Inspiration for Kicking Ass in 2015

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I love this time of year. 2014 absolutely sucked, and that’s okay, because it’s 2015, baby, and I’m taking no prisoners.

I’ll start the pep rally with a classic.

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person

Always be closing, baby.

This here’s our place to talk about where we want to go and how we’re going to get there.

I want to not be depressed anymore, so I’m going to do the things that historically have been proven to keep me sane, such as rigorous daily exercise and eating nutritious food. So far I’m killing it. I designed my own WODs for the week (approved by a friend, who was my Coach for two years), I did 300 jumping jacks today at the scheduled time (scheduling time seems to be a keystone for me, because I stop obsessing about whether or not I should be working out right that moment.) I cooked a nutritious breakfast for the first time since probably May, honestly. I’m on my way.

There’s a greater philosophical concept underpinning this plan, though. I said to my friend/Coach, who is exceptional at goading me off of my ass when I’m slumpy, ‘‘I’m beginning to suspect that support is overrated. I’m beginning to suspect that everything is overrated except doing the thing.’’

He approved. You may not approve. That’s okay. What works for you isn’t necessarily what works for me. But I know for me personally, I spend way too much goddamn time in my head, caring about things and planning for things, but never actually doing things. That is true on multiple levels, from, ‘‘I should be more aggressive with contract opportunities’’ to ‘‘I should call so-and-so and let them know I care.’’ Man, my heart is full to burst with caring about others, but it’s all worthless without the weight of action behind it. Ah, the halo effect is a vicious phenomenon. ‘‘I cared about this thing, therefore I don’t have to do anything about it.’’ Even posting this thread is dangerous, because it might be mistaken for doing something.

One wonderful thing that came out of this year is I started writing fiction again - not thinking about doing it, but actually doing it. I wrote the required 50,000 words during National Novel Writing Month but I wrote many more words than that over the course of the year. It’s almost a daily habit now. I had to get past the ‘‘but I suck and have no business doing this’’ part and just accept that it’s a process. I struggled with my main character at first, something just wasn’t clicking, until I realized she, like me, was just waiting for someone (or thing) to save her. I had this flash of inspiration where I realized that salvation for both of us wasn’t a person or thing, it was being useful. Goddamn, I just want to be useful again. In utility lies my salvation.

I’m reading a book (recommended by a Doper just last week) called the War of Art. It has some great stuff.

[QUOTE=War of Art, Steven Pressfield]
The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt and humiliation. The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable. He has to take pride in being more miserable than any soldier or or swabbie or jet jockey. Because this is war, baby. And war is hell.
[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=War of Art, Steven Pressfield]
The writer is an infantryman. He knows that progress is measured in yards of dirt extracted from the enemy one day, one hour, one minute at a time and paid for in blood. The artist wears combat boots. He looks in the mirror and sees GI Joe. Remember the Muse favors working stiffs. She hates prima donnas. To the gods the supreme sin is not rape or murder, but pride. To think of yourself as a mercenary, a gun for hire, implants the proper humility. It purges pride and preciousness.
[/QUOTE]

This isn’t just about writing of course. It’s about any time you decide to create something, whether that something is a book or a painting or a business. Any time we make a commitment to change we are engaged in an act of creation. Even if the thing we are creating is a new self.

These quotes speak to me, because I’m not sure I can be a hero right now. I’ve taken too many hits this year to think of myself as capable of accomplishing great feats. But there’s no reason I can’t be a grunt for hire. If my only job is showing up every day - not becoming a lithe and supple fitness stud, not writing the great American novel, but just showing up - I can handle that. I can be the packhorse for my own creative impulse.

My plan is still percolating. I don’t want to get bogged down in details but I do want to create a manifesto of sorts.

What about you? What’s lighting a fire under your ass and what’s your plan?

2

I don’t think I have nearly as philosophical an approach as you, but I’m somewhat motivated by the fact that I’ve had a very, very positive year in just about every aspect of my life. As 2014 has wound down, I’ve enjoyed reflecting on a lot of personal accomplishments in my work and personal life, and I’m a little bit sad about “starting over” in 2015.

So what I’m focused on is what I can do to have similar or greater success next year, in order to have the opportunity to look back on things next December with the same sort of satisfaction I’m feeling now. I don’t want to lose that. I know I should have at least a couple of significant opportunities to shine at work again in the coming year that I need to take full advantage of. I haven’t thought much yet about what to do in my personal life, but again, I think it will be about taking advantages of the opportunities that are presented to me.

