The Year in Review....

I've read a couple of posts lately by people who are reviewing their progress thus far in 2009. This, together with a few of my goals coming to fruition in the last few weeks, has inspired me to do my own "year in review" post. And I read somewhere that as well as writing down your goals, you should also keep track (written) of your achievements. And since this is my journal now, this is where I will record them.

So I guess this post comes with a warning - it's likely to be rather self-indulgent. So feel free to tune out ...... now!

OK. You can see at the top of my blog the goals that I set at the beginning of December 2008. And I'm happy to say that as at April 2009, I have achieved all of them (and continue to achieve the ongoing ones). For the first time in my life, my mindset really has changed! It's quite amazing.

For example ... I'm a certified chocoholic. And Easter chocolates have a particularly distinct (and extra sweet) flavour. I decided to spoil myself and bought a few .. including a couple of packets of the really little ones. When I opened them all up and put them in a bowl (they look so pretty on the kitchen bench in all their gloriously colourful wrappers!), I realised that I'd gone a little overboard. So I decided to have a bit of a binge today and get rid of quite a few. But not too many into it, I realised that I wasn't enjoying them and really didn't want any more. Huh?? Is this possible? OK, who the hell ARE you and what have you done with Sue???? To top it off (and given that I'd been perusing martial arts articles), I was inspired to go for a run. A real run. On the street. (All my running to date has been on a treadmill in the gym.) So I did. And I'd already done 30mins on the Stairmaster this morning plus some karate kata.

I was gone for about 40mins and ran all of the way, barring a few minutes walk on warm up and cool down. Toward the end I stopped at a cricket oval where I did 3 sets of 10 push-ups and the same in sit-ups, plus a fast run around the oval. Feel amazing now.

Craig Harper called me "an athlete" not long ago, when answering some of my questions about weight loss in one of his posts. He also made a note, "For my other readers, Sue is a martial artist." To see these things about me in writing really struck a chord. Funny how something so simple can have such an impact. Since then I have been conscious about my choices and how I am living, given that I WANT to be (and be seen to be) an athlete and a martial artist. Somewhere along the way, I have become exactly those things, as I now exist in that mindset without effort .. and without question.

But before I digress too much, back to the post at hand .. what I have achieved so far in 2009. (I'll limit these to end-type events, rather than ongoing goals.)

* Achieved weight loss (body composition) goal of 18% bodyfat (and size 10 butt!).

* Secured a challenging, interesting and well-paid job (I start on April 20).

* Passed the Sempai Training Programme (assistant karate instructor) with a score of 58/60.

* Further to above, it was announced that I would be groomed up as quickly as possible to take over a particular class - which means I'll be a Sensei in the very near future. (Holy crap!)

* Won the gold medal for kumite (fighting) in my division at the regional tournament held April 5.

All of these achievements have taken months of training and hard work .. even the job search (I was out of work for 6 months). So to actually be able to say I really did finish what I started in these areas feels amazing. I'm not sure I've ever actually reached that pinnacle before. And now I find myself both looking forward to the next challenges in my life (which include starting my new job and becoming a Sensei in the near future), and also thinking about what goals I am inspired to set myself now. That is something for another post, methinks.

I mentioned earlier in this post that my mindset has really changed on this journey. Aside from viewing my lifestyle as exactly that, a lifestyle, rather than a short-term change in behaviour to reach a goal, the main difference has been that once I set my goals, I was able to "let them go". I didn't do each training session or day of clean eating while continually looking forward thinking "that's one more tick toward the end goal". Rather, I found myself simply immersed in the NOW of it all, and enjoying each day and session for exactly what it was and the feeling it gave me. And by not continually being focussed on those future goals, I enjoyed getting there a whole lot more .. and they seemed to come up fast - almost without me realised how far I'd actually progressed. This is a mindset that I will consciously aim to keep!

So there you have it. I've done great this year and in addition to the lessons I've learned along the way, I have a new-found self-belief that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. Yep, time for new goals. And new challenges. Bring it on!

Goal Achieved!

Yay!  The weight loss (fat loss) journey is over! I've reached my goal of less than 18% body fat and just this morning clocked in at 65.4kg .. which is the leanest and lightest I've been in the last 15 years. And is also about 17kg lighter than my heaviest weight of 83kg. So needless to say, I'm pretty thrilled this morning!

In addition to the physical goal, I also received an excellent job offer yesterday .. which I will accept. It's a challenging and interesting role, giving me free rein in setting up the commercial side of the business from scratch .. quite exciting! It's a mining joint venture that is just about to go into the construction phase. I start in a couple of weeks, so I now need to go shopping for a new work wardrobe. Nope, can't wipe the cheesy grin off my face this morning!

I believe in the power of the mind, and in particular, positive thoughts. After six months being out of work (during which time lots of people asked if I was worried or stressed, etc), I have a brilliant job offer. And the funny thing is, I never doubted that it would happen. Sure, if I thought about it too much, I could convince myself to get concerned, but my gut .. my feelings .. my INSTINCT was never worried. I just had total faith that the right role would come along when it was meant to.

Ever since I decided to have this total faith in the Universe, I have to admit that it feels like the right opportunities come along a lot more easily. And I'm enjoying the journey a whole lot more. Sure, I still need to set goals and work hard toward them, but it seems to me that when I'm willing to put in MY share of hard work, commitment and determination, the Universe is then willing to then create opportunities that I may not otherwise have had. And it also seems to guide me in the right direction, and with the right timing. Believe in this stuff or not ... it's up to you. But in my mind, what have you got to lose? Seriously. Do you really gain anything by quashing the possibilities of intangible powers like this? But you can't pretend .. you have to totally believe it. Have complete faith. And for a non-religious person, it's actually really nice to have complete faith in something greater than exists on this physical Earth!