This was week 144 of my Operation Melt journey that started with my goal to escape obesity and lose over 100 pounds in under a year. I launched the Operation Melt blog as a way to share my journey to both keep myself accountable and to help you as you work to crush your own goals. My hope is that something that I am doing will inspire you to try, will motivate you to keep going and will equip you to succeed in your own journey.
Pandemic Thoughts
Most of us are over a week into the new, temporary “normal” of social distancing to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Like many people most of my favorite places are closed (restaurants, gyms) and I am working from home. Nearly every aspect of my life has been impacted in some way. In full transparency it really sucks!
But the impacts of the pandemic have really caused me to pause and think. I have decided that I am not going to just be a victim. I am going to step up and do what I can to help in my own unique ways.
Doing my part. First of all I am trying to shop at my favorite local businesses whenever possible. I am doing carryout and still supporting them where I can. Similarly I am working to find ways to support my server and bartender friends who have been displaced by the forced closure of, well, everything. Plus I immediately offered up my project management skills to local businesses who need help pivoting their business models and encouraged other project managers to do the same.
Staying positive. One morning this week I was about to post a rant to Facebook about something that was frustrating me but I made a different decision. I started a new routine focused on maintaining my positivity and want to encourage you to try the same. It is something I am calling a Pandemic of Gratitude (#PandemicOfGratitude).
First thing every morning, before reading the news or checking email, I start the day by thinking about AT LEAST one thing I am grateful for from the prior day. Then I share that thing (usually multiples) on social media and ask others to do the same. I even do this on my companies Slack board as well by suggestion from our CEO.
The response has been amazing and so rewarding. People have been sharing their own list of things they are grateful for and one person has even requested that I be her “positivity sponsor” – I am deeply honored by this request.
Fitness Tips. I also started one other daily habit associated with fitness. I decided not to let the social distancing to negatively impact my own fitness or that of others. I have learned that a global pandemic forcing us out of our daily routines means that we have to make some changes and be even more deliberate about fitness. So I started sharing some of my new fitness habits that have taken shape during this trying time. My hope is that sharing my habits can help others keep their fitness goals moving in the right direction.
To view my daily Pandemic Fitness Tips make sure to follow me on social media at @OperationMelt or access them on the Operation Melt Blog at https://www.operationmelt.com/category/pandemic-fitness-tips/
Throughout this rough time I plan to continue looking for every opportunity to help others and to stay positive myself. Hopefully this leadership helps others get through this time as happy, healthy and productive as possible.
How are you navigating our new social distancing world? Share you tips, ideas and strategies with me on social media or via the Contact Me link above.
Best of Operation Melt: Part 4
As I wrote in my end of February post I am taking the season of Lent as a time to rest, reflect, refocus and reinvigorate my Operation Melt blog and related things. So I am not writing any new posts during this time.
Instead of writing new posts I am sharing the Best of Operation Melt. I am looking back at some of my favorite posts from the past 144 weeks. There is some good stuff in some of these old posts and I don’t want them to be lost forever.
This month should mark the start of the 2020 racing season and I already ran my first 5k of the year. But now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of my upcoming races have been cancelled or postponed. Yes I can, and do, still run on my own but it is not the same. So this week’s Best of Operation Melt post is a look back to my first ever organized race.
In June of 2018 I celebrated the first anniversary of starting my fitness journey by hosting my own 5k. This was going to be my first organized race and I decided to do it my way. Plus that was the morning that I wrote the poem that I used as the introduction to my book Operation Melt: How I Used Life-changing Project Management to Lose Over 100 Pounds in Under a Year.
Please click through and read my 6/16/2018 post: Milestone Moment: One Year of Melting at https://www.operationmelt.com/2018/06/16/milestone-moment-one-year-of-melting/
