Time moves on...
MidLifer Chronicles 11
Just 5 Weeks Away!
As I write the chronicles this week I am acutely aware that I now have just under 5 weeks to the Northern Championships CrossFit finals - Yikes! I've enjoyed Christmas and New Year, with some training (not a lot) and more eating and drinking. We also seemed to have shared round a few bugs and sore throats in the family too. Suffice to say, I don't feel like I've made the best use of the last few weeks in preparing for the finals. Still, 5 weeks is a good chunk. Isn't it?
Well it is and it isn't. It all depends on what I do now. Today. Then tomorrow. And here's where I think time can easily start to slip by and, before I know it, the competition will be upon me. I may or may not be prepared. Let me explain:
After Christmas Day, I vowed to get back to some training in between that and New Year. I did - once. Then it was New Years Eve and then New Years Day. Which happened to fall on a Sunday. Which meant there was a bank holiday on the Monday - a day off!! Get in! But there was still some beer and some chocolates in the house. It would be rude not to wouldn't it?
So Tuesday (today) came around. And I had a scary thought. The week is well under way, and I am still not focused on what I need to do to train and get ready for the competition! Before I know it, 5 weeks could drift into four and if I am not careful I would have very little to show for it.
That's when I realised, that I have been thinking in that perfectionist and all or nothing mindset - I'll start on Monday and get stuck in. Ok, so Tuesday, I'll get stuck in, and so on. And I recognised an old pattern - putting off doing in favour of looking forward to tomorrow's fresh start and 'perfect execution.'
Ok, so let me take a moment here. If I reflect honestly the last few weeks have not been too bad actually. Far from perfect, but healthier than last year's Christmas period and has included less alcohol and a bit ore training. It's been ok - could be better, but ok. I have been to CrossFit the last two days and whilst the sessions were rough and I was not up to par, I did them.
So, what's going on here? I'm swinging between 'better not perfect' and 'all or nothing'. Which is better than previous years where is was all 'all or nothing.' These habits die hard, but they can fade away.
So, my own learning here is:
1. Firstly don't be so hard on myself - I am doing better. I have learned and clearly have shifted things in the right direction.
2. I am catching my all or nothing thinking and its various disguises in the act quicker than I used to.
3. I just need to continue to do. Sweat the sprouts. Ensure I just get the workouts and the practice done, eat a bit better, drink a bit less and not dwell on the quality. So I have a bad workout. So someone standing next to me lifts heavier, moves faster and looks better. So what? I am 'Doing the Do' as Betty Boo would say.
It's one of the benefits of having a short term challenge to work towards, as well as that longer term vision. They focus the mind, generate a smidge of apprehension and, with the awareness of the problematic thinking ('all or nothing) versus the more useful approach (just sweat those sprouts), help to motivate you to keep doing.
So, my question this week is, what goal have you set yourself and how can you frame the goal in a daily habit or action and focus on THAT? Focus on just doing it, to hell with the quality. Just doing the do. Or, doing a Betty Boo as I like to call it.(by the way, if you don't know what i'm talking about just search 'Betty Boo, Doing the Do' on You Tube and you will hear a great upbeat song!)
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Dave
Dave Algeo, Restless Mid-Lifer
'It is never too late to get life back on your terms and have even bigger adventures!'
dave@restlessmidlifer.com
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