My First Blog – Thoughts from Isolation
My First Blog – Thoughts from Isolation
Lying in bed last night I was unable to sleep due to my mind going a thousand miles an hour with no intent to shut down. You know those nights where your body wants to sleep, but your mind has about 1000 other things it would rather do. Like bring up some of the most painful moments from your childhood, and then ask why it hurt…
While I was in this weird state of delirium and emotional uncertainty, I reflected on the last 11 days. I have been in isolation since the 26th of October (it is the 7th of November as I write this), with 6 more days to go. To be frank, I felt like I had wasted my time, despite staying relatively proactive and ticking off minor tasks. I know I could have been more proactive to put myself in a better position. For example, I could have read more, established more robust systems, and created more content. At this point, it’s important to understand where these mixed feelings originated from.
While lying in bed trying to drown my thoughts, I turned to the old trusty Instagram like every social media addict is before they go to bed). As a side note, I would like to point how out terrible this habit is and that I need to break out of it. Anyway, while scrolling I saw some well-known names in the S&C industry, people who I look up to and respect. I compared my own achievements to theirs, my age to theirs, my life to theirs. Big mistake. Feelings of failure, disappointment, and regret ensued.
I looked at what they had achieved and how old they were… and then I compared them to myself. Big mistake. Feelings of failure, disappointment, and regret ensued.
So, I made a promise to myself. I told myself to pull my shit together and to take action towards making my aspirations and goals a reality.
This means I need to stop making excuses, stop delaying work, and hold myself accountable. Because if I don’t do this no one else will.
And what’s more, to stop fucking comparing myself to others, where they are and what they have achieved. It is a waste of emotional energy, one which is so finite and cannot be replaced like physical energy. (Carbs don’t replenish emotional energy as well as I once thought).
The constant need to compare my path to others, formed when I was a teenager, trying to climb my way through the ranks of Sydney Grade Cricket. For instance, I would look at how other players were performing rather than focusing on my game and what I could do to improve. Unfortunately, old habits die hard and I have noticed it sneaking into other areas of my life 10 years on.
So here I am, sitting at my table while in isolation writing my first blog post.
At this point, it’s vital to set some clear goalposts. So, you know what you are getting, and I know what I am trying to achieve.
First of all, it is a space where I can write without hindrance and improve my ability to communicate through the written word. A skill which has deteriorated since leaving university.
Secondly, I want to share my thoughts and ideas specific to strength and conditioning. I was to do this through into an informative and easy to digest platform. These thoughts may not always have copious amounts of research to back them. However, where I can, I will Endeavor to approach topics from an unbiased perspective.
Thirdly, I plan to develop this blog into a resource for fitness enthusiasts, coaches, trainers, and athletes to read (if people still do that) on a weekly basis. Second, to this, I am a strong believer that there are many life lessons to be learned from training. Now I am by no means a life coach and don’t pretend to be. However, I do think that training offers some excellent metaphors for life and we would remiss if we didn’t apply them to our life as well.
I won’t lie, there are some synergistic benefits that I want to achieve with this blog. This includes; - Increasing traffic to my website, and subsequently creating more sales opportunities - Developing my name within the Strength and Conditioning and Exercise Science community, and, - Provide a platform for valuable, robust discussion.
I know at some point I am going to be proven wrong. So, I reserve the right at all times to put my hand up and say I was wrong or change my mind on a topic.
I want to be able to achieve this while maintaining a certain level of “cheek” and sarcasm within my writing. Why? Because a relaxed environment allows people to feel more comfortable. When people are more comfortable, they are more likely to learn, absorb information, and engage in discussion. Plus, people look forward to learning when humour is involved (no matter how bad).