Overcome Any Challenge By Doing These 2 Things

As I continue to practice my word for the year, INVEST, I want to chat with you for a few minutes about one way I want to invest in myself and hopefully encourage you to do the same.

Most people know I value my health. I want to be fit, and I want to be healthy, but I don’t always show it by eating well and exercising. This has been an ongoing and challenging pursuit for me for as long as I can remember.

But you might say, Gwen you look so fit; you’re so small. You look great. At least that’s what I hope you are saying. But on a serious note, I want to tell you how I meet this challenge of becoming fit and healthy, but first let me tell you about what gets in the way.

One of the things that discourages me and probably many of you is that we want a fit and fabulous body and we want it fast (which is just not the way things work). And, we don’t always want to do the work to get that fit and fabulous body. I know I don’t. What is even more discouraging is we listen to excuses like it’s too hard, I don’t have time, or when we start, we don’t stick with it. What I’ve learned and what I can prove to you is that being fit is a lifestyle, a journey that doesn’t always have a final destination.

Now, while I may agree that I am small, and I look fit, I want to do more than look fit. I want to BE fit and I want to BE healthy. So, as you read on, I want to share with you what I did and what has been key for me in sticking with this journey of becoming fit and becoming healthy.   

I will be the first to tell you that I do NOT want to work out, and for no good reason. It’s easy, I work out at my own pace and level, I feel good afterward, and it’s good for me. But for whatever reason, I don’t necessarily want to do it. I actually started teaching a fitness class to make myself work out and to give me some accountability.    

So, here is the encouragement: like me, you can begin or restart your journey of becoming fit and healthy. You can lose weight, lose inches, firm and tighten, and look and feel great. Maybe your challenge is not health and fitness. What is your challenge? Regardless of what your challenge is or what you want to begin or restart, let’s decide today that we’re going to do it and stick to it.

Yes, let me say that again. Decide that you will do it and stick to it. Your decisions are powerful. They either move you in the direction you want to go in or they move you further away, in the opposite direction. This decision might mean making the decision every day to become fit and healthy. Once I made the decision, there are and were two things that have been key in overcoming these as well as other challenges.  

• The first thing is changing my mindset and telling myself something different. I would be so discouraged when I looked in the mirror and wasn’t seeing what I wanted to see. I would also be discouraged when I thought about being healthy or losing weight. I would think this is going to take a long time or eating healthy is expensive. Even if it’s going to take a long time, or even if it is going to be expensive, I had to STOP talking myself out of the good that I wanted to do. When I thought about walking or dancing for a few minutes, I used to tell myself

That’s probably not going to do any good.

Exercising this one day is not going to help you.

You do not have time for this.

You need to be doing that.

Listen. When I started dismissing those negative thoughts, and lies that the little things I was doing wasn’t helpful, and I set my mind to believe that it is possible--It may take longer than I want (and that’s ok), but doing nothing will keep me where I am-- I gained a renewed sense of hope and determination. This takes practice and repetition. You can’t dismiss the negative thoughts one time and expect them not to return. You can’t disappoint yourself one time and give up. You may have to start over every week or every day.

When you fall and make the wrong choice, get back up and make a better one. You may have to practice renewing your mind and encouraging yourself every day for a while. Eventually, it will be automatic. You won’t even have to think about your choices, and it won’t be a struggle to do the right thing. I’m believing that for myself. Get an accountability partner or someone who will encourage you instead of discourage you or allow you to stay in mediocrity.     

• The 2nd thing that has been key is prayer. Y’all we forfeit so much good that’s stored up for us, because we don’t pray. Our days would go a lot better. We could have the energy and motivation to accomplish our goals. So many good things happen when we pray, but we don’t pray. We don’t ask for help or what we want throughout the day, or we ask with wrong motives, or give up if things don’t go as we want them to when we want them to. You might be a little stronger than I am or have a little more will power, but for me, there is no way I can do this on my own. I ask the Lord to help me make choices and decisions that will please him and align my will with his will for my body. It may not happen overnight, but I believe it is His will that I prosper and be in health, even as my soul prospers. And what I’ve learned is that when I ask for his help and believe he will help me, he does. The good news is when you start exercising or trying to be healthy in one area, you become more conscious of what you are eating. You start making healthier choices. You think about parking a little further, taking the stairs, getting a few more steps in during the day, and doing other things that will help move you in the right direction to become healthier. One small change can lead to another, that leads to another, and again another. Don’t discount the small steps. They all work together and add up to something great.

So, to conclude, on average, over the course of a year, I probably exercise once a week for 35 minutes. When I started I did not think it would make a difference. There were times when I told myself otherwise, but the proof is in the pictures. Over the course of the year, I’ve fluctuated with my weight and I didn’t and still don’t always eat well, but I’ve managed to maintain my health. It is an ongoing journey though, and I’m determined to stick with it. Regardless of what ongoing challenge you might be facing, decide that it is a challenge that you are willing to meet and overcome. Then, consider these 2 practices to help you stick with it.

It’s easier to quit and give up; but when you mess up or things don’t go well, decide again or start over. And, for some of us, the real struggle has more to do with who or what the world says we should look like. I’m not a weight or nutrition expert and I’m not discouraging you from working out.

I said all that to say: We all struggle with something...it’s just life. Keep struggling if you have to. It’s a blessing today to be able to struggle. That just means that thing (whatever it is) hasn’t overtaken you or you haven’t succumbed to it. But, you do not have to struggle alone.

If I can support you on your journey, regardless of what it is, or to work more through some of these points, schedule a free consult or click the contact me link at intentionalLifeConsults.com.