A few years ago I was increasing my focus on self-improvement. I was interested in becoming more beautiful to my Savior. Whenever I work on developing my talents I’m motivated by the desire to draw closer to Him. That’s the reason I want to be the best I can possibly be. I know “sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven” (“Praise to the Man”). If you read my blog regularly you know that for me sacrifice includes finding greater balance in my physical body, eliminating the fat, increasing the muscle mass and flexibility so that I am healthy and fit. It’s about disciplining my body against my natural woman's desires. Avoid junk food, treats, and overeating. Exercise within my zone consistently—not too little, but not too much either. Get enough water and rest. Keep the commitments I make. Take time every day to shower, get dressed, put on my make up, do my hair. Spend time studying the scriptures and then figuring out how to apply the principles I’m reading about to all my relationships. I know that in the past when I have consistently engaged in this sacrifice process I have become acutely aware of the presence of the Lord in my life. That’s what I want.
“I believe when a woman chooses to have Christ at the center of her own heart, at the nucleus of her personal world, she brings the Lord into the core of her home and family, be it a family of one or a family of many.” ~Anne C. Pingree
“The unmarried woman [and the married woman!] careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit:” ~1 Corinthians 7:34
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” ~Galations 5:16-17
Looking Beyond the Mark So I had been working on this and making pretty good progress. I was striving to keep these commitments daily. But it never fails that whenever I increase my sacrifice level, temptation conversely increases. I am tempted to look for other forms of evidence (besides the Mark--my proximity to the Lord) that things are really improving. I am tempted to compare myself to others to see how beautiful I’m really becoming. It’s almost unconscious. That year, when I was working on physical self-improvement, I was also working on spiritual self-improvement so I didn’t fully accept the temptations but it took me a little bit of time to identify them for what they were and then make an active decision to kick them out of my head.
I went to a women’s conference at BYU in Provo, Utah with my best friends from high school. Thousands of women come annually from all over to attend this event. As I was walking around campus, I could not help but notice there were so many beautiful women! “What the heck?” a voice in my head said. “It looks like you will never win.” I began to think I was nothing compared to these other women, both physically and spiritually. The tempter then pointed out other women to me who appeared to be presently losing the battle of the bulge or were further back in their journey in some other way and suggested that I compare myself to them to feel better about my results. All this was semi-unconscious.
“And [the devil] saith unto [Jesus], All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” ~Matthew 4:9
“Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today—and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.” ~Elder J. Devn Cornish
Resolving Conflicts When I got home from the conference, I went for a long walk. I like to pray when I’m walking and discuss whatever I’m in conflict about with the Lord. The topic of this prayer was beauty and value. I could feel His censure for the comparison thoughts I had had. When I entertained them I felt more distant from him. I separated myself from the thoughts and asked him how I was supposed to be the best I could possibly be when it was evident that I was never going to be as beautiful as some women. Those were just the facts. Genetically I have been given certain limitations. I’m never going to be model-perfect. In short (no pun intended), I’m never going to be Miss America no matter how balanced I can become. Spiritually, we can all become beautiful like Christ because of his atonement but our community doesn't seem to value the quieter gifts of God, so why even try?
