Chanda Slows Down

[Chanda]

In order to fulfil my need to bring some order into my day to day while still enjoying life, I need to: accept myself, slow down, simplify, accept that "Good is Good enough" and be kind to myself.  

 

Why? Because back in March I had a nasty surprise when I discovered I was on the verge of reaching burnout for the second time in my life. Thanks to my high demand job, motherhood, being a perfectionist who likes to do things quickly and my own sense of responsibility, I have been using up more energy than I am regaining during my down time... My reserves are on empty. I'lll spare you the details except to say, there are a number of actions I am taking to turn things around. Some of these I incorporated into this challenge. I am not re-inventing the wheel, a lot of it is the same old stuff... just with a different focus and expectations.

 

 

 

Main Quest:

To slow down and smell the roses.

 

1. Fuel: Eat smaller portions, more vegetables, less "mindless snacks". With some luck I will loose a little weight by reducing the snacking, if not... maintaining is good too. Tracking: Daily rating: Great, Good, Goof.

 

2. Move: Four sessions per week (more is OK). Since I have a 5 km race at the end of July, these should ideally be 2 runs or hill walks and 2 yoga sessions but I'll take whatever my heart leads me to do. Tracking: Weekly average workout count: Great = 5-4, Good = 3-1, Goof = 0.

 

3. Rest: Shift get up time to 6:30AM weekdays and 7:30AM (or earlier) weekends, while still getting 7 to 8 hours sleep. Currently average is 7:30AM weekdays/8:30AM weekends. Shift by 10-15min per week. This is part of a larger plan to re-arrange my day so I can manage work and being a mother. Tracking: Daily rating: Great, Good, Goof.

 

Life Quest: 

4. Doing: The No Procrastination Challenge on weekdays (optional on weekends). Follow Leo's approach, except instead of the "No wine" penalty, its "No TV series". And instead of "reading and meditating", doing the NF challenge activities is the first item on the 3 most important tasks (MIT) list. Tracking: Daily rating: Great=3MITs , Good=2-1, Goof=0.

 

Diet/Fitness Side Quest: 

5. Being: This is a mental fitness quest. Follow Weeks 2 to 7 of the 8 week Mindfulness program. Tracking: Daily rating: Great, Good, Goof.

 

Scoring: For each of the 5 goals an overall rating of Great/Good/Goof is worth 3/2/0 attribute points, giving a total of 15 points. I will decide on what actual attributes I allocate based on where I feel the benefit/improvement was greatest at the end of the challenge. I level up if I earn 7 or more attribute points. Number of earned attribute points will also determine final challenge score...  A to F based on 15 to 0. 

 

You may have noticed I am being very lenient with my scoring. It is part of training myself to accept that being good is good enough... I don't need to do it all and be perfect. Deep down I really want to earn all 15 attribute points. I challenged myself to set the level up border as low as I dare to go as a lesson that not everything needs to be perfect. I almost went with 8 attribute points as my level up border. In the end I reluctantly decided on 7. This was hard because 8 is more than half of 15, which in my mind is a clear "pass"... while 7 is slightly less than half of 15, it feels like a lot like a fail. Yet... arent "2 Goods and 1 Great" good enough? I think they are... and that is a 7 according to my scoring scheme!

 

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.â€

Thích Nhất Hạnh

[Bekah]

Hi Welcome to the Druids :)  

I love your spirit of your goals. As a fellow perfectionist who has spent the better part of this year tackling similar goals...they are soooo worth it I am excited to see how you progress and LOVE LOVE LOVE that you figured out the scoring part and how it will affect you negatively before you actually do it (It took me about 5 challenges to figure that out!! LOL!) 

[Chanda]

Hi Welcome to the Druids :)  

I love your spirit of your goals. As a fellow perfectionist who has spent the better part of this year tackling similar goals...they are soooo worth it I am excited to see how you progress and LOVE LOVE LOVE that you figured out the scoring part and how it will affect you negatively before you actually do it (It took me about 5 challenges to figure that out!! LOL!) 

 

Thanks. I've been a Druid since my first challenge... this is home. Just skipped the last couple of challenges and dropped out of a couple before that. It feels good to be back with a new attitude!

