Saturday, April 10, 2010

NAP

Main Entry: 1nap
Pronunciation: \ˈnap\
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): napped; nap·ping
Etymology: Middle English nappen, from Old English hnappian; akin to Old High German hnaffezen to doze
Date: before 12th century

1 : to sleep briefly especially during the day : doze
2 : to be off guard

We measure our life in years, in decades but we live our life in milliseconds.

If you have a long term goal you are trying to reach, you can't plot out each millisecond moment, each minute, each hour, each day, each bite you are going to take.

I've read diet books that talk about planning your meals for the course of the week, but I can't imagine anyone actually doing this. I know some do, but I'm not among them.

I prefer to leverage my natural tendency to do the same things day after day, and to build in better choices into each day so I don't drive myself crazy with a mass of spreadsheets, tracked calories, and food journals. Now I know those are great tools for some people, but they make me sweat just thinking about them.

When I find that I have been making bad choices, I take a NAP approach.

N.A.P. Now Action Plan

Now - I set my mind on the present. It is a clean slate where I can focus on what it is I want to do now, and in the very near future. I don't worry about what I am going to eat tomorrow for dinner, I think about what I need now. If I just ate, then what I need now may simply be a good feeling I can get from a little exercise, or the refreshing feeling I can get from a glass of cold water.

Action - I pick something good to do. I want to create a feeling I can feel good about. Something that will make me feel like I am on track.

Plan - I think about what I could do to set myself up for continued success. Maybe I pick three or four things I know I want to take with me to work tomorrow that I can have that are really great - I picture blueberries, pumpkin seeds, and spinach mixed into my morning oatmeal. I know, it sounds weird, but I love it.

Take a moment to reflect, what good choice(s) did you make today, if you don't want to give yourself credit for anything you did, what could you do now in this moment that would start the pendulum swinging you toward your goal?

Wall Sit anyone?

Jennifer

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