Stepping up - beating my personal best.

A little while ago I mentioned my participation in the Global Corporate Challenge, a world wide event designed to develop and ingrain an active lifestyle.  This weekend we have our first mini challenge where our task is to beat our previous personal best.

It's clever to do this over a weekend as I've noticed that I'm not nearly as active on the weekends as I am during the week.  I've already been motivated to change this as my lack of activity last Sunday had a huge impact not only on my own daily average steps, but it also dragged my team down.  I felt terrible!

My current daily step average is 10,529 steps and my team average has rocketed up this week and now sits at 10,256!  We only broke the 10,000 average as a team a few days ago.

Yesterday my personal best was about 14 100 steps to beat.  As  I traipsed around the city doing various things yesterday, I actually established a new personal best a day early.  I now have to make more than 15,260 steps today or tomorrow.  I am actually wondering whether I did this with a subconscious awareness that this would mean I'd have a higher target to beat.

I know that it is unlikely to happen today as I'm off to see King Kong this afternoon and have some paperwork to do before that and then a dinner engagement.  That leaves tomorrow, unless King Kong himself chases me from the theatre...or picks me up and shakes me, as one of my team mates pointed out.

I continue to be impressed at the design and philosophy of the Global Corporate Challenge.  The smartphone app is easy to use and allows me to see at a glance how I'm going and enter my steps each morning before I get out of bed and reset my Pulse.  Weekly videos from the coach are personalised, clever and engaging.  They also clearly display the philosophy - it's about starting a habit so that behaviour is embedded and instinctive; striving to beat your best is part of what great winners do and so on.

The problem of the crowded tram stop has also been solved.  I now walk the six stops between Flinders Street and the office when I'm working there.  I had sometimes taken the walk in the afternoons but doing it both ways every time has made a big difference.  Not only am I more active, but I'm also in a happier frame of mind.  I've also noticed that choir nights add to my steps, especially when we sing African songs that are accompanied by walking and stomping.

What's your challenge this weekend?

Emerging Writers' Festival Blogging Masterclass - being a good person

I've been locked in a classroom since 11am today.  I am tired.  My brain is full.  I paid for the privilege.  I'm pleased and inspired.  I've been at the Blogging Masterclass presented by the Emerging Writers' Festival at the Wheeler Centre.  Apart from the presenters themselves, I had some really interesting conversations with other participants, took pages of notes and had the unexpected pleasure of spending the day with Rose Wintergreen.

divacultura will celebrate her first birthday in July, so it's timely to be drinking inspiration and thinking about what I'm doing.  My tool kit is bursting and my well of ideas is chockablock.

One of the things I loved most about today was the level of contradiction amongst the presenters.  It highlights that blogging can be anything you want it to be and for any purpose at all.  It's up to you!  I plan to think about everything I heard today.  Some things I may implement.  They may work or fail.  Other things I already know  will be discarded because they don't fit with my personal philosophy and purpose.

Many times today, I felt myself thinking that I had already written on the subject being discussed; in particular the value of reciprocity and good will. My post "In the flow" holds really true.  John Tjhia (blogger for the Wheeler Centre) resonated when he said that social media works the same as social encounters in the real world.  His motto?  "Try to be a good person".  So simple.

As I have time to reflect I'll be writing about today's discussions and what I'm thinking as a result.

Feeling inspired is a wonderful, wonderful thing!

What inspired you today?