Facing Death, ADHD, Habits and Success

Photo by Bryan Minear at Unsplash

How’s your year going?

Did you start out with a nice fresh clean sheet and decide that things you struggled with last year were going to be all under your control this year?

I certainly did.

And then…

I had an unexpected illness that resulted in surgery.

There always seems to be something that hits you out of the left field that changes your good intentions and habits and bowls you over. For me last year it was an unexpected illness that resulted in surgery, and caused me to face my mortality.

Yes, I know, that sounds morbid. Not meaning to, except that suddenly the things that I value, my health, my family, friends and activities that I love to do seemed so much more important.

My great exercise goals went out the door. So did one or two other things, temporarily.

In facing my mortality, I was pleasantly reminded about the importance of life.

And so, to reclaim my life, I decided to take a trip to Spain, to do El Camino, a 10-day walk in the wild that my son took – and he loved it.

The good thing was that I lost a few extra kilos that had been hanging on.

Yes!!! I’m good now so this year is about training for a long hike I’m attempting.

I’m reclaiming my life. When unpleasant things happen sometimes it forces us to reappraise what’s really important. At least that’s what happened to me.

And so, I started training for the trip.

I’ve been training. That means I have to build my fitness levels so that I can manage the trip without injury, and with maximum enjoyment. The interesting thing is that I am reaping the benefits now. So even if something unexpected happened and I don’t make the trip (unlikely) I’m feeling great, people are commenting how much fitter and trimmer I look.

Wow! At first I was only increasing my activity levels by about 15-30 minutes per day. Now I can hike for up to 18 kilometers at a time. I would never have considered that a possibility when I started, a month or two ago.

I was reminded about the importance of habits to bolster life success.

My clients know that I encourage change in tiny incremental steps, at first so small you wouldn’t even think anything good would happen out of it. But it starts a habit.

The other thing I did was to plan each day with a walk after breakfast. I did contemplate getting up a bit earlier and going out before breakfast, but that wasn’t going to happen. I don’t think of myself as a morning person.

The advantage of a self-employed lifestyle is that I do have control of my daily habits. It would have been different if I had to be at a paid employment job by 8:00-8:30 am as I used to. Then I would have had to plan to do it after work, possibly zipping out for 20 minutes at lunch time when possible.

Last week I wasn’t too well, but I found that picking up where I left off wasn’t quite as hard as it might have been. True, I did take a step back with my hiking goals, but that’s okay. I didn’t have to start from the beginning.

Life is like that though, isn’t it? It’s full of unexpected crises, some minor, some more significant and it can be easy to give up, say it’s too bad, and slip into old bad habits.

But it’s okay to pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and start again, even if it’s a few steps behind where you were before.

Of all the healthy habits I encourage in my clients, good sleep, good food, exercise, and time to smell the flowers, exercise is the thing that for me slips off the end when I’m facing particular stresses.

And the thing is that I know that the benefits are greater than just physical fitness–

• My mood improves.
• My sleep improves.
• So do my relationships.
• Concentration is so much better, even better than coffee, especially later in the day.

So what’s not to like about getting out there, seeing nature, the flowers and trees, hearing birds?

Does any of this ring true for you too?

What is the number one thing that would make you feel better if you made just one tiny change?

Perhaps for you it’s career goals, project management or a million and one other things that we face every day.

My life isn’t perfect but I do have some great strategies to help you if your’re stuck. And I know enough about life not to be surprised about any challenges you might be facing.

So what about it? What do you need help with? What’s that secret, burning thing that keeps you awake at night? I just might be able to help.

[box]

If you’re struggling with ADHD in life or in you career, then contact me and we can discuss some options to get you on track.
[/box]