10,000 Hours

During my 7-mile walk-run this past Saturday I had the unexpected pleasure of the company of my brother, James Batchelor. Just as a bit of background, James is a very talented writer who is working on his lifelong dream of becoming a successful full-time author and writer, allowing him to support his family with his pen, or keyboard, if you will. As fellow dreamers, James and I have been down a lot of the same roads and struggled with some of the same challenges, doubts, and limiting beliefs along the way. This has led to some very interesting conversations. We are quite the philosophers, James and I, and exploring our experiences together has brought me a lot of insights, ideas, and even a few game changers. Our conversation this past Saturday seems be leading me to another of those game changers.

As we walked, we found ourselves discussing a book James had read recently called Outliers. He told me about the first part of the book where it discusses three divisions that can be seen among the students of The Juilliard School at any given time. I won't attempt to repeat the entire conversation, but there is one point that stayed with me and that I have not stopped thinking about since that walk. The top tier of students at Juilliard always consists of those students who apply themselves to such an extent that they have reached or will reach at least 10,000 hours of dedicated practice in their area of focus by the time they reach age 20. This equates to roughly 3 hours every day for 10 years. It doesn't matter how much raw or innate talent the students have. All that matters is how much time they apply themselves to practicing their art. After 10,000 dedicated hours, they become experts, or masters. They know that thing inside and out--it becomes a part of them.

So here is what I took away from the conversation. First, anybody can become anything they want to be if they are willing to apply themselves. Second, if I want to really master anything, I have to dedicate my time and energy to that thing in a very significant way. I will have to sacrifice other, less important things in order to devote more time to this one, chosen path.

Now I have some decisions to make. I am the type of person who does not do things halfway. I want to be the best at everything I do. But if being the best means devoting so many hours and so much energy and intention each day to that one thing, then I have to make a choice. I cannot master everything. Prior to this conversation I think maybe a part of me thought that I could, and now I find myself in this conundrum as I see that I cannot keep moving down this path I have been traveling. I must choose, but what is the best path for me? What thing am I most passionate about? What will bring me the most happiness and satisfaction at the end of the day? Which choice will bring me the greatest success? What will help me reach my goals for my life? What would you choose?

Decisions, decisions...

Chi Running Instructor Certification Pending...

Just today I sent an email submitting the last of my requirements to become a certified Chi Running and Chi Walking Instructor. The irony is that about 6 weeks ago, I was ready to throw in the towel. So what happened?

Here's the background. At the end of last March, 2013, my sister, Denise, and I attended a training/workshop that was part of the requirement to become a certified Chi Running Instructor. To be honest, in preparing for this workshop a lot of work and studying had to be done, and I was in the midst of a very rigorous full-time massage therapy program. I almost gave up. I felt like I couldn't possibly comply with all the requirements just to get to that workshop, let alone to actually become certified. So I called my sister up early one morning when I was supposed to be studying, and I told her I wasn't going because I just couldn't do it. Mind you, this was about 2 weeks before the workshop, and we had been preparing for months. Well, my wonderful sis talked me off the ledge, so to speak, and I ended up going to the workshop. As it turned out, the 2 of us were much better prepared than we realized and we passed through the workshop with flying colors.

Fast forward 10 months, and I am staring the one year completion deadline in the face (we have one year from the workshop to complete the remaining requirements). I felt like I was sinking into a pit of complete overwhelm as I was trying to grow my business and manage my time and my stress levels (no, I was not living in the "now" very effectively at that time). In an effort to avoid a complete breakdown, I switched to damage control mode. I looked at everything I had on my plate and found what I felt I could get rid of--and the Chi Running certification made the list. I knew I would eventually get certified, but missing this deadline would mean I would have to go to another weekend workshop, with additional travel time and cost thrown in, and then I would still have to complete all of the very demanding requirements at some future date. But why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right? So I sat down with my sister and very gently told her, once again, that I wasn't going to be able to complete the requirements and that I would have to miss the deadline and get certified at a later date. We talked about it for a while, and in the end she accepted it with some reservations but also with understanding for my situation.

A few days later, however, I found myself thinking it over once again while I was out on a run, and some very persuasive reasons came up that had me rethinking my decision. When I got back from my run, Denise happened to be at my house, and without my saying anything about my own reservations, she brought up the very same things I had just been thinking about, and then started laying out a plan that would enable me to navigate my busy schedule and get the requirements completed.

To make a long story short, I pushed through, took things one day at a time, did the best I could, and with lots of support from Denise I completed the last of the requirements just 3 weeks shy of the deadline. Phew!

So here is what I learned from this experience:

• When you are stressed out and on the verge of a breakdown, having a true friend in your corner is invaluable!!! I don't know what I would do (or where I would be) without my sister Denise! She has helped me through rough waters more times than I can count. What a miracle she is in my life!
• When you are in a state of overwhelm and can't see any way out, try taking a step back and looking at things from a different angle. Sometimes you get so lost in the midst of the trees that you can't see the forest. When this happens, try climbing a tree. As they say, it is always darkest before the dawn, so don't give up!
• Trust God, open your eyes to your blessings, and take it one day at a time. All you have is today anyway, so quit worrying so much about tomorrow. Just make sure that when you go to bed tonight, you don't have any regrets about today.

So that's that. Within a week or two, I will be a certified Chi Running and Chi Walking Instructor.

