2020 was the best year of my life. I know, this might seem weird to read. How can a year with so much anguish in the world be
the best year of my life? It was the best year because I invested in myself. Despite everything going on in the world I didn't let it stop me from working on my own life. I didn't let it stop me from working on my relationship with my mind and body. 2020 happened, I can't control the world, but I can control how I choose to respond. I can control how I act and feel about myself.
Everyone around you could be having the best year of their life but that doesn't mean you are going to have the best year of your life. The inverse is true as well. Everyone else’s life is their life. Your life is your life. What you do with it is up to you.
Success is a Choice
Yes, it is that simple. Being successful starts with a choice. A choice to change and do things differently.
Making the choices doesn't mean success will come easy, nor does it mean that it will be quick, but the first step is as simple as making a choice.
I remember clearly deciding to myself that I will lose my weight. It will take as long as it takes and that no matter what I was not going to give up. That doesn't mean there weren't moments where I wanted to give up. I had those moments. Moments where I was crying on the floor feeling intense emotions as I told myself I would not turn to food. Sometimes I still did. When I did, I had to learn to let go of these moments and move forward. I had to practice extending grace to myself.
What's Done is Done
I made so many mistakes on my journey of losing 125 lbs. I had to accept that I was NOT going to be perfect. No matter how often the "other side" of my mind tells me I need to be perfect I needed to accept that perfection is an illusion. The consistent application of imperfect progress is significantly more effective than sporadic bursts of perfection action.
You Are Not an "All or Nothing" Person
I had to stop saying "I am an all or nothing person" and I had to accept that I was saying that to hide the real truth from myself.
I would say I am an all or nothing person because I didn't think I knew how to process and handle failure. I didn't know how to intentionally set out on a path with 100% certainty that I would make mistakes and that every mistake was going to be my fault and that is was going to be okay!!!
Saying "I am an all or nothing person" was my mind preemptively making excuses for myself and giving away my personal responsibility. The unfortunate reality of that is that no matter if I retained the personal ownership or not. I was still the one who was living with the consequences of that. I was the one that was going to live with the weight.
Take Action
To get results you have never had before you will need to do things you have never done before. Reading articles, watching videos, listening to podcasts....these are all well and good but without action all of this is just research. Knowledge is crucially important, but knowledge alone will not get results. Actions do.
Continue to fill your mind with good information. Continue to learn as much as you can about weight management and emotional mastery. Just make sure that in addition to that you are doing small efforts every day that take you closer to your goal.
Invest In You
Your life is a precious thing. Take time to invest in yourself. Take time to improve yourself. Self-improvement doesn't happen by accident. Self-improvement will come because of cumulative efforts spent on yourself over a prolonged period. Consistency is greater than accuracy in the world of self-improvement.
Start Small and Setup for Success
My advice. Start with a handful of small changes. Do those for a week. In other words, set yourself up for success!!
There is power in showing up for yourself. Even when it is for seemingly small things. Keep in mind that while 1 small change won’t make a big difference, 150 small changes will. Incrementally move your way towards your goal.