STRUCTURE IS WHAT MAKES SUMMER FEEL LIKE SUMMER

Did you read that right? Yes, you did. I know most people look forward to summer for the lack of structure, but what if that is actually where the stress and the struggle come into play?

Looking back at June, I was marveling at how my experience seems to be the same every year. May is insane. So many things packed on a 31-day calendar. I come out of May running. The energy is high and I just keep moving. More so this year with Sonia and I joining this amazing place. 

I keep moving at a dizzying pace until about mid-June. That’s when the summer energy catches up with me. It lines right up with the solstice. Now I don’t want to move anymore. I don’t want a schedule. I don’t want structure. Something pulls me toward slow mornings and late nights. Historically, goals have slid to the backburner until September.

I was feeling this energy last week. And being surrounded by so many dedicated people at the GLP, I didn’t let it fully grab me this year. I realized that energy was coming from the all-or-nothing voice. The one that says, “If you’re not running then you need to lie on the couch.” Or if you miss a Monday work-out, there’s no reason to go the rest of the week. 

We can politely decline to listen to this voice.

So what do we do instead?

We can still honor the real energy of summer - that unstructured, spontaneous, slow morning energy. AND we don’t have to forget everything else we’re working towards in the process.

This is where we can use Structured Flexibility.

Structure and Flexibility are not opposites. They can enhance each other. 

In this case, a well-designed schedule is actually what creates the space to be spontaneous, present, and free - because your goals are already covered.

What goals are still on your plate this summer? What activities do you need to do consistently to meet your goals? Now, let’s slot them into your summer schedule. This one is going to look different than a fall, spring, or winter schedule - because the energy is different. 

Your body needs more spontaneity so we’re going to add that in.

Let’s use coming to group sessions as an example goal. And let’s say your goal is to go to three group sessions a week. How do you create your schedule for the summer?

A structured schedule would have you picking three days and attending no matter what.

A flexible schedule would have you checking in with yourself each day to see if you’re up for it.

A Structured Flexibility schedule looks like this - 

• Take the full week and plan for 5 days of group session attendance.

• Pick days that are a definite YES, nothing but extreme circumstances will derail you from showing up. (This is the Structured part.)

• Next, pick days that are FLEX. You’re going to let your body and your circumstances give you a yay or nay each week. (This is the Flexible part).

• And finally, pick days that are a definite NO. These are your off days. The days you get to embrace summer without any thought to your goals.

• In scheduling for 5 days, you’ll hit your goal of 3 days regardless of what happens on FLEX days. And you have whole days devoid of goals with sole focus on that great summer energy.

You can use Structured Flexibility for any of the areas of your life that you’re feeling tension. It can be tension between a season and your goals, trouble finding compromise with a partner or friend, ingrained habits and desired new outcomes, or anything else. 

Our world likes things put into neat boxes and that’s where that all-or-nothing voice pops in, trying to sort everything out. But we don’t have to listen. There’s magic in the nuance. Magic in embracing the both/and in a situation. 

Try out Structured Flexibility on a sticky spot in your life and let me know if it helps! I can’t wait to hear about your experience. 

And when you’re done, take a moment to sit outside and look at leaves swaying in the breeze. What a beautiful summer day it is!