New Resolve

Last week of “New You” challenge.  I am not remotely ready for the next challenge, but I have some new resolve to get things done.  

I  allowed myself to blame the election for a lot of my procrastination.  To be fair, it has caused me a great amount of anxiety.  I am losing faith that I have a product that will be paid attention to at all, in the time when we most need access to information that I have to offer.

A portion of my book is about conservation. I make a connection to fitness and saving species from extinction, based on consumer choices, resolve to workout and get fit, and powerful motivators to do what is right not just for your health, but for the health of the planet.  So it stands to reason that when almost half the voters in the United States elected a climate change denier whose sons trophy hunt endangered species, and who plans to gut the EPA, enhance coal mining and fracking, place the preservation of protected lands in the hands of industries that are pretty much hell-bent on destroying them, pull back funds and support for the Paris Climate Agreement, well, I guess one might assume I get a little worried.  These are important issues to me.  They were part of the inspiration to write my books!  And 1/2 the population isn’t concerned with any of it.  Many deny the existence of man-made climate change, or that endangered species are important enough to warrant protection.  THESE are some of the reasons I can’t find the gumption to write even a few sentences each day.

But it’s even more than the conservation issues.  The first half of my book is about operant conditioning and how animal trainers utilize positive reinforcement, are repulsed by punishment, and rely on respect and trust to work with their animals.  I make these correlations because I have found that focusing on the positive, tuning out the negative, changing your mindset, and respecting yourself can have enormously successful results.  But, again, looking at how the campaign was run from our president-elect, and how fervently his supporters followed his lead, I am beginning to believe that no one wants to hear about positive changes.  From what I’ve seen, the way people get the results they want is by bullying, lying, and just a whole lot of negativity.  So, how do I compete that?

I do feel stuck.  I’ll own it.  I’m stuck.  Not writer’s block.  Plain out writer’s “I can’t do this anymore”. But then I somehow hit a new resolve.  It was like a phoenix rising from ashes.  We’ll see how it works, but I did some ground work today and I haven’t felt nearly as helpless as I did last week.

My list of slump-blockers:

1. Brian Johnson’s website on Philosopher’s Notes and Optimize Your Life. I have seen a few of his videos on youtube (check them out, some are really incredible), and I felt that perhaps he could give me a daily dose of inspiration.  My first note was on “Mastering Creative Anxiety” by Eric Maisel.  I’m keeping it up for future reference to see if that can help me a little through this slump.
2. Calling my BFF, Stephanie, who happens to be a writer herself.  We talked about our frustration from the past week, and ways to deal with a slump.  She was very encouraging about my book.  In her words, this world needs my book more than ever!  Thanks, Stephanie, there’s a reason your one of my BFFs!
3. Got involved in TWO organizations committees: Toastmasters Education and AAZK Resource Committee.  Well, I had to send in my resume for the ARC, but I was basically recruited at the conference, so I’m pretty sure she’s game to have me on board.  These two organizations will ensure I still carry my message and share it with the world.  It’ll be, like, my JOB.
4. Just started writing again.  Like Dory, I just need to “keep writing” Just keep writing until the pain, the fear, the anxiety, and the slump go away.

Last week of daily posts like this:

Workout- Wendler 2nd month, 2nd week
Back Squat (3, 3, 3+)
21-15-9 OH Squats and Lunges
Time Ladder: Pull-ups. In and Out Crunches, and Jumping Jacks

Breakfast- oh, pretty unhealthy….well, better than other desserty breakfasts- “Bagel Apple Bake Casserole”- bagels, apples, homemade apple butter, egg whites, coconut milk, and cinnamon.  Not too shabby, and pretty yum.
Lunch- leftover Fish chowder
Dinner- paleo plan salmon with spinach salad

ZooFit Tip: Going Back to Kindergarten- when you are in a slump, or plateau, or losing your motivation, sometimes the best thing for you is to go back to kindergarten.  No, I don’t mean take a nap, although, I can’t stop you.  “Going Back to Kindergarten” is animal training lingo for going back to a simpler, easier step in the progression. If you have been progressing toward working out 5 days a week, and you are at 4 days, but starting to lose momentum, perhaps going back to 3 days a week, or even 2 days a week for just a short amount of time will help you find that motivation again.  It’s better to workout only 2 days a week than completely give up on your goal because you were struggling with 4 days. Going back to 2 or 3 days a week may give you some time to consider what is going on that challenged you at 4.  Once you identify that issue, you can address it.  Sometimes we got super excited for our progress and moved forward just a hair too fast.  It happens all the time in animal training.  I was guilty of it.  I still am, with training my cats.  It’s a super easy fix, though, just falling back a couple of steps to a point that is easy for you to succeed, and re-build from there.  This is not “starting over”.  This is not “back to beginning”.  This is a refresher!  And refresher has the word “refresh”, so it’s an enjoyable experience, not a punishing one.  You’ll be surprised how little time you’ll need to stay in that state, and then you’ll be gung-ho and ready for progression in leaps and bounds again in no time!