Determination

I work as a project manager, and often January is a really busy month since that's the time when all the clients suddenly decide they need to do a bunch of work. I was recently assigned four new projects to manage, in addition to my existing workload of several others which I already had. So work has been really busy. There are currently over 50 emails in my inbox, and I've had multiple conference calls every day (today I had five).

I was, however, absolutely determined to get some exercise today. So I stopped for an hour in the middle of the day and did day 1 of week 1 of the training plan. (I'm repeating week 1.) I was really glad I did, as (counter-intuitively), it gave me more energy to get through the rest of the day and I was quite productive after my workout!

I was also determined to go to Turbo Kick tonight. (I don't often do two workouts in one day...it just worked out that way this time and it was probably good since I hadn't done much the last couple of days.) So I stopped work at 5:50, changed clothes and was heading out the door at 5:55...when I discovered that Connor had eaten somewhere between a third and half of a bottle of vitamins! (Kid vitamins, but still not something which needs to be overconsumed like that.) So I had to call the doctor, who advised calling the poison control center just to be absolutely sure. Poison control asked me several questions, most importantly whether the vitamins contained iron (they didn't), said that Connor might have an upset stomach and that he shouldn't have any vitamins for a few days but other than that he should be fine. Crisis averted. It was now 6:10 and I was late for Turbo Kick. I went anyway. I was determined to go!

Not long ago, I would have taken the excuse to not go and just stayed home being lazy instead. I have always believed that daily exercise, like any other discipline, is a choice, and that setting ones mind to do it is a key component of making sure it gets done. I am definitely finding that to be true. Once I make a determination to get some workout time in (no matter where I have to squeeze it in!), and make doing so non-negotiable in my mind, I will make sure it happens. I was going to say "I hope my determination lasts", but instead I'll say "I'm determined to stay determined". Determination is a powerful, motivating thing.