Another "Top 10" List #Wellness #FitFluential

As my 44th birthday (technically my 45th; seems nobody ever counts their original birthday as 1, as it should be. even though i will be 44 years old, it is technically my 45th birthday) rapidly approaches (unlike the end off this sentence), I have decided to divulge some information about myself based on a list of "10 Things You Must Give Up to Move Forward" which I found on the interwebs that were created by someone much brighter than I am (as indicated by the fact that I cannot recall the source). <~~thought you'd never see that period, didn't you?!

10 Things You Must Give Up to Move Forward
1. Letting the opinions of others control your life
2. The shame of past failures
3. Being indecisive about what you want
4. Procrastinating on the goals that matter to you
5. Choosing to do nothing
6. Your need to be right
7. Running from problems that should be fixed
8. Making excuses rather than decisions
9. Overlooking the positive points in your life
10. Not appreciating the present moment

Worry not, intrepid reader. I will not be going through all of these in one fell blog post. Nope. For your continued reading pleasure I will drag these out for a few posts. Perhaps 3. Or maybe 5. You'll just have to tune in later to find out. Let's jump right in with number

5. Choosing to do nothing
This is, as present, nearly impossible for me to do. I am in motion most of the time, and when I seem idle, my brain is still trying to glom onto at least one or two of the ideas that are flying around in my head. This makes it difficult for me to fall asleep, or to return to sleep should I be lucky enough to awaken during the night.
This past Saturday I chose to try to do nothing of import and drove 30 minutes to go window shopping at stores that are 5 minutes away. My intent was to use the drive time and the different location as a mini-escape. Turns out that it was an impromptu lesson in doing nothing, as I had to stand around and wait 25 minutes for a nice mechanic named Mike to come along and rescue my keys that I had locked in my car for safe keeping. Good times.
In the coming year, I will, unfortunately, have plenty of time do do nothing. Which I will promptly put to use by working out more, being more creative, blogging more, and continuing to chase after that dream of inventing a perpetual motion machine (ok, maybe not that one). Does it count as "choosing to do nothing" if I schedule time to do nothing? I think it does.

As I have used up my comma quota (quotient?) for blogging today I will leave you with this: Which one of those 10 Things do you think would give you the biggest challenge? The least? Start with that one and work your way toward the biggest. I will be.

-Gene-

What would it take?

In April I attended some wellness coach training sponsored by my employer. It was a good coupla days, and I got to spend some time wandering around the Mall of America during the off hours.
During the coaching sessions, one of the tools presented was the old "scale of 0 to 10" questions. We've all heard them, right? But what caught my attention was the follow up question, that I'd never heard of....but I'll get to that in a moment.
What brough this to my mind was a posting that I read yesterday over at http://www.counselormusings.blogspot.com/. I really like her site, and she is very personable on Twitter as well. She introduced me to a Wheel of Wellness, created by Myers, Sweeney, & Witmer. It takes the notion that wellness isn't just about fitness, or spirituality, or food choices, or...any one thing, really. To quote the Counselor Musing blog:
"A wheel doesn't function well when a part is broken. It gets lose, wobbles, and eventually can no longer function properly. Overall wellness is important, and is made up of many smaller parts. Even if some of these parts are working well, if there's a part that's broken, that will decrease the overall wellness of the whole."
Here is what it looks like:

If you can't see the spokes, they say (clockwise from top) Cultural Identity, Sense of Worth, Sense of Control, Realistic Beliefs, Emotional Awareness & Coping, Problem Solving and Creativity, Sense of Humor, Nutrition, Exercise, Self Care, Stress Management, and Gender Identity. It is easy, even for ME, to see how different things can impact the whole. I don't necessarily agree with the naming of the spokes or the parts, but that isn't what's important. The idea that if you need work in any area and chose to IGNORE it, eventually the wheel will break. I printed the wheel and then grabbed a pencil. My first instinct was to rename the parts, but I didn't. I kept it as is, and did the following: I shaded in each spoke to the level that I thought I had reached. Huh? Let's take Gender Identity. I am secure with that, so I shaded in the entire spoke. Emotional Awareness & Coping? Let's just say I didn't need to sharpen my pencil after shading that one! This exercise gave me a visual sense of where I think I am with respect to these components of wellness. I love it!

How does this tie in to my original thoughts about the 0 to 10 scale? Simply. Here is my suggestion:

Take an aspect of your life. For my blog's purpose, I'll use running as an example, but it could just as easily be work, golf, bowling, underwater basket weaving, whatever. Yes, "running" is a broad topic, so...let's narrow that down to...consistency of training. Ask yourself, "on a scale of 0 to 10, where would you rate yourself on consistency with your training?" I will answer 4. Here's the amazing follow up question: What will it take to get you to a 6? Amazing, isn't it? Think about your answer, and then...DO IT.

Implement the changes that will get you to that 6!! And then, when you get to 6, ask yourself both questions again! Repeat as necessary.

Wow. Amazingly simple, but I think that you will find it very effective, if used with HONESTY and no BS.

Hit me up with some comments. I can take it!

Be Well,

Nomorebs,

Gene

"Begin with the end in mind." Steven Covey

As you know, I have been ill and not able to run. Others at home are sick, too, so time for the computer has been pushed aside in favour of taking care of each other at home. I much prefer that, anyway.

I did, however, write a short article for the Wellness Page on our hospital's intranet. Please allow me to share it with you, too:
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New Year, New YOU!
Let's take some time to think about what it is we want from ourselves this year, specifically in terms of WELLNESS. I don't mean just physical fitness, but overall wellness. Mind, body, soul...that sort of thing.
As with any journey, I believe that it is important to 'begin with the end in mind' (S. Covey) before you actually DO anything. What do I mean? Let's take a simple approach: when you go on a trip, you don't just jump in the car and go, right? It may seem like it, especially when just going to town to get vittles, but it isn't really as simple as get in the car and go: you need a destination first. otherwise you'll just wander around town. who knows, chance are that you might come home with the right stuff, but there's a good (better) chance that you won't.
When you decide to go on vacation, how often have you just gone to the airport with a suitcase and picked a random flight? You first think something like, "man, i could use a vacation, " and you do some research, talk to friends, find a place you'd like to go. (begin with the end in mind). Then you make flight arrangements, buy the right clothes, find someone to watch the dog while you go, and begin your journey. Things might try to trip you up on the way (no one can watch your dog, flight delays, etc.) but you don't give up on the goal. You adapt, you overcome, and you GET THERE.
And your life is better because of it. You accomplished something that you wanted, you feel rejuvinated because of it, it renews your sense that you CAN get things done that you want to get done, and you are ready to face the world again, and of course set new vacation goals.
The same things apply to wellness. I'll give you some time to think about this approach, and then next week i'll write a bit about laying the ground work to help ensure success. Hit me up in the comments!
Be well, Gene.
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I hope that this weekend finds all of your long runs to be just tough enough to remind you that they are long runs, but not so tough that you can't walk after. remember, peak for performance, not for training.

-g-