"A goal without a plan is only a dream." ~Brian Tracy (he is a best selling Canadian author, by the way, in the learning space so check him out for more inspiration).
So much has been happening personally and professionally, and honestly a great lot of it is, well, GREAT. For the first time in a long time during my 18 year career in the field of HR, I finally feel like I'm in exactly the right fit role for me, for such a time as this. My job is to build relationships that will lead to mentoring, coaching and training our leaders to be, well, better at leading others. I've learned so much in my career naturally coaching others that this role has been an easy transition from the legal, investigation filled parts of human resource life that I had begun to grow weary of. I feel privileged to have made this career change 8 months ago and this week it all came full circle when my incredibly wise boss shadowed me at a few events at one of my hospitals and wrote me the most amazing thank you note that shook me so positively I shared it with my family.
What does any of this have to do with Changing My (or your) Blueprint? Stay with me here.
This week I had the opportunity to kick off a mentoring program and talk to some incredibly talented, high performing leaders about what lay ahead for both the mentors and mentees. I thought back to the first mentors I had in my career and what they meant to me. I've thought about the many men and women who have encouraged me through my career that I give credit for my ability to coach and mentor today. I thought about the people I consider my mentors right now. Because even though I'm a coach of people, I still need and crave ongoing coaching so I can continue to grow. I've gleaned so much confidence from the people in my life who have unselfishly poured into me and I am so grateful and honestly, a little emotional these days when I talk about it.
One of the lessons I share pretty frequently is about the oxygen mask. When we are on an airplane, the flight attendant shows how to utilize the oxygen masks that will fall should the airplane lose pressure. They ALWAYS instruct the passengers to put on their own oxygen mask first before helping the person next to you. Why? Because if you pass out from lack of oxygen, guess what...you can't help anyone else. As a mother, and a woman, and a believer I struggle sometimes with the thought of this because I feel like our society has created an image of the woman who can do everything for everyone, but shouldn't need to take time for herself. And we all struggle to show that image on social media, to our co-workers, in the workplace.
But I am finding the more authentically me that I am, the brighter I allow myself to shine, and the more I share that glow of my true reality with others, the stronger I become.
The month of March was really tough for me, physically, spiritually, and ultimately, mentally. I turned 39 years old and this is the first birthday in a long time that I have not enjoyed my birthday age. I have had these feelings of my life being half over, and have I accomplished enough? Am I doing enough? It doesn't help that I'm not in great shape physically. I had an awful ear infection with a cough that lasted well into March, and my back has also been acting up. This made my return to the gym delayed until my membership had run out. Around the same time, we decided we are going to build a house on 5 acres in the next town, which is an amazing and exciting decision, but holy stress level. Not rejoining the gym since my back has stayed jacked up, and I need to save every extra penny right now for the down payment. Add to that the birthday celebrations which continued for the entire month, stress eating from trying to decide on house plans, work travel that was booked pretty heftily, teaching courses I had not yet done before, and on top of that the day to day adulting that makes me appear to be a functioning human....y'all...it was a tough month.
And you know what? I didn't take time to adjust my own oxygen mask. I've been working so hard and long, rushing from here to there, traveling like a crazy person and being exhausted that I picked up a diet coke again. I know, I KNOW. It was a downhill slide from there. I would spend a few days eating keto, then a few days fully out of it. I stopped drinking water because diet coke was keeping me going.
Where did it get me? Well, fortunately to the same weight I was when the month started (phew!). I'm guessing I didn't gain because I was eating really well about half the time. But the diet coke not only awoke cravings I had buried years ago, it made me drink less water.
Enter my first UTI in all of my 39 years...while I was on a work trip. Super thankful I work in healthcare as I got meds really fast as well as home remedies and a bunch of sweet empathy from my coworkers.
Having to take antibiotics for the second time in 45 days really got my attention this week. And this morning it became crystal clear.
I need to affix my oxygen mask. Now.
I literally dream of my former fit self. It wasn't that long ago. Just yesterday when texting with a friend we were comparing to our former athletic selves and I wasn't the athlete in high school that I was at 35! Just 4 short years ago I could literally run absolute circles around my own self. Yes, a great many things happened over the last few years to give me great reasons to be unfit right now. But the problem occurs when I allow these reasons to become excuses.
No more excuses.
Because a goal without a plan is just a dream. And while I love to sleep, I'm done dreaming about where I once was or where I want to be.
There is no good reason someone who has set such challenging work goals, and is smashing them left and right, can't reach her own fitness potential again. There is no good reason I can't make good food choices most of the time. There is no good reason to be sedentary, when I own enough equipment and workout programs to work out on my own. There is no reason I can't take 30 minutes a week to blog about my progress, no matter how great or small.
The ONLY reason is that I have yet to create actual GOALS that have PLANS to back them up.
I'm done dreaming.
So here is my fitness Goal & the Plan that's gonna get me there:
Long Range Goal: Lose 80 pounds by my 40th birthday (3/1/19). That is almost 11 months from now.
Short Range Goal: Lose 7.5 pounds a month
PLANS in place to reach my goal:
- Track my food until I am fully confident I don't need to (aka, can go a day or two or week or two with no weight gain).
- Plan my meals weekly, doing some meal prep with the family so we all have healthy options available that stay within budget.
- Test for ketones daily until my results stay consistent.
- Begin the T25 workout program as prescribed, following the modifier and taking rest breaks as needed until I don't have to. The Alpha program is 5 weeks and begins tomorrow 4/9/18.
- Participate in STATurday, where I measure my progress and report it on my blog sometime each weekend.
- Plan ahead a few days when I may not stay in ketosis. Such as Wyatt's birthday next weekend, or when we travel two weekends in a row at the end of the month. Be flexible, but firm with myself and don't allow my workouts to suffer due to poor choices (which means they will be limited!).
Thankfully my "week 1" for this new Goal is an office week, so only day travel later this week. It's also the week we will be hopefully signing the final plans and contract on the house, then beginning to pick out all of the amazing details of our new home.
- Plan to reach out to my fitness mentors and friends when the days or weeks are challenging before making a less than helpful decision.
I'm ready to quit dreaming...and start DOING! Can't wait to see what amazing successes I will be sharing each week.
Thankful you're here with me.
Be well,
Clara
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