Top Priority: My Personal Health and Wellness

This is it. 

Have you ever felt off track, maybe not a full-blown detour, but like you keep struggling to get back in your groove? I have felt that way for months now, and as of today I am facing it head on, because it's driving me crazy.

The thing is, I can help other people all day long with multiple facets of wellness. But I always seem to push my own to the back burner. This means I tend to end up not meeting my own goals, even though I may be working daily to help other people meet theirs. Don't get me wrong - it's very rewarding. But if I don't take care of myself, I can't keep helping other people. This is how I know I'm off-track. It's a hard lesson to learn. I think we all do it to a degree. We think it's selfish to set aside time for ourselves to take care of even the most basic needs, let alone work toward a major milestone. Parents are particularly bad about this. But it's time we realize that we can't really be effective, and we certainly can't be the example we need to be for the next generation, if we don't take care of the bodies and spirits that we've been given. I want to be around for the people in my life that I love. But it's not enough to me to just exist or survive, I need to really live. And you do too. So I hope that whatever just hit me in the head this weekend pushes you to think about it too.

So from this point on, you're going to hear a lot more about my antics. My ups and downs, my adventures, the goals I hit and the ones I miss. When I do well and when I suck. There will be some people in my life that hear me say the word no every now and then (gasp!). I want to hear about you too. Is anyone else feeling the same way? If you are, tell me about it, and let's tackle this together.

I have some very specific goals that I want to meet this year. Surprisingly, they have precious little to do with scale weight and just marking things off a to-do list. I'm focusing on healthy habits, my performance, how I feel, what kind of impact I'm making on the world, things like that. As I work through these healthy habits, I'll share them here. I'd love for you to share your thoughts with me too. Tell me when you think I'm crazy and when you feel the same way. Let me know what you are doing to make your life DIFFERENT. Let's live and not just exist!!!!

Are You Working Out or Training?

Here's a quote from a recent newsletter regarding essential strategies for lean body development, from Athletic Body System (Bryan Kavanagh and Ian Graham).

"One thing you must realise is that you need to stop working out and start training, as there is a big difference between the two. People who train do so with a true purpose, a detailed plan and they know what they want and how to go about achieving it."

Deep down I know this, but sometimes I just need it to pop me in the face again. If I'm not concentrating, I tend to workout. When I am in focus, I train. Goals may be more virtuous than New Year resolutions, but they still don't help us if what we're actually doing everyday is not in sync with them.

We've all heard it before but seeing that quote helped me re-focus. I've certainly spent my fair share of time in the gym working out. The first quarter of the year is almost over! Time to review those goals and make every effort count as true training.