometimes I like to challenge myself too much. So I challenged myself to write an entire manuscript in three months. While I was writing the sequel to THE NEPHILI… Read More
2018-07-02 12:00
Jesus said a lot of things. As far as historical figures go the amount of things that Jesus said that we have preserved for us is unparalleled in ancient literature. Great men wrote down man… Read More
2018-06-26 11:00
Some time ago I came across a list of the most stressful and traumatic events that can happen in a person's life. Among the top items on the list were a) moving and b) the loss of a close fa… Read More
2018-06-18 03:05
Everyone’s life tells a story. As a parent my job is to do a good job of writing the first few chapters of my child's story while they are still too young to write it themselves. My re… Read More
2018-06-05 20:34
One thing I learned from writing a book and getting it published is that there are a lot of people out there who want to write and publish their own book. Most of those people have no idea w… Read More
2018-05-31 14:35
My phone rang as I was about to step into the gym. The countdown began. I had five minutes to make a decision that would change the course of my life forever. And even more than mine, it wou… Read More
2018-05-23 04:12
The other day someone asked me, "what is the most difficult thing you've ever done?" This is the answer to that question. "The premise of The Nephilim Virus is exceptional, original… Read More
2018-05-08 21:10
I think this is one of the most exciting and important blogs I have done to date. It starts with a simple sentence: The timing is always wrong until it is right. Watch this and find out what… Read More
2018-05-01 12:00
On April 3rd, 1910 Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech called, Citizenship in a Republic. There is a paragraph in that speech that has always inspired me to fail. You read that correctly. There… Read More
2018-05-01 12:00
On April 3rd, 1910 Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech called, Citizenship in a Republic. There is a paragraph in that speech that has always inspired me to fail. You read that correctly. There… Read More
2018-04-25 14:58
3 lessons in encouragement from a stranger Nick Reese wakes from a three-year coma to find the world he once knew is gone. An ancient virus has infected two-thirds of the world's popul… Read More
2018-04-04 01:44
I’m writing this blog from an elliptical at the gym. But this post isn’t about my writing or workout discipline. That’s not the impressive part. I’m writing this post… Read More
2018-03-28 22:55
It's traditional for parents to give their children a gift for their birthday. Usually this starts at the first birthday but I wanted to give each of my children something when they were bor… Read More
2018-03-20 13:00
This is not a fitness blog. My readers know that in my posts I usually tell a story and try to draw a moral or lesson from it about how to be mentally strong or gain wisdom. Occasionally I'l… Read More
2018-03-13 13:00
Pain is a great teacher. Constant pain is an aggressive teacher. Last year I shared a little about my experience with chronic pain and it really connected with people. It was one of my most… Read More
2018-03-07 01:18
I love that the show This Is Us is making fatherhood a positive thing again. For a long time we have lived with the idea being presented on television that the father is the joke of the fami… Read More
2018-02-20 13:55
Writing is by nature a solitary sport. Writing a manuscript requires hours and hours and hours of sitting down and putting one word after another after another. And then hoping 80,000 of the… Read More
2018-02-20 13:55
Writing is by nature a solitary sport. Writing a manuscript requires hours and hours and hours of sitting down and putting one word after another after another. And then hoping 80,000 of the… Read More
2018-02-07 01:10
This is a short post. It will take you less than three minutes to read it. But if you can grasp the one simple idea I present, it will change the way you view your entire life. To begin I wa… Read More
2018-01-31 02:44
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Sometimes I get discouraged. Sometimes I get depressed. I'm usually a very optimistic and motivated individual but sometimes I get depressed. It u… Read More
2018-01-31 02:44
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Sometimes I get discouraged. Sometimes I get depressed. I'm usually a very optimistic and motivated individual but sometimes I get depressed. It u… Read More
2018-01-23 21:26
Recently everyone in Hawaii got a message on their phone. The message looked like this: : Fortunately it was a false alarm. But the people of Hawaii didn't know that for 38 minutes. The fals… Read More
2018-01-18 00:45
Let me start this post by telling you a few things about myself: I am a goal person. I'm also usually a morning person. I regularly get up between 5 and 7 am. I am an author. I try to write… Read More
2018-01-02 16:00
Ahh, you smell that? It's the smell of a brand new year. Complete with optimism and the hope of accomplishing all of those goals that get rolled over from year to year. Society calls them re… Read More
2017-12-27 22:19
The other day I was talking to someone about family and I shared about my wife being pregnant with twins. I then told this person that I also had an adopted daughter (it isn't official yet… Read More
2017-12-01 21:54
I'm very excited to announce my very first guest post. I am honored that the writer of this post is none other than my beautiful wife, Mindi. She wanted to share part of her heart with every… Read More
2017-11-29 00:44
As promised, here are the first three chapters of The Nephilim Virus. To see my thoughts, notes, and some behind-the-scenes information just mouse over the words in blue or simply tap them o… Read More
2017-11-22 01:31
Chapter 1 I woke up at exactly 4:37 p.m. from the longest nap of my life. A half dozen people dressed in scrubs and lab coats rushed into my room to examine me. Some poked and prodded; other… Read More
2017-11-15 00:36
