What a year this has been! If you are like me, then you are wondering how it could possibly be December already. The end of the year always seems to be the time when we review all of our intentions for the year and see how we did. Invariably, we have some that we met and some that we didn't meet. It is human nature to beat ourselves up more for the things that we started and didn't finish (or, didn't even start!) rather than acknowledge all of the things that we did do, and the good habits that we continued.
I came across this quote from Elbert Hubbard recently:
Cultivate only the habits that you are willing should master you.
I started out 2008 feeling really good and on top of things. It seemed to get busier as the year went on, culminating in a very busy and stressful fall, especially with regard to project timelines and staff turnover at work. In some ways, the stress was more acute and intense than in previous years, but yet I feel that I have also been more healthy this year than ever before.
So, as I've been reflecting on how things have gone this year and what are the things that I have done well, and, especially, what are the things that I have done better than ever before, one of the primary differences this past year has been regular practice of KB swings.
In 2007, I introduced the idea of the the 10,000 swing kettlebell challenge. The purpose of the challenge was to have a large goal that required creating a habit of regularly swinging the kettlebell to achieve it. Once I met this goal in 2007, I decided to keep going and see how high I could go for the year - I ended 2007 completing 25,064 swings. I did this with a few hundred swings per workout, a few days/week.
When I started 2008, I capitalized on this habit created in 2007, and started the year doing 100-200 swings per workout for 2-4 workouts per week. I kept track of the number of swings that I did per workout - sometimes, I felt like doing more swings, other times I didn't feel like doing as many. But, every time I did swings, I wrote down the number that I did, and, on an average of 3 days/week for most of the year, even when I didn't feel like doing a workout, I said to myself, "Can you at least do 50?" (incidentally, there was only one workout, where I did fewer than 50, when I only did 40 for that workout, but, at least it was something). I remember one day feeling a little disappointed that my body was not feeling much like working out, that that it was a little struggle to even do 50 swings. But Gregg told me, "That counts. And, it's done. The best workout is a done workout."
Very true. And, a good perspective. So, I kept at it as much as I felt that I was able and wanted. And, I ended up the year completing 30,000 swings for the year. I was a little surprised in early September, when I reached 25,000 swings for the year, and realized that I would get to 30,000 swings for the year. I was surprised because it seemed relatively easy, just a couple hundred swings per workout a couple days a week.
Now that might seem like a lot to you, if your current goals are 20 swings per workout. But, just start from where you are, and set an obtainable goal from there, and once you reach it, then set another, then another. If you are doing 20 swings per workout, then set a goal of reaching 1,000. Don't time-bound it, just say "I'm going to do 1,000 swings," then record the total number that you do per workout and see how it goes. Once you reach 1,000, then set a goal of 5,000, then 10,000, etc. You will be absolutely amazed at how the goal almost seems to achieve itself, and at the same time, you are building a fantastic life habit.
One of the most amazing things as I reflect on this past year, is that I managed to get by without any illnesses and, even more amazing, few days feeling "under the weather." I know that I tend to get sick when coming out of a period of being very stressed, and that during the stressful period, that I often get to a point where I feel too busy to workout. However, when it started to get really busy this year, and I felt that I was too busy to workout, I would stop myself and say, "How can I say I don't have time to workout, when I can do swings in 5 minutes." And, I could usually find 5 minutes.
I told Gregg about reaching 30,000 swings for this year, and he asked if I tracked that by month. I had not, but it was easy enough to go back and add up the number completed by month. My most stressful months with work were Sept-Nov, which is evident in my swing patterns:
- 19,000 swings were done in the first 1/2 of the year,
- 3,300 swings in August,
- 2,500 in September,
- 1,000 in October
- 600 in November
- 1,100 in December
I think that this is a good pattern. When life is really stressful, we have to adjust the stressors we put on the body to stay strong and healthy. If we don't adjust the input of stressors and give our bodies a break when they need it, then our bodies will manufacture a way to get rest - injury or illness. So, I feel really good about how the year has ended - I blew past my goal of 25,000 swings, see the potential for completing 35,000 swings in a year, and stayed healthy, despite some pretty significant stressors this year!
On another note, I have also recently been working on another of my goals, which is to create some
Inner Grrr™ and 10,000 swing challenge t-shirts. I will keep you apprised of when those will be ready for purchase, if you are interested.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and joy and creativity as you develop your resolutions for 2009! And, one final quote, a Greek proverb, that I will leave you with as you ponder acting on those resolutions in 2009:
The beginning is half of every action.
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