Who Knew Exercise Could Be So FUN?

In line with my bonus goal of making all of my goals FUN, I’m going to my third spin class in 3 days today.

If you had told me 3 months ago that I would be getting super into cycling, I’d think you were CRAZY.

I’ve never been good at biking, but it turns out that spin class is amaaaazing.

The one I go to has a giant screen at the front, and it shows a virtual reality cycling track in made-up worlds, and goes to the beat of electronic music. The lights are off, there’s an instructor yelling motivational quotes and the best bit – you get to choose how much resistance you put on your bike.

It is SO fun, and I can’t wait to go again.

I Joined a Gym (Again)

Today, I joined a gym (again).

On March 1st, 2020, I joined a gym in Brighton, UK. We all know what happened in March 2020 (if you’re reading this like, waaaay in the future and have forgotten – the COVID-19 Pandemic hit enough of the world for a global lockdown). So the gym closed (although, more to the point, I moved back to New Zealand a few days before lockdown).

But something else happened around then. I developed what I thought was chronic shoulder and back injury, but turned out to be something called TMS, which is SO curable. You can read all about my journey here.

I’ve never felt so blessed to have the movement of my body.

I did a 40-minute spin class today that 3 months ago would have had me on the floor in terrible pain 10 minutes in. I completed it without any issue AND did an aerobics class an hour later.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might know that each week, I rate myself on eight different areas of my life and then work on how to improve each area. Health & Fitness has been a solid 8/10 since I healed my chronic pain, and now I want to push it to a 10. I’ve always resisted going to the gym because I never really know what to do, but recently I found a gym with some fun classes (and it’s only a 7-minute walk from my house, which helps a lot!).

I’ve already found a gym buddy on my first day, and I’ve got high hopes.

Of course, the classic issue with the gym is that most people don’t go as much as they say they want to.

We all think “this year will be different.” But don’t actually change anything to ensure that it is.

So I’m taking on the identity of someone who goes to the gym.

Someone who LOVES to exercise.

It’s who I AM now.

Action Is A Skill

You’ve got a BIG goal. You know what you want. 

But you haven’t taken the action to get it… yet.

So many of you have told me that fear, anxiety and lack of motivation hold you back from taking consistent action towards your goals.

I hear you so deeply because THIS WAS ME.

My own brain used to always be in the way of me getting what I wanted.

I was the queen of having two super motivated days and then falling off the wagon again.

Until I learned the skill of taking action and started hitting my goals every time.

(And I say skill, because taking consistent action really is a skill, and I can teach it to you.)

I’m holding a How To Take ACTION Masterclass this weekend on Zoom.

You don’t want to miss it.

Email me at sarah@saraharnoldhall.com if you want in.

Sprint + Rest

It might sound counter-intuitive, but the most effective way to hit an impossible goal isn’t to view it like a marathon.

It’s much better to view it as a series of short sprints and rests.

Sprinters don’t experience burnout the way marathoners do.

Sprinters don’t need days and days to recover the way marathoners do.

Sprinters don’t struggle with focus, the way marathoners do.

It’s particularly important with impossible goals because they might be lengthy and could take weeks, months or years to achieve.

Sprinters run FAST.

Marathoners run HARD.

So if you’ve been hard on yourself recently for not being as focused or productive as you’d like to be – it might be because you’re treating your goals like a marathon.

Instead try this: Sprint, then rest.

Here’s what that could look like in action:

• 25 minutes of work, followed by a 5 minute break (the pomodoro technique). Repeat.

• A 7 day mindset journaling challenge.

• 4 coaching calls with an hour break in between each (rather than 4 back-to-back calls with the rest of the day off).

• Giving 100% effort to a task for a quarter of the time.

How could you break your impossible goal down into sprints and rests?

Switch Off

This evening I found out that our brains can’t distinguish between working and not working when we’re on our phones. So that means, even if we take a break from work to scroll through social media or watch a video or read an article, our brains still think we’re working.

Think about that: how many hours does your brain think you work?

Woah.

No wonder we’re a society of burnt out people.

Extra fun fact: researchers (don’t ask me where from, go ask Celeste Headlee) found that our brain is constantly aware and on high alert just for having a smart phone in our field of vision.

It’s not tech that is causing us damage though.

It’s our obsession with using it all the time.

The message today: do something that doesn’t involve tech!

ONE Action

What if you just did one thing towards your goal today?

ONE.

You could make one phone call.

Or write one sentence.

Or send one email.

Or ask one person for help.

You could think about doing it.

But what if you actually did it?

You’d be one action closer.

And it could be the thing that changes everything.

The phone call could connect you to the exact person you need.

The sentence could be a stroke of genius.

The email could land you the ideal client.

The ask could turn into an opportunity of a lifetime.

Just ONE action today could be the difference between achieving your biggest goals now or waiting another 10 years.

Pick any action. It doesn’t have to be the one you’ve been dreading.

It could be the easiest, tiniest action in the world – and it could still change everything.

Don’t wait.

1% Action

Getting things done is 1% action, and 99% avoiding the temptation to do something else instead.

Mastering focus is the ultlimate work of productivity.

What Would Make This More Effortless?

A question I’ve been asking myself recently is “What would make this more effortless?”

Some of the answers I’ve come up with:

• Doing the task from the comfort of my bed.

• Drinking a hot cup of tea while I do the task.

• Breaking it down into smaller more manageable steps.

• Eliminating unnecessary extra steps.

• Listening to music or a podcast at the same time.

• Asking myself if the task really needs to be done at all.

What do you do to create effortlessness in your life? Let me know in the comments!

Slowing Down

This weekend, I’m taking time to just be.

No work (I’m scheduling this post in advance), nothing to do.

Just listening, noticing what I might have missed while I’ve been in GO mode.

Watch this space.

A Simple Tool To Overcome Procrastination

You know that thing on your to-do list you’ve been meaning to do for ages, but you just keep putting it off?

99% of the time, it’s because of this one thing:

The items on your to-do list aren’t actually actions – they’re end results.

TO DO:

Generate leads

Write book

Do livestream

Your brain is confused. “What does that even mean bro?”

Right now, as you’re sitting on the couch scrolling through Tiger King memes, “Generate leads” sounds about as doable as “Fly rocket to Mars.”

Your brain needs you to translate “Generate leads” or “Write book” or “Do livestream” into something it can actually DO.

• Instead of “Generate leads”
  > “Write “lawn mowing services” on a Word doc, print it off, walk to supermarket, pin up on bulletin board with my phone number attached.”

• Instead of “Write book”

  > “Open notes app on phone. Write a bullet point list of the main sequence of events.”

• Instead of “Do livestream”
  > “Brush hair, choose a quote I like, log onto Facebook, press “go live”, add a puppy dog filter, and talk about what the quote means to me – just for 30 seconds.”

Give your brain something it already knows how to do.

Tiny, bite-sized, could-do-it-in-your-sleep, action steps.

Make it doable