July 28, 2013

By Lisa English

Just tell me what to do! Give me a meal plan. Are squats better than lunges? Can I have (insert food)? Will I get results if I can only come to work out with you once a week? You dont understand its just not possible for me to get more than 4 hours of sleep.

Sound familiar? That is the sound of people searching for the magic answer to their daily obstacles. I get it. I HEAR YOU PEOPLE! I am one of you!

Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect , says that we already know all that we need to succeed. New or more information is not what you need a new plan of action is. Its time to create new behaviors and habits that are oriented away from sabotage and towards success. Its that simple.

If its so simple, this whole taking action thing, then why do we struggle so much to do it?

Because changing our habits and behaviors is hard and takes time.

We take plenty of actions each and every day, but are we engaging in those actions that we know we need to in order to achieve our goals?

Think about it. Do you go to bed when you know you should or do you stay up too late and then hit snooze 5 times the next morning? Do you pack a healthy lunch and snacks to take with you to work or do you just eat the pizza in the office and hit the vending machine at 3:00 for your sugar and caffeine fix? Do you make time for a quick workout or do you find an excuse for why you cant (kids, happy hour, too tired, no time, etc.)?

If you want something different, whether it be a healthier body, a better job, more money, more time, more energy or better relationships; then you have to DO something different than what you are doing now.

Get honest with yourself. Take a good honest look at how you spend your time and your money each and every day. If youre like me, youll find that being busy is not the same as being productive. Youll also start to see how going to the vending machine, Starbucks, eating out for lunch, and buying energy drinks (because you didnt go to bed on time) every day is costing you a lot of money. Oh yeah and staying on top of all the latest Facebook status updates (guilty!), getting to the next level of Candy Crush, and checking your email or phone every 5 minutes can add up to a lot of unproductive busy time. Its the little things we do each day that either help us or hurt us. Once you are honest with yourself about how you are spending your time, money, and energy you can then choose to change what isnt working.

Pick ONE THING to change. For some reason, we feel like we have to do some major overhaul to our lives in order to improve them. That is simply not true and it is that type of thinking that drives us to self-sabotage. You dont have to stop eating out for lunch every day in order to lose weight. You just have to stop eating crap! If packing your lunch is too much of a hassle, then figure out how to eat out in a way that supports your health and fitness goals. You dont have to get the burger and fries or fried chicken fingers. You can choose to order a grilled chicken salad. That one small change requires very little effort (far less effort than packing your lunch every day!). If time management is an issue, then designate short, specific windows of time when you will check Facebook, email, voice messages, etc. and only engage in those activities during the designated time. You can still be in the know without spending ALL DAY checking in for the latest status update or Groupon deal! J

Be consistent. This is perhaps the most important thing you can do in order to achieve success. You dont have to be perfect when making changes and adopting new habits, but you do have to be consistent. The little things matter the most. If you want to be healthier, lose weight, and have more energy, and more time to get things done then you have to act like it. Its not good enough to eat perfect for a week and then binge and go back to your old habits. Its not good enough to workout for two hours on Saturday and then do nothing for a week because you are too sore to move. Its not good enough to sleep for 10 hours on weekend nights and then spend the workweek exhausted because youre only averaging 4-5 hours of sleep each night. This goes back to picking the one thing and being consistent with it day in and day out no excuses.

Examples of small changes:

1. Exercise for 10-30 minutes most days. Walk, jump rope, do pushups. Keep it simple and do it at home!
2. Add vegetables to each main meal (or even one meal).
3. Choose grilled lean meat over fried, fatty food.
4. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier or set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier.
5. Choose nuts instead of candy when visiting the vending machine.
6. Reserve one hour of time in the morning and/or evening to check email and Facebook.

When these small changes are practiced consistently over long periods of time they become habits. When we are consistent with each small daily habit we will achieve success. Its just like brushing your teeth. You couldnt imagine NOT brushing your teeth every morning (that would be disgusting and youd have some serious dental problems, lol!). Find your ONE thing and practice that until you just cant imagine NOT doing it.

In another post Ill share one of my recent personal stories on how consistently focusing on the small things helped me to overcome one of my health challenges.

Until then, I want you to decide what your one small thing is and then do it! Stop wishing, thinking, asking, and regretting and start DOING one thing consistently that will help push you toward success!

Let me know how you do!

August 7, 2012

By Lisa English

Have you ever noticed how we often have a hard time saying no to others, but it is somehow natural to say no to ourselves. We have different ways of telling ourselves no. Here are three of the more common ones and what you can do to start saying yes.

1.) I dont have time. There are 24 hours in every day, yet we struggle to find even one hour that we can claim as our own. We have time to clean, help others, cook, help others, take care of kids, help others, go to work, help others you get my point. There are always those things that have to be done. Aside from that, the other things can either wait or just not get done.

Taking care of YOU needs to be on the list of things that HAVE to be done. You know the priority list ?

The truth is you DO have time to exercise, eat well, relax, take a bath whatever it is that keeps you healthy and balanced. You dont need to find the time; you need to give yourself PERMISSION to be a priority.

2.) I cant afford it. I would argue that you cant afford NOT to do things for yourself. When we ignore ourselves and our needs, our physical, emotional, and mental health suffers. When we are running on empty that spills over into our relationships and our jobs; and we end up not really being 100% present or effective at anything. For example, I often hear people say theyd really like to work with a personal trainer, but they cant afford it. These same people often spend $50 or more a week on miscellaneous items including coffee, take out, happy hour, tabloid magazines, energy drinks, etc. (If I just named everything on your list its because Im guilty of this frivolous spending, too!) If you add all that up, you could easily afford one personal training session a week. When you give yourself permission to make yourself a priority, you will surely place more value on yourself than that $5 coffee or the latest gossip magazine. If you still cant afford a personal trainer, thats o.k. Get your friends together for a healthy hour and take a walk or prepare a healthy meal.

3. Im not good enough. This ones a biggie. This type of fear-based thinking can literally paralyze us. Our own self-limiting beliefs cause us to say no to possibilities; therefore, we are saying no to ourselves. When we tell ourselves that we are inadequate, we begin to believe the lies (Im: too fat, too short, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not fast enough, not disciplined enough, not as good as everyone else. the list could go on forever) that our inner critic tells us. We deny ourselves the opportunity to even TRY to do something for ourselves. If we want to change that then we have to challenge the negative thoughts that clog our minds. When we unclog our minds from the negative self talk, we can begin to see that we are good enough RIGHT NOW. When you believe that you are good enough, worthy enough, and capable enough to do whatever it is you want to do you will finally be able to say YES to yourself!

Learning to say yes to yourself can be challenging. Its not easy to adopt a new way of thinking; but changing your mindset is really the first step to achieving your other physical, mental, and emotional wellness goals. If you feel stuck and want some guidance to help you move forward, check out my wellness coaching services . I can help you get started. All you have to do is say yes!