November: A review

November felt like it lasted 10 years but also 10 seconds.

Maybe that’s because I spent a LOT of time in introspection during this past month. There were lots of thought downloads, moody midday walks. There was also a HUGE amount of excitement this month, which makes things feel fast.

My goal that I set for this month was to follow through on my core four habit of getting up before 8am, and I really did that.

DATA:

28/30 days I was up before 8am

24/30 days I was up before 7am

This is a HUGE victory for me, because getting up in the morning is one of the BIGGEST dominos I can push which then translates into healthy behaviors in other areas of my life, too. It’s also been something that has been part of my core four habits since July of this year, with mixed results.

As I remind our clients, it’s SUPER important to analyze your life JUST as critically when something is going well, so I spent some time this morning thinking about WHAT exactly it was that led me to have success waking up early, and there were a few things that jumped out.

• One, I bought my favorite coffee creamer. It seems SO trivial, and yet — when my sleepy brain is contemplating getting out of bed, the little promise of hot delicious coffee is huge. To add to that, we also decorated for Christmas, so I have the cozy lights on and a big blanket and our fake fireplace going. It’s a MOOD that I really look forward to.
  
• Two, I have been much better about having a concrete plan for when I get up. I have been jumping into work in the morning, which actually feels GREAT because I pick out a tiny task and start my day by getting something done. The clarity of knowing exactly what I need to work on has been huge.
  
• And finally, time blocking has been important – I’ve recently brought that tool back into my life and it’s really helped. Not only do I have my morning blocked out, but having my days blocked out has reduced stress, which dominos into me actually going to bed instead of doomscrolling, which then dominos into early wake ups happening.

In other news, I also completed one of my yearly goals…

Earlier in November I competed at my first powerlifting meet!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, to say this was a life-changing experience would be an understatement. Even though I did not hit my 600lb total that I originally was shooting for, I am HUGELY proud of myself.

For SO many years, I told myself the story that I couldn’t follow through. I told myself that I ALWAYS failed at my new years resolutions, and that I could NEVER stick with something for a full year. For a while, I even stopped SETTING year-long goals because I told myself that “just wasn’t me” and I would never complete them.

It feels so FREAKING validating to have proved that wrong. To have crafted a new story in my brain that I am totally capable of setting a goal, staying dedicated to it for a full year, and accomplishing it.

And yes, there were moments this year where I took a break. There were moments where I skipped workouts and ignored training plans and wanted to give up. There were moments where I DID give up.

But something I always remind myself & our clients is that “we can always choose again.”

And I did choose again. I chose to re-focus, and recenter. I chose to go to the gym the next week. I chose to sign up for the powerlifting meet. I chose to go.

There’s something so magical about a 12-month commitment. It changed me, for good.

Okay Karin, what’s next?

I can’t believe there is only ONE month left in the year.

December always feels like a weird month for me. I truly hate it when coaches say “the holidays are only three days!!!” because that, for me, is NOT in fact true. We are leaving on Saturday, December 10th for a road trip followed by international flight and won’t be back home until January. There is a LOT of prep that has to be done before then.

So basically, I’m putting myself into maintenance mode for the rest of the year. I’m not setting a goal for December. I’ll continue to focus on my core four habits, but beyond that, I’m letting things be.

I usually spend time in December playing around with goals for the new year. I am absolutely doing that, which, spoiler alert… is why you’ve seen me do so much running lately. ????

But I don’t have anything fully solidified yet.

I’ll make sure to update you next month, when I’ll likely write a January kickoff post. <3

We’ll talk in 2023!