Halfway Day and Q3

Happy Halfway Day! 

As of today, July 2nd, the year is halfway over. So now’s the perfect time to go back and check in on those pesky New Year’s resolutions and beat yourself up for not doing them. 

You need to borrow my cat-o’-nine-tails?

Didn’t make any resolutions? Okay.

How about, “Happy Q3!” 

Q3 started yesterday. Do you think of your life in quarters like an accountant?  Did you meet your Q2 benchmarks? Any new Q3 targets?

Don’t think of the year in terms of quarters? Okay.

How about seasons? We’re solidly into summer now. 

The first day of summer was June 20^th, and meteorological summer ends on August 31^st, and cultural summer ends on Labor Day.

 Any vacation plans? How do you feel about summer?

How do you feel in the summer? 

Love the heat? Hate the heat?

Are you planning your life around summer’s hotter temps, the amazing variety and abundance of fresh food, and longer days and shorter nights?

Me? I always make a New Year’s Resolution. It’s one of the Rules of Kath.  

This was this year’s: 

I also like thinking of the year in terms of quarters, so I made some Q2 goals at the beginning of April:

• Eat better
• Drink water
• 10K steps daily
• Lift
• Write
• Finish Pranayama course
• Yoga everyday
• Keep to the ADHD cleaning schedule
• Track spending

But lately I’ve begun thinking about my life in a new way, with a new framework, and even new metaphors.  

I’m not on a journey, for instance.

I don’t see my life as a long trek over hill and dale, with ups and downs, peaks and valleys.

No.

I’m more of a calendar-planner, quarter-watcher, Ayurvedic dosha-season person.

I like designing dosha-driven projects that align me with the season. Since I’m predominantly Vata dosha (which means I hate cold and wind), summertime is my whole vibe. 

I’m done thinking of my life as a through-hike; instead, I think of it like an art project, something I get to design based on whatever happens to be bothering me or intriguing me at the moment.  

At the moment, that project is about incorporating weights, managing cortisol, and adding more protein to my diet. I want to feel what it would be like to be strong.

But habit change is brutal.

Take: delaying coffee. 

If you drink coffee on an empty stomach, you jack your cortisol, which is bad for a lot of reasons, but the one I’m concerned about is fat distribution. So I’m trying to force myself to eat first thing. Before coffee.

Within an hour of waking. 

But I hate breakfast. My love language is brunch. Just the thought of an egg first thing is nauseating. 

But what’s even harder than eating an egg first thing is trusting that said egg is reducing the evil cortisol, when you don’t see or feel any fat redistribution results.

Is my body composition changing? 

I don’t know. I don’t feel any different. I certainly don’t look any different.

Can I trust that if I keep going, things will change, eventually? 

I’m not good at trusting without evidence.

And this is precisely my challenge, this is my project.

The challenge isn’t: Can I eat an egg before my coffee? The challenge is: Can I persist, day after day, week after week, month after month, while seeing practically no progress?

Can I trust the protocol?

Can I trust without immediate gratification? 

That’s the question, that’s the challenge, that’s the project..

Not the bulging muscles or the flatter belly, but learning to fall in love with reality—accepting the reality of flab while at the same time, staying consistent with the eggs, the goblet squats, and the protein powder. 

So, my Q3 project is: Can I learn to love the discipline of habit change and genuinely enjoy the ride? Can I make it interesting and fun? Can I learn to use Ninja mind tricks to enter a flow state? Can I document the process without whining or disparaging it? Can I refuse to suffer? Can I celebrate the wins? Can I learn from the losses, reframe them as feedback, and move forward? 

So many questions! Let the summer begin!

What are YOU up to this summer? Let me know.