Important vs Not So Important

I'm sure that I've blogged about this before, but a weakness I possess is a definite lack of organization - luckily for me this week's Bootcamp assignment was all about time management and prioritization - what's the most important thing? Dave spoke about making yourself number one priority (ie if you make yourself number one, then you're freer to give to others, especially the most important people in your life eg life partner, children etc). I've been treating life like an octopus in a string bag (no doubt, any mother would have heard about this in relation to kids) - I think I have something sorted and then, bang, out pops a tentacle!

I've definitely been guilty of spending too much time on the internet, Facebook etc and I've spoken to others about how "reading blogs does one's head in". I'm going to quote Elizabeth Waterstraat, who is a triathlon coach in the US who wrote almost word for word, what I think about reading too many blogs. Must make mention here that it is all to do with the perspective you read them from - if you're feeling vulnerable or fragile, sometimes reading about how fantastic life is for everyone else can be downright depressing. I also wish to mention that if things are going swimmingly for any of you that are reading this, then I am genuinely pleased for you - really I am - but I need to work on time management and prioritization. I enjoyed this in the context of "Important vs Not So Important" very much:

"getting caught up in comparing themselves to everyone else out there who always seems to be having a much better go of things, doing everything faster, better, stronger....

Isn't that always the case?

Reader Beware: You can get caught up in the web of blogs, Facebook and twitting. Everybody is
always nailing their workout, going 2 minutes per mile faster than us and doing it all on nothing but a saltine. Awesome! Sign me up for that training plan. Makes the rest of us feel like complete slugs as we slog away at 12mph in our basement while keeping up with the Kardashian's.

Nothing so awesome about that.

But that's just the way a lot of that stuff reads. Everyone is doing more than us, doing it more often, doing it faster, doing it better, doing it sexier than anyone else. I look at Facebook and even I feel like a slug. 20 x 2 minutes at FTP? Jeez! If you want to scare me fill a paper bag with air and pop it in front of my face. No need to include the letters FTP in that. I'm trashed, I'm killing myself, I'm blah blah...what it all really boils down to in our heads is:

I'm better than you. Even though that's not what they're saying. But I bet that's how it makes some people feel.

" In life we are limited by two things: time and energy. Spend both wisely. And only read, affiliate with or engage in things that keep you moving in a forward direction. Know that you don't have to turn your head. You can keep your eyes forward, look at the road ahead, know where you are going and focus intently on the task of getting there.

I like blogs, I like blogland and keeping a blog has been a positive experience for me. But sometimes it is good to step away and fill your head with something else. Read your own story. Write your own ending. Be that girl. And get obsessed with yourself.

You can read the full post here

Inadvertently, I've found myself swimming sideways. It's not actual content of blog per se, it is the amount of time that I've frittered away reading blogs when I could have been moving forward onto other stuff, which is the scary part.

I've made a start to reorganizing my blog - I've been inspired by Lia and may even try Wordpress. I've deleted all the dead links from my blogs - bloggers who have removed their blogs or haven't posted in over six months and tried to get rid of stuff that is just cluttering everything up.

In the spirit of making it all about me, I've done some good training in these past two days - Upper Body yesterday (and yes, I'm in a world of DOMS today) and Legs today - just three exercises - squats, RDLs and pull throughs were quite enough for me today - didn't lift particularly heavy weights, but am really feeling it tonight. I have three RPM classes to teach tomorrow, so I've factored that into my nutrition for tomorrow - yes, spending more time with myself means focusing more on nutrition. The mechanical part of Bootcamp is going surprisingly well (down to low 58s now and dropping - it's definitely a different body shape that is presenting itself in this phase of action. Someone at the gym told me I looked "rangy". A case to do more resistance training if there was one! I have some old photos from last Bootcamp, so am going to try and put some progress shots side by side and maybe post them, if I'm feeling brave!

Will leave tonight with another cracker of a quote from fellow bodybuilder and LL Coach, Mary Leach:

"The past and future live only in our mind, and we hold no power with those. The immense power that we have to change our lives, to chart our course to success, will always exist only in THIS moment, THIS decision to act in a way that brings us closer to what we desire."