Yes sir music will make or break my workout. Depending on my mood or my desired outcome, certain songs will allow me to maximize my workout. Though with Facebook some videos will be taken down with music in the background due to copyrighting; therefore, we as we provide at home workouts, we are not playing music. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own playlist playing in the background. Here are my top 10 workout songs for a kickboxing type workout.

1.) Eye of the Tiger- It sets the mood. You get into the “Rocky” frame of mind. You envision Rocky training for the match, doing his pushups, training at a peak performance level, running. It is a great way to set the tone for the workout.

2.) UpTown Funk- There is just something about the beat that Bruno brings to Uptown Funk that works the cardio. I want to move and move fast. It is great when you want to bring speed to a round, plus I think the link “Uptown Funk you Up…” is a clever play on words.

3.) Fighter- Christina Agulara’s women’s anthem is one that makes me remember my why. For all of us there is a reason why we are working out. Maybe it is to lose a little weight. Maybe it is to manage stress. There is a reason why we are fighting for what we want. And that is what makes us a fighter.

4.) My Song’s Know What You Did Dark- When Fall Out Boy says “So Light ‘Em Up… I am on FIRE.” I want to pick up my intensity. When I am working my hardest, I feel powerful. This song helps me get into the mindset to work hard.

5.) Lose Yourself- Eminem’s Oscar award winning song is amazing. The way it starts off slow and picks up intensity as the song progresses allows me to do the same within a bag round. By the end of the song, I know I have the option to literally “Lose myself in my moment.”

6.) Burn It To the Ground- Nickleback whether or love them or hate them has the rumble down in this song that makes you want to go hog wild. The tempo, the beat, the lyrics all bring a sense of energy that has you stepping your workout up a punch or two.

7.) It’s My Life- Bon Jovi once again created a song that makes you remember your why. Because “it’s my life, it’s now or never, and I ain’t gonna live for ever…” and that line right there makes me instantly want to try to push my physically limits a little more outside of my comfort zone and work a little harder to see what I can do.

8.) Prayer of a Refugee- Rise Against’s song has the perfect chorus that is just long enough for a little sprint then cuts back to a good pace, then ends with the chorus. It is a great way to pick up the intensity and bring it back down.

9.) Champion- Carrie Underwood’s song with Ludacris is empowering. It is a song that reminds us what we are capable of if we work for it. There is no limit. We all can be champions.

10.) Remember the Name- Fort Minor says it best. “It’s 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power and will, 5% pleasure and 50% pain… but a 100% reason to remember the name.” For me this speaks to a high level performer. It does take a little bit of luck and skill, it does take a little bit of finding the fun and will, but mostly it takes persistence and relentless effort and sacrifice. It takes being knocked down and getting back up. It takes determination and drive. It takes consistency when other’s quit. And when you do that, you do find success.

When I listen to these songs on my playlist, I feel empowered. I move with confidence. I work a little harder. My results follow. What songs keep you inspired and working hard. Comment below.

My last blog post discussed my morning routine and how it added efficiency to my life. The next few blogs I am going to break down how I built the habits into that routine and how long it actually took to build it. Because, it doesn’t happen over night. The first thing I do daily is read my devotional… and let’s just say it took years to get it into my life, but the reward is so great.

For years my mother-in-law bought me a Daily Guidepost for Christmas. Most years it would sit in the bathroom, and though I had intentions of reading it every morning, I wouldn’t touch it. Then about 3 years ago, I started reading. Yes, I would skip days, sometimes weeks… heck, sometimes months. Looking back, of the 365 days that year, I probably read half of them.

Then, the following year, she didn’t gift one to me for Christmas. I was curious and asked her why. I week later one showed up. Since that day, I have worked this daily reading into my morning routine.

It is the first thing I do in the morning, without exception… even when I am out of town or have to be out the door at 4:30 in the morning to teach a 5:15 am kickboxing class.

I choose a devotional every morning because as a human I have a choice when it comes to how I start my day. Many people choose not to read, browse Facebook, scroll through the news, or dive right into their email. While I am guilty of grabbing my phone and checking this stuff at some point in the morning, I would rather start my day with something happy and allows my mind to be filled with joy and gratitude instead of negativity and despair. As a mom, if I can start my day by getting my head right, I am helping to promote these qualities into my kids’ lives and that is a wonderful mindset for them to grow up with and learn at a young age.

Secondly, it is not digital. Yes, I have signed up for motivational and inspirational daily quotes to be emailed to me, and they get “lost in my email.” The act of physically touching a book is freeing for me. It makes me more connected to my reading. With each day I can physically turn the page and look how far I have come and how much more I have left to go. This gives me a sense of achievement that I don’t get from digital books.

