Ten To End – Week One

Last week I created and kicked off Ten to End, which is a simple program focused on ending the last 10 weeks of 2020 positively. These are self-care goals leading to improved mind, body, and spirit. I decided to share my plan in hopes of inspiring others to join in or create their own goals. I also thought it would be fun to share the progress and discuss the program evolution over time.

That is how it started.

This is how it’s going…

The first seven days proved in some ways to be challenging and in others not challenging enough.

On day one I was concerned it would be too easy. I went through the typical self-bashing phase where my thoughts consisted of, “This is silly. How embarrassing. It’s not like you’re climbing Mount Everest or something.” Then I reminded myself this is about being better than yesterday … not perfect.

Later that day, I went into the second phase of self-sabotage and found myself rushing to read 4 books at once, watch 3 documentaries, write the perfect daily list, all while drowning myself in water and running to the bathroom every 5 minutes. This continued into day two, but after talking myself down, days three through seven were much better.

By day two, I had already adjusted the plank challenge from a daily 70-second plank to adding 5 seconds every two days with the end goal of holding a 4-minute plank on 12/31/20. So far, I am successfully holding an 85-second plank, and tomorrow I adjust to 90 seconds. Considering that 7 days ago, the 70-second plank was hard I think it is worth noting this success in my daily “things to hold on to” list.

Unexpected Discoveries

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I also discovered a cool unplanned trend in my readings and watching. I am currently reading Grit The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth and watching the documentary Bethany Hamilton – Unstoppable I did not plan for this, but wow was Bethany Hamilton gritty! Angela Duckworth defines grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals … even when progress towards that goal is halting or slow. Bethany is a perfect example of what Angela describes in her book as a person with true grit. Angela says, “Talent and luck matter to success, but talent and luck are no guarantee of grit.” Bethany was lucky to live in Hawaii and have surfing experience in her family. She had natural-born talent too. She also had Grit. Even after losing her arm to a shark attack, she never gave up on her goals. She adjusted her training and worked even harder. Anyway, I don’t want to be a spoiler so I will stop there. If you were looking for a good book/documentary combo, I recommend these two titles.

Another Reading/watching Combo

Last weekend, I finished Dan Rather’s book What Unites Us and watched the documentaries Crip Camp and Out of Many, One – The Immigrant’s Story. I was pleasantly surprised at the patriotism in these wonderful stories. Dan Rather does a tremendous job of taking one down a patriotic memory lane. His words are a light of hope in a time of turmoil. I was not expecting patriotism when I started the documentary Crip Camp, but that is what I walked away with. This documentary is a great reminder that the freedoms and privileges we often take for granted, were once fought for by unlikely warriors of peace and change. The documentary Out of Many, One – The immigrant’s Story is an excellent reminder of where we came from. E Pluribus Unum is Latin for out of many, one and is a traditional motto of the United States.

These titles aren’t easy, happy readings. Honestly, parts of them were uncomfortable for me to read or watch, but true growth comes from being uncomfortable. It comes from cultivating a vast amount of varying knowledge and experience. So I will note this success as the growth of mind in my “things to hold on to’ list.

That sums up the first seven days of Ten to End.

I learned a lot, but most importantly, the road to better isn’t a sprint it is a marathon. These last ten weeks aren’t about perfection, but growth and improvement and they are just a stepping stone to the next ten weeks and then the next and so on.

I am giving you a virtual high five my friends! Keep going! You are doing hard things and you deserve some self-care, even if it is just taking a minute to do a plank, or write down a special memory, just a minute to read a daily verse or inspiring quote. Do it for yourself!