Going for it – Wishing vs Willing (week 1)

/ Dwight Hyde

For a bit of context for my 52 week challenge check out these links – You did the best you could? and Going for it 52 Week Challenge!

So wishing vs willing. Yes that’s what I learned about this week. I learned on a feel great day it’s pretty easy to start wishing away on how you want your life to be. The rub comes Monday morning when the rubber hits the pavement and you start asking the more appropriate question: am I really willing to change my life? Am I willing to put in the work and sacrifices?

Here we go on my first weekly status.

Working out

This was more of making the practice more consistent. Monday and Tuesday started my morning off going for it. Then Wednesday…no workout. Thursday…no workout. After two days of work I just wanted to sit on my butt in the morning and drink my coffee. My goal was 4 times a week. This was where the willingness questions started coming into play. I was starting to doubt myself, but I pushed through and worked out Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday. Now I should mention my workouts are at tops 20 to 30 minutes. I’ve learned not to burn out and go slow. I did notice I definitely felt better those days I worked out. I also recognized my ego trying to talk me out of this whole challenge.

I use these LOLO apps from the Apple Store. About $2 a piece to download. Something like that.

Learning German

This went pretty smooth using the Rosetta Stone app. I think I worked on this Tuesday and Thursday night. Felt good following through and making progress.

Learn to play guitar

Now this was one of my biggest challenges, since I always told myself I was not musically talented. It was interesting that with it I kept putting it off and getting more and more stressed as I did. Finally on Saturday I brought my guitar out to the living room and downloaded the SimplyGuitar app. Oh man, it was so much fun. It was almost like playing Wii guitar. They were actually playing cool tunes and I had to strum when they signaled on the screen. I was laughing and singing and before you know it an hour had gone by and I had gotten my two weekly sessions in.

Learning how to cook

I waited till Sunday on this one. Again the same theme I’m just sucky sucky at this …On Thursday I had a good talk with myself and chilled out. I figured I had all week and there was no reason to be working myself up on my first week. My first recipe was Chicken Shepard’s Pie.

Well really it was Sloppy Chicken Shepard’s Pie. That’s the only negative I’ll say because you have to start somewhere and I actually started and did it! Wherever you first start and no matter how it works out is FABULOUS in my world.😊. The extra bonus of waiting till Sunday was I now have leftovers for the week.

So there you have it with week one in the books. My willingness was definitely challenged but I’m committed to giving myself a chance in these areas and one year is pretty short after beating myself up for decades!

As a reward for the week I decided to put on my favorite flannel and go for a ride in Lola. We listened to Van Morrison and I treated myself to a snickers. Pretty “wild” stuff right? I tell you though I’m loving my simple sober life and being out of the fog to appreciate it.

Om shanti shanti shanti,

Dwight

20 thoughts on “Going for it – Wishing vs Willing (week 1)”

  1. Thank you for the update Dwight, super inspiring! “Am I really willing to change my life? Am I willing to put in the work and sacrifices?” This is something I need to ask myself every day as a new month starts. Too often I start out strong and then forget the wisdom I so badly need. Is April the month I finally take 30 days off booze even though it’s uncomfortable on a few occasions? Will I do the work to sit with the feelings? Instead of just coasting and making excuses as usual?

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  3. This is super awesome! That’s one thing I can’t do yet and that’s morning workouts. If I didn’t have horse chores and stuff maybe but that’s just a cop out too as I sit for 45 mins drinking coffee and watching the news. 😆 Your chicken shepard’s pie looks yummy! I think it’s pretty awesome your wanting to try to cook! I read your update before work and it got me pumped for my second week! I couldn’t respond as it was time to leave so I’m responding at work! 😂😇 Have a kick ass second week!! 💪🏻

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  5. Awesome job, Dwight! Changing routine is always the hardest part but sounds like you are making those changes. Have you considered subscribing for a week or tow to meal kit subscriptions like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh? They’re a little pricey but can aid to get you in the habit of cooking and introduce you to some new recipies. I admire your dedication to working out – so easy to skip (especially when working form home) and, again. great job on the German!

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  6. I totally loved this post Dwight. It is so bloody hard to stick to plans we make for ourselves and really easy to try and talk ourselves out of them. Loving Lola and the snickers too. I think you smashed it for a first week. 👏🙌👏🙌💕💕

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  8. excellent…i really need to write down my 4 goals like you did because i’m just doing a general thing where i chose 2 out of 4 things to do 4 times per week. This week i walked 3 times outdoors , went to the gym 3 times, did yoga 4 times and meditated twice. I am keeping a record of my food intake and also my nicotine consumption …all of this using a self devised chart.But i really want to do more than this , i just haven’t really figured out which 4 things to tackle like you are- new things, i mean. I’ll get there…congrats and loved reading each item!!

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  9. I’m impressed with your accomplishments, Dwight. You definitely deserved that snickers and that ride (I recognize the road 😊).
    Keep having fun, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t always live up to your expectations.
    Best,
    Tanja

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