Clean Your Apartment & Workout Too Part 1

This post was supposed to simply be a workout that you can do at home, while you clean your place. Harmless, right? As I started writing, my heart opened up to another issue and that is really sticking with something, even if day by day the results seem small. I've seen so many examples of this with people I know recently, and apparently my heart needed to release it. Part 2, is an actual workout you can put into practice to make cleaning your house/apartment/whatever, fun and workout beneficial!

Often, I hear the excuse, "I don't have time to exercise." I myself often find myself thinking, "I don't have time, energy, etc to clean my space."

The truth is, we all have time. Maybe we don't all have 90-minutes a day, but we all can find 10-20-30 minutes a day to exercise and on somedays longer, if needed to hit your goals.

We can find the time.

But, you have to want it. You see I want to keep my car, purse, apartment, kitchen, bathroom, closet (need I go on?) clean, but the truth is, if I don't set this as a priority or treat it with importance, it happens infrequently. Yesterday, I dumped out my purse on my bedroom floor (in the middle--because ideally this means I'll pick it up faster). For me, this is how I force myself to clean, create an even bigger mess that has to be taken care of. Today I pulled out all the change and put it in a cute box and stacked up the dozens of receipts that had given my purse the resemblance of a trash bag....change needed!

So the above is a funny example, but how often do we treat our bodies and health this way?

"I'll start tomorrow." (no--tomorrow doesn't exist now--today is it)

"I ate a banana today (and kept all my other crappy eating habits). I was healthy today!" (be sure not to kid yourself)

Is your health/weight/food choices/workout decisions/stress management techniques/etc/etc/whatever you need to make yourself better, a priority? Or is it something you only handle when it becomes so severe, like the receipts flying out of my purse, that you only take action at crisis?

No matter what it is: moving your body more, stopping your ice cream binge, halting an addiction, speaking up for yourself more, believing in yourself, training for that half marathon you've always wanted to run, taking that dance class you've been terrified to sign up for....

Whatever it is for you, you CAN do it. You CAN step up and say, I'm all in to hit my goal.

You may need support.

I believe as humans we are designed to be in community and help each other.

Let someone step into your life and encourage you, challenge you and uplift you.

Do you need to dump so trash (old receipts) on your bedroom floor and day by day pick up the pieces? The trash represents past failures, negative people, your situation if you are unhappy with it.

Dump it all out and start fresh today, even if the changes seem insignificant right now. In my opinion, any change that you make for the better, is significant. I don't care how small it is (or how small you think it is). If you are trying to save up money and you put away $5 a day for 30 days, does it look significant? Not really. But if you weren't doing that last month and you continued to do this for 90 days, you'd have $450 (the cost of an iPad mini and some accessories!)

What if you did the same for your health? Just using exercise as an example, let's say you ran for 15-minutes a day (literally just a random example kind of/sort of equivalent to putting away $5 a day!). Let's say in 15-minutes, you expend 125 calories. In 90-days, you would have run 10,800 calories or 3 pounds. Maybe that's not a huge deal and maybe your goal is bigger. But look back 90 days, did you hit your goal of losing weight?

This example can be applied to any goal you have. Let's say you want to be able to do a pullup. If you start from zero and practice several times per week, over time you'll get to your goal--but it may take time.

Stick it out and know that the other side is positive and empowering!

By the way, this is soo not what I was about to post about, but it was on my heart. Part 2 is a workout that you can do, at home, while cleaning up your space!

In health & prosperity,

Monica

Pull Down the Rear View Mirror

Finding Your Why

This is so simple, yet we often make it so complicated. Many of us try to get deep and try and discover why we are on this earth. Others of us, don't really think about it at all, but just want to have fun. Others of us, have no idea where to start when it comes to the "WHY."

What is the "why"??

It's why you get up in the morning...sometimes it could be as simple as, 'I have to go to work so that I can pay the rent.' When you have kids, it could turn into, 'I have to work so that I can pay the rent, feed the kids and buy some diapers."  If you're single like me, it may not be as serious, but it still warrants thought. It could be, 'I want to provide a decent space for my parents to stay when they visit' or 'I want to take my little brother on a trip after he graduates college.'

If you relate to any of these whys, that's awesome. They are all really financial whys. You need money and time to do all these things. Isn't that the truth with almost any goal?

It doesn't mean that you are materialistic. But don't most goals involve having more time or money (or both?).