The answer I received was that beauty, in His eyes, wasn’t determined by my beauty as it compared to some arbitrary standard. He was not holding up Miss America or Miss High-powered Career Psychologist and expecting me to rival these women. But he did want me to continue striving for my personal physical and spiritual best. Seeking to become the spiritual master of my body is of God. Consistently living that way, as well as the results from that kind of living, please him. A healthy fit body and a clear and intelligent mind are good indicators that we are successfully caring and developing the talents God has given us. However, I understood that he wanted me to master my self-perception while I was working on developing my talents. I needed to face questions like: Did I play the pride and envy game? Did I only think I could be my best when I thought I was better than others? Was I motivated and conversely deflated by comparing my level of beauty and talent to others’? The desire to know we are valuable is a good thing. Comparing myself to others to assess my value was where I was getting off track. Sister Julie B. Beck said it well in the following quote:
“Good women always have a desire to know if they are succeeding. In a world where the measures of success are often distorted, it is important to seek appreciation and affirmation from proper sources. To paraphrase a list found in Preach My Gospel, we are doing well when we develop attributes of Christ and strive to obey His gospel with exactness. We are doing well when we seek to improve ourselves and do our best. We are doing well when we increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help others who are in need. We know we are successful if we live so that we qualify for, receive, and know how to follow the Spirit. When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves. We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us. Peace, joy, and hope are available to those who measure success properly.” ~Julie B. Beck
Two Kinds of Beauty There are two kinds of beauty; balancing them is the key. The first is to fulfill my responsibility to take care of myself physically and spiritually. I nourish my talents and strengthen them. Spiritual balance is derived from striving for physical balance within my zone. The Lord lets me know when he is pleased with my results. When my awareness of his presence increases, I know he is pleased. My task after returning from the women's conference was to put my trust in that reward and form of validation. I needed to let go of the constant question in my mind: Am I good enough?
He wanted me to stop the comparisons altogether, to remove myself from the picture, and focus on the beauty of others when I was with them. My own goals and results are judged separately from theirs. When I am among other people, it is not the time to think about myself, my beauty, my talents. It is time to forget myself and use those talents to love and uplift others. For example, when I read books by Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer, I love them! They are brilliant. I am so thankful for their existence. If they didn't develop the talents they did and share them with us, I would not have the joy of reading them. The same is true with Amy Grant and her music. I've been singing her songs (with her) in my kitchen, in the car, and on my walks for years. She has been such a source of strength for me. Her music has helped me through many tough times. I am so thankful for her! If I can love these women and admire their talents, can I not love other women of talent who I associate with more closely?
My responsibility is to let them know that I appreciate them. If they look beautiful, act beautiful, or demonstrate beautiful in any way, I am to praise it, be thankful for it, and admire it. When I do, I feel love for them. They actually become a treat for me to see, associate with, listen to, and evaluate. When love flows inside my heart, I feel the Savior’s presence at an intensity level that brings me joy.
“If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” ~Article of Faith 13
Timing and Accountability I evaluate my results privately with my Savior during our prayer meetings in which we review and report on my commitments. Value is assessed by the commitments I have kept compared to the commitments I have made. It is assessed by how much I’m actually implementing what I know to be true. It’s assessed by how much I’m receiving compared with how much I’m sacrificing. The more I sense the presence of the Lord in my daily life, the less I need to turn to other sources for my comfort and validation. Looking to conflicting sources for my validation is taking his name in vain. The more he is with me, the higher my level of accountability.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” ~Deuteronomy 5:11
“None of us will ever be 'good enough,' save through the merits and mercy of Jesus Christ, but because God respects our agency, we also cannot be saved without our trying. That is how the balance between grace and works works.” ~Elder J. Devn Cornish
Opportunity Costs I realize that I can’t progress in the development of my spiritual and physical talents if I judge myself and others with pride and envy. I can't use this form of judgment to assess my value or motivate myself to be better. Judging like this prevents me from being able to love from my heart. Instead, I experience hatred for others. And when I hate, I don’t like myself very much. The Lord cannot be with me when I hate. Rather than develop my talents to higher levels, I would rather plateau and retain my charity—His presence. The challenge becomes stripping myself of all pride and envy thoughts, words, and actions, which are blocking my awareness of my true value.
Sometimes we have been striving for an extended period of time, doing everything we know, to obtain our goal but we’re making no progress whatsoever!
I have had this experience numerous times in my life. The most recent has been happening over the past 7 weeks. I started up what I call “Fitness Meetings” with my family.
