Blogging

TESTAMENT TO THE TRUTH

Where has writing a daily blog in 2015 got me? I can't say I've accrued any additional wealth on a financial standing BUT, I have gained a wealth of information about myself and what I need to focus on next year in order to get somewhere in life.

Taking pen to paper or the virtual pen to the screen via a blog, has arguably been the best thing I've done to date. I've had a lot of fun times and I'm fortunate to say there's been a good deal of love, success and happiness over the years. However, we can all get a bit lost or caught up in the day to day dealings in life and suddenly start to question where we are heading? What's our purpose/our calling, and is there even any purpose to it all??? I guess some would call it a mid-life episode, but really, apart from letting go of the frivolities of youth, why do we have to change our ways anyway? Can't we carry on living and appreciating the life we have?

I believe we get too autonomous as we get older - too stuck in our ways. Some of the things we are doing are not good for our health or spiritual development - and if we allow them to go on, we could reach a point of despair later on down the road. This is where taking the time to write down our thoughts and learnings comes in to play. We can monitor just where the time is being spent and work out how best to make the most of the limited time that we have remaining.

All we have to do is to sit down on our own in the mornings and dedicate 20 minutes or so to write out our thoughts. Better still, use the Blogger iPhone app and add to the blog as you go about your day.

10 Day Countdown
It seems hard to believe that I'm just 10 days away from my yearly goal of writing consecutively for 365 days. I couldn't have foreseen this day or even believed it would have been possible, but here I am. It's a real testament to the fact that we just have to take small steps and believe in what we are doing. It's going to be a real eye opener looking back at what my thoughts have been and I very much look forward to the 1st day in January where I'll make my pledges for continuing my quest throughout 2016. 

Playing the game

THE ILLUSION

For most of us, the basic constructs of life are to; get a job, work hard, find a partner, have offspring and stay healthy to see our children mature and prosper. 

We make plans for how we are going to achieve this outcome and therefore place great significance on the jobs we take and how much money we earn to get time to spend appreciating the lives we've built for ourselves. 

Asked what job I wanted as a child, I would have aspired to be an explorer or a rock star. I've certainly explored - but the rock star has never become a reality for me. Everyone has something they can be good at and there's always those few who achieve their aspirational goals of becoming an astronaut or film star. But for many of us who end up turning the wheel in a 9-5 office job, it can all end up seeming so meaningless when we don't achieve that special 'goal' in life. 

Aiming for work goals that are for elevated status or financial wealth - these are empty objectives. Aspiring to 'be someone' - this is equally insignificant. Celebrity status is short lived, no matter how high the accolade. Who will really be remembered for a film they've appeared in 100 years from now - let alone 20 years? And when space travel becomes as common place as it is today when boarding a plane - being an astronaut loses its allure as something special too. So aspiring to 'be' nothing other than a truly better person, should be the ultimate goal in everyone's life.

Beyond this line of thinking - life is an illusion. Quantum theory tells us it's our perception of life that makes it 'real'. So essentially, it's what we make of it. Having purpose in our lives can still be inclusive of our job, whatever that is and achieving this purpose should be seen as a challenge for how best to work hard at honing our capabilities for achieving greatness in everything we do. 

Mind Over Matter

BLOCKING PAIN

After revisiting this great series called Mind Body & Kick Ass Moves, and Miracles, I've been looking at various methods for dealing with discomfort and physical pain for better endurance while training. There's some improvements to be found through regular practice of yoga, Qi Gong and through breath focus, but I'm learning that miracles don't happen over night. However, there's many other so called miracles to be found out there - like drinking snake gall bladder Saki and being rubbed with magic breast milk that may bring some relief.

Mindful Movements
What I've realised is that if you focus on the micro movements - as in isolate the muscles you're using for the exercise, and relax/tense them so they are being activated effectively, the pain is dulled. Another technique is to bring everything back to the breath. Focussing on the intake through the nose and creating a slight pressure on the out breath through the mouth harnesses extra power in the body.

This is particularly effective when doing planks. We can feel the burn after just a few seconds, but it's how we contract certain muscles in the back, glutes and simultaneously relax the shoulders, abdomen and thighs, that we can endure more time in the plank position. Over compensating in our training can cause muscle strain and fatigue. Therefore, it's important to be mindful when we do any form of physical activity, to ensure we're not putting too much strain on any of the muscles.

Focussing on the breath will not only ensure we are getting enough oxygen to the muscles but also helps still the mind - allowing us to progress in our training to overcome negative thoughts holding us back from achieving our goals.

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.

Sticking to the programme

FOLLOWING SOME SIMPLE RULES

Make some positive changes by implementing some simple rules. Write down the plans, then set a time frame to work within. Don't be too hard on yourself - you want to be able to stick to these rules for the duration. Set out your goals and make a schedule. If the time frame is too short, the task won't feel enough of a challenge and if the timeframe too long, the discipline required won't be enough to get you through. The idea is to set yourself up with new and positive lifestyle changes. by removing old habits and forming new ones.

