We have a tendency in January to make goals and not keep them. In fact, if we haven’t turned our resolutions into habit by now (it takes about 21 days to do this), it’s likely we’re having a crisis of motivation. I know I am. I do every month.
Incompletes week
Two weeks ago this blog discussed pebbles. These are the nagging incompletes that keep us from really focusing on our primary goals.
Part of my organizational plan includes focusing one week a month on cleaning up incompletes. This week is my “incomplete” week. I like having one of these because it gives me a chance to wipe the slate clean. These can be projects I’ve left hanging over the month, or projects I’ve ignored for practically a lifetime. Exercising regularly and meditating is a lifetime incomplete. I get going and fall off the wagon. So this week, I’m focusing on ways to complete that item. In addition, I have a business plan begging for attention and some motivational/coaching materials to develop.
Take some time from your day and assess what’s bugging you. Then plan some time to complete this.
R.I.P. Jack LaLanne
Why is Jack LaLanne in a blog about changing your outlook? Who is Jack LaLanne anyway?
Jack was a fitness icon of my childhood. He was the first TV-based fitness guru, and a staunch advocate of home exercise and eating right when most of the world thought the sine qua non of home cooking was the Swanson’s frozen dinner. Scratch any fitness expert today and you’ll find some of Jack’s DNA somewhere close to the system.
You can read a terrific tribute to him here.
Why is Jack important, aside from my childhood memories of his flickering image on Grandma’s tv set?
Jack LaLanne, age indeterminate, said "I feel no different than what I did when I was 25."
Jack opened up the first modern health club in 1936, and catered to athletes and women when it wasn’t fashionable. He was a vegan when it wasn’t fashionable. He was an entrepreneur when it was almost impossible to be one (check out the date of his first gym), and sold health products and produced television spots until he died. He mentored young fitness professionals. He was generous with his time and talents.
He didn’t so much die as wear out, succumbing to pneumonia yesterday.
In other words, Jack has been what I want to be. And he was adamant that it was never too late to start, saying, “Those who begin to exercise regularly, and replace white flour, sugar, and devitalized foods with live, organic, natural foods, begin to feel better immediately.” There has got to be a business application for that, particularly those of us who are transitioning between professional emphases, or even transitioning from being a student to professional. I’ll figure it out.
But first I have a business plan to finish.
