Hi all,

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write a blog post so here goes. : )  

I was reading a book earlier and a quote from it really stuck out to me. I am going to share it with you later on and use this time to reflect a little bit on what it means to me.

Before I get into it, I want to give you a quick life update….

I have been in my new role for a few months now. Everything is going really well. I love that the new role is geared towards my personality in the sense that I love organizing and designing. This is sort of obvious anytime you transition towards a more administrative role in healthcare. That said, I still love interacting with my team and working alongside them on the floor. The new responsibility allows me more autonomy to plan and try to discover ways to help my teammates on the floor and hopefully make their night a little easier. Of course, this isn’t always possible, but I hope they know I’m considering them and trying my best to be there for them whenever possible.

I do miss working on my old floor and talking to those kids and their loved ones. I sure learned a lot from the fortitude of those kids. I had the opportunity to see kids and their families react to the worst of circumstances. I got to see the multiple phases of the mental processes as they try their best to react well and keep hope alive. I think the perspective I received from being around that will stay with me forever. I don’t think anyone working there will ever leave quite the same. I miss forming relationships with the kids and their families. But for now, this new position is the next step in my progression, and I am going to make the most of it.

Anyway, outside of work, I have been back at the gym working hard. I am on a 16-week hypertrophy program and eating accordingly to add a little bit of size to handpicked areas on my body. For those unfamiliar with the process, adding that mass will eventually change my body mass composition so I will be leaner at a heavier weight in the future. I’m not trying to add too much weight (nothing against it, just not my goal), but I would like to define some areas on my body and this process will facilitate my future goals.

It also works to take a small break from lifting heavy to let my body recover and build a good foundation. My husband cannot spot me at the moment and is stuck going to the gym for moral support (he tore his pec major and has a few more weeks/short months of recovery post-surgery before he can pick up where he left off on other movements like squats and deadlifts).

Lifting heavy comes naturally to me, but the high-reps are killer! Hopefully this new adaptation will take me to a new level, and I will be able to see the results I am looking for. I am documenting the entire process so I can share the progress with everyone. If you have any questions about it, of course feel free to DM me.

Anyway, the quote I read in the book that I liked was a quote from Ray Bradbury:

“You can’t try to do things, you must simply do things.”

I know this seems obvious for many, but to me it makes me reflect on priorities. I’m not someone who typically struggles with lack of effort. I’m not a lazy person, if there is even such a thing (lazy or unengaged depending on how you look at it). However, I know I struggle with taking on too many things at once. I know sometimes I have to take a step back and evaluate what I really want so I don’t let the important things receive less attention than they need.

There is a concept I learned when getting my Nurse Management degree called the Pareto Principle. It’s often used in finance. Simply stated, it says that 80% of consequences (output) come from 20% of the causes (input). In other words, 80% of the results come from a concentrated 20% of efforts. For me that means I need to identify that important 20% in my life and make sure that I pay it the right amount of attention to it. Those big pillars for me need to come first no matter how busy I think I am.  

In my own life, what means the most to me is faith, relationships (family, friends), and meaningful work. Faith, family, and friends speak for themselves. Outside of that, I feel strongly about doing my part to help inspire others to improve and live as the healthiest version of themselves as possible. That’s not my sole mission, but it is one of them that means a lot to me. I want to live in such a way that I never take life or health for granted. Taking care of my body is the very least I can do when other people long for that opportunity and sometimes don’t have it.

I love receiving questions and messages about training. They are a source of fuel to me. I receive several a day and I absolutely love it. I know there are a lot of more qualified people out there for people to use as fuel, but my sentiment is that if my posts inspire one more man or woman to train, then to me it’s worth it. Anything beyond that is a plus.

For a long time, I didn’t get the results I wanted from training. It wasn’t due to lack of effort, but more lack of tools and experience. I would hate to think that there are people out there, whether in the field of healthcare or not, who are not getting the most out of how they look or feel because they don’t have the tools. The knowledge can be found. But even though we have access to just about everything, things can be confusing, and a little bit of guidance goes a long way towards gaining experience.

For the present moment, that is my focus. I want to continue to train and help others along the way. If you have any questions or just want to share with my thoughts or reflections, feel free to reach out to me in my DMS.

Until next time, have a great week!

Sincerely,

Lexi, RN-MSN

Username: Lexicristabelle