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part one - Coffee

I typically wake up each morning to an alarm. As I sit up to address the day, I take a quick mental inventory of the soreness/aches/pains or discomforts I feel. I grab the water bottle off my nightstand, and drink whatever is left, which I filled the night before. As I stretch and crack, I slowly meander to the kitchen. I finish the water, then refill it, and fill up my coffee cup. (We have a programmable coffee maker which I try to make sure is setup the night before) I don't like waiting to drink coffee, to the extent that when I fill my mug, I usually throw some ice in there to allow me to drink the coffee immediately. Drink, not sip.

I take my topped off, cooled down coffee, and my water into my "office" which is our spare bedroom and it's primarily used for storage of our once important possessions. Now we have little piles of paperwork, stacks of projects, and random stuff not often used anymore. We also have two desks, a bed, shelves holding t-shirts, and a large dog crate for our two dogs. I sit at my desk, I fire up my computer and I begin reading, working my way through the open tabs which I didn't have time for the day prior. It feels like there is so much information available, which can become overwhelming, that more days than not I open more tabs than I close. This is my carousel of learning.

I check emails. I check my agenda for the day. I read another article, website, blog, paper, or watch another video. I give myself an hour to get this stuff out of my system, so that I can focus on other things the rest of the day. Personally, I am working on building focus, so I give myself time (while drinking coffee, and waking up) to wander around reading/typing/watching/preparing for the day. Knocking out a couple tabs from yesterday, responding to emails, updating social media - choosing when to address those things (and limiting how much time I have to mess with those tools) sets me up for success the rest of the day. I choose the first hour to do this freestyle.

I refill my coffee and I grab something light to eat, a banana or an apple. It's time to get my stuff together for the gym. After I eat something light, I make a protein shake for the drive & warmup. I get my bag of gear together, set everything by the front door and refill my coffee one more time.

I call for the dogs and I slide their harnesses on, then the leash, grab some bags and we head out to walk around the pond. The dogs love being outside, the little one is an imp and hard to predict. I'm thankful that I've got some coffee in me by this point, hopefully enough to outwit her and her impish folly. The big guy doesn't need the leash really, but better safe than sorry. As I walk I try to breathe. I use the walk as time to work on controlling my breathing and breathing deeper than I do involuntarily. Once we do our trip around the pond, the dogs go into their crate and we head off to the gym.


Mark Divine teaches Box Breathing to the guys of Barbell Shrugged

I get in the car, throw on my "gym" playlist and I start visualizing the movements that I'll be doing at the gym this morning. I try to get to the gym early enough to begin warming up on my own. While I drive, I think about how I will do that. By choosing what occupies the real estate in my mind, I either contribute to my success, or to my regression. This is universal, not just pertaining to the gym.

I plan to write follow-up pieces, giving a better idea of what my time at the gym looks like, as well as other priorities I focus on each day.

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