So maybe my inspiration will simply be about being opportunistic. Making sure I don’t pass up on the things that are put before me.

3

I am a moron. I quit smoking in 2001, only to somehow pick it up again this year, quit again, and then start again. So I’m done with that.

I drink too much. That’s gotta stop, too.

My motivations are my two boys, aged 2 and 4. I’m an “old dad” and I want to see as much of their lives as I can.

My other motivation is probably insane. There is a race here in Wisconsin that takes place in January, it is a 24 hour trek through whatever horrible winter conditions are occurring at the moment. You carry all of your gear with you, completely self-supported. There are 32 mile and 64 mile versions.
My goal is to complete the 32 mile trek in under 24 hours in January of 2016.

4

That is insane…ly awesome! Please keep us up to date on your training! Do you have a battle plan?

My plan hit a snag today when i found myself unable to do a single (assisted) pull-up and had 20 slated for the WOD. Thank god for good teachers. He said, ‘‘The first casualty in battle is the plan.’’ He designed my WODs for two years and now I’m trying my hand at it and whoa am I getting schooled all over again. Today became an ab day, and a soak in the tub in epsom salt day, and an ice my knees day.

I’m trying to adopt a mantra this year: Do the Thing.

God, life is so short. Whatever it is, whatever carries you. Do it. Do it now.

5

My plan is “sprint the hill”.

I did the Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder races in 2013 and my entire training regimen was done in my backyard, which has a decent slope. I sprint up the hill, do push-ups, walk down the hill. Sprint up the hill, do push-ups, walk down the hill. Repeat until exhausted.
I throw in some stuff like Wall Ball every once in a while to keep it interesting.

My wife wants to do T25, I don’t usually succeed in those types of programs, but I’ll try it for her sake.

6

That sounds awesome.

7

Oops, I just noticed I put the wrong time in my post, you get 12 hours to complete the 32 mile trail race. I don’t know if they let you take longer or send you back at the next checkpoint.

8

*“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” *― Maya Angelou

My mom died in 2012. My dad died this summer. A couple of my very good friends have had cancer diagnoses. My own health has taken some strange trips the last few years.

All this has reinforced that I need to live that quote. The one thing I want overall is for the people I care about to know it … I want them to feel loved and cared for. So one big goal for my upcoming year is to make sure I don’t get lazy about it. There might not be a tomorrow to express it.

I’ve also started to take advantage of the educational opportunities my workplace offers. I just earned a graduate certificate, financed completely on their dime.

I can get a master’s degree mostly financed by them as well, but I need to follow through this year – take the GRE (preceded by a GRE prep class, if necessary), decide what program I want to follow/can get into, and go from there.

I used to write for a living, and have found that I can still get paid for it – so I also need to make a decision regarding if I want to keep doing that or not. It’s very unlikely it would replace my current job – but it wouldn’t hurt to have that as an extra skill, along with the contacts, if I need it.

It’s odd – I’m good at certain types of writing, but I don’t enjoy some parts of the process and as a result I’ve always been ambivalent about it. I enjoy graphics more, but other than photography I’m not as good at it. My previous job was in the graphics field and I left it partially because I got burned out.

Things have changed so much in these fields in the last 15 years that I have to consider that as well. What’s next, and how willing am I to keep up with it all?

The one thing I know is that old cliché – if you rest you rust – is true. And I’m not going to rest. I’m both blessed and cursed that I have an abundance of choices … I need to make one! And I WILL do that this year.

9

Thanks SW, I need the inspiration.

10

This is an amazing thread - thank you for starting it Spice Weasel and thank you everyone else for sharing your thoughts - good luck with your goals!

I don’t normally make new year’s resolutions, but this year I need to change a few things.

[ul]
**Eat more healthily. **This is easier said than done, but needs to happen. I know what I need to eat more of and - more importantly - what I need to eat less of. I just need to do it. I’m going to start by making sure that I eat porridge for breakfast every morning. If I start properly, the rest of the day will be easier, and starting with one small change might provide a good foundation for other changes.
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[ul]
Go swimming. It’s been on my to do list for months, and is easy, affordable, fits into my work timetable and I enjoy it. I now need to actually do it. I reckon it’s like quitting smoking, but in reverse - if I can regularly go swimming for 3 weeks, it’ll become a healthy habit that’ll be easy(ish) to maintain.
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[ul]
Worry less. I have no idea how to achieve this, but I might look into some of the meditation apps that friends of mine use to start with. They can’t hurt, and I currently stress about lots of little things that are absolutely unlikely to really happen. Knowing that doesn’t mean I stop worrying though, and I end up wasting so much energy on them. I still need to work out how to stop doing that - if anyone has any suggestions, I’d be thrilled!
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11

Thanks for that Cracked article - somehow I’d missed it in the past few years. It was like a punch in the face. Right now, I have a mountain of work to do that’s been in the back of my mind for the past few weeks, and you know what? I’m going to do it. Today. I agree that sometimes you need to stop thinking and philosophizing and just wrinkle your nose and get stuff done.

