Wednesday, March 25, 2015

#10000HappyDays #Day1: Starting the Process of Changing for the Better (Kaizen)

Challenge Accepted! Bring it on!!!


I tried several times to change my mindset, habits, and attitudes to "ideal".  Normally, I would have to beginner's luck to receive rewards at an early stage of the process of Kaizen or changing for the better. The rewards usually bring moments of joy and even happiness. Instead of pushing forward and continuing the process, I usually get contended and end up being contended with the initial success.  Afterwards, regression happens.  The cycle has been repeated many times over.  From my studies to my work to my weight loss program and even to my blogging. I always blame myself for having such weak willpower. This time though, I want to reinforce my commitment by having an online journal of my path to change.  Today, I want restart my 10,000 Happy Days challenge. The next paragraph were my thoughts in the past that I decided to rewrite and repost.



People always say that the hardest part of trying to change is starting out. A lot of us are usually in denial.  The status quo is our comfort zone. I feel the same way.  I am already 38 years and yet, I am just starting to be serious in this process of becoming an extraordinary human being. I usually boast to myself and to others that I have a relatively happy life. Semi-successful, semi-contented, semi-happy and I have a whole bunch of semis. I always feel that there must be more out of this life. I have been reading things about positive psychology and the power of positive thinking. I even created my own happiness project and version of the 100 happy days (#100happydays). While these things are good, I realized that genuine change will involve a lot of pain and sacrifices. That is why I am starting this online journal so that I can somehow push myself to become a better person. I want to go out of mediocrity.

This challenge is inspired with the Japanese concept of Kaizen or continuous change. Change should continue throughout your lifetime until you reach a satisfactory level of excellence. Change involves a lot of pain and doing things that you do not love doing. It is a painful process, but the results will be worth it. This journal will be about the lessons that I learned in trying to transform into the best person that I can be.

The usual format of this challenge will include a lot hashtags like #10000daysofpain #force and #stress. #10000daysofpain will be about painful experiences and the pain experienced while changing or pushing yourself--for example, the pain you will feel after doing squats while carrying weights twice your bodyweight. #force is about the different variables and circumstances that force you to change, like when one is forced not to eat meat after a heart attack. #stress could be about pet peeves and the things that can stress you out, like when you get stressed while waiting for someone who is late.

I always believe that stress, pain, and other negative things will always be present while you are alive. The key to becoming extraordinary is not necessarily eliminating the negative elements but in being able to train your mind and body to be numb or invincible when facing these odds. People sometimes call it grace under pressure. It is also called clutch. It is the ability to achieve peak performance in the most difficult circumstances. The only way to develop those trait is to constantly expose oneself to stress and develop a certain level of immunity.

#force - This challenge will force me to write a journal entry everyday. It will make me reflect my action and decisions in the past 24 hours and force to contemplate on my actions and learn from it. By writing about what I learned everyday, I will be more conscious of my actions and will improve my ability to express my own thoughts and feelings.

#patontheback - Some people say that it would take 30 days to make a habit and just yesterday I finished a 30-day blogging challenge that have me write a post everyday for 30 straight days in my Kalami Cebu Food Blog.  This new challenge of changing will be more difficult but at least I already made a Day 1 post. My 30-day blogging challenge improve my blog traffic drastically, I know that this 10000 day challenge could have wonderful rewards as well.


"For every pain there is a corresponding reward!"

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