travelling together

as i reflect on 2017, what i think the most interesting thing is that not very much has changed at all, and yet i am in a much better place.  pretty cool realization, as it puts things in a whole lot of perspective.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~Danny Kaye

i have had the good fortune to travel on some incredibly awesome roads in my life.  and i have carried a lot of pieces of those journeys with me as i continue on.  the best part about where i am, right now, is that i feel like this is where i should be.  and the reason why?  probably because i am trying to take more in, and absorb more of the lessons that come my way.  what i am taking away from 2017:

be kind to yourself.  its not anyone elses job to make you feel better, or recognize your accomplishments.  its not their job to build you up or entertain you.  social media may tell us otherwise, but the reality is that happiness and peace and satisfaction are yours to find.  and that starts with being nicer to YOU.  in whatever form that takes.  i stopped using filters this year.  which seems kind of silly.  but it allowed me to stop being so critical of every detail of every picture.  pictures once again became "moments", instead of opportunities to criticize or critique.  and even though i still notice the flaws (i am aging, after all), i'm just nicer to myself about them.  it makes it easier to see how big my boys are getting, and the fun stuff they still let me make them do.  i cant enjoy the memories if i cant get past visual.  and the visual just isnt that important in the grand scheme.

I will not ask that you nor you approve. The wild thyme is itself nor asks consent of rose nor reed. ~Muriel Strode 

understand that priorities change.  and so do people.  i had a super fun run of softball, for a lot of years.  i made good friends and spent a lot of time with them.  and then that changed.  and that is okay.  i dont need to be the same person i was 5 years ago.  life changes fast.  kids grow up and start new things.  time becomes more challenging to manage.  and things shift.  there doesnt need to be a big complicated reason for change.  change just happens.  and thats cool too.  you get to embrace new things.  and for me, i found that embracing change, made it so much easier to accept.

The kaleidoscope of colour which is my life, shows the interesting choices I've made along the way. ~Antie Koekie

the wagon is always waiting for you to get back on it.  i dont know what magic that is, but its never too late to start over, or again.  i think the best life lesson i learned this year - and i have no idea why NOW it sunk in - is that putting things off never makes it easier.  eating better, or working out, or cleaning the closet, or grocery shopping.  nothing gets any easier or less annoying by putting it off.  we tend to push back the things we dont want to do.  i cant tell you how many times i have heard, ill be back next month - or next week - or next whatever.  its so much easier to push to that "next" than it is to just bite the bullet and START.  i put myself on a schedule this year.  got more organized.  mostly so that i could hold myself accountable.  and not just let time keep getting away from me.  especially at work.  i tend to push tasks off that i dont like.  and for some reason, this year i just did a better job tackling them.  putting things off ALWAYS makes them worse.  it only took me 46 years to finally get that. 

To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing. ~Eva Young

travel together. the funny part for me, is that i could not accomplish anything at all, by myself.  i function best as part of a team - a unit.  my family is obviously the heart of my whole gig.  im lucky that for most of the fun stuff, ive also gotten to drag my sister and dad along.  but as it pertains to the gym, my "team" really came together this year.  and as a unit, we had such a great 2017.  at least from where i am sitting.  the studio has been an evolution. its my passion as much as anything.  and my sanity.  when it stopped being about me, and became about "us", we really hit our stride.  and probably no one even noticed.  the programming stayed the same.  our workouts didnt suddenly get easier.  we didnt add a bunch of new people.  so probably from the outside, its NOT better.  but inside, it is.  the studio became a place this year where we shared goals.  we brainstormed challenges.  we teamed up for competitions, and came together in the PREP for them.  the studio became the place we strategized, and rallied.  we cheered for each other and celebrated success.  it stopped being just another place to workout, and became a club.  a group of people, who at this time, are travelling this particular road, together.  and for however long it lasts, i'm grateful.

