3 THINGS YOU CAN DO EVERY DAY TO MAKE PROGRESS
Do you ever finish the day feeling like there is still so much left to do?
That important email that you were meant to have responded to, but you got caught up in other distractions.
That workout that you had planned to do, but you left it till the last minute and couldn’t find the energy to see it through.
That deadline you were meant to meet, but now you’re racking your brain trying to find a viable excuse.
And despite your efforts to organise your time, there just doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in the day.
So how do you get to the point where you can finish each day, feeling like you’ve taken care of everything that needs to be done?
Well, it first starts with you being able to identify what are the most important things that must be done today, that are in line with your values.
Notice that I chose to use the word important, but not urgent.
At times you’ll have things that may pop up unexpectedly, that require your urgent attention or action.
It may be an unexpected fine or bill that lands through your postbox, that requires you to get on the phone ASAP and hopefully find a way out.
These are the things that cannot be planned for. So there will be times in your day, where you will have to allow a level of flexibility when such things do arise.
However, when it comes to the most important things, these can be anticipated and planned for.
Where you spend most of your time doing things that are not important and much lower down on your list of values, you will always finish the day with a sense of dissatisfaction.
A rule I often use to identify what is the most important tasks for me to get done is asking myself the following question;
Which 3 things if not done today will have a negative impact on me, my health, my relationships and my business.
Here’s what that looks like for me currently:
Starting the day with some quiet time & prayer.
1 hour of exercise or movement.
Learning 1 new thing today, that will help me serve people better tomorrow.
For each of you, these may look a little different depending on your current set of values.
If you haven’t yet taken the time to identify what you truly value, here’s a link to a short exercise to help you in doing so.
I’d highly recommend you setting some time aside to do this exercise. The level of clarity it provides around what you truly value, gives you a head start in knowing what to prioritise.
The reason it’s so important to identify these things is because it’s human nature to want to do what’s easiest first. But often, there is little value or fulfillment provided by doing those things.
Whereas the tasks that are in line with your values require more discipline, focus and intentional effort.
When you have a clear plan and have identified the 3 most important things that you have chosen to do each day, you can plan and factor time in for each one accordingly.
This way you won’t fall into the trap of debating whether you’ll have time to do those things. Also allowing you to finish the day with a sense of fulfillment, knowing you have taken care of the things highest on your list of values.
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IS YOUR ENVIRONMENT HELPING OR HINDERING YOUR GOALS?
Starting off the journey with a vision of where you want to be, helps to keep you inspired, but what happens along the way when you face friction? As the saying goes, at that moment do you ‘fight or flight’.
Although the latter may ‘feel’ easier in the moment, there is only so far you can go by continually choosing that path. So my hope is that by the end of this, you will feel inspired and willing to rise to the challenges you face along your journey.
When you look at the potential for a flower to grow, there are four factors that will contribute to its development. The nutrients in the soil, the temperature of the climate, the amount of light exposure, and the level of water it receives.
Essentially these four things, all equate to the plant’s environment. Changing any of those factors causes stress in the plant, which has the power to either stunt or improve its growth.
It would be pretty amazing if the only four factors we had to think about were that of a plant, but the beauty of life comes with a few more contributing factors. Some are more complicated than others, but nonetheless still require us to make adjustments where necessary.
As you now begin to think about your journey, there may be key factors that have either been stunting your growth or contributing to it. Taking out time to regularly reflect on these gives you the opportunity to get a better picture of your environment and the areas that need change.
However, failing to analyse your environment, will leave you in constant cycles of frustration, leading you down the flight response path. As I began to have a serious think about the factors in my environment, here are a few that came to mind
What you feed your mind daily
The sources that your feed from
The nutritional content of the majority of your foods
The places you spend most of your ‘free’ time at
The mindset of the friends & people around you
Sharing from my own experience, one of the factors that I knew I had to make a change in was the people around me. Not to question their love for you as a person, but you can’t always expect everyone to be able to initially understand the vision of where you want to be.
When you begin to start making the changes you know you need, people notice that. Some will support you, but all too often you’ll be met with a few along the way that will be the first to tell you - Don’t you think you’re being a bit extreme?
Naturally, because these may be people that hold some value in your life, what they say does play a big influence in your life. (Hence, why having a vision that you never lose focus of is so important)
The reality check came for me when I asked myself a question about those same people. When I felt I wasn’t doing enough, would they still be there to tell me - Don’t you think you could be doing more?
