The Feeling that Helps me Keep Going

Everyday I wake up at 5:30 am, I go to the gym to do 30 minutes of cardio followed by 30 min of a machine weight circuit. I then go home to have breakfast and drive to a middle school where I temporarily teach 5^th graders about the wonders of the brain. Class starts at 8:30 and ends at 9:20. At the end of class I rush to my laboratory where I work (when I don’t teach I get into work at 9:00am). I spend the day working on my own project and supervising/training two undergraduates in two different research projects. I finish work as fast as I can, between 4:30 and 5:00 only to rush home to eat something while I change into my gymnastic outfit and drive 35 min to the gym. I make it to the gym sometime between 5:30 and 6:00. Workout ends at around 9pm and I head back home to spend some time with my husband before collapsing in bed to do this all over again. 

I will lie if I said that keeping this routine is easy, is not. I need help from lots of people to make this possible. My husband helps me the most in the morning, waking up and pushing me to complete my morning workouts.  At the gym, Scottie, the other coaches and the girls of TAG help me to keep up the good work, encouraging me to push myself during training. But perhaps the greatest force that keeps me going comes from the thrill I get once every so often from getting a new skill. Ever since I was seven and I got my first kip I have been chasing that feeling of excitement and personal pride that I get every time I achieve the impossible (or at least what I thought was impossible).

Planning! (6-20-2010)

Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges about pursuing a dream is to keep the mind fully focused into the present. After all, the only thing we can control and we can change is our actions in the present, not the future nor the past. I find it extremely hard not to get frustrated or overwhelmed by my future goals. For the most part these actions are counterproductive and in general a terrible mistake that leads to tears, pressure and unproductive gymnastics.

So how do I stop myself from worrying about the future and concentrate on the present? I think the answer is simple: PLAN FOR THE PRESENT. Plan it!!! Preparation is always the key. Sit down one day, set up a timeline, look at your options, draw the objective, recognize your limitations, and all the hurdles that need to be passed in order to get to the goal. Then, write it all down, come up with a program that includes daily goals and stick to it day by day keeping yourself always accountable for your actions and rewarded for your accomplishments.  Simple as that!