Pushing Yourself

I have a pretty good routine of getting up in the morning and going to the gym 4-5 times per week. It is a great time for me to get the blood pumping. I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. I am not saying that I am in great shape but I feel like I am doing pretty well...at least until last weekend.

I went on an "intermission" to a mountain cabin. The only catch with visiting this cabin is that in the winter you have to walk about 200 yards off the main road, uphill, through the snow to reach the cabin. This also includes carrying any clothes, food and other essentials that you are going to use during your stay. We arrived at the parking lot late (just as it was getting dark) and started up hill with a cooler full of food plus a bag of clothes and essentials. We soon found the snow to be quite deep and because of a recent warming trend, very soft. This meant that with almost every step you would sink "thigh high" in snow. This is too long of a story to get the point across, but suffice it to say, by the time we reached the cabin, I thought I was going to die! My heart was pounding, I was soaked with sweat and 24 hours later it was impossible to move because my muscles were so sore.

What had happened to all of my exercise and weight training? Wasn't I in "good" shape? I reflected on my strolls on the elliptical machine and the rides on the stationary bike. It seems that they didn't prepare me for the exertion of climbing up the mountain. I realized that my routine at the gym was not pushing and strengthening me anymore and that I had reached a plateau.

What about your self, work and your relationship rings? Are you just maintaining and doing the minimal in your relationships to just get by? Maybe you are not even maintaining (being a couch potato). What happens when difficult times come along at work and you are expected to dig in and exert yourself? Will you be prepared? You need to stretch and push and improve your skills, muscles and mind. Life in not about maintenance-it is about improvement. How will you improve? No pain, no gain!

Find Time for a New Thought

We truly live in the information age. It is amazing how easy it is to find "stuff" about most any subject. Sometimes it is too easy to fill our minds with trivia and quick "bites" of information thanks to TV, email and the web that we forget to actually learn new things and think new thoughts.

When was the last time that you:

• Attended a college or university class to learn something new?


• Read a "non-fiction" book?


• Attended or listened to a workshop, lecture or religious service?


• Learned a new skill or developed a hobby?

Learning should be a life long process. We should never stop thinking new thoughts, discovering new things and developing new skills and talents. Continuous improvement never ends. It is...continuous!

That Little Something Extra

Thomas Friedman had a fantastic op-ed piece in the NY Times on October 23. While the article was entitled, The Election That Wasn't, there were several strong points made about the work habits we will need to have as we function in a global economy. His most intriguing idea to me was the idea of doing something "extra" in your job. Here's an excerpt from the article:

But just doing your job in an average way — in this integrated and automated global economy — will lead to below-average wages. Sadly, average is over. We’re in the age of “extra,” and everyone has to figure out what extra they can add to their work to justify being paid more than a computer, a Chinese worker or a day laborer.

The thought of adding "extra" to your already overworked schedule probably makes you want to scream, but it reaffirms what we talk about so often with Juggling Elephants. You can't afford NOT to get to what is most important. The stakes are too high.

The next time you are engaged in planning for your day or week, aggressively seek to delegate, delete or delay those tasks that don't offer maximum return on purpose. You simply must create room in your lineup to provide that something "extra." Go back to the circus metaphor for a moment. While you may remember the entire circus event as a positive one, It was probably one or two acts that REALLY exceeded your expectations-and created those lasting memories.

Fail to provide the "extra" in your job, and you may find yourself with a little "extra time" in your work ring or maybe needing a little "extra" to make it through the month.

A Double Take To-Do List

Spending 10-15 minutes to formally plan your day is a great tool for focusing on what matters most to you. But there is nothing worse than making a list of 30 things to do and then finding at the end of the day that you only had time for 10.

Consider a double review of your to-do list. Start with brainstorming/reviewing your list of things to do. Now, prioritize the list in order of those things that have to get done first – those things that are most important. Once prioritized, place your task list next to a list of the hours in the day (you can make a list of the hours of the day on a piece of paper, use a planner that lists the hours of the day, the Calendar in Outlook, etc.). Starting with your first task, block out when you are going to do that task on your calendar and how long it will take. Then continue down your task list blocking out times when you are going to accomplish each task. Easy enough?

Some tasks are simple and only take a few minutes (you can list multiple tasks in a block of time). Some tasks are more complex and you might only be able to block out a small portion of time to work on the task and come back to it tomorrow (e.g. Work on next years budget that is due next week). What you might initially find is that about half way down your list you have run out of time in the day to get all of your tasks done. That is OK! As long as you truly prioritize your list, you will have planned for the most important things that you need to get done today.

With the remaining tasks that you don't have time today for you can forward them on to tomorrow or another day. You can also consider deleting the unimportant tasks and delegating those items that someone else can help you with.

Two more tips: Tip #1; remember to build in some gaps in your schedule for interruptions and the unforeseen. If you get behind in your day and your schedule is too full, there is no catching up unless you have a buffer or two built into your plan. Tip #2; to keep on schedule, try setting the alarm on your cell phone, wrist watch or buy an "egg timer" that you can set for the amount of time that you have allotted to focus on your task. When the alarm rings, it is time to move on. If you can't move on, then consider how your schedule will have to change and what won't get done as a result.

At first this exercise seems like a hassle and that it is time consuming. But, if you will try it for a week you will find that you have become better at estimating your time and what you can realistically accomplish in a day. You will also become more focused on your scheduled tasks because you have blocked out time for them.

Maintenance or Excellence

According to the Random House Dictionary to "maintain" is, "to keep in existence or continuance." To "excel" is, "to be better or finer than (others)." I was thinking about the difference between maintaining and excelling as I was mowing the lawn. I can cut the grass, keep it from turning into a jungle and just maintain it. Or, I can spend some extra time and edge, fertilize, water the dry patches, dig out by hand the weeds that the "weed and feed" fertilizer didn't catch and make the lawn look a little nicer. I can go above and beyond-add that little extra effort that makes a difference. I can pursue excellence with my lawn so that it is "better or finer" than my neighbors.

What areas in our lives are we just maintaining when we should be excelling? You might not even have a lawn. You might not even care if your lawn makes it through the summer. But there are probably other areas that you care about that could use some edging, fertilizer and weeding. Think about your relationships. Are you improving, nurturing and working on your relationships or are you just maintaining-keeping them in existence? What about your job or career? Are you looking at better ways of doing things, making recommendations, improving your skills and pursing excellence? Or are you just continuing on, showing up, gathering a paycheck, doing the minimum and hoping something better comes along that will pay more?

Doing just a little more and pushing yourself towards excellence does take a little more time. There is a sacrifice and investment that comes with it. You might have to pick and choose what items you are OK with maintaining and what items you should excel in. But that should be a conscious decision that you make. In most cases, the time and energy spent in the pursuit of excellence isn't that much more than the time you are going to put in anyway. Excellence is more of a mind set. The satisfaction of a job well done is well worth the effort. Push yourself to get out of the box and do better.

Now if I could only remember who borrowed my weed eater!