The benefits of rising early with a clear head

I'll admit it. I am a boot camp instructor and I like to drink wine. I like to crisp fruit taste of a white wine or the bold spicy taste of a red wine. So much so, that I decided to start a wine tasting club with my friend, Emily.
So last night was our first club outing and man was it fun. We brought together girls from all different backgrounds, with all different career paths. Some married, some single, some tall, some short, but all of us united in wine. And after several bottles and lots of fun tastes and maybe a little to much of one particular variety we closed our first official wine club meeting and went home to our comfortable beds.
When my husbands alarm sounded this morning, I realized that I probably had 2 too many glasses last night and desperately needed water. But unlike most people, my second thought was that I needed to get hydrated so that I could go on my Thursday run. If I was too dehydrated, I might pull a muscle or something worse. So after a bottle of water, I decided to lay in bed a little. You see, Thursday is my day to sleep in to the late hour of 8am.
Now sleeping in to me, is not the same as it is to most people. Every morning, I rise before 5AM, quickly get dressed, brush my teeth and head out to boot camp at Blackburn Park. My job begins at 5:40am every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. So on Thursday I sleep until 8am. And that is late.
This morning when I rose with a foggy head, I realized why I quit partying and boosing it up on a frequent basis several years ago. I felt like I was waisting time. Like I had just wasted 2 hours of precious daylight and that I could have accomplished so much more. That is when I remembered how much I love to get up early and get things accomplised. And one saying kept popping into my head that a former boot camper once said, "At boot camp, we accomplish more by 7AM than most people do all day."

Lesson of the day - a wine tasting should be limited to one pour a bottle.

A Day in the Life of The American Boot Camp Company Owner

If owning your own business and being your own boss was easy, everyone would be doing it. But owning and operating a business is an even bigger challenge. For all those that think I workout all day and have fun, here you go.

4:55AM - Alarm sounds. Roll over and hit snooze
5:00AM - Alarm sounds. Grab cell phone and head to get dressed, brush my teeth and get to camp. I also check the weather on my cell phone and by opening the door to my deck.
5:18AM - Take dog out and feed.
5:20AM - Head to studio to pick up equipment/print updated attendance sheet

5:28AM - Head to Blackburn Park to daily Boot Camp Workout
5:33AM - Begin taking attendance and welcoming each client as they arrive.
5:40AM - Support Instructors arrive and help with daily nutritional counseling. I continue to take attendance and check food logs as I can.
5:55AM - Daily meeting with instructors to review upcoming workout and their rolls.
6:00AM - Workout begins!

6:00AM-6:45AM - FUN

6:45-6:50AM - Return to car and extra credit
6:55AM-7:30AM - Daily post boot camp coffee at Starbucks

8:00-8:45AM - Get ready for my day job - running the sales and marketing of The American Boot Camp Company.
9AM - Arrive at the office and check email.

9AM - Breakfast: dannon lite and fit yogurt and Nature's Path optimum granola. 1/2 cup of pineapple.

9AM-10AM - Return emails, correspond with instructors, current month boot campers and follow up with clients that didn't attend the workout and didn't let me know ahead of time.
10AM - meet with Katie, my assistant, and get her started on a new project with constant contact email and with updating my office files.
10:15AM - follow up with Team in Training about an upcoming event.
10:17AM - contact web/ad designer about printing more brochures for upcoming conference
10:20AM - contact my SCW Fitness contact about shipping manuals for certification from Atlanta rather than paying shipping costs twice. Follow up with her on outstanding invoice for teaching in February.
10:20- Mid Morning Snack - banana and almonds

10:30AM - Begin to process quarterly taxes. Pay March payroll taxes online and print out all Q1 forms. Write checks for state taxes paid quarterly. Fill out new employee forms and enter newest employee into quickbooks.

11:30AM - Check emails and return important messages. Organize upcoming instructor continuing education series for Q2, organize New Licensee email newsletter education series and make list for questions for Tara and Katie to address via email later.

12:15PM - Return sales calls to potential licensee in South Carolina and followup with new sign ups for Chastain PM and East Cobb.

12:30PM - Update homepage on the website with new information about upcoming Big Peach 5K. Remember to contact Todd about race bags.

12:45PM - Get ready for Junior League Fashionist Week where we give all Junior Leaguers 20% off boot camp and studio. Note in day planner to update Tara and Courtney on details.

1PM - Meeting with sales rep from SKIRT magazine to work on 3rd Quarter 2008-3rd Quarter 2009 budget and strategy. Looking to get rates and added value.

All this before lunch...

Decisions

Most of the life changing decisions that have occured in my life have been made for me. Usually when a change is necessry the powers that be get involved and make it so that there isn't a decision. I am ok with that, too. Just as long as I continue to live right and try to be good and just in all the daily choices I make, my good intentions usually lead to that right choice.

But for once I am at a juncture in my life that I have to consciously choose. I worry that if I choose one way I will regret it in the future. But if I choose the other way I may regret that too. And so for the past month or so I have made no decision. I have put it off using this past weekends trip as an excuse. But now that the trip is over I have to decide how to proceed. And I think for once in my life I am going to proactively make a decision.

It will be life changing for me and for many others. And every second I am second guessing myself. I try to remember all of the people that inspire me to be better, my husband and family, those clients that so generously allow me to be a part of their life changing experiences, who make me truly want to be a better trainer. And for those who can't be part of my journey. I just don't want to dissappoint anyone.

And so over the next few weeks my decisions will play out. I have this little placque on my desk that says, sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down.

So here's to the hope I have wings.