I do my best at organizing my thoughts but to be perfectly honest, I find it a bit challenging.
Maybe it’s because my mind is going 90 to nothing because I want more than anything to provide you with enough information that allows you to have a new perspective about who you are and the life you are living.
When you gain a new perspective, you are empowered to make new choices. And when you make new choices, you can change your life.
Now that we are in the beginning of a new year, most of us are making resolutions or setting goals.
Goals that will hopefully improve our health, relationships, finances or something else.
For the next few weeks, I want to focus on personal health and fitness including physical, mental and emotional wellness.
During the month of January, much of the population will set health and fitness goals and many will buy a membership to the local gym.
It usually comes with the declaration
of “I’m going to get in shape this year”.
I spoke with someone just the other day who did just that.
She bought a membership for herself and her mother.
The intention was to get to the gym at least twice a week. During this conversation, she admitted,
that over the first 10 days of the year, she only made it to the gym once.
What about you?
Did you make a fitness goal?
Did you buy a gym membership?
If you did, how many times a week do you think you need to go to the gym to get in shape?
What ever you answered, this is what you believe to be true.
You are setting your expectations to get a specific result.
I’m going to guess, you don’t want to be disappointed.
You don’t want to find yourself three
or six months from now exactly where you are today.
The goal is to make a positive change or improve on the current situation.
Disappointment could happen for a few reasons:
- When you set your goal you were not realistic. I don’t mean realistic about the end result but rather realistic about you. Setting goals and expectations that you most likely wont do because it’s a drastic change from the norm.
Here is an example.
I used to live in the Northeast.
The winters are generally long, cold and not a lot of daylight.
I don’t enjoy being outside especially in the evening when it’s cold and dark.
Now, if I were to declare “I’m going to get in shape this year” and buy a membership to the local gym, I’m setting myself up for failure because the likelihood of me going anywhere I don’t have to when it’s cold is slim and none.
Did you catch what I said… if I don’t have to.
For most of us, getting is shape is a want to, not a have to.
2. Another way you might let yourself down is being unaware of this silent but deadly habit
“Not doing what you said you would do”.
This falls under the accountability principle. I talk more about that in my DREAM system found in my book
Here are some tips to help you set yourself up for success this year.
Take baby steps. Don’t put too much pressure or expectations on yourself in the beginning.
When you set a goal, be clear on your why.
In other words, ask yourself “For what purpose am I setting this goal? What outcome or result do I want?”.
The purpose could be having more energy to play with the kids or grandkids.
Looking and feeling sexy for a beach vacation.
You want to look good and feel proud at your 20 year reunion.
You are tired of being on medication that makes you feel like crap.
What ever the reason, get crystal clear.
Don’t make drastic changes. Ask yourself,
“What could I do differently in the beginning of the year to set myself up for success?” You might consider doing something simple from home.
Did you know that in just 5 minutes a day you can strengthen the core muscles ( abdominals), quads, inner thighs, buttocks and arms.
Five minutes a day adds up to over 30 minutes a week.
Whether it’s only 30 minutes or you are increasing your activity by 30 minutes a week, it’s more than what you are doing now.
Set an intention to do this activity in the morning.
At night, keep a notebook next to your bedside and log your activity and celebrate your success.
Next, set an intention to do it again the next day.
Repeat the process and you will develop a new empowering habit.
This process may sound simple because it is.
I make my action plans this way and it is also how I teach my clients to make action steps.
That way I know I have a greater chance of success and that feels good.
When I feel good about my little victories and I begin to see or feel changes, I have the motivation to do more.
Are you getting the picture?
If you’d like to better understand the emotional scale and how this affects your decision making process, you can learn about it in my
Life Direction Mini- course.
Before your feet hit the floor, make a decision to do something different that will be beneficial to you such as toning core muscles. Keep in mind,
I work with women, and the majority of them are mothers.
The abdominal muscles become weak after having children. After having 4 C-sections, being cut top to bottom instead of side to side, I have found this process to be very effective.
Here is an example of a 2 minute routine that will tone the abdominal muscles and inner thighs before you even get out of bed. With legs together, raise and lower for a minimum of 10 repetitions.
This is an ideal starting place if you have weak core muscle strength or if you are challenged with a health issue like fibromyalgia .
If you don’t have these health issues, then by all means, increase the number of repetitions.
That adds up to 50+ repititions each week.
Do you think 200+ leg lifts each month might add up?
You bet.
Next, while you are still in bed, raise your legs straight up and keep them together. Next, bend at the knee, let your legs open keeping them bent at the knee, straighten leg and bring back together at the top.
Do this for a minimum of 10 reps.
Strengthening just these two muscle groups can benefit you.
First, it helps to improve your posture, not to mention over time you’ll have a flat tummy.
And did you know that building muscle will help you burn more calories?
It’s true.
The last tip I want to share with you is about building that muscle tone.
Did you know that muscle weighs more than fat?
This is important to know because I don’t want you to get hung up on the number you see on the scale. I remember a time when I thought the number on the scale was the important gauge for tracking my progress.
I realized this was a myth. During my years as a fitness instructor, I actually weighed about 7 or 8 pounds more than I do now.
I am the same size now as I was back then but I weighed more because of my muscle mass.
This brings me back to the beginning.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be talking more about personal health and wellness.
Leave a comment below so share your thoughts. Are you struggling with your health and fitness goals? Do you need help making a plan? If so, take advantage of a “Chaos to Clarity Conversation” today.
