Sometimes You Just Need to Say “YES!”

Butterflies

I’m sitting here writing this with butterflies swirling around in my stomach. I’ve just said “YES” to something I don’t know how I’m going to do it…AND I’m so excited!

For a while now I’ve had a nagging feeling that I’ve needed to step up my game, do more, have a goal and yet part of me has resisted it.

I was telling myself that I needed time/space to just “be” and grow my business and be a mom and do all of this stuff which I love and yet I just wasn’t feeling like “me” – do you ever feel that way?

All weekend I was kinda moody, distracted, and had wandering thoughts. You see it was Ironman Canada weekend and I had originally planned on being in Penticton to cheer on the people I know doing it but life had other plans for me (sick kids, cold, back to work for my husband and so on). So I didn’t go.

I’ve been talking with a few of my friends and colleagues about my desire to do Ironman Canada again.  That’s me in the picture above. It was taken as I crossed the finish line of IMC in 2005.  Since then I’ve gotten married, had two kids, moved three times, completed a massive home renovation, and started my own business. It feels like that moment was a life time ago.

Anyways, I’ve been talking about signing up for Ironman again but honestly I just didn’t know how I could do it – it requires SO much training (for anyone who doesn’t know an Ironman consists of a 4km swim, 180km bike ride and 42.2km run) and with two little kids, a business to nurture, a home to look after and not a lot of help (no family/nanny/driver/chef etc.) I sometimes feel tapped as it is.

So it was interesting at how annoyed I felt about not being there – somewhere in the back of my mind I think I knew I wanted to sign up and by not going it meant that I’d be putting off this goal for another year.

And then I got an email from a client who said she’d just registered online which usually is never an option as IMC sells out the day after race day and you typically have to be there in person to register. So I quickly went and checked to see if registrations were still being accepted. They were. My heart beat quickened, my excitement grew and I’m sure my eyes dilated as I talked to Mat about what it would mean for our family if I made this commitment to myself. And then I registered.

I am officially signed up to compete in Ironman Canada 2011!!!!!

I’m nervous, scared, excited, and feel totally alive right now.  And here’s what I know – sometimes you have to say “YES” to the things in life that light you up even when they seem impossible to do.  So often we say things like:
“No” or
“Later” or
“Next year” or

“Maybe” or

“Not now” or

“I’m not ready yet” or

“I’ll think about it” or…you get the idea.

And when this happens, when we chose to play it safe or keep small we squelch something amazing that we could experience. When we decide to not make a commitment to something we miss out on fully experiencing our life. And sometimes when we feel pulled we’ll try to be logical and rational and figure out the “how’s”:

• “How am I going to do this?”

• “How am I going to fit this in?”

• “How will I find the time”

And when our brain is desperately trying to process the answers but they’re not coming up quick enough we’ll immediately jump to the “What ifs…”

• What if I can’t do this?

• What if I fail?

• What if I can’t find child care?

• What if I quit?

• What if I get injured?

• What if I look stupid?

As you can imagine these two streams of thought are enough to stop you from doing anything. No brain can fight this and that saboteur voice in your head knows this and that’s how he/she gets you to stay small and play it safe.

So forget about the “how’s” and “what ifs” and start paying attention to your feelings – if you’ve been thinking about doing something for a while and you’ve been letting your thoughts stop you simply commit. It’s the first step.  After that, everything falls into place.

If you do decide to go for something that you’ve been longing to do – let me know! I’d love to hear what it is – just drop down into the comments section below.

Here’s to saying “yes” even when you feel like saying “no”!

What Happens When You Hit the Wall?

Have you ever felt like you’ve “hit the wall”?

“Hit the wall” is actually a running or cycling term and it refers to not having enough glycogen in your muscles or liver to continue doing the work that you’re doing. It sucks to hit the wall. I’ve definitely experienced that few times.

The most memorable time was doing a marathon in Vancouver a few years ago. I’d done a few races leading up to that particular marathon and I’d “raced” them and my legs didn’t feel as fresh as I wanted them to.

My travel day to Vancouver also didn’t go as planned – I missed the ferry from Victoria and was stuck eating some pretty crappy food while I waited for the next ferry. I was hoping that all of this just wouldn’t matter, that I was “fit” enough to push through that discomfort and reach my time goal.

