Fear, Life lessons and Living the Dream!

In life we are constantly told to strive, take life by the horns, take that leap of faith as the time is never perfect. You have even heard these words uttered by “ME”! I do truly believe that we hold ourselves back due to fear of the unknown but recently I was forced to look at things a little bit differently. What if it isn’t fear? What if what you need is a few more life lessons to confirm or anchor your commitment to that leap of faith?!

As a diligent “To Do List” task master I am very much the knuckle down and get your project done kind of person. Eat that Frog, take the leap and just get on with it already!  While working on a recent project that I am fully invested in and excited about-- heck it’s about my future so you better believe I am excited and fully invested.  I found myself going from extremely enthusiastic to dragging myself through each task. My heart was checked out, I was digging my heels into every step along the way and mentally I was checking out more and more from the project as a whole. Now it was time for the internal chatter to start…." You are scared! You worried about failing yourself! You are being lazy and not willing to put in the necessary work! Stop looking for excuses!”  Inside I knew I wasn’t looking for excuses there was a piece of the puzzle that was missing.  Thankfully I also knew where to look for that magical puzzle piece….. my upcoming trip!

When this soul searching, living your life, embracing fear began I had a calling to go to Europe and for some reason specifically Paris. At the time I allowed other events and potential opportunity that was seen hovering on the horizon sway me from my tracks. Ironically with ALL of those believed opportunities not ONE of them became anything except the cause of my temporarily closing the window of what I see now as the REAL opportunity which was travelling  Europe.  NOW that window has been re-opened and it is right there….. I know with my heart that I will be returning from this trip with a different mindset and focus and with this NEW found mindset and focus I will be ready to Eat that Frog and take my leap of faith! 

A Daily Success Plan!

A daily success plan..... a novel idea of actually enjoying those first initial moments of waking up. Not jumping right onto our phones to check for messages that came in through the night but actually pausing, reveling in the feeling of having awoken to a new day! What would it look like for you to change this idea from a novel concept to reality? What would your daily success plan look like?

I was recently asked this question and initially I was a little stumped and then the fantasy hit..... For those who follow me you know I am all about visioning your future, working towards creating that vision and then blissfully allowing yourself to live it and enjoy it. What does my fantasy daily success plan look like?

First one must set the stage by awaking after a blissful nights sleep in a huge comfy bed. One of those beds you see in the commercials where the bedding looks like your sleeping right in the middle of a huge cloud. On-top of my cloud is two beautiful pups peacefully sleeping where one of course will be snoring. Commencing my morning movement by crawling over my cloud to those two little furkids and enjoying cuddles and puppy kisses to kickstart the day! Then the MOMENT-- insert the amazing dream! Slipping out of bed, sliding into my bikini and then yes oh yes grabbing my stand up paddle board and hitting the water. The tranquility of skimming across the waters surface with no distractions just myself, possibly a puppy on board and peace! NOW that would be the way to wake up in the morning! The energy, the peace and the pleasure from that morning ritual could only create amazing days! #nobaddays

Although one must dream big for the future we MUST also ensure we enjoy our living for the present and NOW! Insert the challenge how do I make today's daily success plan resemble the ultimate future goal! First step I MUST go shopping for the world's most amazing duvet! Okay no but I love the idea.

Back to the real world and my daily success plan commitment!

Awaken after a glorious nights sleep to lay perfectly still and quiet for a full minute. No thoughts allowed of the day ahead, no checking electronics just stillness and quiet. Then crawling over to those amazing pups and enjoy my morning hugs n kisses. Then my mid-way to the dream life adaption.... enjoying 5 minutes of seated or active yoga meditation while listening to the sounds of the ocean.

Suddenly I am really excited for tomorrow morning......

Do I have your wheels turning? What would be your dream daily success plan? How can you adapt that dream for the present and then ultimately how can you make steps to make that dream eventually be your reality! #betheheroofyourownsuccessstory

The greatest things in life start with "Change"

 I am kicking off my traditional

 New Year project with just that --Change! 

