The words you use matter…

As a person, the words you use matter. As a writer, they matter even more. I am still working on getting comfortable with the label of writer. I prefer speaking, but to speak, I must write first.

However whether you are a writer or not, if you say you are on a diet, means that you are expecting to achieve a result and then go off the diet. If you adopt a lifestyle change (oft quoted by my cousin the personal trainer) your commitment level is that much stronger.

If you say you “want” to read more books or “going to try” to learn a language  you won’t do it because before you start, you are already using passive language. Now I am all for having a realistic view of your goals but what does it hurt to say things in the affirmative? In fact, it helps you meet those goals.

I will learn to speak fluent French. I will read 10 books this year. I will lose 50 pounds this year.

These are examples of how to talk about what you will accomplish.

Now you can not Tony Robbins yourself into a positive bank balance when its at 0 but there are things we say every day that contribute to our success or our failure, so kick out the negative thoughts in your head and make room for the positive thoughts and notions that push you toward your goals today.  I have attached two photos of me from Jan and February as a before and after. I have lost as of today 32 pounds. Please let me know what it is you are GOING to accomplish and if you feel like you need help to accomplish it, I would love to hear about it and encourage you in your goals- Write me at jennifermckennasays@gmail.com

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If at first you don’t succeed, try try again..

I have heard this advice on and off for most of my life and it is good advice if not hard to swallow on the heels of yet another disappointment.

But when you don’t succeed over and over and over again, its hard to slap on a happy face and Tony Robbins yourself into a good frame of mind. With this post, I am aiming to do just that. I am trying to talk myself into doing what I know I must.

I am speaking about my weight loss in the last few weeks, or to put it more accurately, my lack of weight loss. I am doing the same things, but not getting any results. It would be different if I was chowing down on Haagen Daz  or even eating mashed potatoes at every turn but I am following paleo down to the letter and I have remained the exact same weight for three consecutive weeks and its making me ornery and a whole lot less motivated to “stay the course”

I weigh 255 pounds which is 30 pounds less than I weighed at the end of 2012, so in that sense I am experiencing real progress and should be happy. However, comparing a bad score to a better one doesn’t make the better one great, it just makes it better.

But enough of this melancholy michegas, I have a job, I am loved, I can walk, I can talk and I can read and I can write. I have to think about all the things I have and have accomplished this year. To review my goals were these. 

1. More face to face. Less Facebook- I have had no less than 5 face to face coffee, tea and lunch encounters. Still working on less Facebook. The lure of other people is strong.

2. Read 10 books. I have actually read 2 and am close to finishing a third tonight.

3. Give 10 effective speeches. I have given two and will give a third this Saturday

4. Lose 50 pounds. I have lost 30 and that is nothing to sneeze at..

So at the quartermark, I have accomplished some things and still working on others.

How about you? What are you working on? Who do you count on for support?