I have been struggling for a variety of reasons to sit down this week and put something out there for the world. Part of the reason was busyness and part of it was just trying to slow my mind enough to even write something that may be coherent. This morning on my walk I was thinking about this whole situation and a picture came to mind.
Imagine you are at a huge buffet. There is a long table of food and all of it looks super yummy! You pick up your plate and you start at the one end. There are lots of salads and veggies, then onto the main dishes. Before you realize it, your plate is so full that you can hardly believe it.
This is a picture of life in my world right now. Everywhere I look I see fantastic opportunities - all that yummy food. I walk through and think I can handle a little of that and oh, I'd like to sample a little of that, and yup, that would be good for me too. I don't have the right to complain about the state of my plate. I put the items on it. One by one, I have added to life.
This past long weekend was fantastic. I was sampling a little from the dessert table at that point. We worked outside as a family (don't ask the kids if that was like dessert, they will definitely have a different answer). Then Sunday we played mini golf and just hung out as a family. Lots of time spent together and the added bonus, our yard was looking fantastic (until yesterday's wind, but that is another story all together). The dessert was great.
Then the beginning of the week hit and I found that I had not so strategically placed some meatballs on the top of my plate or somehow they had managed to work their way to the top. Now these meatballs no longer wanted to stay on the plate. They were rolling all over the place and needed to be dealt with immediately so that they would not hit the floor. After a couple long days in front of the computer the meatballs have been tamed down but are ever perched at the edge of the plate.
Then there is the salad and the veggies that I mentioned first. I happen to like salad. In this story, kung fu is the salad. The problem is, between the dessert, the meatballs and all of the other things piled up on that plate - for the life of me I have not been able to find the salad!!! I know it's under there. I know how good it is for me.
Today I've been spending some time just trying to figure out what exactly is all on that plate. I did dig down and find a little salad. Mostly though, I need to figure out just how much I can safely put on my plate and still enjoy the meal.
Thursday, 25 May 2017
Tuesday, 16 May 2017
Finding My Rhythm - Starting with Monday
Rhythm - a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound OR a regularly recurring sequence of events or processes.
Once again, it is all about perspective... You talk to people out in the working world with a 9-5 job and they often will say that they would love the flexibility of working from home. You talk to someone who works from home and often they say that they lack that structure needed to succeed that the 9-5 set up provides.
I have been blessed to be a work from home mom for the past ten years. I have definitely struggled with the second statement. I love having the flexibility that being at home provides so that I can put my family first while still being able to work. That is a beautiful thing! In that beauty there is a constant struggle it seems. I have no isolation of my roles and I often feel pulled every which way.
For the last couple years, my constant mindset was that I needed to just set working hours. I needed to decide what time I was going to sit down every day and then train my people that those hours were for working - much like a person does who leaves and goes into work each and every day. I had thought that my family would be the biggest obstacle in this. They are used to me being available 24-7 and have been known to take advantage of that.
It turns out that they are not my biggest obstacle. I am!!! Isn't that humbling....
My office is right smack in the middle of our open concept living space. I love being right in the middle of the action and did I mention - my view out the window in front of my desk is awesome!!! I would not chose to put my desk in any other place in our home (which is why my sweet hubbie rearranged the entire house to make this work). My battle is in the distractions that my to do list provides. I have work to do's and I have home to do's and because of my physical location I feel the pull to be doing them all at the same time. I sit down to work and my washing machine summons me. I can see the dust bunnies and the front flower bed in need of some serious love. I start to clean the bathrooms and as I walk by my work area, I see the piles of client files that need attention.
I have found that this setting of regular work hours based on the clock is not working for me. Instead, I am starting to embrace some rhythms in my life - starting with Mondays. Monday was always one of my biggest struggle. All my peeps head out the door. I finally have that feeling of some control over my own schedule where I do not have to take their wants and needs into consideration and can just get down to work. BUT... My house is turned somewhat upside down from the weekend and I have a list of to do's a mile long. Historically, I would try to do it all. Yup, super woman syndrome. I would get in the middle of changing the beds, cleaning the bathrooms and doing laundry, all while trying to sit at my desk and work. Then all of sudden 3:30 seems to appear and I am in the middle of everything. My stress level rises and I start running around like a crazy person trying to finish it all up before the school bus drops my kids off.
The last few weeks, I have released myself from doing any work on Mondays. I have decided that for the rhythm of my life and family that Monday is best spent as a day to prepare for the rest of the week by focusing on preparing my environment. After I send my family off to conquer the world, I take my sweet fur boy for his morning walk (it's a daily rhythm he has come to expect), write my blog for the week (yes, I know it's Tuesday but sometimes rhythms get disrupted) and then head out to kung fu. The rest of the day is dedicated to my household to do's so that they are not screaming as loudly for the rest of the week. By focusing, things are actually getting finished instead of partially done. My state of mind is better when my family returns to a home that feels a little more like a hug than like chaos.