2015, here I come.

12

I made three promises to myself this year to do three things each day:

*Meditate: I do it for a while and then stop because I start getting crazy wacked-out dreams. I need to keep doing it to get past that block. I can find five-ten minutes in the day to just sit and I feel better after I do it. Focus on the clear-headedness and not the crazy dreams.

*Take a walk: I usually do this anyway, but I messed up my foot bad last year and I had to get some PT. I have a plan the therapist gave me to get back into shape, which includes walking since I want to go hiking again. Again, I can find five-ten minutes to take a quick walk around the neighborhood if I don’t have time for a proper wander.

*Write something: I got back into writing again last year and I found a story waiting for me. I don’t have to work on the story specifically, although I am interested in finding out how my characters get to the main points I know about along their journey. I can write a blog post, or a paper journal, or whatever’s in my head. SDMB posts don’t count because I’m not thinking with my writing brain here. Y’all are getting my public conversation brain.

13

My plan for kicking ass is to always be out of bubble gum.

14

Having done and worked at enough of these, they’ll stop you at a checkpoint once they determine you won’t be able to make it to the next checkpoint by the deadline. They don’t want folks on the course after they deadline if they’re done.

While obviously a physical challenge, I’m convinced these races are mostly mental. You need to persuade yourself to go back out from a comfortable aid station when you’re feeling dead tired.

15

I moved the clothes off of my stair master & started using it.

I discovered it was broken. I used spare wood and the metal pieces/parts I’d stripped off of other things I’ve thrown out over the years to fabricate a part that makes it work again and I just used it.
It wasn’t bad. Seriously, all you need is your workout clothes, a towel, a bottle of water, an Ipod to listen to or maybe a TV to watch (with the sound off) and you can have an ‘ok’ workout.

Starting tomorrow, workout time starts when I take the phone off the hook in another room and ends when I put it back on the hook. Maybe someday I’ll be up to taking calls while breathing heavy like self-important people do, but not today. :wink:

16

I know it won’t move me forever, or maybe not even for long, but this morning’s mantra was “Do the Thing!” I started on a pile of stuff I’ve been trying to ignore and worked right down to the bottom. It wasn’t terrible. :slight_smile: Thanks, Spice Weasel!

17

Physical exercise is #1. Yoga, Strength, Gym Classes, Dance, etc.

All those items leave me in a state of extreme positivity. The only thing I don’t have in life right now is a significant other. It feels tough to be single as a fit, intelligent, solvent, employed, fun 32 year old. It really brings me down not having physical intimacy at my age, and those activities bring me back up again.

I’m also trying to become more “mellow” on the religious front. Going back to the Unitarian Centre will be good for me. I’m also trying to be relentlessly positive when I feel bad.

18

I want to retake the archery. And finish this project. And maybe continue with this client. And hopefully not step on too many toes. And re. some people at work and outside, this:

Lord, grant me wisdom
to understand these guys,
love to forgive them,
patience with what they do,
because if I ask you for strength…

… if I ask you for strength…

… if I ask you for strength I fuckin’ kill 'em!

19

What I do is “switch tracks”. There’s several modes, a couple of them:
analyze the issue like it didn’t involve me. Cons, pros. Is there anything I can do? If so, do it. If not, quit the crap. This requires enough time and quiet to actually finish the analysis.
think about something else, such as what I should be doing. Quit procrastinating, concentrate on the task at hand or the view in front of me. Do not leave room for the negative thoughts.

Easier said than done, specially the first times, but unlike becoming an NBA player when you’re female and 5’4" this is the kind of thing for which “try and try again” actually works.

20

I just got a new inspiration for doing the things I said I wanted to do above.

I got out of the hospital on Monday after being in the Cardiac unit for two days with atrial fibrillation.

Drinking - forbidden
Smoking - forbidden
Caffeine - forbidden

Quitting all of these things is surprisingly easy when the alternative is dying of a stroke.

So now I guess I just have to work on exercising more.