Discipline of Showing Up.
This morning, as I am sitting and drinking my coffee, I am thinking about how easy it is to stay comfortable. It is all around us and 24/7 we are being thrown opportunities to comfort ourselves and it takes a lot of discipline to do the things we say we were going to do.
My morning routine is so important to me. I have always been a early riser - its when I enjoy to do my reading, my journaling and some movement to start my day. This year, I have not been good at it. I have actually struggled with that discipline. I have chosen many times the easy choice of scrolling my phone first thing in the morning, hitting the alarm 5 or 6 times before waking up, not picking up the paper and pen, letting the books pages sit still and telling myself: "well, I will just get my workout in later." For Christmas last year, my wife got us a Concept 2 Bike Erg, which is a stationary bike and is a incredible tool to just sweat, move or train aerobic capacity and for a good portion of this last year, it sat in the basement with our home gym and other workout equipment. Guess what? I can count on one hand how many times it was used. We finally moved it up to our guest bedroom, which we turned into an office space, to make it more visible and make the habit of using it daily easier. That has worked and the last month it has become more of a priority every morning. I do not know if the discipline of following through on the things I want to do and make me feel good has been tough because of this new season of life I am in, but regardless when I do not do those things I tell myself are non-negotiables, it feels like I am not fully showing up for my roles and responsibilities that I have.
So... what is the idea of "showing up"?
The last few mornings, first thing I have done is complete graduate work to get ahead for the holidays. It has led to a different morning routine than what has been normalized the last few weeks. I have not got my 20 to 45 minutes on the bike to sweat and I have been abruptly woken by the screen of my laptop. This morning I was all caught up on school work and after my wife left for work, I had a whole hour and a half plus to start my day. I start looking around amazon with gift cards that I got while finishing my coffee and thinking about how nice it would be to slow down on this Friday morning. I did a quick , mental reflection on how I have been feeling, I finished my coffee, threw on my workout clothes and hopped on the bike. I did:
5 sets (or rounds)
4:00 minutes at a zone 2 pace
1:00 recovery pace - very light
*This could be done running, walking intensely, rowing, or any cardio machine*
I got a 25:00 bike in, a solid sweat and mentally I was ready to kick start the rest of my day. Here is the deal, doing this made me feel like I took care of myself so that I can show up today as a better teacher, a better husband, and better for my family. It is crazy that often the easiest choice is the one that strays us away from showing up for ourselves and others, but that's how it is. If the impactful and powerful choices were easy, we would not need self-discipline.
There have been and are many times where I lack the discipline to show up for myself and that is a skill I am constantly crafting, but here is the message. Do the things that make you feel like your best self. What could that be? Maybe its getting your workout or movement in, or prioritizing your health, or waking up early to have some time to yourself to reflect and journal. Maybe it's setting a hard goal and following through with it. Regardless of how you show up for yourself, lets do it with an unapologetic authenticity and discipline that allows us to be the best for ourselves, our students, our spouses, our kids, and our community. Below is a podcast I listened to this morning that helps bring light to this idea. Let's do the hard work and show up.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I like the point that you made about how you can't allow youself an out. If you commit to something, even though it may be hard, those are the times that you need to do it the most. It is also interesting how a good morning routine can impact the rest of your day. I applaud you for the mental fortitude to just do the grit work and get the hard things done. It is a good lesson to remember.
ReplyDeleteAlexis, thanks for the feedback. For me, fitness is what directly correlates with life because of being in the field of health and wellness. I do think that doing hard things physically prepares us for doing hard things in life. We are so engrained in our culture to find comfort and I think by challenging ourselves to do hard things we forge so much growth.
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