For the previous 5 years I have kicked off my adventure of the upcoming New Year by creating a list of "Will Do's"! Focusing on my personal, career and financial goals. My "Will Do" lists were an amazing tool to keep me on task and having a direction to steer my ship for years but now.....

My life has taken an amazing turn and is forever evolving with new opportunities and wonderful challenges. Needless to say my carefully crafted "Will Do List" was unable to keep up with the new ideas and inspirations so it was shelved very early into the year. As we entered into the final couple months of this year my mind out of habit began to think about creating my new "Will Do List" but my heart wasn't into it and I knew it was time for something new but WHAT?

Ironically within days of my light bulb moment I received a message from one of my girlfriends letting me know that she would not be participating this upcoming years "Will Do List" but instead she had been introduced to One Word 365. Needless to say having hit my own roadblock and eager to ensure that I did have some sense of direction for the upcoming year I was all over that "google" and checking it out. 

My first instinct was "WHAT!! ONE FREAKING WORD! How is that possible?!" 

The weight and the power of that one word- Oh my! Then the inquisitive introvert in me took over and surprise, surprise if I didn't realize I had already been living my one word "YES".  At the beginning stages of my new journey I was scared and living outside of my comfort zone everyday. I made the commitment to myself that if any opportunity provided itself and it aligned with my ultimate goal my answer would always be "YES"! Whatever hurdle I needed to get over after that was mine to figure out. Who knew that one word and in my case and a very little word could make such a HUGE impact and live up to the weight! 

Insert this upcoming year and the responsibility of picking my new word to match the expectations I have of this upcoming year. I knew needed a big word with lot's of excitement and open to opportunities...... I have mediated and stewed over this word for probably 2 months-- hey this is a big deal I am giving a year of my life to this word! Then the light bulb hit again and I realized my word has been sitting here this whole time just waiting for me to see it......

2015 My Year of Adventure!

 I can not wait for the opportunities that word is going to give me the courage to do and accomplish! 

Beth Spaven's Will Do 2014!

WILL DO LIST 2014

“One day, she noticed something new in her reflection. Something that had a new light all its own”

Unknown

Personal

MAKE MYSELF MY TOP PRIORITY. TAKE PRIDE IN WHO I AM!

MAKE SATURDAY DATE NIGHT A PRIORITY AGAIN

EAT MEALS AT THE DINNER TABLE

READ A MIN OF 1 BOOK EVERY MONTH

COMPETE ALL THE PROJECTS I HAVE ALREADY STARTED AND WILL START IN THE FUTURE (I HAVE SO MANY HALF FINISHED PROJECTS ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY)

STEP OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE... “FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAYS” WILL BE MY MOTTO FOR THIS YEAR

USE MY VACATION TIME FOR HOLIDAYS NOT TO DO CHORES

BE MORE SOCIAL.

HEALTH & FITNESS

EAT AS CLEAN AND LOCAL AS POSSIBLE. TRY TO AVOID MODIFIED AND PACKAGED FOOD. ZERO MILE/100 MILE DIET WILL BE MY GUIDELINES. WE HAVE SO MANY AMAZING LOCAL FARMERS AND ARTISANS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND!

START RUNNING AGAIN. COMPLETE 3-5 RACES THIS YEAR. SO FAR I HAVE REGISTERED FOR TC10K IN APRIL AND GOODLIFE 8K IN OCTOBER

DO MORE YOGA AND MEDITATION. AIM FOR 3 DAYS A WEEK

USE MY GYM MEMBERSHIP. UTILIZE THE POOL AND DROP IN FITNESS CLASSES

USE THE GYM WE BUILT AT OUR HOUSE FOR STRENGTH TRAINING

CAREER 7 FINANCIAL

FIND A CAREER IN MY NEW FIELD. I ALREADY HAVE A JOB BUT WANT A CAREER

CONTINUE TO EDUCATE MYSELF AND KEEP MY LICENCE UPDATED

SHOP MINDFULLY, THINK BEFORE I PURCHASE. IS IT A NEED OR A WANT, WILL I EVER USE/WEAR/EAT IT OR PUT IT IN THE CLOSET/SHELF AND FORGET I HAVE IT.