Third, the Daily Guidepost is a quick one page read, and though it centers around a Bible verse, it is not “preachy.” It is a collection of small everyday moments, composed by nearly 20 different authors. These short autobiographical stories take less than 2 minutes to read and are ones that almost anyone can relate to if you slow down and pay attention to small moments of your day. I am particularly fond of the young mom who writes about finding joy in the crazy day to day with her kids, the delivery driver who navigates the non-sensible streets of Pittsburgh and notices the people he sees to help him avoid his road rage, and the lady from Ohio who talked about small town life.

It has taken years to build this devotional into my daily life. The most important thing to do was find a time I could consistently add it in. Making time in my morning ensured that it would get done and not put it off or forget. With time and the practice of picking up the book, it became second nature, part of what I “just do.” I don’t have to think about it. With this reading in my morning routine, I am in a better place mentally as I start my day and that allows me to be more efficient and aware throughout my day.

If you are looking at a fresh way to start your day, I would recommend a positive reading (it doesn’t have to be a devotional), that you can read in under 2 minutes. Put it somewhere where you won’t miss it (hence my bathroom), and work it into your routine. You will pay attention to the world a little differently, perhaps be more present, self aware, and grateful upon doing so, and doing so will make you feel a little more empowered.

As always, feel free to share one positive thing you do in the morning to set your day up right and make you more efficient in how you start your day.

I didn’t know so many people enjoyed working on puzzles until I posted on Facebook that I had just completed my first 1000 piece puzzle. It’s like I entered a new world– a world of puzzlers.

The puzzle I completed was a birthday gift from my sister-in-law, Katie. She had given it to me about 8 years ago. It is beautiful- colorful pieces of a vintage Disney Cinderella that had remained in it’s box in its wrapper in my game closet for 8 years, nearly forgotten.

Until January 2, 2020. On this day, I walked to the closet. I unwrapped the plastic wrapping. I studied the cover. And I opened the box.

Now I knew a few of the basics of putting together a puzzle. Find the corners, separate the edges from center pieces. Put pieces of like colors or patterns together. But that was pretty much it. So I began. One week later, I finished. Here are the 3 transferable life lessons I learned in that week.

1.) Perseverance!
The definition of perseverance is the persistence in doing something despite delay or difficulty in achieving success. Truth be told I am someone who will tie myself down until something is completed. A puzzle wouldn’t allow for this behavior. I had to walk away at times with the section I had set to complete unfinished. There were moments I wanted to crumble up the entire thing and throw it back in the box. But I pushed through. The end result was I finished the puzzle at 11:18 pm (way past my bed time) and was exhilarated. I felt accomplished. I felt smart. I felt empowered. Telling myself that it was okay to walk away, to stop, to clear my head when it became frustrating or difficult or my progress was delayed was a wonderful lesson and perseverance eventually paid off.

2.) Sometimes pieces just don’t fit.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought I found the perfect piece. I set it in, and it was close… but close only counts in horse shoes. I knew that that was not the right piece. I couldn’t will it to be the right piece… I had to keep searching. This same issue happens all the time in life. We can’t put a round peg into a square hole. We cannot control things that are out of our control. Sometimes recognizing this with something like a puzzle allows us to see other areas in our life where we are trying to do the same thing. And forcing a puzzle piece to go into the wrong place, will only complicate things in the long run and not allow the puzzle to be completely solved.

3.) It’s okay to be done.
I am one who finishes a task or solves a problem and immediately moves on to the next thing to be solved. It’s like my role in life is a constant cycle of problem searcher and problem solver, and the cycle never ends. As soon as there is completion in one thing it is on to the next. Truth be told, when I finished my puzzle at 11:18 pm, I immediately thought about what puzzle I would do next. WHAT!!! WHY!!!

Instead of going right to the next thing I am going to be okay with it being done. I am going to take some time to congratulate myself on its completion and not look for the next puzzle right away. If you want to change patterns and behaviors in life, you got to recognize what those patterns and behaviors are. Sometimes being in constant problem solving mode is exhausting. Wanting to start another puzzle right away was a wake up call that that is in fact one of my behaviors that makes me crazy. Therefore, I am changing that. I am going to take time to celebrate the success of placing all 1000 pieces into their correct place, of persevering during times of frustration, and realizing that I don’t need to create more problems in my life just to have to solve them. There is power in moving on and once again trying something new.

Just because I am not going to not do another puzzle doesn’t mean that I am not looking for something new to complete that has never been completed in my 36 years on Earth. Each month in 2020 will be full of one new thing to do. Some may test the perseverance, others may not and may just be fun. Only time will tell. But 2020 will come with new experiences, new challenges, and different ways to grow!

Until next time…
Shelley

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