Being healthy is gonna kill me…

Okay….so being healthy is not going to kill me but some days it feels like it. If any of you have had to learn a completely new lifestyle you will understand. 

I’ve never focused on a healthy lifestyle and I’m “mid-life” so that is a lot of pattern changing to do. I’m learning that the biggest challenge is mental change, followed quickly by physical change.

What does that mean? It means I have to work on the “little voice” inside by head that says, sure, go ahead and eat that….sure, stay on the couch instead of going for a walk. I have to mentally make different choices. Then…oh man, then, I have to actually make my physical actions following the “new” choices come into alignment and take action. 

I never realized how hard it was to be healthy. Or rather to have an awareness of being healthy. Some days it’s a struggle to get through the next 5 minutes and some days are a breeze to get through and I end up going to bed feeing happy and productive. 

Have you ever felt like you are being dedicated making progress and then you step on the scale and want to scream with frustration because it appears no progress is being made? Well it sucks! I have to remember that change is happening and the results aren’t going to happen overnight. 

Man, oh man, I wish it would happen overnight but alas….it took years to get my body into this state and I suspect it will take a long time to eighth the wrongs. So I choose to celebrate when I do good and try not to beat myself up when things are hard. 

This isn’t a diet – it’s a lifestyle change. It’s a choice and a path I need to walk for myself. I’m trying to surround myself with support and positive feedback. I’m learning and I’m welcoming input. Not only that I am willing to support others if they are on this journey. After all, companionship makes he journey lighter. 

Double dipping

Double Dipping…. I am not talking about double dipping your veggies or chips in dip. Although I am sure I could make a post on that too. No today I am using the reference of double dipping in regards to the fact that for the next 90 days I have agreed to take part in the Team Heart 90 Day Live Facebook challenge and I blog. A lot of what I am doing in the 90 day Live video challenge is stuff I could just as easily write and post to my blog. 

I guess I decided to save myself some time and share across platforms as I can and maybe not have to create double the content. Cheating? Um….probably but that’s okay it won’t be word for word, just maybe theme for theme. 

So today in my live video I talked about taking action even when afraid. Now I am no expert on doing something despite my fear. I can honestly admit that yes, I have allowed fear to hold me back. I have allowed fear to make my decisions sometimes. It sucks. What’s worse is that no matter what I have told others I know the real reason I didn’t move forward, chase a dream, or take action. Living with my self after that is way worse than if I had just faced me fears head on and taken action. 

Fear can be debilitating. Paralyzingly so. You can literally have a whole body physical reaction to fear. I’m learning to not let fear stop me. I’m learning to take action despite the risk, real or imagined. I’m learning to stop the conversations in my head about doubt and unworthiness and I am learning to quit making excuses so I can stay in fear. I mean, who wants to live there anyway?

Everything I want, everything I dream about is literally on the other side of fear. I have to want those things more than I want fear in control. Believe me it’s a work in progress but at least I am consciously working on it. I’m choosing every day to take at least one step beyond my fear. 

Am I a raging success? Well, no but I can be as long as I don’t give up. As long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other. My point to all this? You can do it too. Just push yourself through the rapidly beating heart, sweaty palms, barely breathing moment and do it. You’ll live – I promise! 

 

Motivate me

Have you ever joined something and really wanted to be successful at it? Whether you wanted to be successful for yourself or because you wanted to prove to others that you could, the desire is still there. 

Now, what if you joined and everyone around you seems to be successful and you are over here thinking, “why isn’t this working for me?” It’s really hard to keep your motivation when it feels like you don’t compare with others in the group. 

Truth; there will always be someone who can do things better than you. Truth: you can’t be skilled at everything. Truth: if you keep showing up and doing your best everyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter. 

I’ve struggled with comparing myself to others and of course, in my eyes I have always come up wanting. It’s something that I am trying to change about myself and it’s a slow process. 

I’m currently part of something and I really want to be successful at it but it feels like I’m trudging through molasses to make even the smallest progress. Some days I think it’s me. Some days I think it’s circumstantial. Most days I think I’m doing okay and it’s just a matter of time before things “click into place”. The hard part is staying motivated. 

Have you ever been in this situation? How do you stay motivated? How do you keep focused? What tips and tricks work for you? 

Gradual Goals

I think most people can name off a “grand” goal that they are wanting to accomplish. Everyone has a mental bucket list of things they want to do. I could name off several of my own goals but I am slowly becoming a believer in the fact that small goals are far more important than the “grand” goals.

That isn’t to say that one shouldn’t work toward the “grand” goals but that getting to them might be done more easily if you focus on small goals that eventually lead to the bigger goals. Learning to do this is something that I learned from my job. You take a large concept and then work backwards to create small but actionable steps that all lead up to the fulfillment of the large idea.

My question of the day is “what three goals” I want to accomplish this month. That seems easy enough since we are only talking about something that can be achieved in thirty-one days. So here is my three goals:

1. to take a walk at least three times a week
2. to rearrange my living room
3. to get a complete month done in my bullet journal

I hope that everyone achieves success this year by taking those small steps that lead into bigger steps which lead into those “grand” goals being accomplished.

Becoming Attractive

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” – Jim Rohn.

The philosophy behind that quote…work hard on a job and you can earn a living, work hard on yourself you can make a fortune. Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive person.

This doesn’t mean attractive as in beautiful, this means attractive as in you having the power to attract things to you. I’m sure there are millions of people out there that have read or watched “The Secret” so you probably have a good idea what I am trying to say here.

Another way to say this is…what you think about, comes about. Focusing on the positive brings the positive into your life. We create our own realities. I’m sure you have heard it said multiple ways but the real question here is…are you actually hearing it? Do you actually grasp the meaning beyond the intellectual words? Have you, as the Bible says, written these laws upon your heart?

It’s so easy to say that we know something. Heck, it is easy to spout off truths like we are the Old Faithful Geyser at Yosemite National Park but that doesn’t make it a living principle in our lives until we can actually live by it. Until we actually, eat, breathe and sleep it. Until it is so much a part of who we are that we cannot function any other way.

That is something that I am really trying to create in my life. I know it, I even understand it, I can speak it but I would like to be LIVING it. Not just when people are paying attention but more importantly, when they aren’t. When the only reason to follow the principles of truth and the laws of the Universe are because I, the ever-present witness to my life is watching and listening.

I am on a journey to becoming an attractive person and I hope there are others out there that are on the same journey. I’d love to hear from you…engage in dialogue…support and encourage you.