The only person that will know your vision best is you, so sometimes you have to be the one to choose the hard but rewarding fight response. Continue to evaluate your environment regularly and surround yourself with things that will take you closer to your vision.
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OVERCOMING YOUR FEAR OF THE SCALES
Having to face your fears always brings up a feeling of anxiety especially when it comes to stepping on the scales. This fear can stem from many different reasons, but they all have the same outcome in teaching you to avoid the truth.
One of the biggest reasons you tend to create this fear is that you have most likely been overly strict in your diet, which tends to lead to periods of over-indulging because you feel like you just need a release from the restriction.
The fact is there is no real way to truly work towards your goals (if weight is one of them) and avoid the scales. So in order to keep on track, you must learn to overcome those fears that stop you from taking action where necessary.
The process of facing your fears can be defined as exposure, which involves gradually and repeatedly going into feared situations until you feel less anxious about them, allowing you to shift your perspective of how you previously viewed those fears.
In context to you weighing yourself by slowly beginning to do this more often, you become more comfortable with the idea and learn to take action accordingly. Of course, there will be weeks that the scales don’t tell you what you want to see, but this empowers you to analyse and take action in the areas that can change the outcome.
I remember when I first started training to increase muscle mass and size, and the morning after I would jump on the scales in eager anticipation of hoping that the numbers would fly up, only to be humbled very quickly when it didn’t show what I wanted it to, despite me not actually taking all the necessary actions.
I’d spend the rest of the day allowing it to bug me thinking but I went so hard in the gym yesterday, so why isn’t it reflecting on the scales. However, I came to realise that the only thing that needed to change was my expectations of maximum results whilst only putting in minimal effort.
The scales are one way of tracking your progress, but always keep in mind you as a person are not defined by a number on the scale, other factors such as your measurements, nutrition, daily activity, water intake, and sleep will determine how and if you are progressing.
If the numbers aren't moving in the direction you want, don’t spend the rest of the week beating yourself up for it. Address the areas in your life that you are not being as committed to and take action in adjusting those to produce a better outcome.
There’s an old saying of ‘what you don’t know won't hurt you’ - in this case it’s doing a lot more damage by avoiding the need to address those habits that aren’t productive to your goal.
GET YOUR FREE FAT LOSS GUIDE TODAY
FOLLOW MY SUSTAINABLE FAT LOSS BLUEPRINT - A 5 STEP EASY TO FOLLOW PROCESS THAT WILL HELP YOU ON YOUR WAY TO ACHIEVING YOUR FAT LOSS GOALS & BUILDING LASTING HABITS!
STRUGGLING WITH MOTIVATION TO WORK OUT?
Motivation is a great tool to help us push through a tough workout, or stay committed to a training plan. But what happens when that initial ‘feeling’ of motivation that we had, begins to die out….
As much as you know you need to get up and get it done, you just can’t find the motivation to. So where do you go from here? The first thing you must begin to understand is that motivation is a feeling, and just like any other, it comes and goes.
How often we ‘feel’ motivated will vary from person to person, for a load of different reasons. But we can’t always wait for this feeling of motivation to come by, in order for us to be able to do the things we know we have to.
Some mornings you wake up and life is just great! You head out to work for the day, and in return, this provides you with a monetary wage that allows you to provide for yourself and in some cases for the rest of your family. But other days you wake up and going to work is the last thing you could possibly think of doing, but you still do it … Why?
Because you have a responsibility that depends on you being able to financially provide for yourself, your family, and for stability. Yet, despite the lack of motivation, the purpose behind why you go to work becomes the driving factor that makes you resilient enough to persist.
Here is where you begin to look at the reasons ‘Why’ you want to work out. For some of you it may be so that in years to come, you are healthy enough to do all the things you want to with your children and be a positive role model for them. For others, it may be that you have always wanted to prove to yourself that you can truly achieve something.
Once the reason(s) behind your ‘WHY’ becomes full of purpose, you no longer depend on that initial feeling of motivation. As a matter of fact, you know understand the importance of this workout, and how it will help to achieve the long term goal. It may not necessarily feel like one of your ‘best’ workouts, but remember the only ‘bad’ workout is the one that you didn’t do.
Acknowledge your feelings, but always understand you are more than just your feelings!
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