One of my for real goals is to become a motivational speaker (of sorts). To travel and speak and influence others to live better and to the full potential.  It's more of an intangible goal that say, a school teacher or a dental hygeneist. With these careers, you get educated, you pass tests, you get experience and then you get a job. Not easy, but pretty straight forward.

When talking about being a motivational speaker, who travels and writes, how do you prep for that? What do you do?

I imagine there are many out there with goals that lend the question, "What should I do to get myself closer to my goal?!"

The truth is simple.

You get around people who are doing what you want to do.

Truly successful people rise and get excited about helping others be successful.

Keep searching until you find the help or the mentorship you need. If you have ever thought of owning your own business and learning from those who live the ultimate lifestyle, email me and I'll hook you up (just saying!)

Your why is truly something that makes you emotional to talk about. If you start to talk about your why and you get choked up, that means it's something that's important to you and you need to keep pursuing it.

On the contrary, if you think something is your why, but it doesn't drive you to do the work necessary to achieve the result needed, it's not your why. Even if it's important. We are not all created to solve everything.

Just because something sounds like a good cause, does not mean it's YOUR cause.

Keep looking until you find your cause, and then take away your rear view mirror and drive forward!

Get a Six-Pack in 7-days. What?!

"Flat abs, firm butt, killer legs! Click to read more"

"Lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks from walking"

"Get bikini ready in 30 days"

How many times do you see articles with these claims? Maybe it's in magazines, from some email mailing list you are on, or in your Facebook newsfeed.

While some tips can be positive and insightful, and often times, the 7, 21 or 30-day plans can be motivating and inspirational, the titles can bring a false or unrealistic hope of success.

Often times the message is, "do "X" and you'll get killer legs" or "do Y and you'll lose 10 pounds in two weeks."

The truth is, hitting your health and fitness goals takes work and dedication. Plus...all of us will have a different journey.

Work. This will be different for every individual. You may have a goal to lose 100 pounds; and you may be starting from a sedentary lifestyle, ordering food out everyday. If that's you, understand that your goals are going to be different than someone who exercises 4-5 days a week, eats a healthy balanced diet, and wants to improve their time for their next marathon. In the first scenario, goal #1 may simply be to walk for 10-minutes a day, everyday for a week, and not change anything else at first. In scenario #2, the first goal may be to do a planned set of sprint intervals directed at improving speed. In both of these scenarios, the goal setter will move forward toward the big goal. Guess what? Both are good!

The secret is, don't compare yourself to someone else or their goals. Your goals are your goals. Develop a game plan that makes sense for YOU, not a plan that makes sense for your co-worker, your best friend, or even your spouse.

Dedication. This is somewhat universal. To hit your goal, if it's a stretch, you are going to have to be dedicated on some level. For some it may be simple. A seasoned college athlete, who is given a new directive and workout plan by a coach, may find it simple to get the work in, because he/she already has workout slots planned during the day AND he/she is already in the mode of improving physically AND understands the benefit of doing so.

If you are new to exercise, you may not know these benefits (or you may not believe them just yet). You may not have a specific time (or dedicated hours) to workout or cook in order to hit your goals. It may take more dedication from you.

You must determine what you are willing to put in.

What you are willing to give, no matter what your neighbor, your spouse, the woman you pass running on the street everyday.

How dedicated are you to your goal?

When it comes to what we all read and see everyday from the media, or hear from our friends... use the grocery store approach. When was the last time you went in the grocery store and bought every single product that was available to you? Some products are right for you, and some aren't. Some are appealing, some aren't. Some of us love mustard, some don't.

Use the same philosophy when you are considering your health/exercise/food plan. Keep searching til you find something right for you. And then when you find it, don't get swayed by other plans that sound better or give you a false hope of quicker, immediate results.

For the last several years, I have known that I love CrossFit. While the program and interest is growing rapidly, it's not for everyone. For example, my dad, who is very active, hikes and walks all the time, has no interest in seeing what CrossFit is all about. Does that make him or I better than one another? No. It's a difference in preference. If I told my dad that he was wasting time hiking and that CrossFit was the only way to achieve health, would that make him better or worse? We are all different in our workout preferences. Don't give up til you find yours.

Use media, magazines and other articles for inspiration, but don't let them sway you from your game plan. Hook up with a partner who can give you feedback with regard to your plan and help keep you accountable to it's completion.

Keep it real when it comes to YOUR goals, where YOU are at. Don't compare your worst to someone else's best. Compare your best to where you are now. Let someone come into your life and show you how you can do more than you think you can, in the arena that you want to play in.

In health and prosperity,
Monica