I live with the tension of wanting to do better and falling back into the same “bad habits”. Sound familiar?

I get sucked into social media scrolling, reach for the greasy fries instead of the salad, skip workouts, put off important tasks until tomorrow — and more.

In the past, I thought the answer was MORE vigilance, MORE discipline, better planning, better structure.

But now I know better.

Have you ever been really into some activity, but over time, you got burnt out on it? 

Then time passes, and you start to feel its absence. But now you’re out of practice. and you discover there’s a barrier to starting again - because you’re just not at the level you used to be… so why bother? 

You know the phrase "over the hill"?

Are you at, or nearing, an age where that phrase is starting to feel personal?

I love to use myself as an example… I'm often a good example of what NOT to do. Haha. Seriously though: when setbacks or injuries happen, it's usually a teaching moment.

So, when I strained my knee skiing the other week, it reminded me of two principles: one has to do with psychosomatics and the other with pragmatic training.

I twisted my knee skiing a couple weeks ago.  I'm fine — really — but in the moment I had that familiar reaction: Fear, anxiety, ice it, rest it, don't move.

Turns out, that reaction is a bit of cultural programming that doesn’t serve us well.

 And the story of how we all came to believe it is fascinating

when the activity aligns with your essential self, chances are you’ll have no trouble finding motivation… 

after some discussion, I came to this realization, with his help, that I was trying to control the outcome…

“Joy junkies are not joyful.”

Wait… What?

It's tempting to wait until the new year before starting new projects, new intentions, new goals. But the problem, and you may have encountered this in years past, is so many of our intentions never play out, or never actually get started… 

You’re thirsty. And you’re have a glass of water in front of you. Except it’s salt water. You try it, but it’s too salty to drink. 

What are your options?

(this is a metaphor for our internal experience and life…)

specialness is often a misguided attempt at finding belonging. There’s possibly an underlying narrative that says “If I’m special enough, then I’ll be accepted.” - whether that’s into a relationship, family, group, or community.” But there’s a shadow side to specialness too

 I was out of commission and could barely walk! …

“And you are magic, man! Just stretching quads has alleviated knee pain. So simple!

I am now on a complete path toward healing all my ankle, knee, lower back, and hips with mobility and strength.

So, We can tackle Alta Via, Dolomites!!”

I share this message because it encapsulates so much of what I believe we all can do - sometimes with just a little perspective shift and guidance… 

if we shift our perspective, assessments are simply objective information telling us where we are - with our understanding, skill, strength, or whatever is being measured. And in that sense, an assessment is simply a compass direction - helping us navigate toward those things we aspire to. And if the assessments are for things that hold meaning in our lives, these compass directions are powerful motivators to correct course, and enthusiastically wayfind our path toward our ideals!

Sometimes courage isn’t about doing big daring and dangerous things.

Sometimes, courage is just stepping out of your routine,

Trying something new

And stepping into the unknown.

Taking one step toward the life you envision.

Discomfort will always accompany change.

The trap is getting too focused on that discomfort.

It’s helpful to think of discomfort as a cloud in the sky. Take in the whole view - You are the sky. And you are more than enough to contain and hold those clouds.

What’s the smallest, next step you can take?

It would have been easy to say no. I could have said it’s not the right time. Or questioned if it was the responsible thing to do?

But fortunately, I listened to my inner compass - what was my body saying. And I said yes.