In a world where folks are becoming more health conscious, eating, and exercising more often than ever, I happen to be one of them. I’m a huge fan of health and wellness, so by me being an avid gym goer, I’m able to stay on top of my own and give the best of myself to society in return. Although I’ve never had any plans (and still don’t) of being in muscle magazine, I’m very conscious of my work out style and quality with regards to the results I want to see and feel. I’m sure we all enjoy the external gratification we get from verbal and non-verbal responses, but the feeling of growth and appreciation my body speaks internally is the most important part.

As I transition daily from the world of Marketing Operations to the nearest Lab (my term for gym) 😎 each day, I eventually come to the conclusion that the approach toward my workouts can easily be considered and applied toward my day-to-day campaign execution efforts at work. So, I want to share some of those fitness perspectives that has helped to shape both my physique and my approach, with hopes that it offers a fresh perspective for you as well.

🥇 Goals Before the Gains

The first step to accomplishing anything is establishing a goal, and as It pertains to my workout routines, that goal is greater muscle definition and endurance. Probably wondering why I didn’t mention strength and muscle gains huh? Well, I feel like these two plans are not mutually exclusive; implementing one doesn’t automatically rule out the other. By greater defining my muscles I get to expose the solid structure and features that support my everyday movements and capabilities, while slowly building on power and muscle, and when coupled with endurance, I’m able to sustain when taking on greater volume and resistance.

This also holds true in MOps when it comes to the campaign execution process, as the goal is to define an efficient and scalable process that will support increasing work volumes, while in the midst of troubleshooting and resolving any arising issues. The better you define processes across teams for clarity, refine for improvement and execute, the greater sustainability.

💎 Quality Over Quantity

It’s true what they say, “slow n steady wins the race”. Some may argue this is untrue because of rank or placement of speed winning the race, but I would then argue that a win is a win, no matter what place or time you finish. I personally don’t compete with others when it comes to working out, instead I only compete with the quality of my last workout. I could push to get 50 push-ups in under a minute, with flawed form, and risk unequal muscle build and even injury, or I could do a steady 25 with closer focus on form, shaping my physique to equal proportions, resulting in little-to-no injury.  

The ease of managing processes around campaign execution can vary from day to day, sometimes making the “rush job” seem like a highly attractive option just to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Intimidated by volumes and deadlines, I remember feeling like this was the best option just so I could say I handled and got through it all; only to later find out that there were small missed mistakes that caused major issues. Had I chosen a gradual and steady approach, with emphasis on quality, costly mistakes could have been avoided.

🔑 Consistency & Repetition

Here is where it gets a bit more fun, as the prior phases typically require finding what works best in alignment with the end goal. Once I’ve found and implemented the proper techniques for my workouts, I’m officially on the move, and when paired with some tunes, I’ve found a groove. One thing about proper techniques, they should never change, regardless of weight or resistance. If your form begins to waver, chances are you’re ignoring either weight or your output limits – remember, slow n steady.  Lose sight of that and you’re well on your way to ice packs and excuses of why you can’t move like a normal human being in public.

Consistency is key for growth in not only muscle memory, but mental as well. The more I came to grips with processes around building campaigns and proper order of operation, the more I aligned myself with repetition. Repetition led to endurance, allowing me to build and execute on greater volume, with no sweat (keep the towel, I’ll take the smoothie). I made more room for quality, leaving less room for error.

📈 Monitoring Responses & Results

It’s quite tempting approaching every mirror on a workout mission and not stopping as if they were red lights. No need to look both ways when the progress lies in front of you. And I say this with humor and humility, but I admire every detail I see during and post workout, even if I have to hold my breath and flex the abdominal a bit to get a future glimpse of where I’ll be (you can laugh). Monitoring my physical condition post-workout is just as, if not more important than while active, because so much energy, adrenaline, and endorphins are at play while active that I’m unaware of the changes taking place internally. Afterwards, I’m able to feel any pain points, at what levels, and adjust my routine accordingly to safely resume toward my goal.  

With Marketing Operations, same drill, different skill. In understanding the overall goal of a campaign type, the components and quality control needed for proper execution, you have a template for success. But success is only confirmed through analyzing the data from your programs, which is a comparison of the desired versus actual results. I’ve stood witness to burning through campaigns like a champ for my Marketing team, only to find out that the output didn’t reflect the input.

😌 Rest & Recovery

(sigh) So, here is the bitter-sweet part if you’re someone who anticipates every chance you can get back to a workout routine. I used to want to get back in the gym so bad, I convinced myself that a night’s rest is all that was necessary for recovery, and the lingering pain was part of the growth process. Although, partly true in regard to the pain, my body needed much more than an 8-hour sleep shift, and later learned that lack of proper rest leads to prolonged recovery and/or adds to injury. I’ve had to learn the hard way, where resting became my only option, and must admit, the rest felt pretty good. Strangely, I felt relieved from my body saying  no to a mind that tirelessly said yes.  

Just like the body, the mind needs to refresh and replenish the energy that gets depleted. We’re no good to anyone when we’re injured, fatigued, or stressed out. That same flawed workout mentality left me with a hard lesson to learn in a previous MOps role as well. Being very robotic, and cranking out high volumes of campaign requests, came at the expense of my health, resulting in migraines and even poorly executed projects. And once again, doing too much and moving too fast; a perfect candidate for another screw up. Here I was now forced to not only sit and fix any issues I had caused, but reflect on why they happened, and how to ensure they didn’t happen again. It really boils down to one thing ladies and gentlemen, press pause and give your mind and body the rest they deserve – or sit wishing you could press rewind.

At this point I’m still far from a veteran, but obtained quite a bit of wisdom in my experience as a Marketing Ops professional. There’s so much new to learn everyday in the world of MOps, but it’s crucial that we learn from others’ mistakes and decrease our chances of learning our lessons the hard way, like overworking your biceps to a point they’re stuck at 90 degree angles for days, or sending the wrong email to thousands of leads and performing damage control while in the same exhausted mental state that got you there in the first place. Heck, I’m now exhausted thinking about it! I hope that sharing my personal approach was of value and a bit of humor. Until my next blog, off to the Lab I go (gym that is 😉).