brain and body + get what you need

My brain and body can work beautifully together as long as I set them up for success. Regardless of my age – I work marvelously most of the time! There are often times when I exhaust one or the other because I’ve overextend myself because I failed to put up boundaries. While I will not shame myself for overextending or running amuck boundary-less with “should of” statements, I will kindly encourage my future self to seriously consider putting up some temporary boundaries.

Dear future Shelton,

This thing you are doing, is it something you REALLY need or want to be doing? Are you being pressured to do this beyond yourself? If not, congrats, keep going. If the pressure is beyond you, definitely read the next sentence. As you continue down this exciting path, make plans NOW about how far you are going to take it. Create those boundaries yo! You’ve got this.

With energy and love,

Past Shelton – You’re secret admirer and cheerleader

Boundaries to set:

• Time
  • How long do I want to take on this thing?
  • When do I want to be done with it?
• Distance
  • How far do I want to go? I am definitely thinking of running here.
  • Can I do this thing in multiple steps so that the distance can be broken down over time?
• Results expectations
  • What do you hope to get out of it?
  • What do others expect out of it? Out of you?
  • Are you being overly ambitious?
    • Read the above again
• Cost
  • What kind of money are you willing to invest?
  • What kind of money are you willing to take away from other activities?
• Relationships
  • Who do you want to do this activity with?
  • Who do you NOT want to do this activity with?
  • Do it alone or with others?

Maybe this feels a bit much like treating life as a business, but if I want to strategically enjoy more and stress less, there are ways for me to mildly control this. I say mildly control because I know that I cannot control ALL the things and that it is important to also be flexible with my expectation boundary. I won’t always get what I want to, but if I try sometimes, I might just find…I get what I NEED!

Now I bring you, ladies and gentlemen – The Rolling Stones with mister Wiggly Jagger.