Releasing myself to focus on only one area of my life has had huge benefits the past few weeks. I am still working to find rhythms that work in other areas of my life but this is definitely a good start. Trying to set a rigid schedule really has not been a successful way for me to structure my life so instead I am looking to get some simple routines that fit the natural rhythms. When you shift your perspective, sometimes crazy wonderful things happen. Not only did the beds get changed, three loads of laundry fully done, bathrooms cleaned and supper made, I was able to spend 2 hours at my desk working. There was no pressure to sit and get that work done, just the wonderful feeling of choice because I had focused well on the other area.
I still have much to learn and experiment with in this area of rhythms and routines. We are in the middle of shift in our evening rhythms because of a change in our kung fu schedule. So far we've managed to make it work and still sit down and eat as a family. The goal is to take much of the decision making out of the mundane, repetitive parts of life so that I can save that mental energy for loving my peeps.
Monday, 8 May 2017
Playing Games
At the end of the meeting yesterday Sifu Brinker asked who was struggling. There were a lot of hands that were put up. The IHC program is challenging. Any year long commitment alone is hard to keep momentum on. It is easy to get to a place where you are struggling.
Today I posted my YTD numbers. They are not fantastic. They are definitely not on track. I knew where my numbers were on Saturday, yet I did not put my hand. A couple of weeks ago, I would have had my hand in the air, but not this weekend. So why?
I originally joined kung fu because I needed some physical activity. I was gently pushed out onto the mats by a great group of moms. I have stayed because of the relationships that I have formed and because I usually have a blast on the mats. A positive state of mind really can't be underestimated. When I am in a positive state of mind, I can work harder and I can hear the lessons being given clearer.
So why can't the IHC program be fun? I know the requirements that this mastery program sets forth do not sound like fun. Honestly the first time I heard them I thought they were absolutely impossible. Even when I signed up my first year, they sounded like a pipe dream. I have discovered that this is not true. I have also discovered for me it is all about perspective.
There has been a great deal of talk about perspective lately. I have struggled over the winter with my mental state and hence my perspective. With spring finally trying to poke through, I have felt a real rebirth in my mental attitude. I am really ready to pursue the best me that I can be. One of the key factors in doing this, at least for me, is that it has got to be fun. So how to make the IHC fun... Make it into a game!
For the past couple weeks I have been playing a little game with myself. On Monday's I take stock of where my numbers are at - that is not always fun but really necessary. If you don't know where you are, how can you figure out where you are going? Then I set what I've heard called stretch goals. This is not the 960ish push ups/sit ups or 21 form reps/AoK. I am a little behind, and I want to push. I set my goals higher than these numbers but still try to be somewhat realistic. Then I go about seeing if I can meet these goals. Some days I rock out the reps. Yay me! Some days I really don't. I am finding that this perspective is helping. My weekly rep totals are increasing each week. I am not beating myself up for not meeting my goals and sometimes missing a day when life gets in the way. I am having fun which has lead to more progress than white knuckling it ever has produced consistently.
For those of you who are struggling, I challenge you today to find a way to make it fun. Remember why you wanted to join this program in the first place and I bet it was not to make yourself feel terrible but to grow. Jump in! Do something and then go record it! Write a blog and tell us about it! Let's have some fun and play some games together!
Today I posted my YTD numbers. They are not fantastic. They are definitely not on track. I knew where my numbers were on Saturday, yet I did not put my hand. A couple of weeks ago, I would have had my hand in the air, but not this weekend. So why?
I originally joined kung fu because I needed some physical activity. I was gently pushed out onto the mats by a great group of moms. I have stayed because of the relationships that I have formed and because I usually have a blast on the mats. A positive state of mind really can't be underestimated. When I am in a positive state of mind, I can work harder and I can hear the lessons being given clearer.
So why can't the IHC program be fun? I know the requirements that this mastery program sets forth do not sound like fun. Honestly the first time I heard them I thought they were absolutely impossible. Even when I signed up my first year, they sounded like a pipe dream. I have discovered that this is not true. I have also discovered for me it is all about perspective.
There has been a great deal of talk about perspective lately. I have struggled over the winter with my mental state and hence my perspective. With spring finally trying to poke through, I have felt a real rebirth in my mental attitude. I am really ready to pursue the best me that I can be. One of the key factors in doing this, at least for me, is that it has got to be fun. So how to make the IHC fun... Make it into a game!
For the past couple weeks I have been playing a little game with myself. On Monday's I take stock of where my numbers are at - that is not always fun but really necessary. If you don't know where you are, how can you figure out where you are going? Then I set what I've heard called stretch goals. This is not the 960ish push ups/sit ups or 21 form reps/AoK. I am a little behind, and I want to push. I set my goals higher than these numbers but still try to be somewhat realistic. Then I go about seeing if I can meet these goals. Some days I rock out the reps. Yay me! Some days I really don't. I am finding that this perspective is helping. My weekly rep totals are increasing each week. I am not beating myself up for not meeting my goals and sometimes missing a day when life gets in the way. I am having fun which has lead to more progress than white knuckling it ever has produced consistently.