COMPLETE THE 52 WEEK MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE

PAY OFF CREDIT CARD DEBT

START A TFSA ACCOUNT

SELL MY OLD CAR (I BOUGHT A NEW ONE NOVEMBER 2012)

HIRE A LAWYER TO DEAL WITH ACCIDENT/ICBC CLAIM (I WAS HIT BY A DRUNK DRIVER IN NOVEMBER 2012)

Big Sur- My personal celebration to a successful marathon!!!

 As I sit down to type my celebratory blog  of my completion of the Big Sur International Marathon reality hits me as it was this day last week that it all happened. Already a week ago, wow!

Race Expo

  Big Sur - Yowzer! What an event?! Amazing!!! If you have ever considered a marathon to be in your future or your looking for another to add to your repertoire this baby needs to go on your bucket list! This is post event Yvonne speaking! Pre event Yvonne arrived at the race expo with grave concerns that I might actually throw up upon picking up my race package! Thankfully as we toured around the race expo and I got all my pre/post tickets and shuttle bus tickets my pre-race jitters started to disappear and instead I was filled with excitement and a sense of calm! This was the place where I was going to prove to myself how good I could be. 

Its Official!

Bring on race day and this baby starts up early. Your race starts at Big Sur itself so all race participants need to be shuttled to the start line. By 3:45am I was sitting on a big yellow school bus heading up to Big Sur and the race start.  With the bus ride being during the wee hours of the morning the drive is completed in darkness. In my case this is a bonus as I like to go into my races oblivious. I don't want to know after this corner is this hill, after that hill is the really big hill etc. Reality is regardless of what the course looks like I have to run it so I would rather be surprised vs knowing what is coming up. 

Finally its time to start the race..... while waiting for our tiered start to happen a flock of doves flew out of the valley beside us. That had to be a good omen for a great day or at least that is what the group around me determined. Anchoring the good omen we saw doves again around the 5 mile mark.Oh yes, mile 5 where the beautiful scenery begins......

First view of the Ocean

As the miles clicked along I heard everyone's advice of "enjoy the experience"! You will all be glad to know that I actually listened. I stopped to take pictures and made a point to look at the scenery not only in front of me but at some points to stop and take a look at it from behind me. As we neared the famous bridge with the pianist the fog was strong, winds were blowing and it was cold. With the thick blanket of fog you were running along the road hearing the piano and knowing the famous landmark is somewhere just up the road. The bridge was a monumental moment for me as it is the picture on my vision board.  As you come up to the bridge initially I was shocked with the reality of  "that's it! are you freakin kidding me" - my inside voice! Regardless it was still an amazing moment and yes a photo op!!! Upon running across the bridge I heeded the advice received by many and looked behind me and voilà that image of the bridge was much more impressive!

My celebratory self portrait on the famous bridge

Looking back on the bridge! 

  Upon running through Hurricane Point! Gotta love the name.... 2 miles of uphill with an elevation increase of over 400 feet. Winds hitting upwards of over 30 miles an hour.  Due to my enjoyment of being oblivious I did not know about the hills on the course into late into my training. I had game planned to walk the hills and run the rest. Race day someone must have lent me their legs because I have never met the legs that I was running with that day. My legs were unfazed by the hills and just wanted to keep going. I had to consciously focus on my plan and was actually picking spots on the hill where I would force myself to go from a run to a walk. Stick with the plan! Stick with the plan would ring through my mind but still I would near the summit and would be off and running again. At one point I actually looked down at my legs and flat out asked "who's legs are you?!" very promptly followed with a "thank you legs".

