“We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

Excellence is a habit that we must maintain day in and day out…especially when the holidays roll around! This is the time of year when the warm clothes come out, and the pounds pack on; when we eat tons of yummy stuff, and let our workouts go by the way side.

NOT THIS YEAR!

You can get by in life without putting 100% into it. You can probably cruise through at around 80% and be fine. But the quality of your life will reflect what you put into it.

You put in less, you get less back.

This year we are making excellence a habit that we stick to all year round. That doesn’t mean we can’t indulge in our favorite goodies, it doesn’t mean that we have to run everyday or stick to every single workout plan, but it does mean that by giving 100% to everything we do, we will ready when it’s time to show up on race day, we will be ahead of the curve when it’s time to chow down on big family meal days, and ready to get back to work and burn off those calories when it’s over!

It’s hard to keep going day after day, week after week, but when you make exercise and healthy eating a habit…it’s nothing new or different, just a normal day when we take care of ourselves and make good choices.

Think about when you were young and still in school; the kids who worked hard at their homework got teased, and sometimes this attitude still prevails in the adult world. Think about your work colleagues, your friends and family. How many of them are putting 100% into everything they do? Sadly, excellence is not a common thing. If you are someone who strives for excellence in all things then you are a rare breed!

Be the exception.

In everything you do, do it to the best of your ability. Exercise, nutrition, work, cleaning the house, taking care of your family, being a good friend….

We’re going to start with the tiny things, like washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom…whatever small task is up next. These little things might not seem like much, but by doing the little things the very best we can, we begin to establish the habit of excellence in everything that we do. This habit will spill over into our relationships, work, finances, health…

Changing our habits is generally easier said than done, but we are going to make it work by simply doing the very next task to the best of our ability, then we’re well on our way.

What is the next task on your list right now? Will you put 100% into completing that task so you come away feeling good about what you’ve done? Start now and let’s begin our journey to making excellence a habit!

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November Buddy: The very first habit we are going to create going into November is choosing a buddy and committing to each other to stay on track and support one another. Our buddy system will help keep us accountable and motivated. Everyone needs a buddy, so team up or let me know if you’re in need and I will do my best to match you with someone who will help you achieve excellence in November!

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On to journey to excellence we have to make a plan. Lucky for us, the exercise plan is already spelled out. We just have to execute it. So on to the nitty gritty…below is our November 2017 Challenge Calendar. We’re following the same format as October, 3 days hard, 2 days with quick workouts, then the weekend for our long runs and active recovery.

Annette made a good point when she said she needs to move her long runs to mid-week so she can make her training schedule work for her life. This calendar is a guide and can always be moved around to make it work for you. If you need to go long during the week, move the tough workouts to the weekend! The key is to make it work for you, not to let your running and workouts run your life!

We have a lot of fun new exercises this month but it’s important that we learn how to do them correctly, so as always, I will be adding “how to” videos as we go. Please make sure you are checking in with our daily post to see how they are done correctly to benefit the most from your workout AND to avoid getting hurt!

You can find a PDF copy of our calendar in the Strong to the Core group “files”. Print it out and put it somewhere you can see it and cross off the days. Just make sure you check the daily post for our “how to”videos and then post when you’re done so we can cheer you on….and who knows…you might just inspire someone else to do a little more than they planned.

November is all about making excellence a habit…let’s do this Crew!