Hard work...

The 3rd pillar of self-discipline that I want to discuss with you fine ladies is hard work. I don't really think it should shock any of us to learn this fact. I think we have come to the conclusion all on our own that self-discipline is hard, which in turn makes carrying out self-discipline hard work. The website that I have been using as a reference let me down in it's discussion of hard work. The author went on and on about the computer game that he created and how he has been the recipient of many awards because of his hard work. While, I don't doubt that he worked hard and that he is now reaping the benefits, he focused more on the praise and accolades than on the concept of hard work. So, sadly ladies, you are stuck with my thoughts on hard work.

None of us is a stranger to hard work. We've all worked hard academically and held jobs while doing so (not to mention Jenny was a full time, single parent on top of being a student). We were raised in families where our parents worked hard to provide for their children and families. We understand the demands of hard work, the challenge of it all. Now what we have to do is take our ability to work hard and apply it towards our weight loss and fitness goals.

I want you ladies to think about something for me. Think of a time when accomplished a major goal in your life. I'm not talking about the small accomplishments that we all make. I want you to remember something big...possibly life altering (at least at the time). Now, think about what you did in order to accomplish this goal. My guess is that there was an awful lot of hard work that went into your success. If it was an academic accomplishment I feel safe assuming that there were hours of studying and prep involved; if it was athletic, there were probably days, weeks and maybe months of practice and drills involved. I was very involved in music, speech and theater in high school (yes, you can mock me if you want) but by my senior year, I had the female lead in the musical and play, I was the only person to attend every honor choir that my school participated in, I received superior ratings at solo contest, I was the lead in the All-State reader's theater for speech, All-State performer in individual speech and I presented for a dozen clubs and organizations that year. Funny enough, my leading competitor in all of these activities actually started a rumor that I paid off our coaches and instructors to get the roles and awards that I did. She and I were neck in neck in talent (actually, to be honest, she was better than me when it came to singing) but there was a big difference between us, she never worked hard. She had God given talent and didn't work to improve it. I was had natural talent, but had to work hard to be her competition. She hated me because she wanted the roles I got, she wanted to be the one who was asked to perform for special events. What she never realized is that she should be mad at herself and not me. If she had had a better attitude and had worked to improve her art she would have been able to sing circles around me (I would still have been the better actress!) :) Now, I am not sharing this with you to leave you in awe of my acting and singing abilities (which are both very underdeveloped these days). I just feel like it is such a great example of the way hard work can affect outcomes. I worked my ass off for years when it came to music and theater. I sang whenever I could (I drive my family nuts), I ran lines and just pretended to practice my acting skills (even when I didn't have a part). I knew what I wanted and I worked hard to get there. In the end, it worked out.

I guess my question now becomes, how in the world do we apply the hard work that we are capable of to our weight loss/fitness goals? We am obviously capable of hard work, so how do we take our success in other areas and shunt it towards our health objectives? In the end, I think it comes down to self-discipline. We have to know what we're capable of at this moment in time (acceptance), set a goal, a course of action and execute it (willpower) and then work our asses off to accomplish this goal (hard work). This process has worked for us all before, now we have to make in work in the facet of our lives.

So, moral of the story...stay strong! Keep running, dancing, walking, moving! Keep making healthier choices when it comes to diet, eating out less, and fighting cravings. Don't give up when we falter...use willpower and hard work to get/stay on track. We are stronger than we know and can accomplish our goals ladies!

Keep up the good work and STAY STRONG!!!