Cross: (verb) 1.to move from one side to another 2. to passover mediocrity
I saw a video at a sales conference about making the decision to make changes and do extraordinary things. It talked about 'crossing the line' and making choices that support the life you really want to live. I think the idea is relevant in fitness and being healthy. It made the concept sound really simple -and I think it is - but I think you need tools to complete the mission.
The mission, if you chose to accept it, is to identify YOUR line and how you want to cross it. (So Dramatic!)
I talked to a girlfriend earlier this week about fitness and stressors in life. I think her concerns were so typical of all of ours., men or women. We know what we want to do but the reality is our lives take over and by the time we slow down enough to remember our goals, we are over tired, over done or just completely out of time in the day. Those of us with kids have the added pressure of taking care of someone else and there just ends up being no time to take care of ourselves. I get up in the morning and have to get myself ready AND make sure someone else is ready, teeth brushed, nails cut, hair combed and ready to go! It's exhausting.
The idea behind the video was powerful. On one side of the line you stand. You have stressors, a job, a relationship and kids. On the other side of the line you can see the life you'd really love to have! Supportive and fulfilling relationships, kids with schedules that actually get adhered to and time for yourself that doesn't only happen at 2am! You look over the line and see all those people you admire- those you'd like to be more like or wish you had their focus.
So what is it that stops us from crossing the line? How can we stay focused on being who we really want to be?
As my friend and I talked, I realize she actually had a good idea of the things that were holding her back but she couldn't see what the other side really looked like it. She couldn't imagine what she wanted her life to really look like but she just knew she was not fully living the life she knew she could.
Talking with her made me start thinking .... How many of us really have a clear picture of what the perfect life looks like? What does your perfect morning look like? Your perfect job? Your perfect health? Body? Relationships? We would never head out on a long road trip without a GPS or at the very least, a map. So why do we go about our daily lives, knowing there are things we dislike, but not having a clear idea of what that perfect destination looks like?
There are two things that I do and both need to be 're-examined'.
* I try and keep a clear picture of my perfect life. I get a clear idea with all aspects - Job- Mother - Girlfriend - Crossfitchick and then I (as silly as it sounds) drill down and expand on each aspect. So usually when I lay in bed, I think about a certain aspect - say work. What my perfect day would be like. What time I would wake up and be ready for work. What my first morning 'thing' would be. How I would feel. What my surroundings would be like. (I work from home- what's my perfect office look like? I think it has a view of the ocean!) and then I move through the day- how would customers greet me? How do I feel during the day? What is the vibe? And I work my way through it and see how it would all shape up.
Be creative - it's the feeling you get that helps you zone in on how it would look. Sometimes this is painful and even difficult to do. But I believe that working through the full thought and developing a clear vision of what you WANT is important. Get it clear in your head and then write it down. If you are unhappy, you already have a clear vision of what you don't want. Get that out of the way. Move your thoughts away from what you don't want and forcefully move it to what you do want.
*The other thing I do is keep a list of items that 'shift my thoughts'. I think this is a 'secret' tool - I think they call them 'secret shifters' if you are familiar with that but I've been doing this for years. I have a list - both mental and physical - of things that make me happy! The sound of my daughters belly laugh. The way I feel when I finish a crossfit WOD. The thought of my dog when she looks like she is 'smiling'. The honey badger (if you don't know what this is, email me). I use this list of things at times when I am trying to cross the line but am having trouble getting over it.
I think 'crossing the line' is something you have to work for every day until it becomes easier and easier to get there. Because those times will come- the times when it will seem you can't cross the line no matter what you do (the kids won't go to bed, the line at the dry cleaner is too long and you need to just run through fast food to get back to work on time) and these are the times you will start getting overwhelmed. This is when you need a clear vision of what you DO want and you need those shifters to immediately change our mood from frustrated to happy. Being in a better frame of mind will help you see options to get over the line. These hard times when you have to use the tools, serve as lessons making you bigger, badder and stronger than you were before! At the time you won't see it that way. You'll just see the line. It may even look like a wall, but it's really just a line... and it's all up to you.
So my line to cross has been my shoulder issue. Holy cow. The surgery was 11 weeks ago. Two weeks ago, I made the mistake of helping out too much with the yard work and my shoulder was REALLY sore for over a week. At one point I panicked thinking I had re-injured myself... which I didn't. When this happened - I lost it. Seriously- I lost it. I have been careful of my eating, not in a diet kind of way, but in a 'I want to be healthy and wouldn't put that in my body' kind of way for years. I ate crap with reckless abandon for 2 weeks. I feel disgusting. I had my 11 week check up today at the doctor and I'm fine. Everything is humming along just like it should. I let something make that line look like a giant wall for me. Tomorrow is a better day. Back to No Excuses Crossfit (CAREFULLY) and moving back onto the side of the line I want to be on. Crossing over to fitness. CrossFit.
-CFPC
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