Blogs, Tweets and Burpees 8/11

August 2011

In the beginning of my first career as a graphic designer, I worked at a drawing board with printed photographs, felt markers and paper. (That’s me, the Pterodactyl, on the left.)

You know what happened. Computers changed the entire industry, and the world, making aspects of my career obsolete and shifting the skill sets required.

As a coach and business owner, I started out with a business card and an email address and went many years without a website. (Mistake!)

Fast forward to 2011 where it’s not nearly enough to put up a website. If you want potential clients to actually find you, you have to ‘optimize’ it. That’s a long story. Let’s just say the explosion of the internet has made recognition ridiculously competitive. Social media, still in its infancy, is the latest way to elevate your Google ranking and be successful. And this is really simplifying it.

So I’m earnestly learning to blog, tweet and video because “they” say we’ve got to do it. Being a business owner requires me to stretch, adapt and respond as the world changes. Standing still amidst change can lead to a path reminiscent of the dinosaur.

Like business ownership, personal wellness is also a journey with no end date, with new skills to learn and roadblocks to navigate. You never know what you will need to know, how you will have to adapt or how difficult it might be. And . . . standing still can be painfully inadequate.

Here are some examples of what healthy weight loss might eventually require of you. Learn how to:
• make yourself a priority
• be accountable
• manage stress differently
• bounce back from setbacks
• correct negative thinking
• listen to your body
• communicate better
• feel your feelings
• say no
• slow down and practice mindful eating

And the list goes on because we don’t know what we don’t know. Illness or injury can provide setbacks, for example.

Your effort will look very different if you are someone who is just beginning a wellness path, from someone who has been on it for many months or years. Just getting started is key. Know that you will need to purposely create change by upping the ante and/or being more strategic, like monitoring your heart rate to achieve optimum results, for example. A savvy business owner, on the other hand, learns to monitor and respond to internet traffic.

New developments, research and/or new technology can change the playing field and the game plan. Whether you’re starting a business or a wellness initiative, it helps to have a plan, know your strengths and be willing to learn and adapt.

Like a healthy business, healthy weight loss
• takes longer than you think
• takes more work than you imagined
• brings wins and losses
• requires lots of support
• is amazingly rewarding

If you’re standing still, just start. You can do this. All the details aren’t important now. As the saying goes, “A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step.” One small step after another is a sure way to get anywhere you want to go.

While I’m working on my YouTube premiere, if you want to take your fitness up a notch and prevent pterodactyl wings, try burpees, as demonstrated here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21dvQyNiTjM&NR=1 Wait for the finish. Wow!