The antidote to blocker
This week's at Next Step, I discuss my favorite important antidote to blockers/ overwhelmed/ challenges that I hope is useful for you.
💊 There is one important antidote that I have learned when I met a blocker and it's something that I've unlearn to relearn again these few months as I have been struggling to uphold my daily routine.
🥵 I have been stress lately (skin breakouts make it obvious!) together with changes that are happening in my personal life; that have really disrupted my sleep cycle, my daily flow, and everything else on my Google Calendar.
🔆 I consider my morning routines are super sacred, I have been really demotivated when I wasn't able to show up and keep it consistent. I know, I shouldn't have been hard on myself.
🏃🏽♀️ I recently made a purchase for a walking pad that I converted into my walking desk. I had to make a hard stop from continuing my HIIT and Zumba class temporarily due to my growing knee pain. Either this or I won't be able to squat and dance reggaeton forever! 😭
😬 As excited as I was going to start walking while at work, killing two birds with one stone is the thing nerd for; I failed miserably on the first day thought I could make it to hit 10,000 steps. Ten freaking thousand steps, y'all. I only get to hit an average of 1500 steps per day on the first week and felt more pain in my knee even. Ouch.
🧠 That's when I remembered the importance of showing up and why it's better than trying to make everything goes as planned.
⍰ You know, despite the desire to make everything as planned, 'showing up' only requires you to be there and snowball the progress even if it doesn't go for 100% completion like how we wanted.
💡 So, if one 'shows up" to what was promised, one would already have made a progress. Somedays, just showing up and do 1% of progress shows how much effort that we could afford sometimes.
👀 Literally, at this phase of my life right now, all I can at least manage to get is showing up to do the work. Beating myself towards 100% completion brings no value neither to my physical nor my mental health.
💯 And, showing up for just a 1% progress is still better than not showing up at all and a 0%.
🌞 The next day, I decided to walk on the treadmill as an act of showing up for work and didn't associate the progress with the number of steps made or the number of tasks done. I just told myself, what matters isn't the number or to-dos and this means I just have to show up anyways and start walking with 2.5 to 3.5 miles per hour. When there’s a morning stand-up, I walked. There’s a town hall, I walked. Even when there’s a quick catch-up, I walked.
My Wins
🎉 By end of the week, the progress snowball, and my steps accumulated to an average of 4404 steps per day. Even better, my knee and back pain reduce!
🏆 I obviously didn't make it to 10,000 steps a day (yet!) but hey, I still win in some other ways and that is still progressing.
🧠 The idea of 'showing up for just a 1% progress' is the antidote to any sorts of blockers or challenges or overwhelming emotions.
If you can't read the whole chapter of a book, just read one page.
If you can't complete all the tasks on your wedding to-do list, just grab one that requires 1 min to do.
If you can't take the time to clear all the laundry, just start with collecting all the clothes off the floor.
If you can't write everything that's in your head for that goddamn newsletter, just start with the first one line.
🎩 Never underestimate the magic of showing up for just a 1% progress - that tiny percentage will snowball into a bigger number the next time you show up again. Consistent is key.
😈 Go to hell with the beliefs that society constructs for us, 100% and all or nothing thingy. Who are we impressing here? Them our ourselves?
🤟🏾 Well friends, show up for yourself and make that goddamn small progress for that small wins.
📣 I'm rooting for you, okay?
🏆 My Other Wins; ❤️ A (my fiancé) continues to have his aha-moment with trading analysis. He keeps to unlearn and relearn himself every single day to find ways to remove the blockers that are stopping his win trade. 💪🏾 The momentum that he has in him is what showered me with motivation to get out of the rut and show up to do my work. 💋
💛 My favorite things
🎧 Numb by Ryan Oakes; a slow rap song A asked me to listen to that I believe has brought us to put things in a different perspective
🎧 Lofi hip hop, If The Weeknd by Ivy Station Records that's playing repeatedly while I write my next Youtube content.
👓 Orcas, the killer whale that is the real ocean gangsta. 🦈 Never estimate the cutey look of orca whales as being tame and harmless. This species could have shark's liver for a snack after pounding them off the ocean surface to death.
💭 Favorite Quotes
“Obstacle Is The Way" - Ryan Holiday
🏛 Learning For The Next Steps
The antidote to blockers sometimes can be as easy as showing up for just a 1% progress
👩🏽🎨 Look What I’ve Made
Published my 3rd video where I share 3 principles to improve your timeboxing and reclaim your time. So, feel free to drop me a cheeky like please 😎
And yes, frankly my friend, everything is workable!
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Love & x,
Wawa Hals