Core Strength: Work in Progress
Personal reflections & tips to form a new healthy habit
It takes strength!
I’ve been in the job market for a few months now. It’s been exhilarating and sometimes exhausting. It’s been a nice break from the meeting grind that comes with full-time work and a different grind at the same time. I remind myself to appreciate the journey and move forward steadily and thoughtfully.
Maintaining a calendar helps me do this. I feel better having order to my day. More grounded when I can see the week ahead. I set my week-ahead on Friday and sometimes adjust on Sunday afternoons. I reserve mornings for tasks that require thought and focus. I build buffer in to avoid back-to-back meetings if possible. Time-blocking is something I’ve done for years, and even in this period of not working have continued.
Yes, I’d liken this job search feeling to a whirlwind, and also an endurance race. My calendar is the course to navigate each week.
Endurance Running
I run though I wouldn’t call myself a runner. Over the years I’ve done races like Ragnar, Fall 50, River to River, Great Lakes Endurance, and many marathon relays. Basically, I run when I can do it with friends.
These type of long-distance relays have ranged from 26–200 miles, 5–12 people, roads and trails, 1–2 vans, get in and out and pass the baton while running continuously, as a team, from start to finish.
These races can be physically and mentally taxing. But they’re also very (very) fun. An enjoy-the-journey type experience if there is one. I mean, if you’re going to spend 2 days in a van with a bunch of people (and sleep on the ground in between) you better enjoy each other’s company.
Image generated using Gemini from prompt two shapes running and talking
One of the most enjoyable aspects of this job search has been conversations along the way. Reconnecting with old friends and mentors and meeting many, many new people. Each conversation leading to outcomes and choices, a baton-passing in the form of network effects.
I sincerely appreciate people who have made time for me. Life is busy. I’m fortunate to have good people in my corner. Some who I didn’t even know just a few months ago.
Frequent context-switching (people, topics, companies) has made calendar management necessary. But it’s also been nice to reserve more space at home with family. Time to exercise and enjoy the sunshine. And reinvestment in some personal endeavors as well.
📝 Writing (personal fulfillment, head-clearing). Reading and reacting to content from others is also a weekly intention.
♟️ Freelancing (applying know-how in this interim period). In the last month, I’ve had the opportunity to dive into a new industry while learning a lot more about AI at the same time. Collaborating with great people and keeping skills sharp in what was a sprint through February.
💬 Coaching, mentoring, and catching up (investing time in others and myself). Having space for casual meet-ups with long-time friends, former colleagues turned friends, and fellow job seekers has been a really refreshing aspect of this time.
This in combination with my life and household and well, my cup is full. And some days overflowing.
Photo by Olivia Bauso on Unsplash
Challenge 2 Reflections
A few months ago I proposed a challenge series and recently finished Challenge 2. This challenge was to do a plank exercise for 21 consecutive days. Each day, increasing time, documenting the journey and measuring the difference between days 1 and 21. I did a push-up plank for 21 days and here’s how it went.
Day 1: I held a plank for 2 minutes, 15 seconds. I probably could have gone a little longer but stopped when I felt my form weakening. My intention in doing this was to be diligent on form.
Day 21: I held a plank for 3 minutes, 15 seconds. I felt strong 💪 though my shoulders ultimately gave out before my core. My body felt noticeably stronger and more stable. I added a minute to my day 1 time.
A strong 3+ minute plank is something to celebrate. Though, I’ll share some observations over the 21 days process as well.
The approach I had set was to plank as long as you can on Day 1, and then cut day 1 time by ⅕. Day two then would start from there, and you’d work back back up, adding 5 seconds every day.
So after my first day at 2 minutes, 15 seconds, that meant my day 2 was only 27 seconds. And then 32 sec, 37 sec, etc in the subsequent days.
I found this quite easy. Too easy. (Like in my head in the first couple days, questioning if I made too easy).
Or did I?
This challenge was intended to strengthen your core, but also to establish the habit of doing a plank everyday. And because I made it easy, I had no excuse. It was so incredibly easy, the self-inflicted guilt of not completing this task was unacceptable (said the accountability angel on my shoulder).
This article shares more on the behavioral psychology of easing into new habits. I contemplated changing my approach, but I did not. I stuck with my steady, easy plan and didn’t miss a day. Nor did I dread scheduling this task in my day.
Healthy Habit-Forming Tip #1: Baby step your way in. Make it so easy you feel guilty NOT doing it!
Image generated using Gemini from prompt for desk calendar
I slotted my plank into my early evening, after dinner, and before settling in for the evening wind-down. A consistent slot every night where I’d say to myself, “don’t sit on the couch until you’ve done your plank!”
I shared this article about habit stacking previously, and it proved effective in this challenge.
Healthy Habit-Forming Tip #2: Habit stack. Sequence new tasks in between routine ones, to more easily integrate in an established routine.
After 13 days, I was in a consistent routine, planking every day after dinner, before sitting on the couch. On day 14, I started increasing the time and resistance, to make it a little harder.
Some days I added 10 seconds instead of 5.
Other days I wore my weighted vest.
I took it one day at a time assessing how I felt and only pushing myself as far as I could while keeping my form perfect. Because while I was aiming for little increases everyday, it was not at the expense of quality.
Healthy Habit-Forming Tip #3: Push your performance only after you have a consistent routine in place. The reward in high-quality gains will fuel your desire to not stop.
After 21 days, my core felt strong. My whole body did but the feeling was radiating from the center. I work out regularly and still felt a noticeable difference from this simple challenge.
I’m now also planking 2 min everyday while working on shoulder strength. As an athlete I wasn’t naive to the importance of core strength before this, but now feeling it directly. It’s a habit I now can’t stop.
New healthy habit ✅
Finding stride
Coming back to the job market, and I feel like I’m finding stride. The finish line isn’t visible yet, but I’m making progress and pace. The view and conversations along the journey have been great. Runs are so much better when you’re core is strong. The experience is more enjoyable with people by your side.
Follow me on LinkedIn and Medium for future recaps. And check back soon for the next challenge!
