The Day I Got It Right

It's just past midnight, and I'm still a little dazed. 

Today was, if anything, full to the brim. Woke up,  did dishes, went to work and got things done, had a nice lunch at a local diner and made some progress in the book "1984. Left work for a meeting on the medical device company, powered through some roadblocks and made some new contacts at the coffee shop, got home 2 hours later and seriously felt like kicking back. But didn't. Went to the gym, crushed the arms, gym closed early - no excuses, finished at home, picked up my girlfriend from Law School, got some Frozen Yogurt to-go so we could run to the pool before it closed, dropped her off, Pwned some noobs in League and cooked some seared salmon. Wrote a daily blog post.

You know what I didn't do? Sit on my ass. You know, when you literally waste hours on end - end up losing sleep while simultaneously having gotten nothing done (impressive, right?). Then you can't sleep because 1) you're stressed, 2) your day feels unfinished and 3) you've thoroughly screwed up your circadian rhythms with your phone screen.

So how the hell did today end up being one of the only days in years that I completely "got it right", and why am I confident this is a trend?

Today I made sure that I was always moving, doing something, pushing myself extra hard if I wanted to quit. I reminded myself that if I was exasperated to do what I could and give the problem time, if I was tired I'd just sleep that much better, if I looked too much like a newbie with a barbell to get stronger and ask questions. If had a full plate, I didn't try to eat it all at once - I tackled a section, let it digest and revisited it later.  I stayed vigilant, keeping an eye out for when I was slipping instead of being frozen in fear, unable to catch myself when a misstep inevitably came.

I lived today like its outcome wasn't important. That instead of an endpoint it was just part of a longer process. The finality, judgement, and entanglement of self-worth with a random day's outcome, gone. I lived today like I wanted to be something, instead of like I was avoiding being something.

Predict, Pivot, Pursue. Invest in yourself in every action. Run toward the uncomfortable, open that door and face what's behind it. You have nothing to lose but regret. 

*Tip of the day: Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. This is when you revert to old habits and become less conscious of the choices you make. If things are too crazy, take a deep breath, prioritize what you want to address and ask yourself honestly, "What can I do?", focusing on reality rather than a perfect world. Then move on. The moment you let yourself be overwhelmed, you cede power to your subconscious, habit-driven mind, which will justify you turning into a potato to reduce the swelling that you've let occur. Be aware, sense when you are close to this edge.