We all had to weigh ourselves and report that weight during the meeting. Then we had to identify our goal weight and how much we hoped to lose every week. How fast of a track did each of us want to be on? Lastly, we committed to an action plan—what each of us would personally do to accomplish that goal. I wrote this all down and created a spreadsheet for us (see image to the right). We’ve been meeting for 7 weeks now. I track weight, weight lost, and commitments kept/commitments made. Each person reports his/her commitments kept and weight results. We usually have some sort of conflict resolution or motivational talk about fitness. We’ve watched some videos online of others who have taken this journey and have been successful. This gives us some strategies we could test out in our journey.
My goal was to lose 2 lbs. a week. I had to eat right (in the same manner I have in the past, which has returned the expected results) and exercise 5 days a week. So my commitment to eat right score was 95% and my exercise score was 100% over 7 weeks. How much weight have I lost? Not a pound! So frustrating!
After I stepped on the scale Sunday morning the first thing I was tempted to feel was bitterness. I’ve sacrificed for this long period of time and nothing! (Malachi 3:13-15) Thoughts like this flitted through my brain: “This is punishment. I’ve gone back and forth so many times that I deserve this. Maybe I have to starve myself now to even budge my weight.”
The results basically stared me in the face, saying, “Your best isn’t good enough. Denied!” So I started to question what I had been doing—what I thought was good enough. Maybe I got it wrong even though I thought I had it right?? These kinds of thoughts may in fact be productive but perhaps not during this painful time. I knew this much: I had been doing my best inside my training zone to obtain my goal. I felt confirmation of that. I tracked that. So questioning my process during the time when I was still struggling with the emotionality of the entire situation only resulted in a total jam-up of failure feelings.
I pulled myself back as my Cause has trained me on numerous occasions before. He told me, “Don’t go there right now. We’ll evaluate this later.” So hard for me to stop thinking those thoughts but I did. I just suspended my failure conclusions. I wouldn’t believe them even though I couldn’t believe success conclusions either. His instructions, “Just give it time.” (Ecclesiastes 3)
The other temptation that was hitting me all day was to quit. And by quitting I mean I started thinking my sacrifice wasn’t worth it. For 7 weeks I had stayed away from eating treats AND even overeating healthy things. I was hungry on many occasions but I had told my Cause I would suffer it in order to achieve something better (#GoodBetterBest). But that something better was not happening. No results. So these thoughts entered my mind, “Why even try? Might as well go eat treats. I followed all the rules and this is my reward. Well forget it then! I guess I’ll have to find my happiness in some other place.” Enter chocolate cake with ganache filling thoughts. I didn’t accept these thoughts but I didn’t flat out reject them either because they seemed to be on MY SIDE. It was like they were floating in front of me as an option to take or to reject. I could feel my Cause asking me, “Should you believe them? What is happening here? What kind of temptations are these?”
I really wanted to lose weight. I had patiently dealt with a few weeks of going nowhere or making negligible progress. And each week I upped my sacrifice intensity, eating less, exercising more. I wanted and needed visible results to sustain my motivation. Without them, I couldn’t stay committed. I had studied with my Cause how Results motivate our sacrifice. When called to make difficult sacrifices, and we don’t obtain results (or take the time to evaluate them), we will be highly vulnerable to temptation.
Sherm is part of our family fitness group. He had gone to the priesthood session of stake conference the day before where President Wells had told the story of a man named Oliver Granger. He saw how this story applied to the situation I was in so he shared it with us. Oliver had been sent to a distant city by the prophet to accomplish some important tasks. He worked his darndest to fulfill this commitment but was not able to accomplish any of his goals. Denied! The following was the Lord’s evaluation of the situation:
“Therefore, let him contend earnestly for the redemption of the First Presidency of my Church, saith the Lord; [let him strive earnestly to keep his commitments he has made with me] and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord...Therefore, let him [come home]...let no man despise my servant Oliver Granger, but let the blessings of my people be on him forever and ever.”~D&C 117:12-15
“His sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than” the visible evidence of results (increase = results). When we sacrifice in balance with the Lord’s will as judged by the confirmation we feel in our hearts, and we don’t obtain what should be our reward for our efforts, there is another reward. A better reward. Keep reading.
