Last Updated on May 21, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
So, I spent a large chunk of this past weekend coming up with plans and strategies to manage my time this week. It included getting up and heading to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while dedicating Tuesday and Thursday for cardio playing the Xbox. Then, life threw a curveball late last night.
Instead of getting a good night’s rest and being ready to tackle my Monday, I was up till nearly 3 am dealing with severe family issues. Needless to say, I didn’t get out of bed until around 8:30 am, setting me way behind schedule.
And quite tired, I might add.
What makes me laugh is that it seems every time I set up good plans of action, someone throws a wrench in the works.
It gets overly frustrating, especially when it happens every single time. And I’m not exaggerating, either. It’s like the Universe purposely goes out of its way to bring more chaos.
Because I don’t have enough of that already.
Continuing with My Plans with an Asterisk
One of the things I would do in the past when something like this happened would be to do bare minimums and call the day a wash. But with so much on the line right now, I really can’t afford to do that.
For one thing, I am trying to do a body transformation for the calendar I’m doing in just over five weeks. Every day I’m not doing something to work towards that end is another I’ll be behind when the time comes to strip.
So right now, I am pounding down my pre-workout drink and getting ready to walk to the gym. Even though it’s getting hotter and will be about five hours later than I wanted, I need to get moving.
In reality, the gym is just over half a mile from the house. And I walk for longer durations in the backyard even when the temp hits close to 100. I’m not too worried about the heat.
The point of this is to make sure I don’t fall back into negative habits. I can’t let myself get into the “to hell with it” mindset that kept me at 300+ pounds.
It’s bad enough that I snacked on Fritos last night during the family issue. Though, I don’t even think I had a full serving. I was pretty conscious about what I was eating while being unbelievably stressed out.
Even though I am starting late, I still have plans to do far more today and not let personal issues interfere with professional work.
And yes, I view the blogging and YouTube stuff I do as “professional” content. It just means I’ll have to push things back and focus on the most important tasks I need to do today.
Not Getting Sucked Into a Negative Mindset
As I said, in the past, I would let situations like last night dictate my week. Although there are some things that will ultimately crush your soul and fuel a deep depression, this was not one of those types of situations.
The trick is to understand the difference.
A lot of people will use any excuse they can find to really mess up their own plans for the day, week, month, or even year.
Once found, they will purposely amplify the emotional baggage that comes from a negative experience in order to give themselves an excuse to drag their feet. Instead of moving forward, they rely on, “I can’t, because…” insert drama here.
This can be a very difficult habit to get out of. In some cases, it can become so integrated with life that you really don’t see the difference or understand what is wrong with that frame of mind.
Take this morning, for example. Sure, I can write the day off to wallow in self-pity and set myself back even further. Or, I can drink my pre-workout and stick to an alteration of my plans to work on my end-game goals.
For one thing, I’m not about to let the agony of being sore last week be for naught. It was a sucky week in terms of physical being, and I’m going to push to make sure that kind of sensation never happens again.
In other words, I’m going to make sure I keep up with some kind of exercise and fitness. Because that was just stupid. The amount of pain I was feeling shouldn’t be nearly that bad.
And I didn’t even really push as hard as I could with the weights. This was me, “taking it easy.”
Give Yourself that Extra Push
Plans and goals mean nothing without putting in the effort to see them through. This often means you have to force yourself to take action.
Right now, my day is so screwed up that it’s 11:00 am right now and I have yet to have breakfast. By the time I get back from the gym, it’ll be lunchtime. However, I am still going to see this through as soon as my Fitbit is done charging.
When I get back, I’ll make my weekly Vlog for the YouTube channel. Then, I’ll get hard at work for GreenGeeks. Unfortunately, because I started so late, I probably won’t get much more done after that.
But still, I’m going full speed ahead to see what I can get done before my day ends.
You can’t just roll over and let life beat the piss out of you. Stand your ground and take command of the day, even though you won’t reach your goals for plans you made earlier.
At this point, it’s not whether you succeed to meet those goals, but more of how you handle the situation. It’s called perseverance, and it plays a massive role in just about everything in life.
So, even though I didn’t get as much sleep as I would like and got to an incredibly piss-poor start, I’m still focused on ending the day better than I would have in the past.
Determination, motivation, and perseverance. These are three elements vital to success in anything you do.
Right now, I am determined to make more out of my day while persevering from the events of the night before. And that determination is fueling my motivation to get off my ass and get something done.
Welp, I’m Off to Put Plans Into Motion
Will I be able to get everything done today that I wanted? Hell no. I also wasn’t planning on staying up walking around in the dark last night for hours, either. But, I will do what I can to get as much done as possible.
This goes to show that even the best-laid plans can get ruined. But success, in this case, isn’t whether you’re victorious in meeting daily goals, but how you adapt to various situations.
Don’t let circumstances dictate how you approach your plans for the day. Adapt and do the best you can with what you have.
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Sorry you’re having a rough night, man. Sucky way to start the week. But sounds like you’re handling it in a good way. Hitting the weights can be a pretty good stress releaser too, so I bet that will help.
Okay…back to work (for both of us) =D
Aye, looking forward to it. To say it was a sucky start is an understatement, lol. But hey, gotta keep the momentum going.