How to beat busy-ness
I tried to convince myself I was starting this blog to help others that were struggling with weight loss, you know the altruistic "I want to help others" motivation, but in reality I hoped it would help me to continue to succeed. I created it in August and here it is December and I haven't added to it. I've been too busy I realize. This leads to today's topic - how to beat busy-ness.
It's easy to walk away from weight loss success just because you don't want to continue. You feel deprived, frustrated, like you will never succeed...but the more dangerous enemy to success these days is distraction. We are so busy that we can't find the time to monitor our food intake, we can't find the time to exercise, we can't find the time to make healthy choices. We have our schedule so full that we are grabbing processed food from the freezer, heating it in the microwave and eating it by the sink. It's not that you don't want to make the right choices. It's just that you're so busy you don't have the time. At some point you have to decide that you are more important than all the projects that vie for your time. You have to realize that if you don't take care of yourself you will not be around to do all those projects. So easy to say, but how do you accomplish it?
The easiest way that I've found to beat busy-ness is to have good habits in place that make the right choices automatic. Start small by setting aside a few quiet minutes one day to decide what's the most important to you. Is it exercise? Is it monitoring food intake by writing it down? Is it tracking weight loss on a graph? Exercise is probably the best place to start since it impacts success more than any other thing you might do. You say you don't have time to exercise? The easiest way to start a good exercise habit is to decide that you will park at the farthest parking place available at each errand you run. If you are as busy as I am, then you will end up walking several miles each week just from this one decision. It's an easy habit to develop since there are very seldom parking places near the stores. Give it at least 30 days before you tackle another area. It takes 30 days to establish a new habit. Pretty soon you'll find the choice becomes automatic and you're choosing it even if you are incredibly busy.
One other thing to mention about busy-ness. Busy-ness can be a way that we hide from ourselves, that we keep from dealing with the decisions we know we should make. It's easy to say, "I'm too busy right now", to use it as an excuse not to develop these good habits. Can you be honest with yourself? It's the hardest part of our journey to success, but remember - you can do it!
It's easy to walk away from weight loss success just because you don't want to continue. You feel deprived, frustrated, like you will never succeed...but the more dangerous enemy to success these days is distraction. We are so busy that we can't find the time to monitor our food intake, we can't find the time to exercise, we can't find the time to make healthy choices. We have our schedule so full that we are grabbing processed food from the freezer, heating it in the microwave and eating it by the sink. It's not that you don't want to make the right choices. It's just that you're so busy you don't have the time. At some point you have to decide that you are more important than all the projects that vie for your time. You have to realize that if you don't take care of yourself you will not be around to do all those projects. So easy to say, but how do you accomplish it?
The easiest way that I've found to beat busy-ness is to have good habits in place that make the right choices automatic. Start small by setting aside a few quiet minutes one day to decide what's the most important to you. Is it exercise? Is it monitoring food intake by writing it down? Is it tracking weight loss on a graph? Exercise is probably the best place to start since it impacts success more than any other thing you might do. You say you don't have time to exercise? The easiest way to start a good exercise habit is to decide that you will park at the farthest parking place available at each errand you run. If you are as busy as I am, then you will end up walking several miles each week just from this one decision. It's an easy habit to develop since there are very seldom parking places near the stores. Give it at least 30 days before you tackle another area. It takes 30 days to establish a new habit. Pretty soon you'll find the choice becomes automatic and you're choosing it even if you are incredibly busy.
One other thing to mention about busy-ness. Busy-ness can be a way that we hide from ourselves, that we keep from dealing with the decisions we know we should make. It's easy to say, "I'm too busy right now", to use it as an excuse not to develop these good habits. Can you be honest with yourself? It's the hardest part of our journey to success, but remember - you can do it!
posted by Deb | 7:47 AM
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