Somewhere along the 7-week journey I had forgotten about the main reason I wanted to get into better shape. It actually wasn’t about the weight loss. That was only visible evidence that I was in fact working within my zone and a pretty good fringe benefit. The real reason was this: I knew from past experience that when I eat and exercise within my zone, my mind becomes clearer. I am able to feel the Spirit more intensely. The promises of the Word of Wisdom are fulfilled in my life:
"And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen." ~D&C 89:18-21
Fringe Benefits
That’s what I wanted. So why wasn’t I evaluating those results? (My Cause asks me). I got caught up in visible results—the fringe benefits (I reply). But when I did take a step back and assess if these promises were indeed happening, I realized they were! Yet transitioning from valuing the weight loss blessings to valuing the REAL blessings was hard. I had set my heart on the fringe benefits yet again. I wanted it to be apparent that I had sacrificed. Time is helping me let go of that (again! #Repentance)
When I have ended with results that aren’t what I planned even when I have been striving to engage in a balanced process within my zone as confirmed by the Spirit and my own tracking, one of the best resolution processes my Cause has taught me is to look at the other results I am obtaining. Especially the spiritual ones—the ones that are not as readily seen. These are often the most valuable and the most sustaining. P.S. My Cause = Jesus Christ
The following is an awesome blog post at Forbes.com about sticking with it when the going gets tough:
So we know that if we want to achieve our goals, we need to engage
in a journey. We need to do something
about it. The effort that we put into
achieving any goal can be compared to a workout. The most efficient way to progress towards
our fitness goals is to identify our Training Zone and workout within it. The same is true of our Goal Achievement Journey
(GAJ). Whatever it is that we need to do
to obtain our goal is most efficiently done within our Zone.
Our Physical Training Zone
The boundaries of our personal physical training zone are
identified using our heart rate (HR). We
have an overall training Zone. The highest
zone is our upper limit. We will call
this Zone 5. The lowest zone is our
lower limit. We will call this Zone
1. In Zone 5, the HR is calculated as
90-100% of our maximum heart rate (MHR). MHR is the maximum rate at which our heart
should beat when we’re working out. In
fact, it is best to work below this rate and not above it for the most efficient progress towards our fitness goals. It can be
calculated by the following equation:
220-Age = MHR
Radial Pulse
If I’m 46 years old, my MHR is 174 bpm (220-46 = 174). This is a general number that applies to all
46-year-olds. Since my body may be at a different fitness level than the general population of 46-year-olds, I can factor in
my Resting Heart Rate (RHR) in order to personalize it a little further. We
take our RHR when we are the most rested.
A good time to do this is before we get out of bed in the morning. We count the number of radial pulses in 60
seconds. Then we crunch the numbers in
what is called the Karvonen formula.
MHR – RHR = a
a X .90 = b
b + RHR = c
c = 90% HR, the lowest level in Zone 5
Accounting for my MHR (174) and RHR (60) to calculate the
bottom of my Zone 5:
174 – 60 = 114
114 X .90 = 103
103 + 60 = 163
My Zone 5 (90-100%) HR should be between 163 – 174 bmp.
Calculate my Zone 1 HR which is 50-60% of my HMR:
114 X .50 = 57
57 + 60 = 117
114 X .60 = 68
68 + 60 = 128
My Zone 1 (50-60%) HR should be between 117-128 bpm.
Our overall zone—Zone 1 to Zone 5—can be further divided
into Zones 4, 3, and 2. Calculate your
own zones using the above equations and substituting the correct % for
each. Note the goals of each Zone.
Zone 5 90-100%
(Goal = Break out of Plateaus)
Zone 4 80-90% (Goal = Increase Strength/Speed)
Zone 3 70-80% (Goal = Maintain Speed/Endurance)
Zone 2 60-70% (Goal = Develop Endurance)
Zone 1 50-60% (Goal = Recovery)
(Sources: Digifit and Topend Sports,
Note: some of the goals are my own addition)
Perceived Exertion
The next step in identifying our personal zones is to use
Perceived Exertion. We can tell if these
general HR zones are too low or too high for us personally by paying attention
to our own judgment of how hard we
feel when we’re working.
