Daughter, Sister, Girlfriend, Friend, Personal Trainer & a Work in Progress.

If asked to describe myself right now I'd say "a work in progress".  My hope for myself is that in 5 years, 15 years and 50 years if asked I'd still describe myself in the exact same way.  The fact of the matter is once you stop progressing you put a halt on progression (and no I did not just repeat myself).  I strive to reach goals everyday: checking everything off my to-do list that day, preparing for my next run to prepare for a half-marathon (whew) or being positive; once I check everything off my list I'll make a new one, once I finish the race I'll train for a triathlon and being positive takes minute-by-minute work.  The point is the work within you is never finished and there are no days off.  Choose your goals carefully and work diligently to achieve them: if you haven't reached them yet, your work is not yet done; if you have reached them, your work is not yet done.  Stop setting limits on yourself and start putting in the work.  No one has ever received a reward for being good enough and no one has ever been fulfilled by being complacent.

Good Enough May Have Gotten You Where You Are But It Won't Take You Where You Want To Be

If you haven't already noticed I'm a big fan of old cliches and one of the oldest comes to mind: Never settle for less than you deserve.  In today's society we are constantly settling for good enough... in careers, friendships, relationships, workouts, diets everything.  NEWS FLASH: good enough may have gotten you where you are but it won't take you where you want to be.  I won't get into the relationships and careers because I don't have time to write a book on a Monday evening.  What I will get into is the part of taking care of yourself.  While big changes must start with baby steps those baby steps need to continuously get larger and larger.  If your goal is to workout twice a week then within two weeks it should be up-ed to three and then four and so on according to the work that needs to be done.  If you want to start eating healthy replace one bad habit with a good one at least every week if not every few days.  Make a decision to stop underestimating what you are capable of and overestimating how much you think you have been doing. Most importantly stop settling for doing "good enough for now".  George Sheehan (physician, author and running enthusiast) said: "We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down, until, until, until.  It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living."  Nothing will happen until we do something about it and that something can't just be good enough you've got to give it all you got.  Spend some time with yourself and decide if you are giving it all you've got or if you are just doing enough to get by and never settle for less than you deserve.

It Really Is Mind Over Matter...

A negative thought is similar to that annoyingly catchy song; once it's in your head you can't get it out.  Negative thoughts also have a way of producing other negative thoughts and so on and so forth until you've become the year round Scrooge.  We're all guilty of getting in a funk but the important thing is learning to pull yourself out of it.  Just like any other addiction the first step is admitting it. My hope for you is that you become aware of your negativity before anyone else has to point it out or even worse until you don't have anyone left to tell you.  People monitor their hours, their food intake, what their children are watching on television, who is dating who on facebook... but they aren't spending enough time monitoring the absolute biggest factor in their daily lives: their thoughts.  Start monitoring your thoughts.  Recognize negative self-talk as well as negativity toward others.  Spend the next few days becoming aware of every negative thought.  Once you are fully aware of any negativity slowly begin to replace each negative with a positive.  If you are thinking "I don't feel like doing this" replace it with "I'll feel so good when I finish".  As cliche as it sounds it really works! Wally Lamb said it best... "better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."