This morning I ripped off 200 meter repeats in the pool. Really. I ripped off my swim workout. I crushed it. Completely. My first two repeats were 22 seconds faster than the time on my workout sheet and by the final interval I was 33 seconds faster. Oh I worked my butt off for those times. It was one of those days whenI needed to go hard, all-out and empty myself in the pool. Perhaps the extra cookies this time of year have made me more buoyant. Maybe the set the long course up wrong and it’s not really a 50-meter pool. The only advantage to finding out the reason for my speedy, strength-building, confidence-inspiring workout is so that I can replicate that feel later and in other situations. But is dissecting the reasons really all that important? I didn’t really do anything special — I focused, I let go of expectations, I put my head down and I swam. I was being myself. The doing, the action, followed that. And if being myself means ripping off awesomeness in the pool, then that’s just how I roll.

Here I come 2012. This is how I am going to roll:

The intention

I believe in intentions more than resolutions. And for 2012 I am keeping it simple. My intention is to grow my confidence in all areas of my life, from training to play to work to relationships. I will embrace who I am, perceived flaws and all. I will own it and rock it. From this point, from standing in my values and inherent awesomeness, everything else will fall into place. I don’t need to do anything; I only need to decide what I want to be. See this morning’s swim workout for a lesson in how that plays out in totally unexpected ways. (And yes, I just said I had inherent awesomeness. It’s awkward to say because I’ve been taught extreme humility, but I believe we all have inherent awesomeness. We just forget it’s there.)

The practice

So how will I go about cultivating my confidence this year? My primary area of practice will be focus. I don’t know that I can completely end multi-tasking, but I will make a concerted effort to single task. That means keeping my smartphone in my bag while out with other people instead of obsessively checking my email and Facebook accounts for no good reason. That means giving whatever is in front of me — work, play, friends, family, dinner — my full attention. It means living each moment. I don’t need to be saving an impoverished country or jumping off a cliff to fully live a moment. I just need to be present. It’s a theme with me and one that I intend to focus on in 2012.

The goals

As much as I subscribe to the doing follows being philosophy, I do like to have a list. Sometimes it’s things my heart is calling to me to do for a reason I have yet to articulate. Sometimes it’s things which help me live out what I already am or what my intentions are. Sometimes I just need to shake things up. (See yesterday’s post for more on that.) With that in mind, here are some of the things on my list for 2012:

• Participate in a bike race.
• Go on an overnight backpacking trip.
• Take a cooking class.

I decided to start 2012 with something different, something with structure and organization, things I often eschew for reasons I haven’t quite uncovered. I joined Social Workout and the 21-Day Yoga Challenge. For three weeks beginning Jan. 9 the challenge is to do a daily asana practice (the yoga sequence is delivered to your inbox each day), meditate for 15 minutes and have at least one vegetarian meal a day. OK, I’ve got the vegetarian thing down pretty well, but daily yoga and meditation have often been on the “I’ld like to, but I never seem to quite get it” list. Maybe a bit of structure and group effort will help  me try something new. What’s the worst that can happen? If you’re so inclined to try the 21-day challenge, join my team. Register for the challenge by joining the Byline to Finish Line team. Because community and support is also how I plan to roll in 2012.