For those of you who are struggling, I challenge you today to find a way to make it fun. Remember why you wanted to join this program in the first place and I bet it was not to make yourself feel terrible but to grow. Jump in! Do something and then go record it! Write a blog and tell us about it! Let's have some fun and play some games together!
Tuesday, 2 May 2017
Opportunity vs Procrastination
Procrastination is definitely a struggle I am familiar with. Do I have any friends out there? I know what I need to do but often it just does not seem to get done. Some areas of life seem more prone than others to this. One area of my life that has seemed to be an issue is professional development.
Many of you may or may not know, that I am an accountant. Many years of school and many hours working resulted in a level of certification. In order to keep the professional side of my life happy, it is mandated that I do a certain number of hours of development each year. Makes perfect sense... We need the people handling certain areas of our lives to remain current. I like to learn. This really should not be an issue right???
Well, since I left the full-time workforce 11 years ago, this has been a struggle. I started up my own little bookkeeping practice to keep my fingers in it and to keep my mind from going moldy but I have always made sure that my clients see another accountant to have their taxes done. I know that because of my situation, I am not the best person to be advising others in this area.
One of the bonuses to being an employee is that companies are motivated to have their people remain current too. They provide in house training and are willing to send you out to seminars and courses to keep you current. These opportunities are often quite expensive and my current boss (me) seems o have a very limited budget to pay for these opportunities. I am required to have 40 hours of development with at least 20 hours of verifiable learning each year. I have had to get creative looking for opportunities that are both low cost (or better yet free), that are interesting and relevant to what I am doing while still meeting that verifiable criteria.
In the past, I have found myself in a scramble in December (the worst time of year to have to add anything at all to your schedule or budget), trying to cram in the required number of hours. In the fight against procrastination, I have set deadlines for myself using my personal goals as part of the IHC. Each year as I learn what is not working or realistic, I have tweaked those goals. This year the goal was to be 60% done by the end of June and completely done by the end of November. The idea was to push hard at the beginning of the year, allow the summer to be taken off and then finish it up in the fall.
Well, that is not what happened this year. A couple weeks ago I stumbled across an online business summit where there were webcasts by business leaders over the period of 10 days. I have read some of the books by these leaders or had at least heard of them. Then the most awesome part!!! These webcasts were going to be free!!! But there was a catch. They would be released at a specific time and would only be available for 24 hours. This was an opportunity that needed to either be jumped on or paid for. I chose to jump on it.
Procrastination did not win this round! I have finished all of my professional development requirements for the 2017 year!
Does this mean that I am done learning for the year? Nope! I love to learn but it does free me up to do it at my own leisure and not with any stress attached. I also took pages and pages of notes, so I have lots of ideas to review and implement going forward.
Many of you may or may not know, that I am an accountant. Many years of school and many hours working resulted in a level of certification. In order to keep the professional side of my life happy, it is mandated that I do a certain number of hours of development each year. Makes perfect sense... We need the people handling certain areas of our lives to remain current. I like to learn. This really should not be an issue right???
Well, since I left the full-time workforce 11 years ago, this has been a struggle. I started up my own little bookkeeping practice to keep my fingers in it and to keep my mind from going moldy but I have always made sure that my clients see another accountant to have their taxes done. I know that because of my situation, I am not the best person to be advising others in this area.
One of the bonuses to being an employee is that companies are motivated to have their people remain current too. They provide in house training and are willing to send you out to seminars and courses to keep you current. These opportunities are often quite expensive and my current boss (me) seems o have a very limited budget to pay for these opportunities. I am required to have 40 hours of development with at least 20 hours of verifiable learning each year. I have had to get creative looking for opportunities that are both low cost (or better yet free), that are interesting and relevant to what I am doing while still meeting that verifiable criteria.
In the past, I have found myself in a scramble in December (the worst time of year to have to add anything at all to your schedule or budget), trying to cram in the required number of hours. In the fight against procrastination, I have set deadlines for myself using my personal goals as part of the IHC. Each year as I learn what is not working or realistic, I have tweaked those goals. This year the goal was to be 60% done by the end of June and completely done by the end of November. The idea was to push hard at the beginning of the year, allow the summer to be taken off and then finish it up in the fall.
Well, that is not what happened this year. A couple weeks ago I stumbled across an online business summit where there were webcasts by business leaders over the period of 10 days. I have read some of the books by these leaders or had at least heard of them. Then the most awesome part!!! These webcasts were going to be free!!! But there was a catch. They would be released at a specific time and would only be available for 24 hours. This was an opportunity that needed to either be jumped on or paid for. I chose to jump on it.
Procrastination did not win this round! I have finished all of my professional development requirements for the 2017 year!
Does this mean that I am done learning for the year? Nope! I love to learn but it does free me up to do it at my own leisure and not with any stress attached. I also took pages and pages of notes, so I have lots of ideas to review and implement going forward.
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