goals

, , , , , , ,

Two Wings. Don’t walk, Fly into 2020.

Gringo, where are you going? Where do you see yourself at the end of next year? How do you want to feel? Whom do you want to be? What do you dream about?
Gringo, if you don’t know the answers, close your ears because I am about to start telling you things you don’t want to hear. Things that are not fun, not pretty.

You are completely responsible for everything that’s happening with you in your life.
You are totally responsible for where you are: physically, mentally, financially, spiritually…
You are the only reason of your unhappiness or happiness.

You, you, you – that’s all on YOU!
I am pointing right at you!

You seem to forgot, but I will remind you that your human potential is limitless. You can be anything and anyone. You can be great or you can miserable. You can choose to live or die. You can say enough! and change anything within a matter of seconds. Or you can say that’s not for me and leave everything the way it is. Either way – you are the ultimate decision maker. No matter what you choose to do you are right! But you are right ONLY IF DECISION was truly YOURS. Breathe in with the full lungs. Suck in the energy and fill every cell of your body with it. Lift up you head and open up your wings. Relax your feet – you won’t need them. Deep breathe in – lift up your wings. Powerful breath out – grab and push the air down with your massive wings. WE FLY! Keep breathing: in & out… deep. No matter what you do – DO NOT LOOK DOWN! If you do – you fall. Get higher buddy, feel the power within. Fuck everything: people’s opinions; expectations; limiting beliefs; toxic relationships; office cubicles and hated jobs; traffic; lines of people; grocery stores… Everything is left behind, it’s on the ground. You are in the sky. It’s warm and quiet. Complete silence and peace. You hear only the whisper of the air, flowing through your wings. It’s hypnotizing, it’s meditative. You can not help it but smile. Nothing can wipe the smile off your face.

Two wings – Mind and Soul. Two wings that can lift you off the ground. Two wings that if filled with good health and clear mind, will take you up in the sky of consciousness.
You can not fly with just one wing, so your mind and soul need to work in synchrony. Don’t be too materialistic and focus only on material sides of your life. You need money, you need clothes, you need shelter, but that’s not all you need. You already know that none of material things will ever make you happy. Don’t be too spiritual and totally reject the material world. Don’t dive too deep into yourself without securing the safety rope in material world. Do not become a monk and spend all your life within yourself. Don’t close yourself from people, experiences and relationships – they enrich you.

You need two wings to fly. The stronger they are, the further and higher you fly. Pigeons don’t fly high, they are more comfortable closer to the ground. They don’t need much, just to stay warm and fed. They stick to the people, they are dependant on others.
You are a different type of bird, you fly high. There are different rules in your world. At the heights you fly there are not too many others. You depend only on yourself and you are totally responsible for your life or death. At the altitudes you fly, inaction is death. Hesitation is death. If you stop moving your wings – you fall. If you stop growing – you die.

You don’t fly without the purpose. Your life is short, therefore your time is precious. You’ve been made to make an impact. You’ve been made to break the limits. Something inside of you knows – you have a purpose. You don’t pray to God in tears, waiting for the answer. You don’t ask: “God, what is my purpose in life?”, hoping that someone or something will tell you what to do with your life. You are the one who tells the life: “My purpose in life is …”. Don’t ask, but instead tell the life why you are here. Change the question to a firm statement. Don’t wait – act

TO BE THE BEST YOURSELF
TO BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL

Only by being the best yourself you can make a change. Only by finding happiness yourself – you can share it with others. Only by being strong mentally, you can help others in times of crisis. Only by being strong you can protect the weak. Only by being the best version of yourself, you can help others to grow and improve. You can not give what you don’t have, so act. Growth is your mandate.

To grow, to fly, to live or die.
To smile, to cry, to shine or fade.
To love, to care, to hear and empathize.

Growth is Your Mandate

To grow, to fly – your goals need to be in synchrony with genuine yourself. When setting the goals, your mind and body have to agree on what you are setting yourself to do. Two wings need to be aligned and work in tact

Looking back on the previous year, ask yourself these questions:

  1. What achievements in the past year that made you the happiest or improved your life or the life of others?
  2. Who were the people that made you happy? Who are the people you are grateful for the most?
  3. What are the things that happened to you this year that you are grateful for the most?
  4. Which things/areas of your life are still important to you? 
  5. Which pursuits are not relevant anymore and you would like to drop?
  6. What habits would you like to stop? Developing OR maintaining what habits will improve the quality of your life?
  7. What were the places you felt the happiest at?
  8. Doing which activities brought the most joy and happiness, in short or long-term?

Exercise Daily
Eat Clean
Rest Enough

  • What does the healthy body mean to you?
  • What kind of body do you want to have? Why?
  • How does it look? Are you willing to sacrifice your health over the looks?
  • What will it give you? What will it allow you to do that you can’t already do?
  • What kind of body do you want to see in the mirror to be completely satisfied with?
  • Is your ideal body image shaped by you or somebody else?
  • What do you need to have, do or know to get the body you desire?
  • Is there is anything or anyone who can help you to improve in this area of life?

