Business•Mental Health•Travel
30 – The Year of Endurance June 23, 2019
30 – The Year of Endurance Every year, I try to assess my goals for the next yearby establishing my annual goals through a comprehensive, ‘Annual Review’. Through my partnership with Johnson & Johnson’s Live Healthy, Live Well Council, they asked if I could share my thoughts on how I’m going to make 2019 my healthiest year yet. That concept fit in perfectly with my ‘Annual Review’ which I initially learned from Chris Guillebeau, a fellow friend and traveler whose knowledge and passion for travel and entrepreneurialism piqued my interest back in early 2014. Prior to embarking on Expedition 196, my 196-country Guinness World Record attempt, in 2015, I purchased a dozen or so entrepreneurial books to force me to make the most out of the adventure from a business standpoint. Since the age of 18 through 24, for the greater part of my youth, I had traveled to roughly 25 countries alone, working in nine of them, developing a strong foundation to my career through internships, business development and entrepreneurial thinking. I viewed Expedition 196 as my way of utilizing 6 years worth of experience in travel and turning that passion into a lucrative career. Along the way, and since the age of 16 I’d been racing triathlons. It all started with a sprint triathlon which I did in the form of a relay with my family. From there, I advanced to racing my own, full sprint. And thereafter came the Olympics, 70.3’s and finally, my first, full Ironman. At the age of 16, I had made it a goal to race my first Ironman before the age of 30, and when 2018 came along, I realized that 30 was only a year away and I was forced to meet my deadline quickly. In 2017 after finishing Expedition 196 in February, I began immediately training for my Ironman which requires at least a full year of preparation. A couple of injuries, and hundreds of hours of training later, I was at the starting line of Ironman Florida on November 4th, 2018. During my darkest moments as I swam 2.4 miles, biked 116 miles and ran 26.2 miles, the motivation that forced me to overcome those moments was the fact that I had set this goal for myself at the age of 16, 13 years earlier – to finish this race – and there I was, finally racing it. There was nothing that was going to stop me from finishing that race no matter how physically debilitating or mentally challenging it was. Even if I had to run, walk, or crawl, I had no other option than to finish because I knew that that was my last chance to race an Ironman before my deadline. Now that my goal of traveling to every country by the age of 27 and finishing my first, full Ironman by the age of 30 is complete, I find that there is no other option than to utilize my energy towards another endurance-based goal as I approach my 30th year. I wanted something that would push me to my ultimate physical limits while also focusing on driving my career and philanthropic goals. And while my plate is packed to the brim with projects and work commitments, I need this for myself – for my mental well-being and to be able to stay on track with living the best and healthiest life that I possibly can while inspiring others to do the same. This next goal will be completed by my mid-thirtieth year, I am hoping that it will set the stage for a positive and motivating decade following. Some people think that the age limits I set for myself are unnecessary, and would rather encourage me to set longer-term goals because, “you have the time” but do we really? Many of you reading this by now should know my philosophy on life and how little time we actually have – we never know when it will be taken from us. Therefore, I personally don’t believe in waiting in order to fulfill a life goal or mission. I think the best time to do it is now. When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, even though they are somewhat “short-term”, I actually don’t believe them to be very lucrative, and this is why I turn to Chris’s ‘Annual Review’ to be able to develop a proper document outlining clear, actionable goals and a set of criteria that enables me to meet those goals. I think it’s easy and fun to set New Year’s resolutions but then when an individual is unable to meet them and instead give up 3-6 months in, it can lead to a real mental pitfall, leading us one step backwards instead of forward towards our best lives. Some of the questions that Jennifer Turgis,PHD, VP of Behavior Science and Advanced Analytics at Johnson & Johnson says we should ask ourselves regardinglaunching into a successful year of health and wellness are similar to the ones I’ve been asking myself every year as I compile my own personal, Annual Review. Without having answers to the basic questions like “Do I have the energy to pursue all the things I want, including spending time on personal interests and with family? Do I feel like I’m moving forward in life or are there specific places where I feel stuck in a rut?” It’s challenging to figure out a solution towards acting on the goals that we establish for ourselves. If you’re looking for more tips on how to lead a productive 2019 year, check out Johnson & Johnson’s article here. I’ll be the first to tell you, that while I love triathlon and fitness now, it didn’t always come easy to me. I was what we’d call a “wall hugger” when I was on the swim team in high school, I always came in last during cross country races, and being fit and fast never was something I was extremely passionate about. Oftentimes when I was younger, I would find it challenging to balance training and my love for food, and the latter would oftentimes win, leaving me with a lack of physical fitness that I needed to get through my triathlons effectively. But the more I focused on the end goal, and the harder I worked to change my ways, the easier it was to fall into a routine or rather, lifestyle balance of training and indulging in life’s simple pleasures. I think anyone can make subtle changes over time to be able to eventually lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle, as opposed to one of extreme highs and extreme lows. I do believe that the New Year provides a perfect time to evaluate how we can meet these goals to create a fantastic, health-driven life for ourselves. Based on my own experience and the tips mentioned in the J&J article, I would say that the key to following through with your goals in 2019 and living a healthier year both physically and mentally would be to consider my five tips;
- Rise with the sun
- Start your morning off with a 30 minute walk
- Drink a liter of warm lemon water
- Make fitness a priority
- Before the start of the week, make a “To Do” list of what you will accomplish every day that will lead to the result(s) come weeks end
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