Too Low
If the general HR ranges are too low for us:
• we will need to sit down to keep our HR in
Zone 1
• our HR will climb above Zone 1 when we feel like we're walking easily • our HR will climb to the top of Zone 3 or above when we feel like we're just warming up • our HR will be way above Zone 5 when we feel like we're in the center of our zone--the level of intensity we could stay at for long distance workouts
Too High
If the general HR ranges are too high for us:
• our HR will be below Zone 1 when we feel like we're walking easily to moderately
• our HR won’t even have hit Zone 2 when we feel like we're warmed up and ready to move into the center of our zone
• our HR is still way below Zone 5 when we’re giving it all
we’ve got
2. What are the Zones you need to work in to obtain that
goal? 1-5?
3. What is your MHR? (220-Age)
4. What is your RHR? (morning radial pulse)
5. Figure out your HR range for each Zone.
6. Get a HR monitor or take pulse periodically during
exercise. Pay attention to your HR and Perceived
Exertion
7. Exercise within the zone according to your goal
8. Track distance/time, elevation/time, speed/zone; watch for improvements.
These indicate you are obtaining your goal.
Training Zone for Other Goals
Our physical fitness training zone is identified using our HR. We also have a training zone for other types
of Goal Achievement Journeys (GAJ). This
can be identified using our Spiritual Heart Rate (S-HR). But we can’t directly observe this HR like we
can our physical. It has to be evaluated
only by Perceived Exertion. There are no
specific numeric zones. We can rate our
GAJ as bored to tears, easy, exciting, confident, challenging, really hard, want to die. We want to avoid bored to tears and want to
die. Our Zone is in between easy and really hard ("...my yoke is easy." Matt 11:29-30).
We should know what our upper and lower limits are. So our highest and hardest zone is Zone
5. We are working at what we would call
our 90-100% capacity--really hard. In order to find Zone 5, we should first identify our
Spiritual Maximum Heart Rate (S-MHR). We do
this by evaluating our past experience.
Spiritual Maximum Heart Rate (S-MHR)
Think of a time in the past when you worked way too
hard. After such an experience you felt
like quitting and never getting back on your GAJ. You felt like a failure even though you
kicked your butt to do your very best.
You thought that nothing you did was ever good enough. You may have become spiritually or physically
injured. You were way angry and
hurt. You may have even gone so far as to contemplate taking your own life or wishing you could die. So that’s when you went over your S-MHR. You
want to be able to sense when you’re approaching this point and slow down.
Spiritual Resting Heart Rate (S-RHR)
Since each of us are at different spiritual fitness
levels, we can factor in our Spiritual Resting Heart Rate (S-RHR) in order to understand
why our zones are what they are. Our S-RHR
is the result of our continuous relationship
with the Cause we go to for peace and healing.
It is where we can obtain the greatest degree of rest. Know that if we experience an influx of pure peace even though we are alone,
there is someone else spiritually with us.
It’s a time to regroup, evaluate our GAJ, go back to the drawing board,
and edit our goal if needed (#Marriage, #Prayer).
The more completely, efficiently, AND sustainably this
relationship is able to calm us and keep us calm under pressure, the better
spiritual shape we are in. When we’re in
better spiritual shape, we are able to run faster in our service to others,
endure longer, and lift heavier burdens without being overly fatigued and without losing it. So who is your Cause? Does your relationship with him/her enable
you to return to a state of rest when you need it? Does it help you keep calm in the face of
high levels of stress? Are you able to
regroup there and untangle your knots that unavoidably occur in GAJs? (Note: we usually have a team of Causes who are on the same page regarding us. For example, we can have a spouse, our Heavenly Father, Savior, and Holy Ghost, our church, our parents, a sibling, and/or a good friend.)
