Following on from that brutal challenge in May where I battled through a 20 mile obstacle course I set my sites on something to test my skills in June.
June – Social Media Challenge
I figured I had spent a fair amount of time testing the limits of my body, maybe it was time to push my mind… So, I decided to take part in a social media challenge for the business.
The goal was to post something new on social media every day. I was concerned that this might be an irritating thing to do, even more irritating than posting a photo of my half naked body in a bath every day!!
Turns out quite a few people were interested in the goings on at JFW Ltd and the feedback I received throughout the month was brilliant.
I posted photos of daily progress, generated mini ad campaigns for the company, I also filmed and edited reels and short videos to showcase what we had been up to.
I would create weekly videos where I would talk to camera, a nerve racking thing for me at the time, but it was all experience giving me the necessary building blocks I needed to be myself and become the face of the business rather than hiding behind it.
Without this challenge forcing me to step outside my comfort zone I wouldn’t be comfortable hearing my own voice, understanding it’s ok to put your personality out there and that authenticity trumps perfection every time.
I guess it doesn’t sound much of a challenge, but having to do something fresh and creative every day is tough, you can’t just switch creativity on, it has to naturally be there, and sometimes it just doesn’t come, so you’re sat there at 10 pm, thinking… ‘what the hell am I gunna do!?’ TimberMane Top Tip: a long shower or a drive without any music on is usually a good way to get your creative juices flowing!
Looking back, this challenge taught me that people don’t connect with logos and businesses, they connect with people. Without being forced outside my comfort zone, I don’t think TimberMane would exist in the form it does today.
July – Plank Challenge
The goal was simple, on the 1st July, I would plank for one minute and then add 10 seconds every day until the 31st July culminating in a 6 minute plank… or something like that….
However… On the 4th July after I had achieved a minute and a half, my wife and I were paddleboarding in The Gulf of Naples whilst on holiday in Sorrento. And I slipped and landed funny on the board bruising my ribs….
I tried to continue but it was too painful, I know… woe is me… So I chalked this one down as a failure… I was gutted, I felt like a failure and a fraud for not completing it, but it taught me that sometimes life wins no matter how hard you battle it and you have to know and accept when you are beaten. But that isn’t to say that you can’t fight again another day…
Bruised ribs heal and I would be back to try again another day!
August – No Caffeine
I’d originally planned to do this in July, but there was absolutely no way I was going to do this during the month I would be in Italy, the home of, in this writers opinion, the best coffee in the world!!
I love coffee, and this isn’t my first blog about coffee, THIS IS… I love it long and black…. Yes, like my men…. I will never tire of using that famous Airplane Joke. I also love espresso, and Cortado. I will also partake in a Carajillo when in Spain TimberMane Top Tip: I highly recommend you try this, even the cops over there enjoy a couple in the morning…..
I will have coffee from an espresso machine, a French press, an Aeropress, a Chemex, a Moka pot, pour over drip or a Percolator, any way to get a good coffee. I just love the different flavours each method offers!
Anyway….I went cold turkey from day one. This probably wasn’t sensible, there was none of this weening off nonsense, I cut out everything that had caffeine in it, and that includes chocolate! Yeah, I didn’t know that either!
I had the most horrendous headaches for about a week and half to two weeks… It wasn’t fun, but that’s the challenge.
I would have a de-caff coffee or tea every now and again, but they aren’t the same, like zero alcohol beer, it’s missing that thick oily flavour/texture which makes it amazing!
The month ticked along, and the headaches subsided and I found I wasn’t counting the days like I had in other challenges.
I never felt like I needed caffeine, I was adamant I wasn’t a slave to it, I also didn’t really notice it’s effects to be a slave to it… As far as I was concerned it was just a nice drink.
However, I must have been in a permanent state of caffeination, because on the first of September I had my first coffee…
On that particular Thursday I was driving to look at a job, I had stopped to get a coffee en-route because we only had decaf in the house… I know bad planning. I ordered my Americano, used the name Geraldo (This is why), got back in the truck and made my way back up the M6.
Now, call me a square, but I’ve never had drugs! I’m just not interested, I’m perfectly happy with the buzz a couple of beers gives me, and have no interest in trying various substances to see what they do to my brain, however, each to their own…
But I took my first swig and my eyes went like saucers… I could see sounds, I was solving the world’s problems in my mind, I could see the future! I must have looked like Mr Burns when everyone thinks he’s an alien! This must be what cocaine is like???
Because of my abstinence from caffeine it was totally out of my system and that first cup of coffee gave me infinite focus!
This taught me a valuable lesson, one which I still utilise today! I don’t use it to wake up anymore, I use it to focus. I allow my mind and body to wake up naturally, see daylight then I have my first coffee.
It gives me the most productive 2 hours of the day, I get more done in the first two hours than I do all day. As well as a lovely drink, coffee is now a tool!
If I feel like I’m not benefitting from it I will have a week off caffeine and reset, then I’m back firing on all cylinders, maybe even extra cylinders!
Why not give it a go?
Take it Easy
TM
If you have enjoyed this blog, you may also enjoy the following posts. If you think others would too, please consider sharing it with friends and family.
The Year of Challenges: Part I – Ice, Hunger & 100 Miles
The Year of Challenges: Part 2 – Rat Race Burghley, 20 miles and 200 Obstacle Adventure
It’s Tough Being a Bloke: A Real Talk on Modern Manhood and Mental Health
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