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!