The past few months, the entire world has turned upside down and inside-out for most people. I'm no different. I was cranking out fitness-and-growth-mindset-related blog posts and videos for about a month during the height of Japan's COVID emergency declaration during April and May, when I had some downtime from my normal classroom teaching schedule while students stayed home from school.

Then, the (first) COVID curve was effectively flattened in Japan, where I was teaching English. Japan's nationwide emergency declaration ended, and we went back to school full time with our students. For two months, in June and July, I taught in-person again! Knowing my precious time in Japan was limited (our plan had always been to come home after one year and our August departure was quickly approaching), I gave teaching my full time and energy again to be fully present and do it justice. Thus, my personal training explorations and the accompanying blog posts and videos had to take a backseat for a time.

My last day in the classroom was a little over a month ago. Then we spent a little time in Tokyo before our departure. We've been back in America for three weeks now. Our year in Japan is behind us, we said many sad goodbyes, and now there is literally nothing on my calendar for the foreseeable future. 😂

While I slowly acclimate to life back home in a time of COVID, and navigate the ups and downs of reverse culture shock, I'll be focusing a lot on the best way to take care of myself and feel my best. For me, all things health and fitness are a big part of the equation. Therefore, it is perfect timing to take advantage of all this time and space in front of me to pick up personal training again! ☺️🤗

My goal in this post is just to re-start my journey publicly. My health journey never ended, even when my public videos and blog posts paused; I was still consistently working out, prioritizing relationships, and enjoying a variety of amazing Japanese foods. But, now I'm ready to start sharing my health journey with you again!

I'm tempted to apply some kind of perfectionist thinking to this and make it a "really good" post on a "super valuable" topic...but, in all honesty, I just don't have that to offer today. 🤷‍♀️ So, instead I'm simply learning to commit to consistently showing up. I'm also commiting to learn and grow. 🥰

Committing to Learn

I'm committing to get my NSCA personal trainer certification with a goal of taking my certification exam by the end of the 2020 calendar year. I'll study everything from exercise science (basic anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, bioenergetics, nutrition, and exercise psychology) to client consultation and fitness evaluation, to actual exercise techniques (🙋‍♀️yes please! - to include: cardiovascular, strength and resistance, bodyweight and stability, mobility and flexibility), and of course program design for a wide variety of clients with individual needs and abilities!

I am committing to a study schedule and to diving deeply into these topics to come out the other end the best trainer I can possibly be. I'm also committing to life-long learning and professional development in the area of fitness and sustainable healthy lifestyle and mindset.

Learning to Commit

While it was a little tough to commit to the certification and get started (I waffled a lot between NSCA and another certification organization before ultimately deciding to go with NSCA for a vareity of reasons), I think the harder thing for me personally is learning to commit.

It's easy for me to continually prepare, study and learn. I'm an educator. I've taught for ~15 years and I was a student for my entire life before that. Learning is my happy place, my comfort zone. I think it will make me a great trainer, too, because I will always be learning the newest exercise techniques and research. And, I'll know how to translate it into action and break it down into manageable workout regimes for clients.

It's much harder for me to commit to concrete goals like "make X videos / week" or "blog X times a month" becaue I always feel a little like I don't know what life will throw at me and I don't want to feel like I failed if I can't always hit my goals.

But, I know that's just the unreasonable perfectionist side of me. The side that sneakily whispers in my ear that if I can't do something every day, in just the right way, then I may as well say "screw it!" and do nothing at all.

Obviously an all-or-nothing approach makes no sense. Especially if I think of what I'd tell a future client about healthy lifestyle and mindset over the long term...I would never suggest an all-or-nothing mindset.

For example, if a client went on a vacation and ate in ways that were less than ideal for their body composition goals...I'd simply say: "That's so awesome that you enjoyed your trip! What's next?" and if that week included zero workouts, that's also fine. No reason to just stop working out or fall off the wagon with healthy lifestyle forever. We all need a break, we all go through seasons of more or less motivation or drive or higher or lower energy levels, and it's all good.

I'm learning not to let perfect be the enemy of the good. Good enough is just that sometimes. Perfection? Nope. You'll have to go somewhere else for that. 💗

Just as I have learned to consistently commit to my healthy lifestyle, I am learning to commit to showing up and sharing my journey with you, even when it's not perfect. It may not always be the most earth-shattering thing you've ever read or heard, but I promise it's real! I'm on a journey, learning and growing, and you're invited! 📚🤓💪🥰