Tag: motivation

This is me in June of this year 2013.

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This is me in June of this year 2013.

A year later and six months with paleo, I lost 60 pounds. I know its not June anymore but this is the most recent photo I took of me that you can see my whole body. A friend recently asked me if I was documenting the transformation and I realized I have fallen down on that lately so here goes.. The next photo you see will be from September of this year. While the weight loss is great, the increased energy and commitment to my health has been the greatest feeling. My husband put us on this journey in January and it just keeps getting better and better. I never thought of myself as someone who had a special diet or a vegan not that there is anything wrong with it, just wasn’t on my landscape. But now, I am happy and grateful every day for this diet and the changes that we have seen with it. I have done a 5K and been comfortable in a bathing suit for the first time ever…. (and that was just this month) after a life-time of thinking of myself a certain way, I see a different picture in the mirror and I like what I see….

If you are struggling with weight or just feeling run-down, I invite you to take a look at your diet and see if you are eating healthy foods and try it for a week and see how you feel. You might really enjoy it!

This website is our go to place –
http://www.thepaleomom.com/

Happiness is not always what you think it looks like

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Hello dear readers. This morning I got up at 5:15 a.m and worked out in my living room. Two things I DETEST! I did have a brief flirtation with liking “working out” after a dance class a few months ago but it was just that, brief.

I remember when I was younger, I dreamed about being an adult and able to eat cookies any time I wanted to and going to bed super late and looking very forward to all of it. I dreamed about a certain kind of job I would have and winning an Oscar (still plan to by the way 🙂

My life, thus far, has not turned out like I imagined.

It’s better. Lots better.

“Let me explain, no wait, there is no time. Let me sum up”

I have a husband who is wonderful. So wonderful, in fact that it was his suggestion that we get up early today and work out and you know what, I had fun and you know why, because he was there and we were working on our goals together and that makes a big difference.

Knowing you have a partner, whether its a friend or a spouse or an accountability partner makes a huge difference in the pursuit of your happiness.

Who is your partner and why do they rock? Tell me about it!

How good is your word?

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When you draw a line in the sand, prepare to be tested.

After almost a month of no working out, I said to myself, I am going to work out Friday, no matter what. In fact, I even told my husband, do not let me back in the house until I have gone to the gym. He laughingly agreed.

I absolutely did not feel like going to the gym but remembered my promise to myself to work out. Well, I went to the gym and as I walked in and swiped my card, (indicating that I was going to work out, and not just pay for a membership this month!) the fresh-faced guy behind the counter says, oh sorry, we are closing in 10 minutes. Mildly annoyed, but politely I say, Oh, well is there a 24 hour gym I can go to? He says yes, just down the road in fact, I ask, “Are you sure?” He says, “Yes”

So you can probably tell where this is going but hang on my story gets better-

I go to the gym further up the road where I see a man standing by a closed and obviously locked door. Infuriated, I look at the sign to the right that says Monday-Friday 24 hours, Saturday-Sunday 8am-8pm. I see an employee inside who I flag down and I inquire as to the discrepancy. (not really a discrepancy, but an error on my part, but more on that later.

He explains that the 24 hours applies to Monday through Friday till midnight, then the gym closes and reopens again at 8am on Saturday morning (way too late to do me any good right now!) Frustrated, but seeing his logic, I head off to my car and drive home.

So I failed to workout, despite my best efforts, and while I think a lot of people would have been deterred by the first gym closing, I did persevere to the next gym but I did give up before actually working out so while the effort was expended, I didn’t keep my promise to myself. No big deal, right? I can always work out another day. Well the truth is, your word to yourself is the first promise you make, and its a good indication of whether your word to others is worth. Think about it, if you can’t keep a promise to yourself, how good will a promise to others be? I take a great deal of pride in the fact that if I say I will do something or I will be there, it gets done or I show up.

How about you?  How much integrity do you have when it comes to work, friendships and relationships? Are you able to be counted on for keeping your word or is it shaky?

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
― John Wooden

Think about it!

Don’t quit.

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What do Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill and Pink all have in common? They don’t want you to quit and neither do I. I want you to be able to accomplish your goal.

“It always seems impossible until its done.” – Nelson Mandela

“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill

“Gotta get up and Try, try, try” – Pink

I am thinking a lot about these quotes as I eat my paleo snack (cashews) and make a commitment to walk my next 5K because I have failed to stay consistently with an exercise regimen. I am not proud of it but know that the only way to fix it is to get back up and do it.

