Forcing Functions Fuel Transformation

The last couple of weeks have been a little crazy in LILA world. Yes, crazier than usual. My ever-patient husband, Randall, has been preparing to showcase his project. This project has gone on about as long as mine. His, however, is much more dangerous and scary, yet inspiring.

Randall is leaving in early October this year to sail from San Francisco, through the Pacific Ocean south, then to the Southern Ocean. He’ll turn left at Cape Horn, sail all around the world, and back to Cape Horn (the tip of Argentina). Turning left again, he’ll head up the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Canada. Once there, he’ll turn left again at the North West Passage. This treacherous journey will take him over the top of Canada allowing him to turn left AGAIN heading South back to San Francisco. If you take enough lefts, you’ll end up right back where you started.

If you plotted that path on a globe, you’d see that Randall and his 40’ sailboat Moli are going to sail a Figure 8 on the planet. That’s about 40,000 miles over the course of one year. Alone.

I KNOW! Nuts, right?

The other weekend Randall told his story and exhibited his boat at the Pacific Coast Boat show. While this project has been in development for THREE years, it was a race to the finish to get the boat ready for display. Many, many long days from dawn to dusk in a freezing rain fixing, building painting, and doing whatever needed to be done.

I casually mentioned to one of our friends helping us at the event that while Randall had worked ridiculously hard to get ready for this event, I was happy that he’d had to push it. The Boat Show had acted as a “forcing function” to complete some key jobs. We talked about how circumstance was pushing Randall harder than he would have pushed himself.

So what does this have to do with 3D LILA and my project?

I have a new “why” to help me on my journey.

Earlier this year, I stumbled upon my own “forcing function” opportunity. One of the companies  I’d interviewed for 3D LILA (Naked Labs) was looking for beta testers for their product. As I learned about the scope and commitment of the project, I learned that I’d need to show up at the offices every two weeks and be measured — measure my weight, measure my body fat, and, most importantly, measure my body. All of this in front of people writing down every single number.

 

It sounded like torture.

 

It sounded like a bi-weekly “forcing function” to help me reach my fitness goals.

As much as I hated the idea of standing practically naked in front of strangers, I knew it was a good idea. So, I put my hand up to volunteer.

Saturday was my first day. Obviously, I was a bit of a lunatic. I was NOT comfortable in the bitty shorts and sports bra I was wearing. There was no hiding any part of me. I even brought the lovely people of Naked Labs into my personal crazy when I told them to keep my weight a secret from me. They kindly just wrote it in their notes, and I am none-the-wiser.

Here’s the good news: I have a new “why” to help me on my journey. A “why” that will keep nudging me every two weeks. As a bonus, I get to reincarnate the 3D portion of my journey!

I hope to share more about this experience and maybe share some of the images from my scans.

More on my adventures with Naked Labs and my 3D journey as it goes forward. And, if you haven’t listened to the episode with the CEO Farhad, take a listen. He’s awesome.

Until next time.

Lila