What change do you wish to make in 2021? Many of the normal emotional and structural impediments to change have been drastically lowered as a result of COVID mechanics and its financial and mental after affects. It will never really be easier to embark on the thing you've always wanted to do. If you are already stressed and uncomfortable in the face of the crisis, what do you really have to lose? Less imaginative people than you will walk through doors of opportunity as they open this coming year. I'd like you to be there first to knock on them before they open on their own.
During the month of November when my male friends were busy growing Ron Jeremy/ Magnum PI mustaches to raise awareness for various men's health initiatives, I decided to launch Flowvember. I had just heard about the hard 75 (brutal) and I can't grow a descent amount of facial hair so I decided to enroll a few people into a month of personal change.
The challenge included four components. I picked these with the intention of creating more energy and joy–the experience of flow. The first was daily exercise of at least 30 minutes. This could be weights, walking the dog, yoga, a run or even a physio appointment. But the rule was everyday, with no stacking from day to day. The second was a daily social connection, again with no stacking, with someone we didn't know or hadn't talked to for at least two months. (I turned a wrong number into a free twenty minute coaching session on the drive home from skiing one afternoon.) The third was to read a book every week. We could read a short Seth Godin book or something meatier or listen to an audio book during the commute or in the morning on a bicycle. The fourth was no sugar, flour or alcohol, except on one date night a week or any day that we got in at least two hours of cardio that would burn everything off anyway.
Entrepreneurs see opportunities in every threat.
For each of us, one part of the challenge was harder than the others. For me it was staying disciplined on food intake, especially during long bike ride and ski days. The reward for me was a burst of joy as a replacement to the insatiable sugar rush. We extended the challenge into December and by mid-December I was feeling better–emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically–than I had a long time before the trouble began in February.
The past year, many things obviously did not go to plan. I have lost some things that were very important to me and lost somethings that in retrospect were not. We are in quarantine now as Tania has tested positive for COVID. She is retired from the healthcare system, but generously worked some shifts to help relieve some of the pressure off the system. I have tested negative, which makes for an interesting challenge in cordoning off the house into her zone and my zone. Still I think this year has been a great gift. It's been easier for me to shed some bad habits and make my business, body and marriage stronger and more sustainable in the face of these great shocks.
We are running another installment of our challenge starting January 4th. We run a group call every Monday at 06:45 mountain/ 08:45 eastern. Contact me at Keith@stepup.net if you want to join the Big Reset in January.
Start your year on a more sustainable footing.