I believe that it is within our power to feel amazing every day. Yes, things will happen that are outside our control. Maybe you get rear ended on your way to work or your air conditioner dies. Maybe someone close to you hurts you. All those things will happen. Worse things will happen. Smaller annoyances will occur. And still, it is within your power to feel amazing every day. Through your attitude, perspective, sleep, food choices, and so much more, you can make each day amazing.
A couple weeks ago, I shared that for some undefined period of time, I’ll be sharing with you what that looks like for me each day.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click here. (Note – audio doesn’t reflect the migraine-induced decision to skip the workout noted below)
One of the concepts I’ve been working on consistently within my Primal Potential Masters Club is intentionally & emotionally connecting with the very best version of yourself. When I say emotionally, I mean generating enthusiasm, excitement and positive anticipation. What is that person like? How do they think? Act? Behave?
When you’re considering an excuse, how would the best version of you respond or think? It’s a really powerful tool. I used it yesterday during my workout.
As I’ve shared, I don’t love to run. It doesn’t come easily yet, because I haven’t earned it. Yesterday, after doing some heavy back squats, I did 4-400m runs (a mile total, broken into 400m time trials). I decided to do each run as the best version of myself. Instead of thinking that it was hard, instead of allowing my breathing to become irregular, I brought my conscious, enthusiastic attention to how the very best version of me would run.
I made sure my breathing was slow & even, thinking about how I’d breathe that way at my highest level of fitness. I thought about my feet striking the ground quickly and lightly. I kept my body relaxed, the way it would be if running was easy and I was in my best physical shape.
Honestly, it made a big difference. The runs felt easier and I almost enjoyed them!
No doubt, that is part of making my days amazing.
In other news, I didn’t sleep well last night. I had nightmares and woke up frequently throughout the night. Though that doesn’t change my wake-up time, I will be sure to get to bed early tonight.
I got up at 4:30 this morning to make sure I had time to do all I need to before my morning workout. There are usually two days each week where I workout twice instead of just once and today was one of those days. I drank water, coffee, got some work done and then headed to the gym.
After warming up, the workout was fast and hard: as many burpees as possible in 7 minutes. The goal was to stay consistent in my pacing all the way through and, of course, not stop. That’s a fantastic workout when you don’t have any equipment!
My afternoon workout…didn’t happen. Though before today, I’ve been fortunate enough to only have 2 migraines in my entire life, I started to get one today. I don’t get standard migraines – mine have always been atypical migraines, usually impacting my vision. A couple hours after my morning workout, I started to feel the pressure in my head and the dizziness set in. There was no doubt that a big part of feeling amazing today required not going back to the gym and using that time to relax and do some deep breathing.
On the food front…
Because I didn’t have much for dinner last night, I was pretty darn hungry this morning! After my first workout I had my cabbage salad bowl. This is one of my fave brunch meals ever! It’s super filling and delicious! However, if I wasn’t working out today OR I was snacking or having 3+ meals, it would certainly be too much fat & too much total fuel. But, because of my workouts and because it’s one of only 2 meals (and no snacks), it fits the bill and makes me feel amazing!
After the afternoon workout I drove up to the Maine (where I’ll spend this weekend) and had steak and salad with my mom & her husband. Yum!
The most important thing for me to win this afternoon and feel amazing is to make time for my evening meditation (especially after hours in traffic) and get to bed EARLY. Your girl is beat and I have lots and lots of writing to do this weekend!
Win the day! Make yourself proud!