5 things I learned from my running streak

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I did a thing! I committed to a running streak!

So ….what is a running streak anyway? Essentially it’s a certain amount of time where a runner commits to running with no days off. Running more than anything is a mind game. It’s not about how fast or how far you can run…it’s always about taking the first stride, then the next and the next. It it’s about constantly reminding yourself about you why and finding the discipline to keep going.

Before I get into some of what I learned, I wanted to share a little about my steak.

I ran everyday, no days off
I ran a minimum of 2km, most days 3.33km and at least 1 5km run
I ran outside and on my treadmill
I live by my Nike Run Club app – I love that I can track everything there, I love that it captures my run details, cheers and guides me through different runs ++ I can see all the cool accomplishments I make happen!

Okay so here are the top 5 things I learned:

New habits should be approachable on a daily basis
This means, your daily “to-do” run should be something you can do without thinking. Granted running requires different kinds of training (long runs, sprints/farlek, hills, cross training & recovery) but for a running streak you need be ready to go without having to think too much about it.
Learn to list to your body
I am intuitive by nature, but my body gave me stronger messages when I ran consistently. I think thats a very important skill (tool?) to develop. It also made me become more aware of functional fitness and exercises that weren’t heavy but helped to developed the way my body moved.
Do the hard thing first
When I got my run done in the morning, the rest of the day seemed to go much smoother and my mind was able to focus. The same happens when you have a personal morning routine (wake up early, meditate, journal, sunlight etc). Getting up (late) to only check email and hustle just doesn’t make sense.
You always do things twice, once in your head and then in real life
Same goes for running. You literally see yourself doing it in your minds eye before you actually do it. For me it was seeing the trails or sideways I knew I’d run before getting out there.
Somethings can be multi tasked (but not everything)
For me it was running an errand. LITERALLY! Being able to run to the store to pick up something and then running back home with that something was such a delight!

4 quotes to inspire your Art of Leisure journey

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’ve known from a very young age that I wanted to prioritize leisure over everything. I just didn’t know what to call it. And it’s not that I lacked ambition, but rather the opposite. I’ve always wanted to maintain intentional balance in my life: from family to pursing heights in education, to career and fitness. The art of leisure gives you the opportunity to excel in everything without feel like you are missing something.

So what exact is the art of leisure? Well I guess we have to start with what is leisure. Leisure should be considered the main activity (and not a sedentary one). Leisure is the functional engagement in pursuits that create a sense of contemplation, silence & introspection. Leisure is pursued for its own benefit instead of some higher goal. In our current society, work is prioritized over leisure and almost everything has been converted into a side hustle. But the art of leisure is about doing things that make you feel good without necessarily delivering value to anyone else or provide you with monetary gain.

The art of leisure is a definitely a practice and sometimes a good quote can get you in the right mindset to begin you practice. Be sure to save these to Pinterest or better yet print them and put them around your workspace as a reminder to let your idle time be leisure time for yourself!

Sunday Reset Guide

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I am writing this Saturday night because I wanted to get this out there on time!

And this was actually quite easy for me share because I always end up doing majority of the activities every Sunday. It feels great because it’s a natural progression to the end of my week (which I love)!

To me, the “Sunday resets” however they look (read: sped up tik tok video or otherwise!) are meant to bring the art of leisure back into our lives and set us up to build routines for our ideal lifestyle.

Hopefully these are some things you can add to your Sunday!

Sleep in a little longer!
Swap out your workout for a walk in nature, pilates or yoga
Write a brain dump list
Take “the” shower
Change your sheets!

OOTD, Fit, Fitcheck, Sunday Reset, Toronto Creator, That girl, Lifestyle

Pinterest, Sunday Reset Graphic, Soul Care Pin, Pin

Book Review: I can’t make this up, life lessons by Kevin Hart

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Done & dusted!

I’ve finished my first book of the year!

I can’t make this up, life lessons by Kevin Hart!
Get from Chapters Indigo
Get from Amazon.ca

I couldnt have started the year with a better book. Kevin takes us on a personal account of his challenges and perseverance as he chased his dream of becoming a famous comedian, actor and now author!

The book starts off funny, mellows out for some serious themes in the middle and ends on a funny yet inspiring. His positive outlook, consistency and belief in himself is relatable and a great way to begin the year!

Some of my favourite quotes:

“How you handle rejection is very similar to how you’ll handle success. If you’re strong enough to handle rejection without taking it personally, without holding a grudge, and without losing your passion and drive, then you’ll be strong enough to reap the rewards. But if you’re too weak to handle failure and disappointment, then you’re too weak to handle success, which will only end up damaging your life and happiness.”

“It turns out that the things I hated most as a child are the same things that serve me the most as an adult.”

“You are already in your experience. So you can either resent and resist it, and make it that much less enjoyable, or you can accept it and find something positive in it.”

One qualm I had about the book – is that there are no date references!

A day in my life – on a Friday

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I love reading people’s day in the life posts & vlogs. I find learning about other people’s daily routines and schedules interesting. So much so, that I’ve decided to share a typical day in the life of my own. Albeit a Friday!

