During the past week, Steve and I have been preparing for Project One, the holistic development program that starts in late October.We're both aware of many things we'd like to do to whip ourselves into shape, so we can be the kind of facilitators that are going to motivate and inspire people in October. My big personal challenge is that around this time of year, life gets very busy again. My teaching schedule and time in the clinic more than doubles, so while we both agreed to start adding some more prep work into our daily lives, I had to express that I was really unsure. How can I realistically do all of these extra things without being irresponsible to my pre-existing (and more financially beneficial) commitments?
You see, the big promise of Project One is that all the participants will authentically develop in the domains of Living, Working, and Being. It sounds lovely on paper, but the challenge is that all three domains have to be intact and operating in a healthy manner in order for the Project, and the participants, to be successful.
So while part of me knows that I could just stay up even later at night than I already do, or put some major things on hold, if I want to stay true to the philosophy of the Project itself, my approach in fact cannot be one of "cramming" for spiritual and personal growth.
Why Fad Diets Fail and Boot Camps Are Bad
What I find so interesting about the whole thing, is that the first inclination to address my little conundrum was to apply the boot camp and fad diet approach.
We live in a fast-paced, results-oriented culture. As a Chinese Medicine Practitioner, if someone comes to me looking to lose weight, I insist that they keep a food journal and we start to find ways of improving the quality of food, their eating habits, and the sometimes very emotional relationship people have to what goes into their mouths and why. This method, when followed, creates amazing results because it is not a system of deprivation, but one of deep change.
Sadly, most people would rather torture and potentially harm themselves by:
a) removing most of the essential food groups to try and lose 10 pounds by Thursday
b) eating 6 almonds a day and 20 mystery diet pills
c) attending some 3-week Bikini Babe Booty Body Bootcamp
Don’t get me wrong, cleaning up the diet and getting exercise is great, but in all my years of working in the health and wellness world, I have never seen anyone stick to any of these more extreme programs. Most do more harm than good, if not physically then by damaging a participant's own self-confidence. I have watched people expend super-human effort to make a dramatic change only to, at some point down the line, experience a rude awaking when they injure themselves through over-exertion or exhaustion. Plus, no one can maintain a heightened level of intensity forever. And the resulting "return to normal" often damages people's hope of making real change.
So instead of applying the quick fix, bootcamp, and bad diet to my own situation, Steve and I came up with another solution. The best part is, it is one we can all share together, but you will have to wait until Monday's blog post to find out what it is. :)