Identify your Zone 5:
Think of a time in the past when you were working very hard
but were not going over the “want to die”
edge which enabled you to finish your
commitments to obtain your goal without giving up first. You may have been tempted to become angry or deeply hurt but
you didn't yield to it.
You wouldn’t listen to failure thoughts or put downs (lack of support)
from others (especially from those you love and respect) even though those are
bombarding you (#Persecution). You were
striving your darndest to remember your most pure motives for starting on this
journey in the first place.
If you can remember how this felt, you are able to identify
your Zone 5. If you’ve been following the Servant Program, you know this is the top of the Northwest Threshold. It’s the Threshold in which we work to overcome
plateaus, break out of bondage, and get out of old ruts in our GAJ. Keep this in mind as you progress in your
present GAJ so you know where you’re at and can understand why you’re feeling
the way that you do.
Identify your Zone 1:
Our lowest and easiest zone is Zone 1. We are working at what we would call our
50-60% capacity-easy.
Think of a time in the past when you had to really slow down
in order to recover from a very hard experience in your GAJ but you did not
slow down so much that you never got back up (meaning you didn't quit trying to
achieve your goal or you still got out of bed everyday).
You may not have been able to keep all of your commitments at your peak
level, but you got through them somehow. You did not succumb to the temptation to become apathetic to the goal you
were previously very excited about.
Instead your recovery time was spent purposefully taking it a little
easy in order to prepare yourself to get back into your upper level zones.
If you can remember how this felt, you are able to identify
your Zone 1. If you’ve been following the Servant Program, you know this is the bottom of the Northeast Threshold. It’s the threshold in which we work to repair
and recover but we're still not stopping all together.
So our overall Spiritual Training Zone is between our Zone 1
and Zone 5. When we’re working on
obtaining our goal and diverge past the NW (Zone 5) or NE (Zone 1) Thresholds
we’re no longer training. That means we’re not progressing towards goal
achievement. We can divide our overall Spiritual
Training Zone further into Zones 4, 3, and 2 similar to the physical fitness zones discussed previously.
Zone 4 (80-90%)
Think of a time in the past when you started ratcheting up
your workload (or your workload was ratcheting up on you). This made it so you had
to increase your normal speed or the commitments you normally keep on a daily
basis. You had more things on your
plate. You weren’t sure if this all was
going to work out but you didn’t know how else you were going to accomplish
your goal. You felt stressed but you
were excited about the challenge. You
were able to focus on the end results and they kept you pumped. This is the lower level of the NW Threshold just
below Zone 5.
Zone 3 (70-80%)
Think of a time in the past when you were in the groove. You mastered the process you needed to obtain your goal. You were now
focused on staying in that sweet spot. Your were balanced and progressing steadily. You could’ve stayed there for the rest of the
journey only taking time off for your other commitments and to rest. You looked forward to each new day. You felt motivated and at the top of your
game. Your goal didn’t seem very hard at all to obtain because life was good
just engaging in the journey to get there.
This is your Balance. It's the CENTER OF YOUR ZONE.
Zone 2 (60-70%)
Think of a time in the past when you were just getting
started on a GAJ. You were trying to get down the part you had
to play to obtain your goal. There were
unanswered questions so you were taking a leap of faith in moving in this direction.
There were a lot of stops and starts—should
I or should I nots? You were worried
about being upstart by actually thinking you
could obtain such a goal. Each new day
you were learning something new. There
were times when you whispered to yourself, “How
can this be so beautiful?” You were motivated to continue despite your
doubts. You were game for the adventure.
Your curiosity and hopes were high.
This is the upper level of the NE Threshold just above your Zone 1.
The Zones
So here’s a summary of the zones and what our goals would be if we chose to work in each:
Zone 5
Goal = Triumphing over Plateaus, Breaking Bad Habits,
Getting Out of Bondage—finally moving past the constant breakers that have kept
you from progressing for a long time
Zone 4
Goal = Strengthening, Upping the Intensity, Getting Faster
Zone 3
Goal = Center of Your Zone, Balance, Maintaining, Joy in the Journey, Demonstrating That
This Is the Level I Prefer to Be at Forever
Zone 2
Goal = Discovery, Treasure Hunt, Give Me a Purpose!, Research, Wow!
