Leonine’s Path to be a Master: Viridian City pt. 2

[Leonine]

Hello, NF Rebels! Long time no see.

 

I can’t even remember how long it’s been since my last challenge, but I’ve been a busy bee! Sometime around the springtime, things got insanely busy at work… and they haven’t let up. Plenty of work for me to do, which is nice; but, it involves 10-12 hour days (nearly every day), plus the odd weekend.

 

Things have been going well in that area; I’ve definitely been getting the practice and experience that I wanted. Since my last NF check-in, I’ve gotten a bonus, a raise, a promotion, AND the work trip of my dreams (PAX Prime 2014). It’s been wonderful! But, I haven’t been striking up a very nice work-life balance lately. That just won’t do!

 

So, I’m giving Viridian City another shot, with a few changes thanks to my different schedule. Even though things have been going really well for me lately… I’m back because, well, I miss NF!! So let’s do this, and get back in the ring!

 

 

Goal 1: Flexibility Training

 

15 minutes of stretching per day

 

I missed stretching so much! But, I totally let it fall by the wayside with work, moving apartments, etc. I’ve decided that I really love stretching, and the idea of being flexible… I’m actually making it a goal for myself to be able to be flexible enough to do the splits. Why? Because I’ve always thought I’d never be able to. Seems like a good enough reason to me!

 

 

Goal 2: Movement

 

30+ minutes of movement per day

 

It’s becoming pretty clear that having some sort of movement every day is really important to my well-being. I just love the feeling of having an exercised body, it makes everything feel better (and skipping too many workouts makes me feel like a slug, and then I get grumpy, and it’s just a downhill spiral).

 

So whether it’s watching a couple anime episodes on the elliptical (heehee, my favorite), an hour-long Vinyasa class, a walk during my lunch break or a mountain hike, I’m committing to a little something every day. My ultimate goal is 30 min movement and 30 min flexibility. We’ll see!

 

 

Goal 3: Mindfulness Training

 

10 minutes of meditation per day

 

This I’ve definitely dropped the ball on, and for some reason I’m having a really hard time getting back into the groove of this one. It’s a shame, because it was working so well for me before! My making it a goal, I’m hoping it’ll give me that little accountability and push to go forward.

 

 

Life Goal: Punctual Communication

 

I’ve been noticing that this has been more and more of a problem with me; texts gone unanswered, messages ignored, emails sitting unread in my inbox for ages… it’s not very professional or respectful. So my life goal is to respond to messages within one hour during appropriate times (one hour response to business emails during work hours, to freelance messages during my freelance hours, to texts messages, etc).

 

Respond to communications within one hour.

 

 

BONUS MASTER GOAL:

 

Of course, I’m still committed to my master goal of becoming an amazing visual designer. However, when working 10-12 hours a day, that’s just not feasible to do my extra hour of practice, and still fit in the rest of my life. So, this goal is an ‘if/then’ statement;

 

If I work <9 hours a day, I will do one hour of design work/practice.

If I work >9 hours a day, I will not do an hour of practice.

 

Hopefully this will improve my balance, and still allow me to make some creative and professional gains! Let’s go team!

[Leonine]

OH AND PS- My Catwoman cosplay that I was always fretting about ended up turning out pretty swell. Thanks for all the support Rebels, I hope to do some more cons soon!

 

 

[Leonine]

WEEK 2

 

Day 8:

 

Off to a good start! I've been into doing cardio in the morning before I go to work. I should probably cut down in the interest of time (I was a little late to work this morning), but it's just one of those things I'll have to feel my way through.

 

Goal 1- Stretching - Complete

Did some stretching after my workout, and an extra round of stretching before bed. I think I'm almost to the point of flexibility I had before I stopped stretching a few months ago.

 

Goal 2- Movement - Complete

Did about 60 minutes of cardio (crosstrainer) this morning. Overkill? Maybe. I'm going to experiment with different lengths of cardio workouts and see how it impacts my energy levels. I might be better off doing only 30 min + weights. We'll see! 

 

Goal 3 - Mindfulness - Complete

Definitely the most difficult challenge of the day! I sat down and for the first 5 minutes, couldn't even concentrate. I think I need to allow myself more time in the morning so I'm not so amped up and restless.

[mitch_dee]

holy hell!!!!  it's Leonine.....it has been forever.  happy to see you back at it....and yes you were rockin' that Catwoman cosplay!!!

 

I look forward to seeing you rock this challenge....just goin' to leave this here

[I am Eve]

Leonine, lovely to have you back, and congratulations on all positive changes going on in your life! It is indeed easy to lose balance and end up completely engulfed in work for instance.

 

Congratulations on a well formulated challenge, I think especially the goal of doing something physically every day will help you wind down.

 

What kind of stretches do you do?

 

Namaste

[jcmgm]

Hi! Great challenge you've got there!
Nice the way you want to improve life... it reminds of how I feel about yoga, which I recently discovered!

Those deep stretches, willpower and  get you doing things that seemed impossible! 
Keep on rockin'!

[MaD MaLKaV]

I always get pokemon songs stuck in my head when I see your thread. Thanks? It's totally cool assuming you swing back and give us an update soon. Actually, it's totally cool anyway, but it'ld be at least 20% cooler with a new update.

[I am Eve]

How are things going Leonine, working more than 9 hours per day?