Have you ever experienced the frustration of setting a goal and then run out of time before you even got started? Does laundry or errands ever take the place of reading or exercise for you? If your answer to any of these issues has been “yes” then most likely this is due to a dearth of rhythm in your life. No not the rhythm of music, but the rhythm created by routines in your life.
For example: many people are familiar with the increasingly popular workout routine formulated by the brand “Crossfit.” For those uninitiated, crossfit is essentially short bursts of one exercise followed by an equally gut-wrenchingly-challenging separate workout. Rinse and repeat.
For example, one crossfit workout may look like this: 5 Pull-ups followed by 10 Push-ups then 15 Squats. Not too bad eh? The challenge of this workout is doing that series as many times as possible in 20 minutes. Ready? GO!! Now imagine doing that workout every other day for 3 months. Ugh, can you smell the burnout? The beauty of crossfit is that every time you go back, there is a different workout.
Crossfit to me is a microcosm of everything that a rhythm and routine can be in your life – both for better and worse. Just as important as the physical work is for “crossfitters”, you better believe that they, and I, value rest and down time as well. Is it possible to work out too much? I think we all know the answer to that question is “YES.” The best way to break both patterns for me??? The rhythm of a quarterly VACATION!!!!
The reason we sit on a beach is that physically and mentally this is allowing the body the chance to rest and re-cover, while simultaneously unplugging from the hustle of life, extended family, marketing, traffic etc. Without rhythms and routines we become more susceptible to stresses of the outside world. These stresses, grouped into familial, social, and societal, may be well intentioned, but they are frequently not resonant with who you authentically are!
So my question to you friends is “what rhythms and routines have you created consciously in your life that serve you – and if they serve you how can you supercharge them?” The flip side of the coin is to examine which rhythms and routines in your life don’t serve you – are there things that you have done forever “just because.” Which routines do you unconsciously engage in that lead to burnout? I have relied on Dr Tom for years to help me to refine, delete and add to rhythms, and one tool is the IKIASW tool. If you don’t know what that is, ask him to send you this and get started living authentically in your ideal.
Guest Written by:
Jay Breitlow
Breitlow was working as a nuclear engineer when he decided to enroll at Palmer College of Chiropractic. As an engineer, he did root-cause evaluations, and after realizing an innate desire to help others, Breitlow did an evaluation on his own life. “Just kind of out of the blue on this piece of paper, I wrote down ‘chiropractor,’ and ever since that day, my life has been 100 percent geared and focused with helping people and humanity,”