Author: Shannon Keegan

What is your goal?

It’s important to consider. 

Is your goal to do a little better than last year? Or last month? Or yesterday? 

Do you have a plan?

If your goal is to eat bon bons on the couch, hurray!

But when you choose to get off the couch and out of the box… who is going to help you develop a plan? Who is going to support, guide, and encourage you? Who is going to keep you accountable on the path to progress?

Yourself?

A friend/accountability buddy?

How about a coach?

Yes, it’s an investment; in yourself. (This is your one and only life we’re talking about!)

I got busy today and didn’t have time to __(insert activity here)__.

Can I buy a steak freeze? 

Sorry, there are no streak freezes. 

This is real life we’re living!

Don’t beat yourself up. 

Accept the decision(s) you made and move on.

Let. It. Go.

But don’t skip the next one! 

Crutch (noun): (1b): a source or means of support or assistance that is relied on heavily or excessively.

Do you have a crutch?

A cup of coffee first thing in the morning.

A glass of wine while you’re making dinner.

Popcorn when you watch a movie.

Dessert after dinner.

A pull buoy when you get to a certain point in the workout.

A certain side that you prefer to breathe on.

How is your crutch serving you?

Get out of the box!

“What box?” you ask…

That chair.

Your couch.

Get up from your table.

Out of your room/box.

Your house/box.

Your car/box.

The pool/box.

Your routine/box.

Shake it up!

Do something different. And look around you.

Don’t be afraid to do it again.

If you get an unexpected result in your experiment, do it again.

Perhaps you didn’t account for all of the variables. What variables are you keeping constant? And which are you testing?

Don’t mistake ‘doing it again’ with repetition.

If you need to, audit your experiment.

What would it take to turn mindless repetitions into mindful repetitions?

How can you make each stroke count?

What if less really is more?

Not to compare and contrast. But to wonder and awe!

All of the bodies going hither and yon. Whether their ability is known or unknown.

Busy doing the best that they can with their accumulated knowledge, life experiences, and understanding.

Take a moment, or three — just look around you.

What do you see?

How far can you see?

How close can you see?

What if you couldn’t see?

Feel the air. Wherever you are.

Soak up this moment.

Can you feel yourself floating in space and time?

How many times have you had a bright idea in the shower? Or while swimming? 

The famous neurobiologist and author, Oliver Sacks, famously came to shore mid swim to “discharge his thoughts”. 

We have our best thoughts in the water. Why not write them down? They have waterproof notebooks, you know.

But that’s not really what it’s about for me. 

It is noting what I’m focusing on and how it feels.

Tuning into the sensations of the water on my body, how a shift in focus leads to a different sensation.

It’s powerful. 

With a point of focus, a sensation, and a written record to keep myself accountable, I have the makings of a process for continuous improvement.

Of course, I write down my good ideas too! 

Try it.

For each action, you have to create an equal and opposite reaction.

There are many lessons to be learned.

I cannot promise that it will improve your swimming.

However, it is an awesome experiment.

What does the clock tell you?

When to leave. 

When you arrive.

Maybe it lets you know when you need to get out and go do the next thing. 

But the clock does know what happens in between.

Retreat into your body. 

Note what happens in each stroke. Each movement. Pay attention to to where your energy goes.

In time this investigation will pay off even more than watching the clock.