PUSHING FORWARD

Wow, what a month it has been. Happy May BTW! The previous month was filled with many miles, both in the saddle and behind the wheel. All this time has been fruitful in strengthening my mindset.

Over the last few months, I have written a few quotes down in my journal that I have been meditating on or using in practice. Today, I’d like to dig into a few of those ideas and thoughts as well as share a few pictures.

“Optimism is a Strategy” – Hap S.

I, like many bike industry veterans, likely know my friend Hap. I have stayed checked in with Hap over the last few years. His optimism is contagious. While these words referenced were in the context of business, it’s clear that they can be applied to life outside of work too. I’ve been really concentrating and meditating on these words in my life. It’s simply too easy in the world we live in to get caught up in a downward spiral of negativity. The constant connection and messages of negativity in so many channels are so draining. These words are needed and they hit home the last few months. Another way to see this is “See the good”. These words have made a big impact in my life. Thanks Hap!

“Create Everyday” – Chase Jarvis

I have been trying to create something, or at least solve or create something leading to bigger things, every single day. I have applied this to my personal passion of art and photography as well as in my two small businesses. As a result, I have had a few breakthroughs in my pack designs & sewing skills as well in my consulting business. This has led me to picking up a new client project recently and using some new tools to normalize and analyze data. I’ll also share that there are days that I d0n’t want to create for one reason or another. I will also share that it those days that I need it the most and the days in which I have had some of the larger break throughs!

“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” – F.M. Alexander

Honestly, this one hit me the hardest. I’ve been afraid to write this post as what I am sharing will require me to hold myself to it and provide a statement of accountability. My habits are not what they should be. While I am proud of my creativity practice in the past month, I realized that some of my other habits are not leading me to where/how I want to be. My area of focus is simply my morning routine with coffee, social media, dog walking, breakfast, etc. I am letting other things define my morning. My current routine takes too long and doesn’t send me off into the day with the energy and positivity I want and need. I need to make changes here. I am still working on what those changes are, but I can tell you one of them is to not pick up my phone in the AM. Rather, I need to pick up a book and my journal in the AM and put my time and energy there. My use of social media has to change. Starting my day with checking email, Insta, FB, various news channels and Linked In with my coffee is slowing me down and impacting my mood. Social media is work. I am going to treat social and screen time like work. Set a fixed time on my daily calendar. Log in. Do what I do there. Log out. The act of logging in and logging out are significant markers that I need to hold myself accountable. I suspect that his can be the most positive change I make in my daily life and routine and it frees me to pursue my health as well as my personal and professional development.

I’d love to hear what some of you are focusing on that have helped you move forward. Feel free to leave a comment or message me with your thoughts or comments. Thank you!

And with that, here are some pics from both work and play work over the last month. Hope you enjoy.

Click on any to go to slide show mode.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog. I sincerely hope that you found something to provide a little joy, hope or inspiration. Until next time!