​Let's talk today about fresh starts and new beginnings. Reboots. Do-overs. We've all done it at some point in our lives, whether it's a change of career or a change of locale. A change in our appearance or in the people around us. Marriage, divorce, birth, death, they all give us the opportunity to sit back for a moment and take stock of ourselves. If we're brave enough and motivated enough, these moments can impel us to make that change, start that new beginning.

As in most situations, what happens in life happens in the gym as well. Sometimes we lose sight of where we want to go and need to get back on track. Maybe we take a break to recuperate or do non-Flow things (as if there were such a thing). Or maybe we just get out of the habit. An excuse on one day becomes a reason the next, which becomes a fact on the third and gospel on the fourth. Sometimes we fall, but falling is okay as long as we learn to get back up. Because it's only when we fall that we see the mistakes that we've made up to that point and can go in a new direction. 
I've already had several new beginnings in my life and I can tell you that the hardest thing about a new beginning isn't the first step, it's the second. And the third. And the fourth. Granted, that first step is hard, getting back into the flow of an old way of doing things or branching out into something new and different. But anyone can take that first step. It's what you do with the following steps that determines the course of your life. Being able to stick to your guns and follow the chosen path no matter what obstacles may arise, that's when you find what you're made of.

And there will be obstacles indeed. They may be external, people doubting or questioning your desires and motives, or, even more insidiously, they can be internal. That Little Voice again, either telling you you've made a mistake or reminding you of your past glories on the old path. Sometimes these voices are right. Maybe the world's not ready for a personal shopper for dogs. Sometimes the voices are wrong. Just because your old PR was X pounds doesn't mean you'll be lifting X pounds after a one month hiatus.

Listen to the voices and learn to sort and identify them. Listening to the right voices is what makes greatness possible.

At least that's what the voice in my head is telling me right now, that and go eat more bacon.