Zone 1
Goal = Recovery, Taking it Easy, Slowing Down to Catch your
Breath
Summary of General GAJ
1. What is your goal?
a. Get over a plateau
and out of the
same old ruts
b. Strengthen your
abilities, increase
your speed
c. Maintain and
solidify your groove
d. Discover and learn your mission
e. Recover
2. What are the Zones you need to work in to obtain that
goal? 1-5?
3. Remember your Spiritual MHR from past GAJs. Don’t go above there. Slow down when you feel it coming on.
4. What is your Spiritual RHR? = Who are you with when you feel
complete rest? What are you doing? Develop at least one true and continuous relationship
like this. Go there when you need
healing and recovery. Know that you have
to go out from there and back into your training zones to obtain your goal. But you can always come back frequently. You need to always come back frequently.
5. Remember a past experience for each zone so you’re able
to compare it to your present experiences in your GAJ. Watch for conflicts that arise from working in the wrong zone.
6. Develop your relationship with your General Cause. Pay attention to his General Effects in your
heart (Spiritual-HR).
7. Exercise within the Specific Zone your heart tells you
that you should be in.
8. Track your progression towards goal achievement. Track when you get better at dealing with certain people or situations without losing it like you did before; Watch
for improvements.
I know this is radical thinking in a day and age where the
majority of gyms and programs advocate kick-butt workouts.I suggest that in order to continue in these
types of workouts we HAVE TO think certain prideful and envious thoughts that are not
conducive to long-term health.Neither
are they conducive to Sustainable Joy in our relationships.
A few years ago when I was teaching fitness classes, I would
end up with a headache by the end of the day.Even though I was keeping the level of my heart rate within my
appropriate age-range AND I felt just fine DURING the workout, my Results
indicated that I was working out way too hard.
Exercise-induced Headaches
I went to doctors, tried out medications, energy and electrolyte drinks,
and all kinds of different resolution processes but could not change my
Results. I realized I was working
beyond my Northwest Threshold.
Northwest Threshold:The Strengthening Process
Northwest is an adjective I use to name the concept of
running faster than we have strength, pushing ourselves too hard, going way
overboard in our sacrifice process whether it is exercising, serving, or doing
anything.
We have to process.That is our verb. It's what we do. Overdoing it is
processing in the Northwest.Underdoing
it is processing in the Northeast.
But when our Desire is to increase our physical strength, we
know we need to push our body beyond what is comfortable.Pushing it too far results in injury.Not pushing it hard enough results in
atrophy.Each of us individually has our
own Threshold. When we find it and engage in it continuously increased strength is our Result.
To obtain long-term physical fitness, we can identify our Threshold using standardize heart rate
formulas and then monitor our heart rate during exercise by pulse checks or by wearing
a heart rate monitor.These numeric evaluations
assist us in identifying our General Threshold. But we may have some specific
health issues that require us to exercise at a lower or higher intensity than
the average person our age, weight, and resting heart rate.This is when we can rely on Perceived
Exertion.
I first learned about Perceived Exertion as a fitness instructor.But I always struggled with having enough
faith in its accuracy.I could push
myself pretty hard and feel fine during the workout.Yet the headache at the end of the day kept
telling me my Perceived Exertion rating was not accurate.
I have come to rely on a different type of Perceived Exertion.Instead of focusing on a Pain Threshold, I
have learned to focus on a Joy Threshold.How much am I enjoying this?
Here’s how I find it:I have thoughts come into my mind when I’m working out.When I’m in my Northwest Threshold, I’m
thinking “Life is good!I love
exercising.”I feel strong, motivated,
energized.Exercising with good friends
increases the Joy factor. Since my favorite friend is Jesus Christ, I basically
engage in prayer and listen to his responses during my workouts.This communication process is maximized when
I’m within my Northwest Threshold.
