It’s All About the Journey!

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I’ve run several races throughout my life and ran my first marathon in a few years, last year.

If you’re not familiar, in a marathon, you cover 26.2 miles and it can take a couple of hours or more to complete. I’m definitely on the end of a few more hours to complete.

The Jack and Jill Downhill Marathon resonated with me the most and not because it was downhill, but it for sure helped!

Why?

Well, I started off my training early in 2021 with a goal in mind.

I visualized what I wanted to do and wrote my all my goals daily.

I made choices aligned with my goal of running a marathon.

I followed a training plan (all the times before, I was willy nilly).

I built in speed work (which I never did) and built up my mileage.

I checked off the workouts each day and wrote notes of how practice went every time.

Then one day, I felt a pull in my hamstring.

I made the choice to take a few weeks off from speed work and even some of my mileage.

I felt comfortable doing so since my main priority was getting to the start line.

Then, two weeks turned to a couple of more and then I was comfortable not being uncomfortable with running.

For a runner like myself, running 12 or more miles in a training run takes up more time preparing and planning for a run (routes, water stops, time on my feet) which pushes me out of my comfort zone of my routine.

But, my goal was still ahead of me.

So, I scrapped some of my plan, goodbye speedwork and ran increased miles as best I could at the time.

In marathon training, you for sure want to get up to at least 20 miles for a training practice.

I was stuck at 16 and the marathon was 2 weeks away.

There’s for sure no cramming with building endurance.

The night before my race, I was overcome with frustration.

I wanted to run, but felt I wasn’t prepared. Naysayers probably would say and my gremlins for sure showed up and whispered to me that I was in danger if I tried.

Since my husband was running, I had to go to the race anyways, so I suited up and I told myself I would make a choice of what I was going to do when I got there.

When I arrived, I chose to run.

I made another choice as the race began, my new goal was to enjoy the race, take in the scenery in North Bend, WA and take fluids at every stop.

I can recall still till this day, the exhilaration I felt coasting through the miles and feeling so free and full of life.

Everything in this moment of time was synced up within me.

This was the first marathon I ran which I embodied patience for myself, allowed myself to be present in the moment and enjoyed every step along the way.

I finished that race knowing I could do more both physically and mentally.

Now, I truly understood when others say, “running a marathon is a metaphor for life”.

Anything you want to accomplish, your mindset matters.

Trust yourself in what you can accomplish.

Don’t try to speed through your practice, if you’re a pet parent or pet professional. Take stock that in taking your time, you will see the fruits of your efforts.

When the road gets rocky on your journey, re evaluate what you’re doing to reach your goals. This can look like going back to the basics in teaching a skill, going slower building duration and decreasing distance in teaching that skill. Or, if you’re a pet professional, finding the teachable moments in situations rather than seeing the situation or event as a failure.

One of my clients said it best the other day when she encouraged her partner: “Remember, have a growth mindset!” Instead of being stuck on the what ifs, focus and be present in the here and now.

I signed up for the marathon again this year and I’ll set a new goal for myself and I know I’ll accomplish what I set out to do.

What’s on your goal list for 2022?

One way to get clear is join us for a Visualizing Your Year Workshop on Saturday 26 February!

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Visualizing Your Dreams!

Visualizing what you want allows your imagination to take shape.

The ideas and images you create through your mind allow you to see what’s possible.

Forming ideas into mental pictures can become your map charting out your next steps in reaching your goals.

When you create the images in your mind of what you want to achieve, the next step is using your body through embodying what it would look like, smell like, feel like and what you will hear when you are living out your dreams.

I used visualization techniques throughout my life.

I held the dream of playing Division I soccer in college when I was growing up.

I embodied being a collegiate athlete for years through making choices in playing for premiere teams and going to soccer clinics and spending most of my time with my teammates who also shared a similar vision.

I made this dream a reality and our university team even went to the NCAA tournament (which was another dream of mine).

I used visualization for career goals. My professional goal at the time was to become an advocate for women and children on a national level.

I visualized what I would wear, where I would work and who I would meet.

From this dream, I chose employment opportunities in alignment with these goals. I worked for the Mayor of Milwaukee, I was an AmeriCorps volunteer for the National Advocacy Center in DC and ultimately, I was part of a justice and peace team working on behalf of women and children at the United Nations.

I dreamt what I wanted and made it happen.

Actualizing my dream even had National Advocacy as part of the organization’s title.

How about that for visualization.

I continue to use visualization when training for marathons, for preparing for a trips to even how I plan out my day.

“If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.”-Muhammad Ali.

When you practice visualizing what you want, you can make it happen.

Some visualization techniques you can easily practice:

  1. Create a vision board.
  2. Write a check to yourself in the amount of what you desire every day and see what happens.
  3. Write down your goals every day.
  4. Keep a gratitude journal. You’ll begin seeing more of what you want in your life.
  5. Sit quietly for 5 minutes and move through your 5 senses in what it would feel, smell, hear, touch and see when you are living out your goals. Be specific as possible.

Create a life you want! Schedule a Uniting Call with me:

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Set Your 2022 Goals!

Owning your own business is a huge accomplishment.

Creating services or products which your customers love gives you a sense of satisfaction.

Having autonomy over your day and how you work gives you a sense of relief.

You can make room for more life to happen every day because you’re in charge of your schedule.

You can work when you want and take a break to recharge without worrying about PTO and whether your supervisor will approve.

Owning a business can also feel overwhelming at times, especially at the start of a new year.

Gazing out into the horizon on uncharted territory of a new year can leave you feeling some angst.

Thoughts of how what will I do this year? Will I be successful? What challenges will I face and will I be ready for them?

Your future is outside of your control which can leave you feeling anxious.

You do have control over how you frame your thinking and how you plan for the year.

So many ideas floating around in your mind, put them down on paper by creating a vision board.

When you start seeing what ideas and interests you want to bring forward, you can then start mapping out a plan to achieve them.

As you identify your visions, then start setting some achievable goals from 3, 6, 9 and 12 months out.

One vision may be that you want your pet parents to build more empathy with their companion animals.

Within those quarterly goals, build in milestones which you can measure how you are meeting your goal.

A goal can be I want to build an 8 week program and have a launch by x month which teaches pet parents about the importance of meeting their companion animal’s needs.

Now, you can break down the action steps in creating a x week program.

The action steps are the bones of your program which include deliverables.

Some deliverables are setting aside on your work calendar when you work on creating your program.

Choosing the content and structure of your program and setting timelines.

Making choices how you are going to effectively and efficiently reach your clients and putting this into your workflow?

These deliverables are tangible ways of how you can exert control over how you will show up for your business daily, weekly, monthly and for the year.

It also gives you a way of reviewing how your goals are being met and what changes, if any need to happen along the way, so you can be proactive in changing course as necessary.

If you’re looking to gain more confidence with goal setting, schedule a Uniting Call with me so you can feel more aligned with your vision for 2022!

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