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others. ~Norman Shidle

for 2018, i would encourage you all to make yourself a priority.  if the gym is a goal - great.  but if its not, thats ok too.  find something that makes you happy - or at the very least satisfied.  dont put it off.  dont make a "resolution" you know will only last a month.  dont tie your success to an unreasonable sweeping change.  if you did not work out one day in 2017, the chances of you going every day in 2018 are not that good.  so commit to a month.  or a week. or just tomorrow.  but GO.  if you want to learn to knit, sign up.  and then show up.  take up art. or go camping.  figure out how to unwind or unplug.  if you want to eat better, take a cooking class. invest in the change.  there are people out there EVERYWHERE that are just waiting for you to join them.  they are on the journey that you want to start. and they are happy to have you join them. 

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: "I am with you kid. Let's go." 

~Maya Angelou

accountability & resolutions

Work on yourself first, take responsibility for your own progress. ~I Ching

planning and purpose.  those are the 2 things that keep you on the path.  any path, really.  it is super easy to start something - as i often do - but not so easy to continue on. this time of year, especially, is filled with wish lists, and resolutions, and plans for a better "next" year.  so what's the key to sticking to the plan?

i think for everyone that is different.  but consistency is a skill - just like any other.  you have to learn it.  focus on it - and find a way to measure it.  2017 was the first time IN MY LIFE that i successfully tracked an entire year of workouts.  and boy, did it make a difference.

Do it again and again. Consistency makes the rain drops to create holes in the rock. Whatever is difficult can be done easily with regular attendance, attention and action. - Israelmore Ayivo

it started out as a challenge.  at the end of last year, one of the guys i work out with told me how many times he worked out in 2016.  told me about his crazy spreadsheet and how he tracked literally everything - from when he exercised to how he felt, when he was injured, and when he changed his eating patterns.  really super detailed stuff.  and i thought he was crazy. until he said "how about you?".  i had no idea.  i mean, i could take an educated guess.  but it was just a guess - based on nothing more than what i thought. which wasn't the right answer, for me.  because i'm competitive.  which was as good a reason as any to decide to start actually tracking it.

and honestly, i've started tracking a lot of things over the years.  food & workouts mostly.  i've used a paper calendar to get organized at the beginning of pretty much every year, forever.  but i ALWAYS stop. i get lazy.  or forget. and then its just no longer a priority.   so what changed this time?

i committed to a system.  its not a very good system.  but it worked.  i take pics of the board at the studio anyway - just so i have a record, for future planning purposes.  that makes it easy for me to look back at the same week last year and see what we were doing.  so i decided that every Monday, i would just circle the days of the week prior i worked out - and maybe make a note about that workout.  i didnt figure the notes would last long, but seriously, how hard could it be to circle a number on a calendar??  so, that's what i did.  then, at the end of the month, i counted how many days i circled - VERY advanced stuff, clearly.

Simplify, then add lightness. ~Colin Chapman

but what i discovered was this:  those circles became that internal push that i needed on days when i didnt want to work out.  i not only didnt want to lose to boyd (which is ridiculous - seeing as how it is NOT a competition in any way shape or form - and exists only in my mind), i found Monday morning circle time SATISFYING. in a totally strange way.  because it was weekly, tangible recognition of time INVESTED in getting better.

and get better, i did.  i upped all of my lifts. some pretty substantially.  i managed to conquer an achilles issue without sliding backwards - even without running at all for close for 4 months.  which i attribute 100% to not skipping the workouts. i modified the shit out of them, but i still showed up.  so i could circle my number.  something as simple, and ridiculous at that, kept me on track.  ALL YEAR.  its insane.

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

i guess the lesson is to find what works for you.  individually.  and to keep searching until you do find it.  its taken the better part of 20 years in the fitness industry for me to find a consistency key.  that is tangible.  and EASY.  easy is probably the only reason it worked for me.  i cant count macros, or follow a lifting blueprint.  i wont record stats or numbers on any kind of a regular basis.  but i will make a circle.  and if you string all of those circles together - all 292 of them so far, you get a really cool connection from where i started to where i am now. 

everybody views and handles fitness differently.  progress is measured in countless ways. but fitness, like most everything else in life, is usually just a matter of SHOWING UP.  consistency, over time, equals success. 

my challenge for all of my SiB peeps in 2018 - set your goal.  put it on the wall.  figure out how you want to chase it.  and then TRACK how you are getting there.  put in the whole year.   you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune. ~Plutarch