Don't lose sight of the good...

Two blogs in one week?! I just couldn't help myself this time, I wasn't even bugged.

To say that I was cranky today would be an  understatement but I was pushing through and staying positive (or a version thereof).  As usual my clients unknowingly put life into perspective for me.

It amazes me how easily I lose sight of the good.  Can you relate?  At the end of the day I find myself absolutely exhausted (I know everyone can relate) and I focus all my attention on how utterly exhausted I am.  Why am I not focusing on all I accomplished to get myself to the point of exhaustion?  When I do not feel like running (which happens more often than I'd lead one to believe) why do I not instantly recall the amazing feeling I get after completing a hard workout or the excitement of participating in my first big race?  When someone upsets me it is so easy to recall all of their other wrongdoings when I should be reminding myself of all the good they've brought to me.  I lose sight of the good.

Cliche or not I truly believe personal training is what I am meant to do the only thing I do question sometimes is who is the helper and who is the helped. Case and point #1: I suggested that two of the girls step it up a notch, literally and figuratively.  As some of you have learned the hard way my suggestions are normally a polite way of saying "this is what you're going to do."  For those of you who don't know what box jumps are you should learn.  Both girls walk up to the scary bigger box to try for the first time.  Girl #1 looks at the box as if it were going to bite her then immediately shook it off and jumped right up.  Girl #2 did a lot jerking as if she were going to jump and then stopped (something that happens often with box jumps).  Girl #1 then says "I know you can do it! Just don't think about it and do it.  If you just try one time, I'll try to do the big one." Followed by two huge gasps from the two of us watching this exchange.  That workout could have ended at that moment and I would have walked out with a smile on my face.  But in true "You First" fashion girl #2 jumped up on that damn box! And then did it again NINETEEN more times.  Girl #1, yep, she jumped on the biggest box!  At that moment I lost sight of what was making me cranky or that I even was.  And that, my friend, is what I call good.  It will be that feeling of pride, the looks on their faces and the camaraderie I witnessed that I am going to do everything in my power to remember when I'm feeling "less good".

Keep track of the good and when things go bad, don't go your way or just let you down remember it.  Don't lose sight of the good... it's just too good to.

What's Important to You???

One of my clients (ahem, you know who you are) so kindly pointed out that I have not blogged in three weeks.  My first thought was "does she know how many hours I put in and how few hours I'm sitting at a computer?!"  Quickly my second, and a very humbling, thought came roaring through: "If it's important you'll find a way. If it isn't you'll find an excuse." 

My clients (a more appropriate name would be friends) have no idea how big of an impact they always have on me.  The thought of making time for important things of course did not only apply to keeping up with this blog but to finding a balance to all the important things in life.  

People underestimate my understanding of finding time to workout.  Believe me spending 8-12 hours a day in the gym leaves very little desire to spend an extra hour of free time there.  But I understand the IMPORTANCE so I FIND A WAY.  I know that if I don't take care of myself I probably won't find a way to take care of much else either.  

Now that I have admitted that I have slacked off in some important areas I resolve (yes, resolutions are perfect for any day not just January 1) to make a list of the daily, weekly, monthly things that are important to me.  Whether it is spending more time in prayer, resting or catching up with those important to me (I've already got the daily workout thing down pat) if it is important to me I will find a way.

As one of my clients would say (ahem) "in true Melissa fashion" when I have a resolution others normally get a challenge.  So here is my challenge to you:

Create a good life balance: 

• First write down things that are important to you that you would like to do daily (worry about the week and month thing once the daily runs smoothly).  
• The evening before decide your way.  Arrange your schedule so that you can fit in that workout, find a 30 minute meal so you can make that dinner, wake up 15 minutes earlier so you can spend some alone time (you get the picture).
• An equally important factor is deciding what UNIMPORTANT things you are spending your precious time on.  I will make a GUARANTEE that you will feel much better at the end of the day if you did something important to you instead of spending time on Facebook, griping about things you cannot control or just plain being lazy.  Whatever it is: if it is unimportant make NO time for it. 

So there's your challenge.  I may never find out that you did or didn't make time for important things but you will.  

What's Your Excuse?

Nothing important in life is about having time it is about making time! Nothing important in life is going to come to you without hard work and commitment!  Nothing important in life deserves an excuse and even a good excuse is just that: an excuse.

Too Busy? 

-Be thankful you have a job. Over 8% of the population is unemployed.

-Be thankful you have children to chase around.

-EVERY person has the same amount of hours in the day as you.

Budget too tight?

-If you don't make room in the budget for getting healthy you'll have to make room for being sick.

Uncomfortable? In Pain? Tired?

-You can rest assured that someone in the world would love to be fighting through your headache, cold, sore muscles, bruised ego, etc.  Be thankful for your abilities and USE THEM! Life BEGINS at the end of your comfort zone!

COMMIT to a healthier you.  CHANGE your attitude.  Practice GRATITUDE.  BE the example for your children, mate, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors and strangers.  LIVE the life you've always wanted.  Take care of YOU!

No Excuses.

Change Your Life - For Good!

This month Shape Magazine presented an article "Change Your Life - for Good" and I couldn't help but share...

We've all "resolved" to do a lot of things that never seemed to get done, try this no-fail strategies and get it done!

1. Watch Your Wording
Many a resolution have failed simply because they were expressed too vaguely.  So rather than saying, for instance "I will be more organized," try, "I'll spend 15 minutes of each day de-cluttering part of one room."  In lieu of "I want to lose weight," shoot for "I plan to drop 1 pound a week by cutting out late-night snacking."

2. Build Your Case
To help clarify your goals and pump up your motivation, make a list of pros and cons.  So if you're aiming to exercise more, for example, pros would include as many reasons as possible to support that (e.g., you'll lose weight, sleep better, boost your immunity, and lower stress). The cons would identify anything that might stand in the way of your success- say, a packed schedule or money issues.  Don't even attempt to tackle that resolution until the driving factors dramatically outweigh the obstacles.  If you've got a whole string of pros odds are you'll remember why you're sticking with it!

3. Set Up Incentives
The urge to return to your old was is going to be pretty powerful at times, which is why it's critical to regularly galvanize and even reward yourself.  For high-tech encouragement, turn to websites like habitforge.com and stickk.com.  They'll send you e-mails with inspirational messages and even let you wager on your accomplishment.  You can arrange for your hard-earned cash to be given away to a friend if you don't meet your goals.  How's that for motivation?

4. Rally Support
Research proves that people who make healthy changes together are more likely to succeed.  Try to find someone with similar objectives - if your close pals aren't up for your brand of self-improvement, branch out!

5. Plan Ahead for Slip-Ups
Setbacks are inevitable.  But you can improve your changes of a quick recovery by visualizing the fallout in advance.  Imagine yourself reaching for a cigarette or biting into that forbidden piece of devil's food cake.  What will you do to avoid smoking the whole pack or scarfing down every sweet in sight for the rest of the day? Sometimes it's as simple as reminding yourself that a small misstep is just that - a pause in your progress rather than an excuse to throw in the towel.  Remember a SETBACK is a perfect SETUP for a COMEBACK!