The fact that this post happened to be part three of The Story of Us is appropriate. Three is a good number. It's the number of the Trinity. It's the number of completeness. Some people even… Read More
2017-11-08 00:01
Our foster baby was at the hospital. My new daughter was ten days old. But we wouldn't be able to take her home quite yet. To protect the privacy of our child, her birth mother, and the syst… Read More
2017-11-02 19:14
It is a law in the universe that when you put something out into the world you receive the same back. People currently like to call it Karma. The old biblical term for it is: you reap what y… Read More
2017-10-18 15:00
If you aren't failing, you aren't trying hard enough. At first glance this sentence seems incorrect. It seems wrong. Especially for someone like me, who always wants to win. Someone who hate… Read More
2017-10-10 00:20
The synopsis for the new fiction thriller: THE NEPHILIM VIRUS Nick Reese wakes from a three-year coma to find the world he once knew is gone. An ancient virus has infected two-thir… Read More
2017-10-05 19:34
My wife called me as I was walking into the gym and told me to keep an open mind. The clock started. I had five minutes to make a decision that would alter our lives forever. That is how the… Read More
2017-10-05 18:03
There is a story I often refer to when I think about going through a big change in life. It's a story about a transfer of power from one of the greatest leaders to ever live to another man w… Read More
2017-09-28 18:46
Life goes by fast. I was scrolling through some old photos in my phone the other day and I was surprised by a lot of the pictures. It wasn't necessarily the subject of the picture that surpr… Read More
2017-09-19 16:01
There is a famous saying by Albert Einstein that goes like this: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." It's one of my favorite quotes. The statement itself is pretty simple and at… Read More
2017-09-12 15:00
Hello friends! Two weeks ago I announced the exciting news about my new novel. Today I have more exciting news...there is an official release date for my book! (drumroll please) My new novel… Read More
2017-09-06 00:15
Six years ago today my father died. Five years ago today I met the girl who is now my wife. Three years […] Read More
2017-08-29 20:29
There is a lot to be learned from the greatest generation. The people who were born in the early 1900’s are fascinating […] Read More
2017-08-16 20:56
There is a motto in journalism that goes like this: don’t bury the lead. With that in mind I’m going to give you […] Read More
2017-08-02 12:30
There’s a lie about equality that’s been around for a long time but it’s gained significant popularity in the last 10 years […] Read More
2017-07-26 16:47
Fear feels like a guillotine waiting to drop… I moved to California a year before my dad passed away from cancer. During […] Read More
2017-07-11 22:40
If you follow me on social media you may have spotted something a little off about my sharing practices. If you pay […] Read More
2017-07-04 16:42
Everyone knows I love America. I always have. I have a lot of national pride. America has always been a part of my […] Read More
2017-06-27 13:00
My life has never looked like the traditional idea of what a life should look like. Honestly, it’s probably partially the fault […] Read More
2017-06-18 18:34
There aren’t many jobs where you get most of your credit just for showing up, but fatherhood may be one of them. […] Read More
2017-06-06 21:18
I got made fun of a lot when I was younger. Kids will always find things to make fun of each other […] Read More
2017-05-24 01:43
It’s difficult to pull up years of roots in order to relocate and start over. Very difficult. It was for me. When […] Read More
2017-05-14 18:17
Most of you who know me know my father and grandfather were my heroes growing up. I often talk about the incredible impact […] Read More
2017-05-05 01:12
If you read the title of this post and you’re worried I’m one of those crazy creation nuts who is going to give […] Read More
2017-04-25 22:47
May I be honest for a moment? Sometimes I get overwhelmed. There are times when I feel I’ve been dealt more than […] Read More
2017-04-17 16:28
We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare. We were all told about the race between the rabbit and […] Read More
2017-03-22 00:06
Everyone has fears. Fear is a fact of life because humans are fearful creatures. People often fear things like heights and snakes and […] Read More
2017-03-14 11:45
2017-03-06 22:29
Imagine for a moment you are a baby. A baby so young you haven’t even been born yet… I want to take […] Read More
2017-02-28 21:52
Fitness can get really complicated sometimes. Trust me, I know, I have an exercise science degree and I once had to take […] Read More
2017-02-20 13:00
Abraham Lincoln has been my hero for as long as I can remember. I probably wasn’t even 8 years old before when […] Read More
2017-02-15 20:19
I recently read a study that found that older generations of Americans spend more of their money purchasing things while the younger […] Read More
2017-02-08 20:13
My birthday is coming up in a few days and it has me thinking about things I wish I knew. There are […] Read More
2017-02-03 22:54
I like protests. I like voices of dissent. And what I like even more than a protest is the freedom to be able […] Read More
2017-01-24 22:41
My wife and I just had a baby! Well, kind-of. As of the 28th we became parents. Well, parents again. Kind-of. So once again […] Read More
2017-01-17 13:00
Two weeks ago I wrote about how to set goals you can actually accomplish this year (to read that post click here). […] Read More
2017-01-10 18:07
Nobody cares about goals. Goals are ugly and difficult and require thought and hard work. Nobody wants to talk about goals. But dreams […] Read More
2017-01-03 17:12
Around this time every year I start to think about my goals. I take a moment to look over my goals from […] Read More
2016-12-27 21:58
Three months ago my wife and I went through the hardest thing we have ever had to go through together. We lost […] Read More
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