Prioritize Peace
I love the turn of the new year. I love the fresh start, the wondering of what’s ahead, and even the emotional distancing from what lay behind. And as a goal-oriented, planning-oriented person, so often I am swept up in the flood of content fueling my loftiest of ambitions.
Take more risks! Be more productive! Sell everything you own! Make more money! Get stronger! Leaner! Healthier! Faster! Now! Go!
I can be a sucker for the rush of progress & accomplishment. And I know I get a raw deal when at the end of the year, regardless of what I achieved, I’m more stressed and less happy than I was before. In the in-between, though, I can easily confuse adrenaline for joy. Can you relate?
In 2021, I set a goal to reach 9.9% body fat, starting from 22%. I loved that goal. I obsessed over that goal. Seriously, I had so much fun chasing it that sometimes I would randomly erupt in laughter! :D
Why 9.9%? I don’t know. Why not??
By July, I was at 18%. Not bad progress, but not fast enough. I decided to adopt a strict keto diet on top of calorie counting to take it up a notch.
By August, I was at 16.5%. Pretty good, but not good enough. I knew the last percent or two would be the hardest to lose, so I had to get to 12% asap to have a chance at 9.9%. So I started doing more weights rather than cardio, and eating less.
I had some moments of feeling physically weak, kind of lightheaded, but nothing a nap or two couldn’t fix. In fact, the weaker I felt, the more ambitious I got. This is what progress feels like! Mind over matter! 9.9%, I’m coming for you!! I've failed New Year’s Resolutions before, but not this year! Not this one!
Late at night on August 28th, after a few days in a row of intense weightlifting and eating just 1250 calories, with my mother-in-law in town fast asleep on our air mattress, Megan called 911. She had walked into the bathroom to find me passed out on the floor and seizing. I’m crying as I type this over the emotional damage that moment caused my wife. And despite letting go of my 9.9% goal that day, there were countless instances of nearly passing-out in the months following, as well as an emergency room visit, and over a year of intensely battling anxiety.
Goals are fun. Still. Something is probably wrong with my internal wiring haha. Give me a 3 mile run and a hype playlist and an afternoon coffee and I’ll conquer anything with the biggest smile on my face.
The only thing is, fun is better suited as a friend than a boss. Now Peace, on the other hand? Peace is a great boss.
Have you ever allowed ambition to get the best of you, blinded to your stress by the fun of adrenaline? Try setting this goal for a change: Prioritize Peace.
Or, is goal-setting too stressful and ra-ra for you? How about this for a more nourishing aspiration: Prioritize Peace.
New year, new you ;)