Okay boys and girls, today we are going to talk about “the big picture.” This is a phrase that we hear often as a pep talk given to us by our teachers, parents, bosses… “You need to focus on the big picture.” The issue here is not that someone is using that phrase… the real issue is that my big picture is definitely NOT the same big picture as my best friend’s or my coworker’s. So before we can focus on some type of “big picture” I think that we have to ask ourselves “what is MY big picture?” Because let’s be honest here, why in the heck would I want to focus on someone else’s big picture and not my own? SERIOUSLY, WHY?
As you may know by now, I have set up some goals for this year… my upcoming competition/show/photo shoot. Those right now seem to be my big picture, right? But they are actually not. My big picture involves my family and helping members of my community, friends and anyone else reading this blog reach their health and fitness goals. My big picture is teaching moms that you CAN be fit, healthy and be there for your kids for as long as possible. My big picture involves people who are at risk for diabetes to teach them that they don’t have to be another statistic and that they can beat the obesity trend that has hit this country.
Yesterday I lost my focus. I started to focus too much on what I wasn’t doing instead of focusing on what I was doing and WHY I was doing it and I slipped… specifically with my nutrition. The nutrition for competing is very different than the regular foods I have been eating to get fit. I will not go into details about what my foods are like right now, because it’s not necessary but, I can tell you that it can be viewed as a sacrifice… however it will only take me 3 months of this year to reach my goals using this nutrition plan and exercise plan. Ninety days… 9 – 0… 90 DAYS that’s it. Doing this is not for the rest of my life. I only need it this one time to reach my competition goal (unless I decide to compete again next year). I can do it! It’s not a big deal for me to be disciplined. I have all my foods for the week packed and yet, I fell straight on my face yesterday SPLAT! Yep, I did. I suppose I could lie and say “I’m perfect” but the truth is that I am not even close to being perfect… I wish it was always easy but we all have our challenging days and all I can do is take responsibility for what happened “yes, regardless of the reasons (because there were none, really) I did not stick to my nutrition plan yesterday… I ate stuff that was not part of my plan.” That’s all that happened. I don’t have to focus on why I did it because that would only give me more of the same excuses to fall all over again. I have to focus on my goal… the big picture.
The good thing is that I have an accountability group, so all I had to do was come clean “well, it was a bad day for me… because I ate…” That was all I needed to do, and so I did. On my way to work this morning, I realized what had been missing for me, it wasn’t the foods I was eating, it was this whole story I made up about being too limited and making it harder than it has to be. The truth is that it’s going to take me out of my comfort zone to get to my competition goal, even though I am an expert at getting out of my comfort zone, trust me. What was different yesterday was that my focus was too much on ME… me, me, me, me, ME and it sounded more like “poor me, poor me, poor me, poor me.” So I am changing that to “strong, fit, healthy, competition/photo shoot/show ready ME” and that is a much more empowering place to be in, I could change my goals but it’s a lot more powerful to change my views on my circumstances right now and that’s all there is for me to do.
If you are thinking about getting back in shape and you’re concerned that you may fail at it.. don’t be. Get started today, everyone fails and as you can tell from this post, even I fail at times… so what? Spend less time commiserating, feeling sorry for yourself and kicking yourself and more time empowering yourself, finding ways to succeed, getting up and continuing on the journey. The secret to success is allowing those moments of failure to pass, getting up, dusting off and continuing. It’s no secret that Edison tried hundreds of times to make a light bulb, why did he succeed? Because he didn’t stop at the first “oops”. He kept trying and learning from his failures. That’s what life is about.
I have people who inspire me to continue forward, mentors, friends, awesome women who are on the same path as I am so I can continue to feel inspired and unstoppable. Do you need a coach? I’m here for you. I will try my best to coach you, inspire you and help you on your journey to better health and fitness… but you have to take the first step. So you don’t know where to start? Ask me.