Burnout!
The last four weeks have been disappointingly stagnant.
Sometimes you can plan all you like, yet it does not transpire. A number of activities I was working towards did not take place.
I wanted to learn joinery but the course was cancelled, with no suitable alternatives on offer.
An obstacle race I had been training so hard for, was also cancelled, as the organisers explained – due to “lack of enthusiasm”
With so many let downs, I felt burnt out, where I couldn’t be bothered doing anything, expect if it involved the Playstation.
Boredom ensued, but even then that couldn’t inspire action.
On the positive because I had been training for a race and I wasn’t doing much else, my schedule has been brilliant, focusing on functional training, heavy lifts and getting in plenty of runs.
However you make excuses when you end up doing nothing. If I wanted to get deeper into the meaning of why we do this I would assume there is some psychological aspect where the brain justifies your decisions to make the best of the situation.
“Forget cooking, just have something to stick in the microwave, you’ll save time”
“I could go out, but it’s so expensive and it’s never as good as the expectations”
Action!
Depressingly I looked at some of the goals I set when I started this blog, most were nowhere near to being achieved.
Here I realised a few problems with my self-improvement targets:
Far too many goals
I just did not have time to do everything, the number of goals I set could probably only be achieved if I quit my job.
Focus on one goal at the cost of others
I started writing the Manifesto of Perfection to fulfil the goal “Write something”. However I realised that this was consuming my evenings.
In many ways I was not doing this goal as I wasted time on twitter andtinkered about with the widgets.
My goals where set so that I was spending time away from the computer, but yet I was spending more time at the computer.
Whim goals
There were goals that had been added because of my mind-set that week.
As I had not even thought about them ever since, I didn’t see the point of working towards things I wasn’t that bothered about.
Unrealistic goals
My goals have been well grounded, however I still feel there is perhaps an over estimation on my ability to achieve certain things without taking smaller steps first
Woolly goals
Some goals were not very specific, or relied on other entities helping my goals fall into place.
I want to develop my public speaking skills, which I intended to do through finding a voluntary opportunity.
The problem was finding the right opportunity and from past experience with volunteering, expectations can be disappointing, usually doing the stuff the paid staff don’t want to do.
So what next?
It is important more than anything that I manage my goals carefully.
A general role I have imposed is if I can’t remember it, it is obviously not that important to my life.
I enjoy writing the Manifesto of Perfection and am happy I have managed to have at least one new post a week.
I need to make this more manageable so that I am not spending all my spare time on the Internet.
I have enrolled in another race, so it is important I keep up my training and good nutrition
I am looking at books and youtube to help with my joinery, I’ll see how that turns out.
Socially I want to do more things to meet people, re-establishing old friend networks and building new ones.
I will organise activities, it’s been a while since I’ve been to a good gig. I also will start classes at the gym and a running club – a new way of thinking, as usually I train alone.
Perfect Manifesto 