The Fall Push is my annual period of intense focus on my goals. I have heard experts say that fall is a great time to make progress toward goals because most of us are conditioned for Back to School, and, seasonally, it feels like a time of new beginnings with the harvest.

This year, I have sensed that the Fall Push will not even be a push; it will be an acceleration.  As with most seasonal events, preparation starts in the prior season, and even though we have not officially entered summer yet, I have already started my prep season for the Fall Acceleration.

I have some wild, wild thoughts and ideas swirling around for the fall, and even though I have no clue how any of them will come to fruition, I know that they will not come to fruition if I am unprepared.

Prep Season Disciplines

  • Get my steps up: 8-10K steps weekly average
  • Core Challenge: 12 Core Workouts per month
  • Meal Planning: Write out Meals on the calendar
  • Internalize Affirmations: Write them out, record them, listen to them daily
  • Job Interview Practice: I am back to assembling questions, answering them, and practicing

There are more disciplines to come, but this is my starting point.

Over the last several years, I tried to make my life fit rigid expectations and narratives that did not align with who I really am, and I got stuck. I was stifled because my world had become so limited and constricted.

In the last six months, my world has expanded again as I reconnect with people I enjoy spending time with, and I am exploring different paths and opportunities. I feel like I have been released from prison.

I know I have outgrown my old life and am ready to move on, but I have no clue what’s next. I do have a vision, but I have no clue how to get there. I have concepts of goals, but I’m not yet clear enough to organize my life around them.

I’m in a weird place.

The Void

I’ve heard people call this transitory period, “The Void.” You’re stuck between who you were and who you are becoming, and in the middle, it feels like not much is happening.

At first, I was fighting the void because I was tired of feeling stuck and trapped, but as I’m becoming aware of what the void actually is, I’m learning to embrace it.  When you’re in transition and becoming a new person, the worst thing you can do is to rush into your new life before you’ve matured.

Without this time in the void, I know there is no way I would have been ready for a highly stimulating, demanding, and world-class environment.

Had I been in a highly stimulating, demanding, and world-class environment, I would have been unprepared, run away, or gotten distracted and blown completely off course.  I also wouldn’t have formed fulfilling connections because I wasn’t ready, and  I didn’t know what I needed

The Land of Mayonnaise

I have complained about living in the land of mayonnaise for the last few years because my environment is bland, boring, and dull, but it is exactly what I needed while dealing with grief over losing my mother, and a major life transition to the next space. I would not have been prepared to take on the challenges of a highly stimulating lifestyle. I would not have the grit, resilience, confidence, and self-awareness I developed during this last challenging season of my life.

Placed in situations that were highly stimulating, challenging, and risky, I would most likely have run away and settled for a conventional life because I just didn’t have the skills to navigate a more unconventional lifestyle.

Now that I am in my 40s, I know that a conventional life of checking the boxes is not the path I am meant to take, and my surroundings are beginning to reflect that.

I accepted that my life path would be different. As a result of that acceptance, my life is beginning to properly align.

I am getting on the right bus

The right people are getting in the right seats on the right bus

We are heading in the right direction.

I am no longer stuck

I am preparing for the next chapter.

Happy Prep Season!