Hey Everyone! Happy Monday!
I am screwing up my sleep schedule further by working after midnight tonight. I am not quite tired enough to sleep yet so I wanted to blog and do some reflective thinking. I was reading some past entries and realized that I never finished commenting on the "21 Suggestions for Success" by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. I made it to number 10 but then stopped blogging for awhile. Whoopsie!
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
Well this suggestion is quite easy to comment on. I think a human should always be striving to make improvements in his or her life. Even when we all lose our desired number of pounds and become regularly active, we'll still have something we want to improve. It's just the way human beings are but it's important to pick the right battles. One key word in this suggestion is "constant". We have good intentions and goals for our lifestyle changes but we can all agree that we are not sustaining or constantly working toward our improvements. We have to remember that when the going gets tough....we gotta keep going!!! Things personally get mentally difficult for me especially when I'm trying to make my lifestyle changes.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
I immediately think about my self-worth when I read this suggestion. I don't have the greatest self-esteem and therefore don't think I deserve certain things in life. Or sometimes I "punish" myself for not being my best self. Fact of the matter is, we deserve the best. We deserve a quality life, quality friends, quality significant others, quality support, etc. I also consider this suggestion when it comes to spending money in order to change my lifestyle. When I bought my treadmill (which is collecting dust), I had decided that I needed a quality exercise experience. I had thought that a quality experience would help me latch onto consistent exercise bouts. I've obviously struggled with this but I still have my quality equipment in my possession and I will return to using it regularly. The same pertains to spending a little more perhaps when shopping because you want quality ingredients. Other people want quality feedback or information when they use a dietitian or personal trainer.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
Oh so true!! I've realized this fact as I've gone through college and moved further into adulthood. I've sat back and reflected on my childhood/adolescence and really wondered what the hell I was thinking at times. I was often unhappy because of the type of clothing I had, the brand of stereo I was given, the kind of car I drove, etc. I personally think I was unhappy because I didn't realize what a great family and group of friends I had. I really took many people in my life for granted. I miss having a large circle of friends so close to me. I'm actually quite afraid for 2010 because more of my friends in Ames will be leaving. I also miss having my family closer but it also makes the time together during visits that much more fun and special. The realization that I have fantastic friends and family has actually helped me perk up when I've been really down about my weight, social life (dating), or other issues. It reminds me of a quote from "It's a Wonderful Life"...."No man is a failure that has friends."
14. Be loyal.
Be loyal to yourself and others. I tie this to the Golden Rule because you get what you give in life. I need to be loyal to myself and keep myself in check when it comes to monitoring goals and making progress. If I let myself cheat (even minimally), I'm not being loyal to myself or the weight loss process. A great challenge is to start the weight loss journey but an even greater part is sticking to it.
15. Be honest.
Honesty is the best policy. When it comes to my food choices, I really like to lie to myself. I tell myself that breaking one rule or ignoring my goals for a day won't hurt my overall weight loss very much. WRONG!! Sometimes I even think...my health isn't being affected THAT much so I'm okay with my weight. Am I deluded? I hate how I can be complacent about something as important as my health. Yes my health isn't horrible right now but that could easily change. Who knows how much additional weight could trigger more diabetic tendencies in me? Colon cancer runs rampant in my family...what is are my diet and exercise levels doing to combat that? I'm going to be honest with myself and list a few facts that will keep me realistic about my health.
--I do not like how I look right now. I appreciate that I can find nice looking clothes but I'm especially not happy with how shirts lie on my midsection.
--My lack of regular physical activity has caused me to get winded easier. It's embarrassing to walk up stairs and be breathing heavily, especially in a Kinesiology building.
--I'm becoming more and more indulgent with my food choices. When it comes to setting goals, I need to not visit Hyvee more than once a week. It's been ridiculous lately. The same goes for eating out of the house. I need to curb that bad habit too because it's bringing extra calories into my life (and Gavin's) and also throwing off my budget.
--I honestly don't think I can date and enjoy it until I've made progress with my lifestyle changes. I'm not happy with myself and it comes through my self-esteem.
--I honest to god think I have an addiction to food. I think about it way too much. I've been rewarding myself with it. I run to it when I have negative emotions. Sigh.
I strongly suggest you consider listing some facts that you can be honest about so you can push yourself on the right track. If you can't be honest with yourself, the desired changes won't happen and if they do, they won't be sustained. Pessimistic but true.
I will write about 16-21 in another blog this week. Have a good Monday!
2 comments:
That's ironic because I couldn't fall asleep last night at my usual time; I was up for an extra hour or two. I, however, did not blog. I agree (of course) about the constant improvement. I am currently improving myself as an English teacher. I can definitely notice differences in my ability and content knowledge. I wish I could have the same result with weight loss, but at the moment I am improving my teaching ability. The "quality" suggestion is harder to interpret in my life. I sort've take it as "don't take the easy path" and "if you are going to do it, then do it well." I suppose in regards to weight loss, it's saying commit to quality methods and make an honest attempt. In terms of teaching, I would translate it to mean that I should be the best teacher I can be and to do what needs to be done to help every student, don't do the minimum to get by, etc.
I have struggled alittle with finding the right kind of happiness. I don't think I am there yet either. I'm not depressed or anything, but I have my moments of "down in the dumps." Sometimes I gauge happiness with what I have, where I am in life, etc. I know that's not what happiness means, but sometimes it's hard to not compare oneself to others. I think that happiness also connects with setting goals and reaching them (in addition to relationships). I made a couple good friends in college and I still have a couple good friends from high school, but I realize how things change and people take different paths so it's harder to have strong relationships with others outside of one's family.
Lastly, I would like to think that being loyal and honest is what everyone does, but we all know it's not that kind of world. I would have to say I am loyal to those who I love and trust. Regarding being honest, I would share a warning that being dishonest almost always leads to more dishonesty and the cycle continues. Sometimes it is so easy to start believing your own lies and get wrapped up or caught in a web of lies. It just does not seem worth all the stress and hurt to be dishonest (even to yourself). I felt a bit rambly in my commenting so if anything doesn't quite make sense or relate to the topic, I couldn't help it.
I'm very sorry that you've had a bad sleep pattern lately. It's very hard to get out of a bad sleep schedule...I wish you lots of luck.
I like 11-15...they all apply to what we're trying to do so well. I think up until this point 11 has been really hard for me to accomplish, in turn I've had some isues with the other areas that you touched on. If I can't commit then what I'm doing is not quality. I've actually made some really nice progress in the last week that I'll blog about but I need to focus on constantly improving.
In regards to 13, it's so sad that we don't realize this at an earlier age. I think that by the time we realize what true happiness is, we've wasted a lot of time, effort and probably money on the wrong things. Live and learn I guess.
Honesty...wow. I think when I blog I'll take a stab at this so I won't get into it now.
Nice blog Jenny...you seem like you're in the mindset to get some work accomplihsed here!
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