Thank you for reading this week’s Operation Melt update.
Operation Melt started as a blog to share my personal transformation and weight loss story. After achieving success with that goal, Operation Melt has evolved into a platform to help inspire, motivate and equip people to achieve their own personal and professional goals so they can live their best lives.
I am trying to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
This week I am just going to share a few random thoughts that may or may not be related. They also may or may not be useful to you but I hope they are.
One Month Done
Today is the last day of January, which means we are already a full month into 2021. How are your new years resolutions holding up? Have you made progress with your goals?
So far I am just doing ok with my Cs Every Day strategy for 2021. I am focused on my 9 daily practices but I have also still been a little too results-focused. That will just take some time. I have done well with some practices and not as well with others.
One of my Cs for 2021 that I have spent a bit of time on is Control. My goal for this practice is to manage my brain to give myself the moods, feelings and confidence that I want. I have done lots of research and tried some things and they have been good.
I have started, sporadically, working through my own version of meditation. My style so far is just silence. I sit in silence, eyes closed, breathing deeply for at least five minutes every few days. I try to clear my mind and just be aware of my body. When thoughts pop into my mind I take note of them and put them aside. It has really been helpful and I am going to work on doing it more in February for sure.
I have also created a list of affirmations that I read every day, but I still need to refine this list because there are too many. I started creating playlists of music based on how I want to feel, the first one is called “Be Fierce.”
And, maybe most importantly, I have significantly reduced but not eliminated my cable news consumption. That helps a lot because it just gives me frustration and anxiety.
Magic of the Human Brain
As I have been focusing on Control I have been working to manage my brain. At the same time, I have been working a little bit, admittedly not as much as I want, on another C, Construct. The goal of this C is to build new skills, knowledge and abilities every day.
I have been taking lots of Construct steps, but three have been more prevalent than the others: I listen to about an hour of podcasts per day, I read (or listen to eBooks) and I am working through the online courses for a second coaching certification (more to come on that later).
The management of my brain and this week’s books, podcasts and courses have all highlighted a major theme. The human brain is incredibly powerful! If you learn to manage your brain you are absolutely unstoppable.
Here are two quick examples, a positive and a negative.
Before I went to the gym, I visualized my workout, I set some mini goals and I fed my brain with music intended to influence my mood and thoughts before and during the workout. I ended up having a fantastic workout! I felt strong and accomplished after the workout. I felt happier and that lasted all day. I felt more confident in the work meetings that I had after the workout. Plus I actually felt more attractive when I looked in the mirror.
All of this positive energy came from proactively managing my brain and deliberately giving myself the moods, feelings and confidence that I wanted to have. It was like magic! But it isn’t always this way.
On a different day over the past two weeks, I made different choices. I got up late. I decided just to brew coffee at home and get started with my work day instead of having any morning exercise. As I checked email, sipped coffee and ate breakfast at my desk, I had cable news on in the background.
I noticed that I was more unsettled and anxious through the morning. I performed poorly in a couple of meetings that I should have nailed. That led to negative self-talk and feelings of imposter syndrome. I was distracted and couldn’t focus. My heart rate was elevated. My mood sucked. I generally didn’t feel like myself.
I reacted quickly to this. I turned off the news and turned on my “Be Fierce” playlist. I did a quick ten-minute weight training workout at home. Then I spent five minutes sitting in silence. It made a world of difference and I felt refocused. All because I spent fifteen minutes focused on managing my brain.
As I have learned more about the subconscious mind, visualization, affirmations and various other mind management techniques, I have been skeptical. But I can tell you first hand that these things work!
Investing just a little energy in managing your brain pays huge dividends.
Two Days of Rest
My final point for today is related to something I did for the first time in a long time. I had (well, am currently having) two consecutive rest days.
On Thursday and Friday, I walked nearly twenty total miles. I did this in shoes that were well past their prime and that caused a problem. I started feeling the beginning of the familiar pain associated with shin splints. Fortunately, I caught it early.
I decided to take it a bit easy on Saturday to ensure that I stopped the pain before it got worse. This was easier because I had a morning meeting and an afternoon get-together with friends for a socially distanced lunch. So I walked a little bit in the morning, less than 3 miles, and that was the extent of my exercise. I burned 500 total calories in exercise and ultimately went over my net calorie goal for the day. But I was ok with it.
On Sunday, today, Columbus got snow. Real snow. Level two snow emergency snow. So I am definitely not going out running in that. I am not walking either. And I am not getting in my car and driving to the gym. I will get a little bit of exercise shoveling snow later and may or may not have a brief afternoon walk, but it is going to be a second rest day.
I am going to invest time in other things today. I am going to work through a few more lessons in my coaching class. I will do some writing. I will spend some quality time with my wife. I will do some housework and pay some bills. Plus I am going to feed my brain with some quality content – currently, that is Beethoven.
I have talked many times in my blog about the value of rest but I am really bad at having real rest days. This weekend is definitely out of character for me and I love it. Now, let’s just hope that my body agrees with this plan and I don’t see negative results on the scale!
I Need Your Help
Before you go I would like to ask you for a favor. I can’t build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness on my own. Please consider helping your friends find today’s post by following me on Facebook, on LinkedIn or via Instagram and sharing today’s post to your feed.
While you are at it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s post, your goals or anything else on your mind. Send me a note via my Contact Me form,
Thanks again for reading today’s post and here’s to achieving your most important goals!
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