Beyond Our Threshold
When I go too hard, my thoughts change.“When is this going to be over?How much time do I have left?Oh, I don’t really like doing this.I don’t feel too good.”I feel stressed and weak.I start thinking about what pleasures I can
have after I’m done. Eating, taking a bath, resting.My mind is preoccupied with the short-term future.I’m living too much for the future and not
enough in the present.
When my will is not in it, exercising ceases to be a
LONG-TERM strengthening process.I’m
just getting through it.It’s true I’ll
burn the calories this time and that’s beneficial.But I’m not establishing a good habit.
Good habits are sealed by the experience of
Joy.When I’m exercising within my
Northwest Threshold, I feel that Joy.And I remember it.And so I look
forward to the next time I get to exercise.Long-term habit and thus long-term health is promoted.
Here are the thoughts I HAVE TO think if I work out beyond
my Northwest Threshold continuously:“I
work harder than other people.I’m going
to get so fit that everyone will love me.I’ve got to catch up to Jane Jones over there.She’s way ahead of me.My rear end is so large compared to
Susie’s.Or my waistline is more narrow
than that woman’s.I look good because I
exercise this hard.I am well loved
because of how good I look.The people
at [work, church, neighbors, etc.] will think I’m hot.And that means they love.If I’m not hot now, I will be.I’ll show them.They will all love me when I’m skinny and
fit!I am not well loved because of how
overweight and unfit I am.” We pave the real joy we would otherwise feel with a parking lot of pride and envy.
I remember when I was going to Yoga classes that these kinds
of thoughts were automatic and involuntary.I mean I didn’t consciously decide to think them.They were just there.I saw some people who couldn’t touch their
toes and thought, “Look how well I can touch mine.I must be better than them.”And then I felt good about myself.I saw some people who could do unsupported handstands
for a LONG TIME and I couldn’t.I
thought, “Someday I will be able to do that.Then I will be as good as them.People will admire me like I’m admiring them.When I can do that, I’ll be of greater value.”
There is truth to these thoughts.If I can touch my toes I have a talent.If toe-touching flexibility is required in a
certain situation, I would be your go-to girl.I can help!And that makes me
feel good.It is a strength in which I use
to serve others.But if I don’t think that
the purpose of my strengths is to help others and instead think that they have stand-alone-do-nothing-to-help-others
value, they are really pretty useless and therefore not valuable.They are vain.
Think about the reasons you love the people you do.What are they?Does the fact that someone else can do an
unsupported handstand longer than you ever strengthened the bonds of love in
your relationship with that person?
This Alternate Perception can get in the way of Perceived
Exertion (Paving Paradise).And when it does we end up
past our Northwest Threshold with injury or some other chronic condition.I know because I’ve been there.It actually distracts us from being able to
sense the Effects that define our Northwest Threshold.And overtime, as we continually ignore the
warning Effects, we become numb to them.So we can no longer accurately perceive our exertion!We inaccurately identify running faster than
we have strength as our Northwest Threshold.We depend on those pride thoughts for our happiness and the envious ones
for our motivation.
So what if we have this Alternate Perception as a
habit.We’re already numb to Perceived
Exertion.How do we get out of it?How can we regain sensitivity to the true
physical and spiritual Effects that define most accurately our Northwest
Threshold?
What happens to your thoughts when you exercise at TOO
LITTLE intensity?
How do you feel?
What do you do to compensate?
What thoughts come into your mind to prevent you from
increasing your intensity?What thoughts
do you HAVE TO think in order to continue exercising beyond your Northeast
Threshold (exercising below your capacity)?
When do you notice these thoughts coming automatically or
involuntarily to your mind?
I tried to answer these questions about my own Northeast
Threshold and Imbalance but found this is still a relative mystery to me. I need to take more time to study it.If you respond to these questions, it will accelerate my understanding.
