Finish Strong
December 1st 2019, I challenged myself to end the year strong so I could head into 2020 with a good foundation. Using my Apple watch, I made the promise to myself to close the 3 fitness rings each day – daily calorie burn, minutes of exercise and standing hours. And so I started day 1 with keeping that promise to myself, walking 1.94 miles on the treadmill after the kids went to bed. And then day 2 and 3… Before I knew it, I WAS STREAKING! (ummm, did I ever think that was something I would declare to the world?!).
Finishing the year felt so good, I figured I should start the year strong, then why not 90 days, 100… well you get the idea. I extended my goal as I hit each level of success.
As the days progressed and my streak was building, I was starting to take my self-talk from IF I work out today, to WHEN am I working out today. That small shift of thinking helped me eliminate excuses I came up with. Having a fitness streak gave the workouts an even greater purpose. Was my excuse to skip a workout today really worth it to break my streak? Would I be happy with myself tomorrow knowing that I had broken my momentum just because sitting and watching a show was more desirable than watching it on the treadmill, after the kids went to bed?
Now I know that there were some days that getting the sleep should have been more important than getting a couple miles in (hello 4 a.m. wake up call for a cross country flight), but maintaining my streak, my promise to myself was more important to me. Each workout rewarded me with a few moments of clarity, my mood lifted and point of pride in telling myself, ‘see, I knew you could do it’. And I have to say that damn it feels so good to know that through all the hard times we’ve experienced this year; I have the utmost confidence in myself that I can do hard things. And so can you!
This December 1st I’m starting a new hard thing. I’m launching a small business. I’m putting something beautiful that I created out into the world with the intent to inspire others to live their lives, full of glow. I’m starting another streak, of showing up in the world, sharing my story and letting you know that you’re not alone in figuring this stuff out. In the words of Marie Forleo, ‘everything is figuroutable’.
I’m going to allow myself grace to stumble through this streak, to feel frustrated as I learn new things and practice being vulnerable for the world to see. To feel the excitement as I get to connect with each of you and make the world a brighter place. Join me on a streak of your own and let’s finish this year strong, together!