 

The scoring is something I changed radically this time around... some of my past scoring systems would have been worthy of NASA tracking its space missions.

[Bekah]

LOL since I just showed up a couple of challenges back, no wonder I thought you were new. My apologies  

[Heidi]

Welcome back, Chanda!

I adore this challenge for you. It's such a great focus and plan and I hope you love it. Remember to talk as supportively to yourself as you would to any of us, and you're sure to ace this!

[Chanda]

LOL since I just showed up a couple of challenges back, no wonder I thought you were new. My apologies  

 

Don't apologise! I think its awesome that you are here and being so welcoming of everyone. I see in your signature you are the Druid Ambassador. Thank you!

 

Welcome back, Chanda!

I adore this challenge for you. It's such a great focus and plan and I hope you love it. Remember to talk as supportively to yourself as you would to any of us, and you're sure to ace this!

 

Thank you Heidi.

 

I will have to be extra supportive of myself in the next few weeks. I do not know how I will manage, I found out this morning my father passed away last night. I am flying out tonight to be with my mother and brothers for a week. It is entirely possible that I will drop out of the challenge at least for the first week. 

[Jittersthe.Clown]

 

Taking things slow and making sure you are making the best decisions for yourself and your family is never a bad thing.  Good luck out there.

[Wandern]

Oh, Chanda - I'm so sorry to hear about your father. Peace to you and your family. 

 

I hope that you can rejoin us soon. I'm glad to hear that you're going to use a challenge to be nicer to yourself and catch your breath. You're always an inspiration - being self-aware enough to know when you need to slow down and recharge is a huge win. I hope that things settle down in your life so you can focus on that.

[Heidi]

Hugs and support to you and your family this week.

[I am Eve]

Chanda.

 

I am so glad that you are here, and hope to see you again when you feel that there is room. Remember, one moment at a time, and keep breathing. 

Sending lots of love and strength your way.

[18ck]

Hi Chanda, I've been meaning to look in on you for a while. I'm really sorry to hear about you dad. I'm glad to hear you're able to go and be with your family. I'm sure all our thoughts are with you.

[Bekah]

Chanda, 

Sorry for your loss *hugs* 

[Sunmage]

Hey,

 

how are you dealing with everything?

 

Good to see you around =)

[Chanda]

Thank you everyone for your kind words. Its been a hard 7 weeks for me and my family. 

 

I never got back to the forums, but I did have my goals in mind during the challenge period. Some days it was all that kept me from falling apart, specially during the first week. I just never tracked any of what I did formally. Considering the circumstances I'm not going to beat myself up over not tracking stuff... I was in survival mode.

 

Here is how I rate my performance for this challenge:

 

1. Fuel: There was some heavy snacking at some points but for the most part I did not over do it and my portions were same or smaller than usual. I started off with 63.5kg and last week I was 63.3kg. So I maintained my weight. I did "Good".

 

2. Move: I went for several runs and did yoga several times. Not as much as I would like but I would say I averaged between 1 and 2 times per week. Thats another "Good".

 

3. Rest: By the last week of the challenge I was getting up at 6:30AM on week days. Thats another "Good".

 

4. Doing: There were many days when I did not formally set MITs. But. except for a week when I did pretty much nothing, most days I did get the more important stuff done. Over the past 3 weeks there has been a noticeable reduction in my procrastination. I'll rate this one as another "Good". 

 

5. Being: Got stuck at week 3 and never progressed further. This one was a "Goof". 

 

This makes if 4 Goods, at 2 points each thats 8 points which means that I level up.

 

Old signature info:

Lusitanian Druid, Level 7
STR: 12 | DEX: 12 | STA: 15 | CON: 18 | WIS: 20 | CHA: 19

 

New signature info:

Lusitanian Druid, Level 8
STR: 12 | DEX: 12 | STA: 15 | CON: 20 | WIS: 23 | CHA: 22

 

Overall I am satisfied that I did the best I could do under the circumstances. I'll go as fas as saying that I have had a huge "growth spurt" emotionally and in terms of will power.