Get Military This Spring

TEN-HUP!

At the start of the year when I first started my 5am starts, it was a lot easier for me to commit to and easy to stick with once the new regime was underway. This, I put down to the fact, that it was dark in the mornings and dark again before 4pm. Therefore, it was easy to get into bed at 9pm and rise after 8 hours sleep when the rest of the city was asleep. The hibernation mentality was all I had to beat.

Now the days are so long and everyone is out in the sun - merrily having some fun...and it's hard not to get involved. I'm slipping on the 5am starts and other commitments are slipping too. So it's time to get military on myself to get everything back on track!

Setting a goal and then breaking it is not cool. It sends out all kinds of wrong messages that removes control of our actions and allows bad habits to creep back in. We can take breaks if we allow them, but breaking commitments and promises - especially with ourselves....is a big NO if we want to get on in our lives. If we set timings on these commitments, we need to constantly adjust them to make them a challenge. That means increasing the intensity, frequency and creating new goals. We have to keep putting in the hard work if we want the results.

Thinking of Sylvester Stallone again today, I was reminded of Rambo 4 (even if you're not a fan of his films, you have to admire the man). After watching this film, I then watched the interviews with the cast, crew and Mr Stallone himself. Working in over 80% humidity for 18 hour days in the Thai forest was really tough - and this was the cast & crew talking. Sylvester Stallone not only starred in this film, but he wrote, directed and co-produced it too and he's in his 60's when making this.

When everyone had gone to bed, Stallone was checking the rushes. In the mornings, he was first on the set. He had what it takes to push on through because he'd prepared himself by conditioning his body and mind over many years. That's why he's so successful and still making films today. So, if we want to cut loose a bit and have a break - that's fine. We just need to establish some boundaries and allow for down time. This is where we need to be the tightest on the rules we set with ourselves, so we can work & play hard too.

From tomorrow, following the Qi-gong 10 minute wake up routine, we have increased our morning exercises to incorporate 6x1 minute planks (with 15 seconds break between), followed by a set of posture correcting exercises. This adds up to 20 minutes of extra time needed in the morning so there has to be a fixed time to do this. The new 'military' rules mean there will be no break in this routine from today and the alarm will chime time every morning at the same time until the next re-evaluation date.

Having a fixed time/schedule means there's no excuses not to be ready - just as the army will have disciplined ways of do their routines. We pledge to continue on this routine until this current cycle is finished. And at the end of June, we'll look at what the next cycle will be.