And so the dominoes fall

I find it funny when a friend of yours will say something in a conversation that makes quite an impact on you, because it starts you thinking and they have no idea about what they said.

I was chatting to a friend of mine who runs marathons about my decision to change to walking rather than keep running. She said "Oh I read that in your blog and it is probably more sustainable long term. As a coach it started me thinking about sustainability. We make so many decisions and plans that are not fulfilled because we don't take into account sustainability. How sustainable is this plan or idea. More to the point how does this effect practice and plans that already exist in how lives. This is like the domino effect when one thing changes it has a carry on effect to other things around it! And so the dominoes fall.

I will use the running/walking as the example. When I came back off the cruise boat, I was on holiday, so the decision to run/walk was not under much pressure. Because I had more time. However when I went back to work I needed to find an extra 50-60 minutes in my day  4 or 5 times a week if I am going to sustain this new activity. Easier said than done. What do I need to consider............... well I still have to work, maintain relationships, do chores and not to mention write two blogs a week. Is this sustainable??

 

The before this new decision traffic!!

Well the answer is yes. I chose a time that would have the least impact on any other activity. That centred around when I get up and go to work. If I leave work at 6.00am it can take me between an hour to an hour and a half to get there. To do that I get up at 5.10am shower get ready and leave. So what I now do is get up at 4.55am get my walking gear on and in the car by 5.05am. Then my trip is between 50-55 minutes. Which means I arrive at work at 6.00am, warm up and be on the road by 6.10 walk for 50 minutes. I am lucky to have a shower at work so I can have had breakfast and showered by 7.30am ready to go at my normal work time. I get up only 15 minutes earlier, have a much easier commute and I am fitter and healthier to boot.  

 

The after this new decision traffic............. a no brainer!

The flow down effect is good all round. It is sustainable in the foreseeable future. It only came by looking at the big picture. Where was this likely to cause the least  flow on effect to make the chances of sustainability higher. Then the dominoes may wobble but probably not fall.

 

Next you have to make a lifestyle decision check its theoretical sustainability first. Then experiment should be less frustrating and  probably more effective!!

An assumption???

I don't know about you but there are times when you get things in your head that "I don't like this or I am no good at this and that is that." It doesn't matter how much anyone tries to persuade you that it's not true it makes no difference you won't budge.

I have had one of those for years and strangely it is about walking any distance with my wife. She is a very quick walker and I have always found it uncomfortable to keep pace with her. So I have avoided to process wherever I can. I have no problem running, but dislike walking intensely. Well as I talked about in one of the other blogs I have just come back to running after over a decade away. I felt this was an okay thing to after spending virtually an hour a day in the gym on a treadmill, walking or on a static bike for 35 days on a cruise. This was just to make sure I didn't put the 10Kg back on I had just lost with the rich ship food. So I came off the boat aerobically fit, so I thought I should be okay to run.

So far I have had no injuries.  I have had a chequered past as far as running injuries go. One put me out for 9 months and the last one put me out all together. When I run lately I must admit I am a little paranoiac with little twinges here and there. This weekend I developed a bit of a cough so I decided that it might not be a good idea to run. My conclusion was that I would walk for 50 minutes.

So off I set "power walking" along and to my surprise I was moving quiet quickly and with relative comfort. All my prejudices seemed to be invalid. I came to the conclusion it was just because I was so much fitter and had been stretching for a month and half. So instead of running the "Round the Bays Fun Run" I have decided to walk with my wife and daughter. I would not have even considered this a month ago.

I remembered reading a book called "Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager" which talked about challenging our assumptions. I realised that was what I had just done. I had assumed that my situation and circumstances were still same. This was not the case; I was a lot fitter and I have been stretching and involved in walking and running for over two and half month. So my assumed constraint that I found it difficult to stretch my stride was no longer valid. I had prepared for this walking in a way that had never happened before.

What the things in your life that you are not attempting because of past history, old data that may not now be valid? Think about it! You could be on the verge of a breakthrough and not know it!!

Hidden treasure

Our neighbourhood has had a little bit of infestation of rats  running around in the neighbourhood gardens. This has proved a little challenging to us and our neighbours.  We personally decided to get rid of our compost grass clipping pile in case it provides a place for the rats to nest. I am pleased to report that there no nests!

Now this compost pile was well established so represent an enormous amount of work moving it. At first it looked quite daunting, it was no small pile. As I started to dig it out and remove the grass and other vegetation. I started to realise that in the bottom of this pile was rich compost soil. What began as just hard work became a new resource, in the end it is all about perspective!!

This has enabled to us to repair parts of the garden and lawns and spread a layer of rich compost across the gardens,  allowing us to turn something that felt like a negative into a positive. Because of the change of perspective I looked at the whole back garden with new eyes and removed large chunks of the planting we had and were unhappy with. As a result we will have a complete new look garden in the coming spring with the new rich soil to form the basis.

Sometimes in difficult or even unpleasant tasks there can be hidden treasure if you look for it. For us it was a complete rethink of our garden from a simple task that wasn't much fun initially. All sorts of things can bring new vision and hope.....................................Keep your eyes open!!

keep your on the ball!

You know when you have one of those moments when you see yourself clearly. Well I had one of those  about five and half months ago. I was given an a photo of myself and I  noticed that the stomach overhang over the belt was far more extensive than I had believed.  I had a  healthy case of denial about my weight and what I looked like.

That has set me off on a weight loss programme which has resulted in me losing 10kg or 22lbs. This trimmed down version of me puts me into the my doctors  target weight zone for my age and height. Which is great. This took about 3 months to lose the target weight, actually when I have settled, I am about 2kg lighter than my original target.

Now as anyone who has ever been on a diet or weight loss programme knows, losing is one thing maintaining that loss is quite another. I have maintained this target for about two and half months, so that is good so far. Part of that time we spent 29 days on a cruise boat. Now you may say, so what! Which would be fair, if the statistics didn't suggest that the average person puts on 5kg on a 12 day cruise. We were on the ship far longer with the rich food and a high quantity of food!

So what have I done differently, I have as title suggests I "kept my eye on the ball". I have lived intentionally with my weight target and my value of enjoying life. I weighed every day that was possible, so nothing got too far out of hand. I had set my upper limit that was acceptable for my weigh gain, which I did hit once. I also started a fitness regime with step counting and exercise, to help support my goal. When I came back from the trip, I was far fitter than I have been for ages and at the weight I left with. With this in mind have decided to take up running again which I am really enjoying. Well at the speed I run, I think the official term is jogging. I am going to do some fun runs!!

Auckland Round the Bays Run

Sometimes we have to keep the things that are important and valuable to us to the forefront of our thinking then they don't just get lost in the busy times. To get or maintain what we want we must live intentionally. I don't have this all worked out, but there is certainly some great personal learning in here for me!




What have you lost sight of that if you are honest is actually something you value and/or is important to you?

 It is not too late to change. Take back your lost ground, one day at a time.