Sunday 17 January 2010

Measuring myself against my own standards

Looking back on the past couple of weeks but really focussing on this week I have completely failed to succeed against my own standards. This week has put into stark focus that I have been on complete auto pilot for the past 3 weeks at least and on this weeks performance I should just email Rich and withdraw my application.

How I expect to achieve anything when I have had a real can't be arsed attitude this week I just don't know, moaning about the weather, work, any excuse I coudl come up with to not do what I know I need to do to get what I want. This whole process is completely in my control and if I don't want to put the effort in then I only have myself to explain to when it all falls apart.

Some prime examples;

Putting on 2 pounds this week is just not good enough, when I was filling my fat head with bowls of peanuts and stuffing in chocloates did I really think that this was going to help me towards my goals!

This was then compunded by my total lack of getting in enough sessions of cardio exercise, I did a session Monday but then just made excuses to myself for the rest of the week, Saturday was just the last straw, I looked back on the day and couldn't justify to myself why I hadn't got on the treadmill or cross trainer, I just couldn't be bothered!

This post is a kick up my own arse, its not navel gazing, this is designed to make me wake up and get a grip!

Michelle knows how much effort I have been putting in over the past few months and is making sure I get cracking after this blip as she does not want to see me fail.

3 comments:

  1. You know one of the things that makes a good Black Belt Stu?

    It doesn't mater how many times you fall down as long you always remember to get back up.

    Mastery isn't about a big 'EUREKA' moment, it's about holding yourself accountable, reviewing where you're at, making course corrections where needed and above all perseverance.

    You've got everything it takes to get you where you want to be. Just stick at it.

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  2. I feel like every comment I write is something about me instead of you, but the weird thing is that I'm going through almost exactly the same thing as you are with my studies. Today, I too felt like throwing in the towel. I've been going on a roller coaster of "yes I can" - "no I can't" for the past few weeks without any real physical progress and it's taking its toll mentally and perhaps now physically as I feel thoroughly drained. However, it's watching things like the survivors pulled from the rubble in Haiti and also knowing how hard I'll kick myself in 6 months' time if I don't keep going that is keeping me going. I have to believe that I have been given this opportunity for a reason and it will be wasteful if not plain rude for me to throw it in the bin.

    I had a glimmer of a resolution tonight as I lay resting, trying to recover from a bout of despair, that perhaps the solution is not to resign but to *lower my standards* and it's uncanny how your blog mentions the struggle to achieve your own standards, which so accurately reflects my own. Food for thought, I hope, although I know that for me the thought of lowering my standards leaves me just as troubled as ever.

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  3. We all set standards for ourselves and I think I have just been coasting for the past 3 weeks thinking that I was just ticking along happily whereas the reality was completely different. I don't think I was ever contemplating jacking it in, rather I needed to draw a line in the sand so to speak.

    Just by setting standards for ourselves and then reviewing where we are, whether that be positive or negative sets us all apart from the majority of the population.

    Is 'lowering' your standards the right way to look at it John? I stood back and looked at what I want to achieve, these goals are testing but achievable with some simple discipline and application. Rather than 'lowering' the standards I have simply rededicated myself to what I want to achieve. Is it the standards that need lowering or is it that what you want to achieve is a little beyond your reach. When you set goals and targets it is sometimes beneficial to have one that is just slightly out of reach, balanced with one that is easily achievable, this enables you to overachieve perhaps in one which gives you the positivity to then push through on the other one. Michelle very correctly said to me, "Don't focus on the long term goal, look at it week by week" This approach will allow me to focus on what I need to do to achieve in that week and I will then be able to report on successes for that week.

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