Friday’s are a usually a lighter day of meetings which means I will try to add some tasks to get ahead (or catch up), admin and personal activities (related to my goals or life in general).

I also feel that #DITL posts need context. I have a corporate career, happily married mom to 2 kids with busy extra curricular schedules. But I’m also creative (running this blog, my Etsy store and pursing creative hobbies to ensure I build skills), habit stacker who is very intentional about how I spend my free time and what content I consume.

That said, there are a lot of things in my day that are non-negotiables, almost to the point that I don’t even think about doing them anymore – they just get done. (When people ask how I make the the time or prioritize my non-negotiables, I don’t know what to say other then “it’s like when I get up I brush my teeth…I do these things because I do them).

Anywho on to my Fri-yay!

632am – Today I was working from home but I still I meditate right after awaking. I love that early morning meditation. I feel like it works wonders for me. Following that, I put on my apple watch, drink a sip of water and journal. I get my AM hygiene routine out of the away before the rest of the house wakes up.

7:05am – Kids alarm goes off and I’ll hop on over to see how they are doing. There is usually some fight that needs to be broken up (slammed door, hogging the sink etc) but after that is diffused I’ll head downstairs to start breakfast and pack lunches (the hubby and I will rotate that job daily so if I’m not downstairs, I’m helping the girls get ready).

750am – Kids lunches are packed, breakfast is mostly eaten and we are out the door on the way to the bus stop!

8:10am – As soon as we get back from school bus drop off, I start my workout. I’ll warm up for a run with my air buds playing affirmations. This is a new routine and I find it works really well. As for my run, I have a daily rotation: 20 min, 3km or 4km. During that time I’ll watch a TedTalk or a podcast on youtube. Because it was Friday – I decided to treat myself to a little Netflix and a long run.

8:45am – I like to do a little resistance as well, so thats when I’ll turn on a motivational podcast (well slightly aggressive motivational speeches. (Think: Zig Ziglar, Coach Pain, Eric Thomas etc). I rotate between legs, full body and multiple arm days per week. After the long run, I wanted to cool down and stretch today.

9:00am to 11:45am – After a quick breakfast, I jump straight into meetings. But because I documented my day on a Friday – my meetings are light. So I try and keep my time blocked for sessions with my mentees, networking & skill building. On this day in particular I had a training session and then I did a brain dump of my work tasks before continuing a self study course.

1:30pm – Before grabbing a bite, I did a Move with Nicole 15 min Pilates class. Her classes are soo good!

3:15pm – Today I picked up my daughters early as we were going to my in-laws house. And it was straight to Karate for them.

6:00pm – Last Friday we celebrated Lorhi. Lorhi is the celebration to mark the passing of Winter Solstice. I love celebrating anything that follows the lunar phases. Time spend with family, playing games, building a fire, throwing peanuts into said fire, eating and drinking great food!

And that’s it! How do your Friday’s look? Is it the same every Friday or varied? These kind of days offer me the most work life integration – which is what I strive for everyday!

How to make better to do lists!

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Planner, Crystals, Productivity, Smart Goals, Work Smarter, Women in Tech, Lifestyle, Life Lately, Life Tips

To do lists are the micro levels of my big dreams. Big dreams are astronomical, may take months or years to achieve them, require persistence and consistency. Consistency is where our daily to do lists come in.

I do want to preface this post by saying the following:

we shouldn’t be slaves to our to do lists
to do lists don’t own us
to do lists are meant to serve us

So if your daily to do list, post it or weekly planner spread is making you feel bad about yourself – throw it out, take a beat and start over again when you are ready!

We shouldn’t feel productivity debt (feeling like you always need to be doing something and rest is not deserved unless your to do list is completed) from not completing everything on our to do list & there is nothing you NEED to do to earn your existence.

But when you are ready to schedule the day you want to make it amazing – read on!

Side note: I’m writing this as I was feeling overwhelm trying to use notion. Notion is meant to be a tool to keep your life organized but there was too much scope creep in their product – for me at least. The idea that it might also need to look aesthetic, link to a Spotify playlist and my Pinterest mood board was a little too much. So I realized I need to step back and figured others might need to too.

So how do we make our to do lists work for us?

Figure out your big dreams, goals, priorities and projects. But also think about the habits you want to build and routines you want to have.
Pick a medium that works for you. Could be paper or digital, simple or complex. You’ll also want to choose a template: Is it just 1 sticky note for the day, or multiple colour coded ones, is it a weekly spread planner or an hour-by-hour list of tasks. This can obviously change but it’s a great idea to try something out.
Fill your list with your daily living + tasks that will help you got to your big goals. Example are meetings, but also your workouts (goal: to focus on fitness). It could be having lunch with someone and blocking 2 hours in the morning for writing (goal: to write a book).
Pick something to fail at. Not everything has to be checked off and not everything has to be done well. So knowing what can be moved to another day vs a non-negotiable will help you stay intentional and not feel like you aren’t moving forward.

Remember – it’s all about getting to outcomes (not getting things done). Your to do list should be on your side helping you build intentional habits and keep you 1 step closer to your goals!