LImiting Choice

LETTING FATE TAKE A HAND

There are so many options available to us in this modern age. With the Internet, it's become increasingly easy to discover new places and things to see & do. This means that good places are listed for all to see and hidden gems remain hidden no more. 

Finding a place to go during peak holiday times such as the weekend when the kids break up from school, can be neigh on impossible to those unwilling to look hard enough. On these busy times, main routes are chock-full as hoards of families take to the roads. Accommodation has already been pre-booked up in advance and finding anywhere to stay last minute near a beach is a no-go zone in the UK. 

This is the time when I like to leave the decisions to fate. As I for one, like to include an element of adventure and spontaneity in my travels that most cannot stomach - particularly at these most busy times of year. I always have a tent in the car just in case, but there is always a hidden little gem - a cancellation, a discount for last minute or a quiet, picturesque place to stay, just a short distance from the hot-spots where one can enjoy the serenity of nature and a breakfast in solitude watching the wildlife go about their day.

Come back to it

REFINE IDEAS

Whether it's making plans for an event, designing a logo, sending an email, writing a letter or creating content for a blog page. Work out what you want to achieve, outline the content, jot down some notes, scamp out first drafts...and wait before sending. We're living in a fast-paced, quick-fix, immediate gratification period, brought about by the digital age. All too often, we'll rush things through without really considering what we're really trying to achieve. The quality of what we want to see, feel, portray - is greatly affected by the amount of time we put in. Chances are, the first idea we have, won't be the best one, so we need time to mull over inspired ideas and play with a few options before something that really works comes through to the forefront of the mind.

The writer understands this process of creating over a great length of time - Khaled Hosseini took a long time and many rough drafts to write The Kite Runner. He'd spend weeks going down a blind alley before choosing to rip everything up and start again. This painful process is necessary for creating great bodies of work. It takes patience and periods of discomfort exploring every possible avenue before eventually striking the right path and creating a work of great value.

Down days

TURN IT AROUND

You can't be on the up every day feeling a million bucks. It's just not possible - especially when you've been burning the candles at both ends and drinking a lot of booze. There's gonna be a lull. You're gonna have some days when you're just not on your game and there's a strong temptation to stay in bed and sleep it off. Thing is, you could wallow in it and chances are, your body will slowly recover from the lack of sleep, the clouds will depart and your sunny side will shine out again....eventually. However, the best way to get your personality back and effectively 'turn it around' - is to jump out of bed, splash cold water in your face, eat a decent breakfast and do something exhilarating where the sugars from the night before can be burnt off quicker and your mind switched back on. I'm now sitting in a bar having a cheeky half, feeling pretty lively and upbeat after taking a 2hr adrenalin fix. 

Living the one pint mind-set 

I heard this mentioned yesterday - how maintaining a one pint mind-set is the best way to live. I can go for that - one drink definitely gives you a little pep, makes you more confident/sociable and lifts a mood. And I can confirm it's true for me right now, as I'm ready for anything again - the trick is to stick to just one...!

Push through

BEING ACTIVE

Sometimes, when you've been constantly on the go. relaxing and sitting around can be just what you need. A break away from the routine can really help to recharge the batteries. However, having too many lazy days can also have a negative effect on your energy levels, as I found when chilling this weekend. 

On a down day, I like to read, listen to music and veg out like the best of us. But to kick the day off, it's always great to do a bit of stretching, breathing and light movement. You can make your own little routine or I like to do some yoga moves. There's a great app called Yoga Studio which gives you the option of a full yoga workout or just a quick 10 minute stretch session and all right there in your pocket! So this morning, I woke early, went for a brisk walk around the deserted town and returned as the sun was breaking through dark clouds, signalling another glorious day. I then did a 12 minute sun salutation yoga warm-up routine with my partner before taking a light breakfast.

The thing is, I'd not had a particularly great night's sleep, was not feeling all that rested, plus feeling a bit stiff from the week and hadn't really wanted to leave the warm confines of the bedroom today. Those damned negative voices once again...But I'm so glad I got myself up and pushed through rather than snooze for another hour, choosing to ignore the lazy voice and get some fresh air, sunshine in my face and energy flowing through my veins. I now feel so much more alive as a consequence and it's another reminder to always 'push through' - get up early and embrace the day.

Food Science

The diet's still going really well. I've been watching a really good 3 part BBC Horizon documentary this morning about people struggling with their diet. It's been really interesting to see how overweight people are affected by food in various different ways. I reckon, if I wasn't as active, body conscious and self-educated about food - I'd likely be overweight too because I'm a 'Feaster'. Luckily, I am aware of what I eat and sticking to the 30 day Paleo diet for another two weeks yet. If only more people were more savvy about food. This great series from the BBC should help educate many many more people about what factors affect their weight and ultimately, their health - so well-worth a watch.

Going The Extra Mile

INSPIRATION BLOCK

I woke up this morning feeling a bit blank-minded. This isn't something new - I've had this a few times lately. There's been no urge to jump out of bed and write my daily blog and little enthusiasm for getting on my computer in general. Partly it's because I've realised that I do actually need 8 hours sleep every day. Listening to an audiobook on sleep called Night School - it says to sleep when you feel tired and see when you wake without an alarm. So for the last few days, I've tried it - and found that going to bed at 8.30 is gonna lose me a girlfriend and a load of friends. The conclusion - I need 8 hours to perform at my best.

Not having any inspiration is putting a bit of unnecessary strain on myself, taking up the free time in an unproductive way and I've considered staying in bed and skipping the journal altogether at times. I've been dealing with self-doubt and the negative voices - and fighting them back. Pretty much having an even better, more productive day as a result. I don't want to have internal conflicts at 5am, so, I've changed my routine. I now listen to and read something inspirational at night and first thing in the morning, then jot down some notes on things that interest me, I would like to work on or improve in myself. That way, if I'm not immediately inspired to write - I now have a few subjects ready to work on throughout the day. I've got the Blogger app on my iPhone now, which is great. It's perfect for looking at topics for conversation and adding to them when I get those moments of inspiration when I have free time rather than put pressure on myself to finish up posts fist thing in the morning.

Beyond The Finish Line
So it's one of those mornings when I'm feeling a little lacking in what to write - I've just listened to one of Robin Sharma's podcasts about the 'last mile' theory. This talks about not only putting the effort in early on - but carrying on performing at a high level right through to the end. So, I've started this blog and made some promises to myself. I mean to go on as I've started. I've just re-read some of my earlier posts and I can see when the enthusiasm was at a high. We can't perform at 100% all the time but we should aim to have maximum output as much as we can. I believe another good practice for success is to actually aim past the finish line - as the 100m sprinters do, focussing on 10m past the line to stay at peak performance that bit longer. Giving 110% over time is how we make the biggest imrovements. I've been doing this with my rowing warm-ups. It's really tough starting off a work-out with 3x6o second sprints - aiming for a peak level target on each with just 30 seconds recovery in between. It's uncomfortable and I'm doubting myself all the way through, but I've managed to win myself over every time and finish within the target. I constantly amaze myself how effective this technique is and how we're capable of pushing our limits. This is great in sport and will be sure to apply this method in other areas in my life too.

One more point on diets:
Another diet that I'm willing to try at a later date - is the 4 day fast. I've been watching a really informative documentary on the benefits of reducing calorie intakes this morning. This documentary, -'Eat, Fast and Live Longer' is available for a year to watch on iPlayer. Here's some further information on the fasting benefits for prolonging a healthier and longer life.

Water fasting

Boosting immune system

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