In Tim Ferriss’ best selling book, The Four Hour Work Week, he explores the concept of dreamlining.  What is dreamlining?  It is a way to establish written goals by thinking of all the things we want to have, be, and do in 3, 6 or 12 months time.  It doesn’t matter how vein, how impossible or even how outrageous these dreams may be.  The point is to write them down.  Here is mine..

In the next 3 months, I dream of:

Having:                       6 pack abs and defined triceps

Being:                          able to do 10 pull ups with ease

Doing:                         attend the Can Fit Pro Conference in Toronto

Now that I know what I specifically want to accomplish in three months, I need to define 3 actionable steps, for now, tomorrow and the day after to get closer to actualization.

Steps NOW:

1. Read 3 articles on getting 6 pack abs in 12 weeks
2. Take measurements and pictures of abs/triceps for baseline
3. See how many pull ups I can do now (likely negative zero!!)
4. Check Can Fit Pro website for registration information and costs

Steps TOMORROW:

1. Prepare 12 week nutritional plan
2. Work with Coach V on developing core and tricep workouts
3. Bikram for strong back development, more pull up practice with assist
4. Check Toronto for hotels and cost of flight

Steps DAY AFTER:

1. Record daily intake of food on twitter
2. Record daily workout and thoughts on fitnessjunkie
3. Practice 5 pull up with assist from Coach V
4. Choose sessions to register for

   ***  NOTE:  Here is a worksheet you can download to do your own dreamlining exercise and here is another article that goes into more detail about how to dreamline.

It’s been a long time since I last wrote a blog post.  Four months long!

Back in my birth home of Peg City, circumstances have reunited me with old friends that I haven’t seen or heard from in years; events have led me to spend more time with family; and experiences have made me realize just how significant this move back really is.  It truly is a new beginning for me.

And being the fitness junkie that I am, one of my big goals this year is to compete at the FAME Canadian Nationals in Vancouver on October 24^th, 2009.  It’s been 3 years since my last competition.  Wow how fast time flies!  But I’m back and ready to put 100% of my all into it.

In an article written by Tom Venuto, he states that accountability is the most effective motivational force and that there are 4 levels of accountability.  Today and this week, I will focus on the first level:  self accountability.

You can become accountable to yourself by:

1. setting written goals
2. weighing yourself
3. measuring body composition
4. taking body (circumference) measurements
5. taking photographs
6. Creating menu plans or tracking nutritional intake in a journal
7. Creating workout schedules and tracking training performance in a journal

It’s not going to be easy.  I know this.  It’s been a long time since I’ve disciplined myself to eat, train, and sleep properly.  A really long time!  And being back home in Peg City, there are many distractions..  but I’m committed to making this work .  I’m comitted to sharing this journey. 6 months out (actually, a little over 22 weeks to be exact!).  What makes this even more exciting is that my personal trainer (who is also my fiancee!) will be riding along this journey with me.  He, too, will be coming back to Vancouver to compete with me and I can’t wait!!

 When Mercury retrogrades, we find that many parts of our life are being revised. Often these revisions can be a surprise or throw us back a step. However, these revisions which occur during a Mercury retrograde, are a “course correction” and provide a stop gap measure until we can review situations. During this time of revision, change is compounded and confusion is created by our reactions to the ever-changing situations. Thus anything started during this time will ultimately be taken back or even revised further, making for a high-frustration time. This will be especially true with changing our minds, reviewing new ideas and our communication being improved and honed so not to be mis-understood.

The purpose of Mercury retrograde is to review and revise our life and our connection with reality.  And so this confusion, this craziness, this heltah skeltah going on in my life is a sign for me to re-examine what direction I’m taking, what path I want to create and when it will be time to walk that path instead of just imagining or daydreaming about it. 

In a few months, I will be making the leap from working the 9-5 under Government Inc. to working with my family as a health and fitness lifestyle coach and freelance writer.    Yes, I’m scared.  Yes, I have lots to do still.  Yes, I know about the financial economy.  And hell yeah, I am totally ecstatic about making the change….  and nothing will hold me back.  Not even Mr. Retrograde.

Family.  Work.  Career.  Health.  Fitness.  Nutrition.  Money.  I bet you can think of many things that have to get done today under each category.   I know I have.  I have a list of “things to do” in my Blackberry organizer.  I have a list of “2009 goals to reach” posted above my home and work desk.  It’s all quite overwhelming especially when I can only check off 2 items on my to do list.  I’m dreaming big but at the same time daily actions need to be taken to get me there.  But when I stress about things I can’t do, I don’t do. 

It’s what Tim Ferriss identifies as “analysis paralysis”.  For a year now, I’ve been reading his book “4-Hour Work Week“  and his “Experiments in Lifestyle Design” blog.  He offers some great insight and tips and his recent blog “The Power of Less:  Changing Behaviour with Leo Babauta” was just what I needed to read to get me out of analysis paralysis. 

With so many things to do, the worst thing that can happen is analysis paralysis.

The Power of Less talks about simplifying, about applying limits and doing one thing at a time.  It talks about concentrating my focus on smaller things to be much more effective.  And in Tim’s blog, he presents a 30 day challenge and 12 Key Habits to Start With.  The key is to only choose one habit at a time <”Am I capable of doing that?”>; choose something measurable <”That means I have to be honest about my baseline”> and to be consistent and report daily.  More importantly I am told to keep a positive attitude.  So here goes:  my January habit to start with will be to set my 3 most important tasks each morning.  The 3 tasks to be accomplished each morning:  write for 1 hour, workout 45min, read 1 hour.  Wish me luck… or should I say … Luck is already with me…

Working for a health authority for almost 10 years, I am disappointed at the poor state of our health and the system that is supposed to support it.  As a community case manager, I spent hours with clients only to tell them that I cannot provide the services they need.  As a community educator, I have presented cost effective and innovative solutions to providing quality education only to be declined by my bosses.  All because of  budget restraints.  Why are we not spending our money on improving our health care?   There are no baslines recorded , no outcomes evaluated.  “Not now” is what I am told.

As I reflect on my 2008  “Year of the New”,  my main goals were to achieve an inner peace , an improved confidence in myself and a focus on moving towards my dream.  I want to motivate others by providing health education and personal training to individuals who want to achieve a healthy, active and balanced lifestyle.  I want to inspire others by providing information on the newest health and fitness trends and reinforce the long standing truths of nutrition and exercise using multiple media outlets.

Ten years… how fast time flies.  Each year I remember telling myself that I would change my direction.  ”Not now”, is what I would say to minimize the degree of change in my life.  But 2008 , drastic changes in my life were made.  I had enough and things needed to get done.  I spent more time by myself reflecting on past decisions; obtained my Personal Training certification; pursued paid writing opportunities and attended a Health and Fitness conference with my man and soon to be business partner, Coach V,  to give me inspiration and reason to move towards the direction of my dreams.  

This 2009, my goal is to get rid of the “not now” mentality and instill a “do it now” attitude.  This is the “Year to Live Dreams” ..when thoughts become things…. to see my name as a byline in major health and fitness magazines,  to work with individuals in achieving a Higher Level of Fitness, to reunite with my family and spend everyday with those who have a positive influence in my life.   I can’t wait …