Thanks for reading! February results coming soon!

Laying It All On The Line

In my last post I told you about my new year's resolution to weigh less than 120 pounds by the end of the year. It has been a very long time since I have been anywhere close to that weight, but never in my life have I been so far away as I am right now, so this is what you might call a real "shoot for the stars" goal. Now for the moment of truth: I lay before your eyes my "before" stats, with a promise to you and to myself that my "after" stats, come December 31, 2014, will be significantly lower, come what may.

• Weight as of 1/1/2014: 179.2 pounds
• Body fat % (according to my not-so-accurate but fairly consistent scale): 43.3%
• Measurements:
• Waist: 41.5"
• Hips: 44"
• Chest: 42.2"
• Right Arm: 13.8
• Left Arm: 14.5
• Right Thigh: 22.5
• Left Thigh:  22.8

As you may have noticed, I will need to drop at least 60 pounds during the year in order to reach my goal. No problem. That averages to only 5 pounds per month, and I feel completely confident that I can meet and even exceed that amount. It won't be easy, of course, but I am not afraid to work for it.
And whether I succeed or not, I will not stop working and learning and progressing, so whatever that scale says come year-end, I will be a success.

So what is your "shoot for the stars" goal? Do you want it bad enough to work for it, every single day? Come and take this journey with me, and we'll enjoy the adventure together (which is, of course, much better than going it alone)! See you on the road to realizing our dreams!

January 4th and so far so good...

Well, my friends, we have reached the first weekend of our new year already! How is it looking for you so far? For me, it's a pretty good sight! Did you make new year's resolutions? I did, of course, because as you may or may not know, setting goals is one of my favorite things to do. I wish I could say that achieving goals is one of my favorite things to do, but I have to admit that I don't have very much experience with that part...yet!

Anyway, new year's resolutions. So, I have a very big resolution this year--well, one of 3 or 4 big resolutions. I am trying really hard to not over-resolute (is that a word???) like I have done so many times in the past. I am still aiming very high, as in years past, but I am limiting the number of big goals I set for myself. Anyway, back to the point (I feel like I keep getting off topic today--did anyone else notice that?). One of my new year's resolutions this year is to weigh less than 120 pounds by December 31, 2014. Now, before anyone jumps to criticize or judge my new year's resolution (I emphasize the my because I believe everyone has the right to set their own goals, free from others' judgments, so whether you think my goal is good or bad or awesome or unreachable or whatever, it's my goal so please leave me alone to set and work toward it as I choose), let me assure you that I have thought about this a lot, and I feel great about it, very optimistic, and yes, I can reach this in a healthy manner (no starvation or deprivation diets of any kind). Also, I would like to emphasize that health and skinniness are not synonymous, and I only chose to focus on weight because it is easily measured and wraps up in a nice, neat package several diet and lifestyle changes I would like to implement (permanently) over the next year. In any case, what I wanted to say about it is this: I want to not just share this resolution with all my blog readers, but I want to share my journey over the coming year as I take steps to actually realize this grand goal. I hope that by sharing my triumphs and my struggles, and with the support of my readers, I will find the strength and the courage to make better choices for myself and my body, and I will be successful. And this week, I am successful!

Thanks for reading! Come visit next week for more, including my "before" stats and more details about the daily journey. I hope you will join me and begin your own journey toward better health and overall wellness!

Lessons from 2013

Here we are beginning another new year and, yes it is true, over a year has passed since I last posted anything to my blog. I apologize for being absent for so long. Let me tell you what I have been up to. In 2013 I did the following:

Hitting the ground running this year!

• Went to massage therapy school and received my massage therapist license and master bodyworker certification
• Graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and became a certified holistic health coach (AADP certified)
• Gained 20ish pounds
• Exercised only a handful of times (seriously--over the entire year)
• Practiced yoga only a handful of times (boy am I stiff!)
• Opened my own massage studio in the basement of my mom's house (doesn't sound very chic but I assure you, it is beautiful!)
• Went to a Chi Running Instructor Training (still working on the certification)
• Sent out Christmas cards (first time ever, so never mind that they went out well after Christmas--and maybe New Year's).

In a lot of ways I feel that 2013 was all about getting to the starting line--my own personal starting line--for the amazing success that is waiting for me. I put some things that are very important to me on the back burner and focused on getting this education that I feel will propel me into the realization of my dreams and the amazing journey that will take me there. I gained a lot of weight, but I let go of the belief that deprivation is the only way to lose weight, and I am so much happier living without deprivation in my life. What a relief! I stopped exercising almost entirely, but I learned to more effectively listen to my body, and now that I am back to exercising regularly (3 days in a row so far--woohoohoo!!!) I am paying more attention to what my body is telling me in the process. Surely this will lead to much more success in maintaining a long-term workout program, and will help me to prevent injury. Another major victory! I learned that loving my body isn't just about loving what I see when I look in the mirror--but that is a story for another time, and another blog post.

There are so many other things I have learned this past year, but rather than go on and on and overstay my welcome, I will end by telling you that 2013 was an amazing year, that I am so grateful for the lessons that I learned and all that I experienced in 2013, and that you will be hearing from me A LOT in 2014! Duh! I have to share the rest of my lessons some time, don't I?

Here's to a fabulously happy and successful 2014. And who knows, maybe I will actually have somebody to kiss on New Year's Eve of 2014. Anything is possible!