Six Peeps

November 15, 2007

The tao of commando

What are YOU addicted to? Cigarettes? Alcohol? Gambling? (oh man I could totally become addicted to gambling. Luckily I haven’t allowed myself to try online gambling and in Vegas I set spending limits… which are VERY hard for me to stick to!) Those are the obvious addictions. I have learned something about myself this week. A non-smoker, I rarely drink, I prefer one or two cocktails over getting drunk.

I’ve always been big into goal-setting, it’s a lot of fun, but now I have found another outlet to get passionate about and that’s applying the TAO of COMMANDO to other parts of my life. This post may seem a little pompous, I’m writing this post more for myself than anything, but I always seem to have peeps who are intrigued by these sort of things so I will post for all to enjoy or hate with a passion.

Now that I have passed my goal of getting down to 187 lbs (I weighed in today at 180) from 215, I am trying to identify a new challenge for myself. Don’t get me wrong, my lifestyle and diet/exersize routine has not changed. It’s not like, “OK I lost the weight, now I can act “normal” again (you know, eat a little tootsie roll here, miss the occasional workout and not feel bad about it, enjoy chips and salsa on a Wednesday, etc…). Except that lifestyle is not normal for me anymore. I am comfortable eating healthy with no exception during the week and having a kick-booty HOLIDAY every Sunday! It’s great! I don’t want to change a thing. I no longer have cravings for pizza during the week. People can eat onion rings right in front of me and I don’t even flinch anymore.

I also got over my addiction to driving. I don’t think that was an addiction but more of a lazy thing for me. I would drive three blocks to the grocery store, and then back home. Now that seems really silly, even in inclimate weather. There’s still no reason for me to drive that short of a distance.

That said, I have other aspects in my life that need this COMMANDO influence. What I am finding is that I still have some addictions. I’m no longer addicted to food. yay for me.

My addiction to email, however, has been destructive to my efficiency. No wonder I work from the early hours of the AM until the closing of Conan O’Brien, I am constantly, and I mean literally like every 10 minutes, interrupted with my email beeping me on the computer or buzzing my iPhone in my pocket. Today was the first day that I decided to go the entire day without checking my email. I’ll do it this evening before bed and so will that become my routine. It was such a great day, I was productive, I got things done from my “to do” list that have been sitting there for weeks! I was in a nice chill mood, and getting things done. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Then I failed at 4:00 PM. I was waiting for a DVD to burn on my computer. So I opened up Entourage and the “send/receive” began automatically. I watched as email came trickling in, one by one, over and over and over again. Suddenly I felt like I often do as I bring Gary (my dog) out for a pee. Sometimes he just goes and goes and goes and I start thinking, “OK when are you going to STOP???”. That’s how I felt.

Without thinking I was in there opening email. Suddenly I felt my blood pressure rising. Not because of what I was reading, I had great things like inquiries for more work! It was a natural reaction. I naturally react to email with a sense of urgency. All day long I was relaxed, happy, productive. Suddenly I was overwhelmed, and really for no good reason. It was a real awakening experience.

When I got home from my jog this morning, I was making breakfast and the morning news was on. Of course the media has a way of really hooking people with scary stories of murder, gossip, and other disastrous happenings in the world. Boosts ratings. I’m not going to bash the media. It’s a business, not one I really have anything in common with, but they have their market.

I remembered that yesterday I declared to Jenny, “I’m going on a media fast!”. I turned off the news and went to the TV music station. Holiday Classics - why not! The song playing: The Chipmunks singing some Christmas song. I turned it up. Smiled. It was a cold day today, it fit!

Anyway, per the advice I got out of a book, I am going to do my email just once a day, work more efficient, and no more media. I can keep up with the basics of all of the happenings by looking into the newspaper kiosks and reading headlines, and in every day conversation with family and friends. Oh yeah no surfing the net during business hours (9-5) for me. That’s a tough one too, but you know what, it really forces me to work. I feel better at the end of the day. I check out blogs, there are five that I check regularly now, and other misc stuff at the end of the day.

Day one was tough, and not perfect, but it was the best day I have had in a long time. Speaking of email it’s time I get ON it!

Tomorrow I’ll post the rest of those shots from the beach! Friday I plan on posting a detailed explanation of how I lost 35 lbs in 14 weeks. I have had a million people emailing and calling me asking me for advice. I will tell all here on Friday… with recipes!

November 15, 2007 |