Level up your life. Wise words from Steve of Nerd Fitness, a crazy awesome website I used to follow religiously for fitness inspiration and tips. (The guy uses Legos to animate his posts for crying out loud!)
It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of Steve and his call to level up every aspect of your life. His words hit me hard this morning as I sat down to write my journal and put my experiences this past week into words.
I’m going to keep this short and sweet since I have a mile-long to-do list and a ticking clock chaining me to my desk. Oy.
I’ve had loads of hard days mixed with some good in the past few months, but what’s made this week stand out for me are the new mental and physical challenges I’ve faced. I went to my first Soul Cycle class a week ago and yesterday, my trainer had me try single-armed jerks with kettlebells and dumbbells for the first time.
I’ve been training continuously for over a year with periods of intense focus and learning. But it’s been a while since I’ve felt completely out of my element in the gym, and I missed that terribly. Making the decision to be more active in my life by committing myself to regular exercise was a life-changing choice. Choosing to add a trainer not only reunited me with an incredible friend but took my fitness to the next level by introducing weight lifting and eventually power lifting to my routine.
Now I find myself on a new plateau looking for new adventures, and I’ve had the good fortune to begin exploring that this week. Maybe I won’t spin all the time and it’ll take time for me to get the jerk form down, but I’m out there giving it a shot, no matter how ridiculous I look (which is to say I look very ridiculous).
Check that off the list.
The social media challenges have been leveled up from what I’ve been doing this past year with Food4ThoughtNYC. I’d tweet here or post on Facebook there, but I never really got into the nitty-gritty of what social media could mean for my personal enrichment and my professional career.
I’ve had the incredible fortune of exploring that avenue as an intern for an extraordinary startup (more on this soon) based here in New York. It’s taken a lot of hard work and focus, and there are times when the amount of work involved with social media engagements seems insurmountable. But there’s this tremendous feeling of excitement too. The amount of information out there defies logic sometimes, but I’ve learned SO much these past few weeks about so many different ways we’re changing as a society. The landscape is constantly evolving and all of our actions contribute to that mural, each and every single day. It’s kind of insane but really inspiring at the same time.
My landscape is evolving too. Some parts of my life remain the same, and I’m striving to change them however possible. But I feel a significant shift happening in how I approach the world around me. I have a greater appreciation for the little moments because sometimes I can see how they’re adding up to create another world of possibilities for me, and that’s pretty amazing.
Take it from Steve. Level up your life every single day. Challenge yourselves to do one thing differently. You’ve got this one life to live. So do it already.
Oh, and PS- Cafe Bustelo is the best coffee on the planet. I’m just sayin’.
What are you thankful for this week? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter!
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