Year of Push 2.21 Be Intentional

Happy May Day!

We had a May Day tradition when I was growing up. My mom always said it was a Polish tradition, but who knows…

We’d wake up on May 1st & run to the front door. On the outside steps would be a basket for each of us – kinda like an Easter basket – that would contain flowers, candy & money.

My mom told us that the flowers represented beauty, the candy for health & money for wealth. I always think about that on May 1st.

I’ll be on extra high alert for pennies today 😉

While I love May 1st because of the May Day tradition memories, I really love the first of every month.

I have a tradition of my own for the first of each month.

I find that it’s really easy to get lost in daily to-dos, be super busy and confuse that with productivity & progress. They aren’t the same things.

I want to be increasingly intentional about how I use my time & ensure that I’m not just busy but that I’m moving towards what I really want.

Busy isn’t always productive and productive isn’t necessarily meaningful.

To make sure that I’m productive in MEANINGFUL ways, I set personal and work targets on the first of each month.

For my work-life, I establish three things I want to accomplish beyond the daily to-dos. For my personal life, I establish two targets.

Let me explain a bit…

It’s easy to get sucked into a daily list for work. I need to respond to emails, record podcasts, connect with my FLFT groups, write blogs & emails, etc. If I’m not intentional about it, I’ll stay busy but I won’t necessarily move the business forward.

Being productive doesn’t guarantee growth & success. In fact, “productivity” might prevent you from making true progress if you aren’t paying attention.

These targets help me avoid that. On a daily or weekly basis, I’m prioritizing actions that move me towards my targets.

For example, last month, I wanted to secure the date & location for the next Primal Potential live weekend event. That was one of my big-picture projects beyond the daily to-dos. I have a large chalkboard on my wall and those targets go up there. Each week I identify at LEAST one thing I can tackle to move towards those bigger targets. So one day I  might be calling hotels, another day I might be working on a budget for the event, etc.

These are intentionally items that go beyond the daily tasks required to keep Primal Potential running “as normal”.

On the personal side of things, I ask myself, “What would it take for me to be super proud of myself on May 31st?”

Often, I’ll establish a fitness target as well as a non-fitness one.

This month, one of them is about creating more joy. I want to be able to summon joy on demand and focus more on enjoying life than staying busy & productive. I’ll be keeping a personal tally of the moments of joy I experience & create.

Guys, we don’t drift our way to a great, happy life.

We don’t drift to health & fitness.

We can’t be on auto-pilot, doing what has to be done, and expect to end up somewhere great.

We must be intentional. I must be intentional. You must be intentional.

You can “try” to eat well and workout consistently and not get the results you want (or any results at all).

For example, while working on a particular fitness goal I have, I go into the gym 30 minutes early each day to work on that specific goal. I’m not “working out” but I’m training skills, strength & mobility to help me move towards that one thing.

Here is today’s workout:

“Spring Swing”
21 Thrusters (75/55) (Here’s a thruster, if you don’t know what that is)
21 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
20 cal bike
15 Thrusters (75/55)
15 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
20 cal bike
9 Thrusters (75/55)
9 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
20 cal bike

I really love thrusters (they’re hard but such a total body workout) & kettlebell swings, so it was nice to have those paired the airdyne bike, which I don’t love at all.

I definitely didn’t feel like going to the gym today but, as I usually do, I ask myself “which choice will make my day better & make me more proud? Going or not going?”

Hands down, getting the workout in will make my day better and make me more proud than coming up with a reason to skip it.

There is ALWAYS a valid reason to skip the workout. If I look for a reason to skip, I’ll find one. If I look for a reason to go, I’ll find one.

For example, yesterday I attended a 4 hour long barbell workshop with a world expert on weight lifting.

My grip is TIRED today. I had a barbell in hand for hours yesterday.

For that reason, I could totally justify taking today off.

You get what you look for. I choose to look for what will make me most proud. 

To the gym I went.

I’m so glad I did (even though I tore a hole in the knee of my lulus).

On the food front:

It’s Paleo Power Meals delivery day!

I started to get hungry around 10:30am so I had a stuffed pepper – green bell pepper stuffed with grassfed beef, veal, pork, carmelized onions and portabello mushroom. Goodness gracious I love that meal!

After the workout (around 2:00pm) I had buffalo chicken strips with carrots & broccoli. Holy mouth on fire! I had a couple handfuls of unsalted almonds, too. Love me some almonds!

Dinner was steak & sweet potatoes with a chimichurri sauce (also from Paleo Power Meals but very easy to make on your own).

PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.