I also know that it will take me being accountable to myself and to others (dear readers, that’s you!) to get back on track. I have learned that if I don’t schedule it, I don’t go to the gym and if I don’t consciously work on it, I don’t up my stakes on my risks and goals

So that’s me, what about you?

Playing to your Strengths-Part 1

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GGB_d8FZig

What do you do well? What energizes you about your work? This video takes a look at what can make your day better your interaction with customers better and what can overall make your life better and by extension give you better work/life balance. We can all do better jobs of being good people. What can you do today to make work/life better? Think about it!

IF you have never failed, you have never tried

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Famous Failures- It’s easy to say, wow, look at Michael Jordan he is very famous.. but what was he before he was famous? A failure, so is everyone else who is in this video. Viewed in that light, I can’t wait for my next failure, know why? It’s getting me closer to my next success!

Your time is valuable. What are you doing with it?

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Hello dear readers. First of all, thank you for reading my blog, I know it takes valuable time out of your day to read it. I recently realized how much I was actually doing in a given week and said, “whoa!” and it made me think, how many other people are doing this and not aware of it.

What you care about shows up in your checkbook and your calendar. When I look at my checkbook, always a fun topic that everyone is willing to discuss, right? (wink) I see that most of our financial portfolio is tied up in food and shelter and debt repayment which I guess is normal and its not forever. We are actively paying down our debt and will be out of debt in three years (hopefully less) but I digress.

What I really needed to look at was my calendar and take stock there. I made several goals this year to work on my face to face time with friends, read more books and work on coaching and speaking as it is something I feel I am meant to do. So to that end, I was doing the following:

1. I was going to Toastmasters every week and speaking there about once a month.

2. I was seeing friends about once a week.

3. I was working two jobs, really three with the coaching.

What is missing? I wasn’t doing anything for my marriage.  Sad to say it is true, and while it was pride swallowing to admit, I actively started to make plans with my husband first and everyone else second and third and fourth and so on. So far its working for me and my hope is that if you are reading this, you don’t need this wake up call, but then again maybe you do.

I would love to say I just woke up and figured it out one day but it was actually another blog I read about “Intentional Marriage Method” not her words but mine after reading her post “4 Ways to Fall Asleep More In Love”.
http://thenewwifestyle.com/?s=4+ways+to+fall+asleep+more

We are all busy, the question is what are you busy doing?

Not failing. Experimenting!

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The following statement seems like a cop-out or an excuse but it’s the pure unvarnished truth.

You do not fail in life. You experiment and try things and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. I tried being a sales person for a computer company and that experiment did not go well. I understand computers but not how best to sell them, took me almost a year to admit that was a failed experiment. I experimented with running and found it not for me. I prefer walking. I experimented with spicy foods and despite being a native of New Orleans, failed to find my appreciation for them. I experimented with cooking and found I prefer my husband do it. (he is better at it and I really don’t enjoy it).

But you know what, if I hadn’t tried running, I wouldn’t have discovered that I love to walk for exercise. If I hadn’t tried to sell, I would not have discovered that I prefer customer service to sales. and so on and so forth. So the next time you start to tell yourself you are a failure.. Stop and say, “Back off man, I am a scientist” instead!  All movie quotes aside, there is a lot of power in the words we use. So say, I am experimenting and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

As a wise friend said to me many times. What do you want? What are you doing to get it? How is that working for you?

Judge me not, lest ye be judged

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Matthew 7:1, “Judge not that ye be not judged.

First of all, according to my quick google study, this is one of the most misquoted bible verses ever, most people think its “Judge not, lest ye be judged” but its really, “Judge not that ye be not judged” so if you really think about it, it is saying don’t judge others and then you yourself can be assured of not being judged. Ah, if only it were really true.

It is really not like me to post a blog with a bible verse but I have gotten to thinking a lot about judgment (pause as I double check the spelling) because I have been doing a lot of it. Nothing overt, nothing that would really get me into trouble per se, but making up my mind about a situation before I knew all the facts and if I had just waited a few minutes, hours or days things would have been made clear to me. I am not deliberately being obtuse, the details of what I am describing are personal and I don’t plan to share them. Just focus on you for now. If you need an example, how about the panhandler on the side of the road at the red light, do you look at him/her and think, you look able-bodied, why don’t you get a job? Or do you think about the suffering they must be going through and how hard it is to ask for help? Now let’s take it to a more personal level, do judge your friends by the house they have, the car they drive or their seemingly “well off” lifestyle or do you think about it as just another aspect of who they are which is part and parcel of your friendship?

I am not saying one or the other is right, I am just asking you to think about it!