Some of my clients participate in a daily motivational email that I lovingly entitle the Booty Kicking List. This means a client has signed up to get a little push each day to help them keep their eye on the prize.
Today I thought and thought about how I have been able to transform my life. My weight loss is more than eating right and exercising; it’s truly been a change in how I approach my life. For years I was timid, shy, a downer, had low self-esteem, and never believed that I had any power over anything that happened in life. What a terrible way to live, you know?
Then, I met my husband who is the total optimist. He never meets a goal or project that he can’t do. Well, unless it involves cleaning and then he’s suddenly Mr. Incapable. :) Back to my point, in his mind he has total control of what happens to him. Life throws a curve in his plans…he switches his route and goes on. It’s really quite amazing and is why he is so successful and well liked.
That example he sets is what turned things around for me. Suddenly I started thinking of all the ways I could start doing things versus all the things I couldn’t do because of XYZ. I got creative with my workout schedule, I started thinking of new ways to improve myself, and I spent a lot of time flushing ugly thoughts and replacing them with positive images.
I have to say that this is one of the most important changes in my life. If not for this I would have never worked out. My son wouldn’t stay in the gym day care and he needed constant attention at home. Rather than say, “Well, my son is too needy so I can’t workout,” I turned it into, “I will workout at night after he goes to bed so I can be fit.” Did I like working out from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.? No. I’m a morning girl, but I did it because I knew I could succeed and this was just one way to do it.
Now, Logan’s in preschool and I get to exercise when I want to. It’s nice, but I know if it hadn’t been for all the times I re-worked my plans to fit in what needed to be done I would not be going to the gym now. I would still be in that stinking-thinking mode and finding excuses for myself rather than looking for ways to succeed.
So, my advice to you is to quit blaming everything else for what happens to you and start finding ways to control your life. Don’t be concerned with what others think about you and be concerned with what you think of yourself. Get out there and start living the life you want and you’ll be better for it.