Mental Mindset Part 1

 I have been struggling as of late. Well to be honest with myself, for the last couple of months. I am mentally exhausted. Mainly caused by work. To give you a bit of an idea, I am the only mortgage lender in my branch at the moment, and have been for the last year almost. My branch is currently at 294% (no decimal there!) with the mortgage target for the year. I am also training someone, and I believe she may account for about 5% of that number. It will be great to have a partner to help with this, but training also takes time. 

So essentially by the time my workday (10-11 hour day) is done, the tank is running on fumes at best. This also doesn’t include the ‘off’ hours spent working. I am struggling with this for the main reason that my kung fu is suffering. I don’t feel like I am training as I should, or most certainly want to be. It is adding extra anxiety for the black belt grading. Where am I? What am I doing? are questions that have dissappointing answers for me when it comes to my kung fu at the moment. To keep from going completely under, I have set small check ins periodically to keep me on track with my numbers, but the extra training is almost non existent. And this stresses me out! 

My mind feels like a carousel at warp speed for most of the day, and then a hard stop to fling me off, and leave me lying on the ground trying desperately to catch my breath. Okay, maybe a bit dramatic, but the best way I can describe it at the moment. 

The first step in correcting this was doing a one on one. The second is blogging about it, and acknowledging where I am at. And the third is to do something about it. Now, my job pays the bills, so it won’t go away; but I believe there is a way to eliminate some of this stress. It will be a process, it won’t change overnight, but I have to start somewhere right? 

Part 2, and possibly more to follow so this blog isn’t 12 pages long! 

Demo and Tiger Challenge 2022

 I started a blog last week about the demo and got side tracked and didnt get back to it, my apologies.

The first public Demo in more than 2 years! It was fanatastic! Not only is it a different way to bring the team together, but I find it renews the energy in the year. We put a dragon dance together in a very short period of time, and allowed for a starting point to continue to train with the dragon. The crowd was great, and everyone did an amazing job! 

Also the first Tiger Challenge in more than 2 years! It’s been such a great couple of weeks. The TC was so much fun, and you could feed off the energy in the room. Everyone performed and competed wonderfully, and of course the obstacle course and pool noodle fight didn’t disappoint. My cheeks were sore from laughing so much! This year was a bit of an extra challenge due to being postponed, and some not being able to attend, but all in all I think it was amazing. Congratulations to all!

Due to the date change, my team form had to be adjusted from the original version, as a couple couldn’t make the new date. We were adjusting up to the night before due to uncontrollable circumstances. We ended up a team of 2, instead of the original 5. We certainly missed having the others there, but it also once again taught me about pivoting, making adjustments, and making it work in a different way. Even though they couldn’t make it, they continued to train with us, and still cheered us on from afar. Even the day of, they were sending in positive vibes and well wishes. This is one of the great benefits of getting together with teammates that you may not normally work with. It allows you to expand your comfort zone, and feed off the energy and knowledge of others. So thank you to all of you, it definitely made my day, and the last couple of months wonderful to work with you all! I’m looking forward to next year already! 

A special thank you to all that worked so hard to make the day happen, I’m sure it wasn’t  easy with all of the continuous changes, but once again you made it seem seamless, and fun was had by all. Thank you to all of you for your hard work, and dedication to make days like this happen.