Jess, Ainslie and me after the finish line
I successfully ran a 4.5km run with blogger buddies Jess and Ainslie on Sunday. Our time was a very respectable 39 minutes 10 seconds.
If you don’t know me this doesn’t seem like news – or at least it sounds like news of the “Oh, that’s nice” flavour. What you have to understand for this to start being meaningful is that 2 months ago I hadn’t run further than a bus-stop length in… well, a VERY long time. I regarded running as something Other People did. Not me – I sure couldn’t do such a thing.
In the last two months I have run further than two marathons. I’ve lost an inch and a half around my waist, if my clothes are correct. And The Dude keeps poking my butt in a jokey kind of awe.
To sum up my feelings at this transformation, I shall quote the words I used on Twitter when I successfully completed my first ever jog of 30 minutes with no breaks: I AM A FUCKING GOD OF EXERCISE.
I never thought I could do this, until I did.
I transformed from couch potato to moderately-fit-person changed my fucking life by using two very important resources:
1. The free Couch to 5k running program
2. Jaime, my accountability partner
I couldn’t have done it without them.
The Couch to 5k provided a framework for me to steadily improve without breaking myself. Without it I would have gotten fit eventually, but much more slowly and ineffectually, and probably with at least one major injury along the way. I’d estimate it would have taken me six months instead of two to get to this level of fitness. Actually, worse: I would never have thought I was ready to run 30 minutes with no breaks. I would have gotten pretty fit, but I’d still regard even the very non-threatening Mother’s Day Classic as a bridge waaaay too far.
My accountability partner got me out the door every single time whether I wanted to go or not – I couldn’t bear to disappoint Jaime. (And she did likewise, not wanting to let me down.) We cheered each other on after every single completed session. I am damn sure that without that support and accountability I would have slacked off when it got hard and discouraging and Those Voices started up: “Who are you kidding? You’re 32 years old and you’ve never been fit. You look ridiculous and you bounce far too much. Hey, just walk the rest of this interval, who would know? Ow, that hurt a bit – we should totally stop and go home now. This is haaaaaard.”
But with those two resources in place I never missed a session. I pushed hard but not to the point of breaking, I finished a run, and I am intensely proud of myself. (You might have noticed.)
This lead me to thinky thinks about DIY Magnificence, because like the Couch to 5k program it is a transformational framework. And like the C25k, it doesn’t come standard with support and accountability.
And that is maybe a problem.
Because transformation is HARD.
DIY Magnificence was expanded and adapted from Goddamn Radiant, my one-on-one marketing transformation. I’ve seen how draining and challenging this work is – I recommend that people block out the hour after one of those sessions because they tend to feel like their head is gonna explode.
But of course I am there with them through that process, giving them space and support to work through all the headjunk and unexpected epiphanies, gently-but-firmly leading them through the resistance points, slowing things down and speeding them up, pouring in the love and finely judging when to push and when not to.
(Sudden realisation: I’m an amazing coachsultant. I really do all of those things.)
Of course the challenge when creating DIY Magnificence was how to try and deliver all that transformation when I wasn’t there, in a product form.
And how to make sure you have enough support through the transformation.
Helping you to help yourself.
I thought long and hard about this problem while I was creating DIY Magnificence:
How do I provide support without spending my time?
One-on-one, I can support someone’s ass off, but of course a major reason for creating products is so that I do less one-on-one sessions.
So the entire first chapter of DIY Magnificence is preparation, to set you up for the great work.
But… I couldn’t have done the Couch to 5K alone. It’s a great framework, but a great framework isn’t enough.
I think I can serve you better.
So I’m going to try an experiment: the Couch to Magnificence.
It’s the excellent framework, WITH support and accountability.
If you buy DIY Magnificence before my birthday, May 28, you’ll get more than a framework for transforming your work from “meh” to “fan-fucking-tastic”. You’ll also receive twice-weekly emails with support, extra content, and a question you need to answer on the . I’m anticipating that lively discussions will start up as you all share your answers.
Each week will have a chapter theme: Why, Who, What, How.
(Of course, if you already own DIY Magnificence you’ll be invited, too.)
(And naturally you can still participate in the Facebook goings-on without owning a copy of DIY Magnificence, although of COURSE it would be a squillion times more useful if you did.)
(And yes, I am open to payment plans if your budget is tight.)
One month from pretty good to amazingsauce. It’s going to be a helluva lot of fun.
Check out the new and much-improved DIY Magnificence sales page and get moving today!