Stay Curious
Ask Questions
Read
Learn New Skills
Stop Negative Self-talks
Test stereotypes

  • Why do you want to develop your mind?
  • How can you grow it?
  • Is there is anything or anyone who can help you to improve in this area of life?

Accept and love Yourself
Live with Purpose
Care for Others
Help Selflessly
Give Back
Inspire
Meditate Daily
Practice Breathing Techniques
Frequently Get Outside in Nature
Ground Yourself

  • What does being a spiritual person mean to you?
  • Why do you want to be spiritual?
  • Will it change your life? How?
  • How do you want to grow spiritually?
  • What do you want to accomplish in this area of your life?
  • Is there is anything or anyone who can help you to improve in this area of life?

Send Yourself to the Army
for a YEAR

Answering the questions above is very energy demanding process. The more honest you with yourself – the harder it gets. Do it in quiet place, completely relaxed and well rested. Everyone are different, however I recommend to do the work on your goal setting in the morning or when you feel particularly inspired and motivated. Keep your mind clear and your spirit free. It takes time, so don’t rush. Don’t plan to finish it in a few hours or one day. Don’t set yourself deadlines. It can take weeks and a lot of thinking with writing. Don’t think that once you finished – it’s done. No, this document – your goals for the next year is a constant work in progress. However once you finished with this first, initial part, you will feel relieved. You will have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and where you going.

With all the goals listed – COMMIT. Commit to do your best at achieving each goal. Send yourself to the army for one year. Make the next year – a year of service to yourself and others. Commit to spend the next year improving yourself so you can help others. Believe in yourself and stop wishing. Some people wish things to happen, some people want them to happen. Be the person that MAKE things happen. You are the only one who’ve got the power to turn what’s on your paper to reality.

Now Gringo, open up your wings and fly!

NO MATTER WHAT –
STAY CALM AND DON’T LOOK DOWN

, , , ,

Review & Reflect. Past & Future

TO BE THE BEST YOURSELF
TO BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL

Why set the goals? What’s the purpose for having them in writing? So many people live their lives without having any goals or specific long-term plans written. They do just fine, so why? You got to enjoy the life! Chill out! Go with a flow. Follow the stream of life. The life is short.

I can agree only on with a fact that the life is short and you should enjoy every single day of your existence. However I don’t want to live by the flow. I doesn’t mean swimming against a current. I am wired differently than people who look at the life through such lenses. I am made for a challenge, I am a warrior. Not to fight, but to break the limits. Not to be against, but to be in peace. If you are like me, than goal setting should make sense to you.

2020 gives us a chance to start from the “blank page”. It gives hope that things will magically change, making all the dreams come true. In the new year we are all billionaires, fit, and happy. New Year is just another version of magical “tomorrow”, where we start eating healthy, exercise, and live meaningful lives. I don’t have this hope anymore. I am 110% responsible for my past, present and future, therefore there is no place for hope in this equation.

Growth is our Mandate

The year is over. Draw the line, count your wins with losses. It takes work to review and evaluate. However if its too difficult for you, if you don’t have time – that’s okay. Go back to living the way you did for the past year. Please continue blaming everyone and everything, for not living the best life you possibly could. You absolutely have the right to do so and I don’t blame you. However if you are committed to growth, if you you are a warrior – I respect you. By writing the goals we create a roadmap for us to follow. The roadmap towards personal growth and development. For you, I wrote this post to help you look back and evaluate your past year’s goals, assuming you’ve had any. I put together the list of questions you must ask yourself to get a handle on the past year.

20 Questions to Review the Past Year

  1. In one or two sentences, describe the past year.
  2. How realistic were your goals? Which were unrealistic? Which were close to reality?
  3. How many of your goals were short-term, how many long-term? Do you need to focus more on a bigger picture?
  4. How did you track the progress of your goals? What have worked well and where have you struggled the most?
  5. Which goals were the easiest to achieve? Which were the hardest?
  6. Which activities or events brought you the most joy and happiness?
  7. Pursuing which goals made you miserable?
  8. Where do you feel like you could’ve done a better job?
  9. In which areas of your life you feel like you could improve or put more emphasis on? Which areas have you focused on the most?
  10. What were your biggest wins this year? What are you proud the most?
  11. What were the most important lessons you learned this year? What did 2019 has taught you?
  12. What are the things that happened to you this year that you are grateful for the most?
  13. What personal quality(s) have you developed this year, you haven’t had before? 
  14. Which things/areas of your life are still important to you?
  15. Which pursuits are not relevant anymore and you would like to drop?
  16. What habits would you like to stop?
  17. Developing OR maintaining what habits will improve the quality of your life?
  18. What were the places you felt the happiest at?
  19. Who are the people you are grateful for the most?
  20. Doing which activities brought the most joy and happiness, in short or long-term?

How do you feel now, after answering some of or all the questions? Do you feel more clear, maybe more grateful or like a complete loser? What’s on your mind? Write it all out. Later you will use it to plan ahead into the new year.