I seeded myself appropriately in the start line and started my race exactly as planned running at my marathon pace. It was a pretty crowded course and I was actually feeling pretty good for the first 18km. Around 26 km I was beginning to feel a little crappy, my muscles were aching and my tummy was feeling upset and a little nauseous which made me not want to eat or drink anything as I felt like puking. But I kept going.

At 36 km I hit the wall.

I felt dizzy. My legs were screaming. My quads and hamstrings were cramping. I had a headache. I did not know how I was going to go on. Combine that physical pain with emotional/mental shit storm I was unleashing on myself by thinking crappy thoughts like:

• I suck, I don’t know why I even bothered to sign up for this stupid race
• Who did I think I was to want to run it in 3:30
• I’m clearly NOT a runner so why am I doing this

So, I had two choices, listen to the nasty thoughts inside my head and stop and quit OR stop, take a walk break, stretch, drink some water, eat something, adjust my goal, and keep trying.  Because I’m stubborn and pretty determined at finishing the things I start I chose option two.

The last 6.2km did not feel good but I did it with a time of 3:42 which for me wasn’t too shabby after all.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve “hit the wall” in my business…and in my relationship…and in my parenting…. Sometimes it feels like the demands around me so exceed my capacity to deliver.  And what I’ve noticed is this feeling of “hitting the wall” happens most when I haven’t taken care of myself – I’ve been pushing too hard on all fronts for too long and that simply isn’t sustainable.

So, I do the exact same thing – I drink some water, I eat something I take a break, I readjust my goals, I nurture myself so I can continue, and I come back. I try again. I learn from my mistakes and trust that I know more this time around than I did before.

Tell me, have you ever felt like you’ve hit the wall in work, life or love? How did you recover. Drop down in the comments box below and fill me in!

Time or Energy- What’s More Important?

Our days are 24hrs long and no matter how much we might wish we could press the pause button or somehow magically add a few more hours to our day, it’s just never going to happen. So we aim to become very efficient with our time.

We create to-do lists a mile long – we use our iPhones, blackberries, pop up reminders, syncing of calendars, post it notes, and scribble on the back of our hand to remind us of everything we need to do. For a lot of us, it feels like demand exceeds capacity.

It does for me anyways. I have two young kids and a husband, run a business, keep a home, manage friendships, exercise, cook real food, look after the lawn, plan play-dates, book vacations, look after the finances, and on and on it goes. I’m the first to wish that there were a few more hours in the day. And then I think about that and imagine on the days that I feel like crap, the days that I’m tired and grumpy and definitely not my best self, having to get through an extra three or four hours would actually just suck.

What I do want is to have enough energy to be fully present in whatever task I’m doing in the moment so I can do whatever I’m doing well. I want to feel good during my day. I want to feel alive and engaged. AND, I know what I need to do to feel this way and I’m going to share it with you too.

I need to be personally responsible for managing my E.N.E.R.G.Y.

• E = Exercise
• N = Nutrition
• E = Emotions
• R = Relationships
• G = Goals
• Y = You

I’m in the process of creating an awesome model to represent this concept but in the mean time just take this in. All of these components are absolutely necessary to live a fully and energized life. If you ignore any one of these things you may not notice the effect right away – but  the short term decisions that we make in the moment to provide us with some sort of convenience often have long term consequences.

So in the next few days I’m going to be diving into each one of these components and explaining why it’s so important, typical things that derail us, and practical solutions for making space/time in your day to focus on you.

Why? Simply put – because you matter!

Even with all of the other stuff on your plate, you matter. And when you’re not looking after you…well, none of the other stuff does well, or as well as it could if you were at your best. And I want to help you truly feel at your best.

So – check back often this week to see new blog & video posts. And, if you’re interested in hearing me talk more about this then mark your calendar because on Tuesday May 25 @10am MST I’m going to be on Lara Galloway’s The WoMEN: What Women Entrepreneurs Need Teleseminar Series. Lara is awesome and her show is awesome too!

Gotta comment or a question – drop down to the comments section below and write away! I’d love to hear from you.

Jen