Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of things on your “change my life” to-do list? Maybe you have a good concept of where you want to go but are unsure how to get there.
I know how you feel. These past few years have been full of inspiration for me and with that inspiration came lots of new ideas for challenges, goals, and lifestyle changes.
I’ve completed a few Whole30s, a 30-day program to incorporate healthy and conscious eating habits. This helped me discover the power of eating paleo. I’ve started and stopped multiple yoga challenges with the hopes of being able to do a headstand and awesome inversions. I’ve tossed dozens and dozens of physical belongings out in the hope that others will appreciate and use them more than I did. And most recently, I invested in an online program that will train me to become a health coach within six months; which I am ridiculously excited about by the way!
I have not perfected or even completed some of these tasks and at times I think that realization was hard for me. It’s easy for my perfectionist brain to jump in and say, “You’re not good enough.”
But the patterns in my lifestyle changes are apparent.
The things I’m choosing to work towards and feel are:
- Health
- Happiness
- Consciousness
- Joy
- Self-pride
- Self-sufficiency
- Strength
- Lasting motivation
I want to derive joy from things that don’t come at a financial or emotional cost. I want to make choices based on conscious decision-making. And I really want the decisions I make to lead me directly to my ultimate goals.
So how am I doing that?
Starting on March 4th, I decided to start a personal campaign towards finding joy without consequences. While I’m so proud of myself for choosing a new healthier lifestyle the past few years, the majority of my life has been centered on buffering. My definition of buffering is doing unhealthy things that will lead to negative consequences in order to derive joy in the moment. This is similar to instant gratification.
Examples include: Eating unhealthy foods. Sitting around and procrastinating OR the opposite which means constantly seeking plans with people to buffer internal struggles or sadness. Feeling the need to drink in order to have fun. Purchasing items at the store or online to get that immediate feeling of excitement. Holding onto items in fear of not having them in your possession. Starting and stopping diets and new fitness trends to reach some goal of the “perfect body.”
I have had the best of intentions in my ups and downs. I want to be a better version of myself. But having a perfectionist’s mindset has not helped. I set very high standards for myself that are impossible to meet and decide to do the total opposite, whether its binge eating, drinking, or shopping to avoid the feeling of disappointment I get in return. Sound familiar?
So through some self-coaching and analyzing, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to move towards a place of love and forgiveness for myself. I need to honor my intentions and realize how harmful some of these things have been to my personal development. It feels easy to beat myself up for my past and part of me thinks that putting myself down will motivate me to accomplish more. But that will only make things worse and continue the up-down cycle.
You are not your past. You are your present and in your present you can hold your future. I am choosing to fill myself up with gratitude and love from here on out.
For example, this morning I drove to work and I listed aloud things about my body that I am grateful for: My eyesight, my motor skills, my face, the ability to walk, think, and speak and even the shape of my butt (no shame).
It’s not a cliché. You can’t lose weight or become a better version of yourself without loving and accepting who are you are right now.
So my choice today is to continue to work towards what matters most to me. To envision the person that I see myself becoming in a year and to listen to what she would tell me to do.
Who do you see yourself becoming in a year? Do you see yourself sitting in the same office you’re sitting in? Does your career fulfill your life or have you chosen to believe that it is your only option? Are you making choices to give yourself joy in the moment while continuing to add to the decline of your bank account or health?
I am choosing to shift my thought patterns to align with my vision of where I want to go.
I choose to support myself with kindness and love. And I choose to generate excitement and joy every morning to begin my day.
I will gladly share my progress with you on this journey. I want to be totally transparent with set backs, challenges, and the like.
Here’s the checklist I’ll be using daily in case you’d like to join me!
- Morning hygiene routine: brush teeth, wash face, moisturize
- Morning yoga video with Find What Feels Good: 31 day revolution by Yoga with Adriene*
- Sit down with a coffee or a delicious beverage
- Do a thought download**
- Create a vision for my day that generates gratitude and excitement
- Get to office by 9am
- No sugar
- No alcohol
- No refined carbohydrates
- Intentional spending to truly value my money: avg. $20-30 a day
- No charging
- Spend 1 hour on self-work/blog/health coaching career
- Make someone else feel loved/happy
- End of the day gratitude checklist and thought download
- End of the day hygiene routine: brush and floss, wash face, moisturize
*This is an online yoga program that I pay $9.99 a month for but Adriene has so many free videos on Youtube as well.
**A thought download is an unedited write out of all of your immediate thoughts. It helps me to start the day with clarity and can identify thoughts that may be holding me back from accomplishing my goals
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