MENTAL PLANNING I

SUPERMOON 2017, over Lake Michigan near dawn. Taken by PKSenagore December 3, 2017. All right reserved.

NO-SWEAT FITNESS YEAR PREP ‘WORK* NOW THAT IT'S DECEMBER we can start to anticipate the coming of Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year, and other winter holidays. Many will become mentally and physically involved in preparing for the gift giving, feasting, and socializing. Others will, well, just get carried along and enjoy it all without making much of an effort. You can decide who is who in your family and circle of friends.

I find some anticipation and planning activities to be as fun, if not more so, as the actual festivities. Many holiday joys cannot be experienced unless the PREP WORK is performed. Making Christmas cookies for example. They are delicious to eat, but a lot of the enjoyment comes from having some to share and talk about the baking with others.

It’s possible to feel the same way about fitness. Researching and plotting out what I WILL DO is quite exciting as I visualize the effect of my future work on my future body: stronger, more capable and functional, and possibly faster. Think of it, you can begin to PREP NOW for mid-January, when a plan should be ready for execution,  just by reading, digesting information, and dreaming, sweat-free.

NO EXERCISING IS REQUIRED. How easy is that?

It’s important to internalize that a smart mental approach to fitness will help advance your physical efforts. During this busy holiday time, make things easy for yourself. Start thinking about the coming year and, before sitting down to develop a firm plan once the craziness has died down, cast a wide net to gather information that serves two purposes.

First,  attempt to build an image of the athlete you wish to become. Second, seek advice and find programs that appeal to you as ‘do-able’ and for which the promised results fit with that athletic image.  You have the same advantage as the elites, all have 24 hours a day in which to train, recover, and maintain a positive attitude. 

A smart, individualized plan is an essential foundation for effective fitness work.

But wait, don’t stop short in your planning. Consider this…

A recent personal growth article in the medium.com digest, “Why You Should Be Planning for 2019, Not 2018” by Benjamin P Hardy suggests we look several years, instead of several months, ahead. The piece starts off with a reference to J.K. Rowling and her writing of the Happy Potter series of books. George Lucas and Star Wars is also mentioned. Attention getting! The author wanted readers to see that more may be possible if  the much longer view is taken when planning future moves, (like starting out with episodes 4, 5, and 6 rather than 1, 2, and 3 in the SW sci-fi classic). 

I had not thought this way since my medical school days, when years of education and training needed to be plotted, financed, scheduled, and completed.  Certainly, there was no possibility of episode skipping back then. I am starting to be excited about the prospect of a new multi-year future, and am passing it along here, as well as providing the link to the article.

t’s the kind of Eureka! moment that I needed this month.

RUN HAPPY!

https://medium.com/personal-growth/why-you-should-be-planning-for-2019-not-2018-c2d856e23a01

* Updated  for  December 7, 2017