April 2024

Sometimes life just gets in the way and things happen out of your control. That’s what happened this week to me. I was going strong with the Simply 75 challenge until I hurt my bicep muscle Monday afternoon. After spending all evening into early morning in the ER and then trying to do all the things, life just got in the way. BUT it’s at these times where the challenge is even more important.

It’s about discipline even when things get hard.

So I am giving myself today to regroup and tomorrow I am back on like Donkey Kong. In true 75 hard fashion the days start over again so back to Day 1.

Workout Shift

My workout plan is definitely having to change with my bicep injury. I finished the Bodyweight Bootcamp program today (with modifications this week) and planned to start the Chop Wood Carry Water program, but that has weights. So I am shifting my plan (hence the SHIFT HAPPENS title) to PiYo. I’ve never done the program before, but it doesn’t have weights and I plan to modify depending on how my arm feels. I am also starting PT on Monday so that should help with the arm.

And the Rest Stay the Same

The rest of the challenge stays exactly the same. Shifting doesn’t mean throwing in the towel or making it easier because life is hard. It means shifting the things that HAVE to shift. Keeping the things that are hard, but doable with intentionality.

As a refresher – the challenge includes:

• Work Out Daily
• Drink at Least 64 oz of water
• Track what you eat
• Read 10 Pages
• Journal

Why Are These Important?

These 5 things are important because they are simple to do and can improve your attitude, your body, and life in general.

Your body needs to move and needs to be fueled with good nutritious food and water.

Your growth happens with learning new things and applying those things in your life. Reading those 10 pages gives you that small boost of growth. Reflection and just being able to write down the things going through your head is the key to the journaling.

Starting out with the first habit in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is being proactive. What does this even mean?

It’s starts with the limiting belief that we are conditioned to respond in a particular way to a particular stimulus. Such as the Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. But here’s the thing…we are humans. We are God’s creation that gave us a highly intelligent mind that comes with the freedom to choose. You get to choose/decide how the situation will affect you and how you react to it.

This self awareness that we have also comes with imagination. We get imagine our future and make steps towards that future (proactiveness). We have the independent will to act how we want to show up in life with the conscience of knowing what is right and wrong to guide that behavior.

Being proactive means taking responsibility for your life. It’s about not blaming circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for your behavior. Your behavior is a product of your own choices based on your values.

Use the concept of your “R & I”. Resourcefulness and Initiative.

Let’s talk about the language we use. How often do you catch yourself saying “I have to..” to an activity. My challenge to you is to turn that around. Instead, try saying, “I get to…”. This helps with work, but also the chores around the house. Bonus points – throw in some gratitude.

Example:

I have to wash dishes.

I get to wash the dishes because we had a homemade meal at home. I’m so thankful that we were able to sit down as a family and talk.

Exercise: For the next week, be self aware of what you say and what you think. Maybe even write down each time you say I have to. Then think of a I get to response instead.

The last concept for today is your circle of concern vs your circle of influence. The picture above shows a great illustration of how the two circles interact whether you are being reactive focused or proactive focused.

When you allow others concerns and other things out of your control to be the center of your focus, our circle of influence is super small. There is limited things we can do and probably feel overwhelmed.

If your focus is on the things that you can control, our circle of influence grows. You know those people that you just want to be around. They have this energy that just makes you happy. These are the proactive focused people.

Exercise: Think about your life and maybe even different situations that are draining your energy. Draw your circles on where you are at currently. What steps can you take to make that circle of influence bigger? What boundaries do you need to put in your life to make that happen?

With the Simply 75 challenge, it is a perfect time to get back to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This challenge is about creating the habits that build the kind of character you want to have.

Habits are patterns we do (consciously and subconsciously) throughout our day that express our character and make us effective or ineffective.

The habits we form are based on these three parts: knowledge, desire, and skill. Knowledge is what to do and the why to do it. Skill is the how to do it and desire is the motivation and the want to do it. In order to remove a habit or to create one, we have to utilize all three of these components to our advantage.

If you want to change a habit, here is a great place to start. Take a closer look at the following diagram and ask yourself these questions:

Knowledge – What do I need to learn? What resources do I have available to me? Why do I want this change – is it for me or for someone else?

Desire – Why do I want this change? What can I do to strengthen my motivation? Who can I enroll in my cause? Who can I ask to support me?

Skills – What is my plan to overcome/change? What skills do I need to gain? Who can teach me what I don’t already know?

Do you remember Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg?

One morning a farmer finds a glittering, golden-colored egg sitting beneath his goose. At first he thinks it is a prank, but he decides to have the egg appraised just in case.

To the farmer’s amazement, the egg is pure gold!

And each morning his prize goose continues laying the valuable eggs.

The farmer becomes extremely wealthy. But he also becomes greedy and impatient.

One day in his frustration the farmer kills the goose, hoping to get all of the golden eggs at once from inside the goose.

As we all know, the farmer finds nothing. And now, he has neither a goose nor any more golden eggs.

The Moral of the Story

The moral of this story is normally about the danger of greed. The farmer grasped for too much wealth in too short of a time.

But, there is a broader lesson about balance. There is always a tension between results and the ability to produce those results (aka effectiveness).  

The P/PC Balance

The P/PC Balance is about balancing between two extremes:

• Extreme #1: Focusing only on golden eggs or producing short-term results. In the long-run, you lose your ability to produce results at all because you never nurture your production capacity.
• Extreme #2: Focusing only on the goose or production capacity. Without short-term results, you will not survive (literally or figuratively) to see the long-term payoff.

Either extreme is a problem.  So, you have to strive for a balance between the two. And that delicate balance is the essence of effectiveness.

You have to work at this balance if you want to be consistently effective in any area of your life.  This includes your job, ability to earn money, investing, relationships, and health.