Following your passion

I’m back!! Have you missed me?

I have been really busy lately and haven’t had any time to post. I have lots of ideas about the topics I want to write about, but they’re still swirling around in my head. I was, however, fortunate to be asked by HydroChic to write a blog post for them. So how come I made time for them and not for my own blog? Because they asked. And because it was about one of my favorite topics…exercise. No matter what’s going on in my life I always seem to manage to find time for this.

Anyone who knows me, works with me, follows me on Twitter, or is a Facebook friend knows that I am a fitness fanatic. No, I’m not a gym rat or work out all the time; but I am always encouraging people to get active.

In the last 24 hours, I’ve been asked to speak on fitness topics at two separate events and HydroChic posted my article. It’s called “Exercising in Skirts“, and it’s a topic close to my heart.

Writing and talking about fitness and nutrition is a passion of mine. It combines several things I’m good at — training/teaching, motivating people, and public speaking. It brings out the inner athlete in me and I hope to do the same for others.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I am a workaholic. I guess the first step is admitting it (no disrespect to anyone with an addiction, but I get manic about work and feel extremely guilty when I’m not working a lot of hours). Over the last couple of weeks (it’s still new), I’ve been doing a much better job at balancing out my schedule, which allows me to stay on track with my training and hang out more with my friends.

Our new Administrative Operations Manager, Shirley, has been getting on me about working so much. So I’ve been playing around with my schedule. I’m good about to-do lists, but I’ll keep working until I’m through it, regardless of deadlines. Instead, I’m now reviewing my to-do list to see what absolutely needs to be done and what can wait. I’m even taking time during the day to run errands and get to the gym (I hate working out in the evening). I can work late if necessary when things can’t wait or if my workday list has to change due to an unplanned meeting or requirement. I’m only one week into this new habit, but it feels good, although I feel like I keep explaining myself to people so they don’t think I’m slacking off.

As a result, I’m more focused on deliverables rather than being in the office for a set number of hours (usually 45+). Since I’m responsible for company operations, I think I have the mindset of being in the office during the day to troubleshoot and then have to work late to get my own “job” done. However Kelsey (our Business Operations Manager) and Shirley have taken over more responsibilities and taken a HUGE load off of my shoulders. They’re great and we’re really lucky to have them on D2DInc’s team.

I’ll probably still end up working a lot of hours — I am a baby boomer after all — but I’ll also have the flexibility to make sure I can follow my passion and get more people active.

My race season starts at the end of April with back-to-back half marathons. I plan on being ready. So with that said, I’ll end this with a picture posted by my friend Schemey. #nuffsaid