 As I knew going into this race I was much more mentally prepared than I had been in my previous marathon. Believe it or not I "never" mentally hit the wall during this entire race. On the 20 mile marker was a picture of a person running into a brick wall. At this point I realized not only was I not hitting the wall but I had never even looked for my second wind. At mile 23 I was figuring out where my next marathon should be and how I was going to find anywhere to compete with this one. As in all marathons everything was not perfect. There is too many miles to cover without something going wrong! I had been warned the night before about the camber of the roads. I attempted to run in any flat spots I could find but my ankles were not strong enough for the unevenness of the roads which led to very tight muscles in my ankles, shins and legs! Upon hitting mile 22 my brain was raring to go and wanted to run sssooo bad but my legs were working very hard to not cramp up. The last 4.2 miles went like this..... stretch, walk, run- repeat! As I neared the 24 mile marker I was wanting to run but not willing to risk the chance of fully cramping up that close to the finish line.  I kept with the tried and true- stretch,walk and run! Then woo hoo there it was the finish line. With a strong race finish and most importantly a "HUGE" smile on my face I accomplished what I started out to do!!

Officially I was already a marathoner but due to the difficulty of my finish I personally did not consider myself a marathoner. I was a person who managed to complete a marathon but now I am officially a "Marathoner"

Thank you! Thank you! to everyone involved in the Big Sur Marathon! I have never seen so many volunteers at an event. Everywhere you went from the race expo, pre/post events and the actual events themselves. The people living on the highway that came out to show their support! What a great community to live in. Thank you! Thank you!

"Will Do Lists"

   We are getting close to that time of year when everyone starts thinking about their new year's resolution!
I am sure there are lots of others who think the same as me of New Year's resolution- a commitment that if they don't screw it up the first day due to being hungover from the night before it quickly looses its zest within a week or two, if you really stretch it maybe a month. Then its all over until the next year.

  I was inspired 2 years ago not for a New Year's resolution but a "Will Do List" for the entire year. This funny enough coincided with my year long challenges which yes they were part of my 'will do lists'. A 'will do list' is very different than a New Year's resolution. First off New year's resolutions are traditionally unrealistic with no  real plan in place to make them happen. Remember without a plan a goal is only a wish. Besides its hard to make a commitment that is going to last for entire year. Believe me I know! I am about to head into a crazy one in this upcoming year but that is another blog!

 A 'will do list' can contain ideas from all parts of your life: family, career, fitness, health, friends, activities, interests, learning, new hobbies! You name it! Think about what is the most important part of your life or perhaps there is something new you want to introduce into your life. What things if you focused on them for a year could make a huge impact on your life. That's a 'will do list!

Let's have some fun with this- Let's pretend an item on our 'will do list' is to reach out and contact an old friend. Awesome! Now let's take it a step further- remember we have a year. How about contacting one old friend a month. Simple right! Phones work two ways and we always have facebook! In the next year you could reconnect with 12 people that this time next year will be a part of your life. Who doesn't have room for more friends?!  The trick is to commit to it! Get it on paper! Share with your friends. Inspire others to join you!

This last year I wanted to make sure my goals were somewhere that I could see them so I printed them off and placed them in a nice frame-  Trick: place it somewhere that you will see it everyday! Imagine having your 'will do list' framed and in the bathroom so that you get a peek at each and every morning. Now don't tell me that won't help with the focus!

This year I have started on my "Will do List" and decided to create a vision board. It was a fun adventure going through my crazy collection of magazines (yes I have a problem). On top of it all I was inspired by a picture I saw and randomly decided that it needed to be included on my "will do list" . Go ahead, act like a kid again and have fun with pictures and scissors.

( See the crazy woman there; the one ready to do a pull up with one arm)
That is going on my "Will do List' oh yeah baby!!!

   Have fun and create your own "Will do List" and even better share it with me and many others! We all love the inspiration!