Plan Ahead

Last year I wrote the post called “Close your eyes and imagine 2019 is over”. It is the guidance for planning the upcoming year’s goals. Information is still relevant and if you need a place to start, go ahead and click on the link above.

In brief:

  • Phrase your choices in the NOW.
  • Phrase your choices in the POSITIVE . The mind doesn’t translate words of negation, such as not , don’t , or stop.
  • Eliminate the word “WANT”. Replace the word want with have. I have a strong body; I have relationships of love and respect etc.
  • Define your top priorities for the coming year? What’s most important to you?
  • What will you need to achieve your goals, based on priorities you described? What habits will you need to develop? How much of resources will you need (money, time, connections with people… etc.)
  • Which goals will you transfer and continue pursuing in the new year?
  • Optional:
    • What will it cost you to not achieve your goals?
    • What are the activities you need to do consistently in order to achieve your goal in each of priority areas?

I went through this process myself. However, I will not share my review, as no-one should really care. It’s your own life and you do it just for yourself. I can say it was not easy and it took me a few weeks to complete the review. Planning is always a work in progress. You change, your environment change, your goals change. You HAVE to be flexible, you have to adjust. That is why don’t put the dot at the end of the list of your goals. Put three …

, , , , , , , , , , ,

1st MARATHON DE FRANCE

RACE RECAP

The venue took place at the sports complex with hot drinks and even live music. I got my bib and started to prepare for the race. Standing at the front line of the start line I got a good vision of the road ahead of me. 3…2…1 and we all set our bodies into motion.  The time has come to kick some French ass. As always I’ve come with a plan.

PACING:

  1. 13 miles at pace 7:50-8:00 /mi. 
  2. 9 miles at 7:45 /mi. 
  3. 4.6 miles as fast as I can, depending on conditions. 

In fact I felt really strong during the first 13 miles, running at 7:30-7:33 /mi, 20 seconds faster than planned😬. I was constantly reminding myself to slow down, however 30 minutes into the race I stopped resisting and made a decision to continue with a faster pace. Bad decision. 

NUTRITION

I will begin from saying that I totally failed it, not just on the race day, but  a week leading to the race. For breakfast I had approximately 200g of brown rice, 1.5 scoops of whey protein shake, 1 grapefruit and banana. On the course I brought 3 hummer gels (~ 70g of carbs in 300 calories), and two 200 ml bottles with BCAA mixed with creatine (no calories here). Throughout the course there were 7 fueling stations, serving !potato chips!, dark chocolate, oranges, pure cubed table sugar, orange juice, coke and water. My body is familiar only with bananas and coke, therefore I decided not  to experiment and ate approximately 1 banana, flushing it down with 2 gulps of coke (~40-50g of carbs). Shortly after I passed the halfway point, I realized it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with a faster pace I chose to stick with. Poor nutrition, undereating few day prior to the race, sleep deprivation did it’s nasty job. It’s an “F” Sasha. Lessons learned. 

PERFORMANCE

Remaining 13.6 miles I felt pain in the liver and excruciating pain throughout my legs, making it more and more difficult to keep up with the pacing strategy. Right leg T-band and quadriceps on the left one, became sources of burning pain making the race more fun than I could handle. The second half was a 100% mental race. I became the main actor of my own movie called “50 Shades of Pain”, battling rapidly raising fatigue and exhaustion. It was really painful experience, maybe the most painful I ever had. Instead of running a negative split, as I usually do, I found myself getting slower and slower with a creeping thought of not finishing.

“It’s all good mental training” as mantra I kept on repeat in my head. I did not walk. I finished running! In just two months of hard training I broke my PR by 15 minutes since Toronto Waterfront Marathon. 

I really enjoyed French nature while running through wide opened fields and forests. I am grateful for the warm and dry weather and appropriate choice of clothing I did for the race. I am grateful for the mind and body that allow me to take on this not only physical, but for the most part mental challenge. Thank you for not failing on me. 

I am grateful for people that supported and believed in me. 

Renee, thank you for smart, structured and personalized training plan and the words of wisdom I got from you. You are not only my coach, but a mentor to me. 

Alysa I am grateful for your support. You know me better than anyone else. You have the power to ground me in times of deep crisis. You find the right words and approaches to break my armor and get me out of the mental prison I put myself into. 

Mom, thank you for accepting my decision and cheering up for me from Ukraine. This is not how I imagined our vacation. Knowing that you had no hard feelings, took a huge weight of my chest and let me focus on the race. 

Dad, thank you for always being honest WITH me, FOR me. I highly value your advices regards my physical and mental health. Thank you for giving me freedom to make my own mistakes. 

Stepan, I am grateful for having you by my side, cheering up for me and forgiving my unpatience and short fuse. At the start line, you was worried for me more than I was for myself. You didn’t judge my decision to continue with a trip, pursuing my personal goals.

Another goal of mine got achieved setting me up for the next, greater challenges. I hit the PAUSE button for marathons and shift my focus to something greater. New 2019 year is going to be challenging and exciting year as I’ll spend it under the IRONMAN flags around the world 🌎