We're currently in week three of a six week training schedule that will help get the body back in shape for the summer and in good physical condition to best enjoy all the fun times that lie ahead. The early starts and hard work - an hour of intense exercise - have stopped the late nights and curbed the drinking levels. Initially, it was hard getting up so early but now, there's no chance of me missing a class as the lifestyle has been adjusted to fit around the exercise routine.

I've just written a blog/page on making plans called Taking Stock which outlines a few changes I've made to help me stay motivated and on track. And I'm using this blog to implement/track any positive changes I'm making by writing it all down. The action of writing intentions and results down really does help cement the changes we want to make and keep us focussed on making them. Then we can re-visit these pages in the future and see how we've got on.

Porter Steps

TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE BIG GOALS

On first reading, this statement may seem a little odd. Hear me out first, with a little story....

I remembered when I got my first proper job (some time ago now) and how I used to write down all the things I wanted to buy with my hard earned cash. Little things mostly but important to me at the time. Aahh, how much simpler life was back then! I started off by making a list, then working out how much I could save over time and how many pay cheques it would take to get these things. I realised that I could get the first thing on my list - those Nike Air max - sooner, if I made some changes to how I spent money through implementing improvements in my routine. Things like making my own sandwiches every day, cutting out buying snacks and alcohol and maybe doing the odd job on the side. I had no credit card back then or overdraft - in fact, ATM's weren't so readily available either, so no access to quick cash either. The only option was to earn the money and plan out my goals for when I could spend it. 

This first item on the list wasn't particularly life-changing but something special that I'd really wanted since getting my job. Sticking to a routine day after day for a month had still been tough but I'd managed to acquire my new shoes with the money from my first pay cheque - it was a real boost in confidence. This method worked because I knew what my goal was and what I had to do for a month. It felt like a special achievement and very gratifying when I rewarded myself. After pay day, I could have gone back to the old routine but I'd made a wish-list and some of these items were going to take a lot more than a month to get. 

The next month was a lot easier to stick to because I'd gotten used to the routine of making my own food for lunch - I also started to focus on improving the lunches, mixing it up a bit. So the second month flew by and I bought my Leather Filofax (I actually may dig my old one out again!). This was the place I could write my lists in, organise my schedule and write down the goal dates in my diary.

The 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th months were all rewarding in small but significant ways. Rewarding in stuff I'd bought myself, but also as I'd discovered newer ways to save and make money, became a master at sandwich making and saw great changes in my health, wealth & productivity. And after 9 months of putting away £100, I reached my big goal and bought myself a second hand Korg-M1 Keyboard - acquired 6 months quicker than I'd originally planned. It was (and still is) the very same keyboard that my favourite band, Depeche Mode used in producing their songs! These keyboards cost £1500 new - more than double what my salary was back then in 1992 and not something I thought I could afford on the money I was being paid. 

The moral of this story can be summed up like this:

- Make goals: big and small

- Make realistic time-lines

- Work out a routine

- Start working on what's in front of you right now: ie. the smaller goals

- Reward yourself regularly: it'll make the tasks more enjoyable

- Regularly assess what you need to get to the next goal

- Keep your focus on what's immediately ahead: the small incremental stuff

- The big goals will come sooner than you think 

Another story springs to mind when we walked the Inca trail. 88km over 4 days of walking 6-8 hours a day up and down steps through mountain passes. The going was fairly tough and some of us who were suffering stomach cramps and not adjusting to the altitude well, were not having a great time. But when we climbed the sun gate at 5am on the morning of the 4th day and saw the sunrise over the temple ruins at Machu Piccu - the reason for taking the arduous pilgrimage became clear. I'll never forget the feeling and this memory will always be there to remind me - namely, that doing the things which are the hardest, will give us the greatest rewards. 

27,000+ Porter Steps

When we do something tough - it's based on our perspectives, measured by comparisons to what we've accomplished before. Life can feel like an up-hill struggle but we're all capable of so much more than we think we are. The impossible is being made possible all the time (check out these climbers on El Capitan for a reminder). The thing with making big goals, is that we get caught up with how difficult they seem from the perspective we hold at the time. Doing the inca trail was tough at the time, but I've had far tougher challenges since - because my measures have changed as my perspectives have changed. The porters on the Inca trail walk those thousands of steps day after day, week after week - some with the weight of a person on their backs and wearing shoes made of car tires! Others run the inca trail in under a day. If we keep giving ourselves challenges, we can all reach our goals.....one step at a time.

Final note and acknowledgement:

I try not to just copy and paste but I do keep referencing from blogs, insights and wisdom gained from others. It's because they've taught me, re-affirmed what I already knew plus inspired, encouraged and reminded me to keep on the path I've chosen since since starting Jan 1st 2015. I'm putting the effort in and using the learnings to embark on a steady rise UP on my new chosen path rather than down. If I haven't done so already, I will pass on and continue to show my gratitude to these teachers.

You should find the following links (and many more great blog posts held on their sites) useful.

This is what James Clear clarifies about marginal gains referencing the British Olympic Team & British Tour de France winners and he makes a good point on setting schedules which are tougher to stick to than goals.