Me. Kauai. 2010. In those days, I made a point to stay active and eat relatively clean. I want to get back to that, but do it even better this time.
Incorporating new good habits can totally throw some of my other good habits off kilter. I’m noticing.
It happened to me this past week.
My writing habits were interrupted when Peter and I decided to join a gym and start working out. Getting fit was on our to do list this year.
We took a free workout class and got our butts kicked and decided to continue. I have been so sore I can hardly crawl out of bed and so tired I can’t think.
We get up at 4:45a.m. to make it to the 5:45a.m. kickboxing workout class at our local Title Boxing Club. I push myself harder than ever before, for one hour.
We have been going 4 days a week, throwing in P90X Stretch or running on the days we don’t go. Now, we are planning to up the actual class days to 5x a week.
Killer workouts, noticeable results within days, but I have been exhausted. All my old muscles are groaning and waking up from a deep long sleep.
Being physically exhausted is actually a good feeling. I like it. It’s just not a good feeling to provide the emotions to keep my creative juices flowing. That part of me is at turtle pace right now.
I am forcing myself to write this article. I am having a hard time focusing.
I have a lot of difficulty juggling my life into a good balance. I usually have only one focus and it’s either my work, my personal life or working out, but it takes a ton of energy and effort to make time for all three. Which is why I talk about time management and a balanced life, so much. I want it. I know it is possible, I’ve just never done it before, personally.
Balancing personal development, health, work and relationships, is tough enough. Giving all areas 100%, well..that’s an art. I believe it is anyway. I usually end up with one area or another suffering.
I have been giving these changes in my life a lot of thought this week. When I think about my past, I realize I would normally drop the things that take my focus away on what it needs to be on at the moment and I end up in this crazy cycle of doing great with one thing for a short period of time. Jumping from one thing to the next. In reactive mode.
As I step back and take a look at what’s going on now, I realize it’s a good thing. It’s the process for where I want to go. Although slowly, I will eventually get that balance I want, if I keep doing what I am doing.
The things I am adding right now, take so much energy at first, everything seems to get jostled about, but if I continue, it will become normal, second nature. It won’t take as much thought or effort to complete. It will become different things I do daily and I will learn to shift my focus and energy to the moments at hand as I keep practicing.
I am now a huge believer in starting my day off in the right mode.
Getting up at 4:45a.m., causes me to have to get to bed at a decent hour or whatever I paid for my gym membership goes to waste, which I can’t let happen.
Getting my workout done in the morning, means I have the rest of the day to fill with everything else. I can keep my schedule relatively orderly because I have more time and I am not constantly interrupting it because I failed to get what I needed to out of the way in the morning.
Eventually I will be able to walk out to my car just fine and crawl out of bed just fine and give my workout everything I have without totally collapsing after I am done. Eventually.
Starting my morning off right sets everything else I do in motion, to be done properly and in the right order. It’s set me up for the rest of my day.
Working out. Devotionals. Healthy Foods. Work. Personal life. Writing.
After working out hard, I actually think about the foods I put into my mouth, because I know I will have carry it with me to the gym the next day and I ask myself if I really want it? Is it going to help me or drag me down.
Hitting the workouts hard, will build my stamina where I will have more energy to invest into my work and personal life. I will grow stronger physically overtime, since just being thin is not the ultimate goal like it has been in the past.
Letting off steam allows me to get rid of negative emotions and thoughts before actually starting my work day. I will grow stronger mentally as I start my day on a positive note and add my devotionals to what was already a positive morning and that positivity carries me through the rest of the day with much more ease. Eventually I am hoping it will creep into my writing as well.
I am not a morning person, I’ve never been a morning person but I am becoming one. As crazy as it is to me, I actually like it.
Slowly. With a lot of pigheaded determination, consistency and stubbornness. I will create my ideal balance in life.
It’s already begun, I just have to continue even when I don’t feel like it or if I think I don’t want to.
I need to focus on the end result, not the tough process.
I have to want it badly enough.
Jeff Olson talks about creating good habits and how they compound on each other in his book The Slight Edge.
If you need a better explanation or understanding of what that means, The Slight Edge does a great job creating a picture of what that looks like.
Peter. Kauai. 2010. Handsome husband. Sidekick. Best friend.
What has been your experience as you work to incorporate good habits into your life?
Authentic Living With Friends 