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| Holding the pull-up position |
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity,
personally and internationally. I spent the second week of February cramming
for my final exam. And the third week training at the Agatsu Academy in
Montreal. All the while Winterlude is taking place in Ottawa and the Olympic Games
are drawing the world’s attention to Sochi, Russia. I felt cut off from the
outside world. All self-inflicted of course. But I caught up a bit this
weekend, watching the bobsleigh, some of the new skiing events, long track
speed skating (my favourite) and highlights of the gold medal hockey games. I
also enjoyed watching Olympic Prime time with Ron McLean chatting with Kelly
Vanderbeek and Adam van Koeverden about the day’s events.
The exam seems like a distant memory. When you pack a lot
into a short period of time, strangely, it feels like more time has passed.
Sure time flies when you’re having fun, but it also slows. I remember a
vacation I took to Costa Rica that was only ten days long. But my friend and I
had a lot on planned: seeing the mountainous rain forest, zip lining, horse-back
riding, visiting an active volcano, going to the coast for a 4-day sea kayaking
trip, and spending a day hiking near the coastal town of Montezuma. That 10
days felt like a month! This last five spent in Montreal left me with a similar
feeling: that so much had been packed in, more than 5 days must have passed.
Although I took away many lessons from the training, one
that stands out is goal setting. Some people have too many goals, or worse, no
goals at all. If you want to succeed, it is best to have goals, but you have to
prioritize them and plan how you are going to achieve them. Then of course, put
the plan into action. I think I have had too many goals and have not been sure
how to reach them, so I will have to choose one or two, three maximum if I hope
to be successful. One should be the primary goal. I have written it down and I
will cross it off once it is achieved, and the second goal will become the
primary goal, and the third will become second, and then I will set two or three
new goals, and so on.
Right now my primary goal is to be able to do pistol squats.
Right now I am working on getting one. I can lower myself to a deep squat but I
cannot get all the way up. My second is pull-ups. My goal is 10 good pullups.
This is no small goal. Pull-ups are very difficult. Third is holding a mid-air
handstand for more than 10 seconds. I chose these goals based on the
requirements for Level II kettlebell certification with Agatsu. You have to be
able to perform these skills to pass. But they are also skills I would love
to have anyway. I have the map to get there. Now all I have to do is put in the
work. Training starts today!
What are your goals? Do you have a plan
in place to achieve them?
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