I may have written a post similar to this before, but bear with me.
I recently wrote about how I was getting back into training and writing and committing to doing it regularly. My update is quite simple, I have failed. I haven’t trained consistently since I wrote my last post, nor have I written a little each day like I said I would. Sometimes the best intentions aren’t enough to get you where you want to be. That’s where a plan comes in to play and I didn’t have a plan. But now I do!
Like a few of my fitness friends I have followed the videos of Frank Medrano, Calisthenics Kingz and Hannibal for King with amazement. Regardless of the trash talk about some of these guys, what they have achieved through hard training (supplements don’t just gift you muscles) is incredible. I’ve always been too lazy to get into the gym consistently or run five times a week. However last year I saw the benefits of hard work after actually training for a marathon and coming away with a personal best time. It felt good to achieve something from the hard work I put in. Over the summer I did no running (that was a mistake), but instead I went to the gym to lift. Although I wasn’t consistent I enjoyed the training and saw the practical application of that strength when I was able to lift Catherine above my head in our wedding dance.
Over the last few weeks I have been trying to determine what goal I would aim for next as I just don’t have the enthusiasm for running. So I paid $30 and downloaded Frank Medrano’s beginners training plan. Yesterday was the first day. Today I can feel how effective that training is. I like it because it is simple, it’s using proven methods and doesn’t make you run before you can walk. But it requires regular training of 5 sessions a week. So that is now my plan. I have a routine to stick to and know that I will do the five sessions in the week, leaving me free to run, swim or play frisbee on the weekends. I am happy to say I failed, from the ashes of that failure rises a plan, which I can do at home and stick to. Sometimes for lazy people like me you need a fool proof plan, not rocket science.
On a different note yesterday was my last day at Apple. I now have to motivate myself each day to get work and keep it coming in consistently. I suppose this should be the scariest thing in my path. But strangely it is not that I fear, I have written out a plan so that I contact people each week and ensure work is forthcoming. I have already contacted several people in the building world and have been networking to develop new contacts for future paths. What has held me back for so long with so much I have done are the feelings of inadequacy and the thought of looking stupid in front of others. Actually failing, not having money etc is not what concerns me. That is a motivator more than anything. My own barriers to success are just myself. That may sound ignorant of the other challenges out there, but I see those as learning opportunities and something to overcome. Something that is tangible. My greatest nemesis has always been my own mind, not others. I am not in competition with anyone else, even if they are with me. My motivation lies deep down and yes it probably stems from childhood ;)
The saddest thing about these first world problems is that they exist. We have so much freedom and choice because of those that made so many sacrifices in the past for us. However that freedom to do anything is a paralytic. We have so many avenues open to us that we can’t choose and don’t, so we end up not fulfilling any kind of potential. Ironically my dreams when I was young were always to help those less fortunate to achieve what they could only dream of. But I became paralysed, cynical about the World and the effort required to actuate real change. As corny as it sounds I wanted to help build houses and schools in Africa, so that children there could have the opportunities, which we take for granted.
For now I am focussing on the simple things I can do and progress from there one small step at a time. Here’s to making the most of freedom and opportunity.
Tom
