 What if I told you, your consistency is killing you? It is widely regarded that being consistent is one of the greatest keys to success. Without consistency it is nearly impossible to reach your goals and dreams. I believe wholeheartedly in being consistent. I am such a routine person that it’s hard for me to even sleep if I don't accomplish my daily routine before I get into bed. However, what I am realizing is, being consistent is only half of the battle. What if I am consistently doing things that are counterproductive to my goals? What If I am consistently sabotaging my dreams with negative thinking and actions?
You can consistently do squats but use bad form. You may be working out but your bad form is hurting you more than it is helping you. You have to correct your form before your consistency can benefit you. You didn't know you were doing the squats wrong until someone told you. When you become aware now you have the power to remain the same or change. I believe we all know how to be consistent but we don't always know how to use that trait to our advantage. We are consistently distracted, bored, lazy, and stressed but we don't know how to not be those things. We fall into the same traps and feel guilty and ashamed when we do. We work so hard to positively change our eating habits, our thoughts, and our actions; those things are what is considered to be inconsistent. The inconsistent things seem so unnatural. They make us uncomfortable and challenge us to focus and stay committed to them. Every day we have to consciously decide if we will do those things, while we don't even think about the consistent things, we just do them. They are so much apart of our lives that we don't feel right when they aren’t; it becomes bondage. A lot of times we are more comfortable being in bondage than having the freedom to choose. Making choices means you are also taking ownership of your actions. You choose the path you decide to travel. It is easy to blame everything but ourselves for our circumstances. We don't want to be accountable for our decisions because we are too comfortable hiding behind our excuses and consistency. How do we break our cycle? How do we change our patterns? The answer is simple: You choose to. Our path to success is through being consistent in choosing. Being aware of your choice empowers your actions and thoughts. You free yourself from the “victim” mentality and open yourself to discovering who you are. No matter what toxic things you have allowed in your life, you have the power to choose another way. You are free to choose the inconsistent thing. You have the power to choose life, not death. You have the power to choose self-acceptance instead of self-hate. Everything you desire you can reach if you choose to.  Sometimes you just have to show up. It is not about being perfect. It is not about getting everything right. Just show up. Be present in your moment. You may not feel like working out or following your meal plan but it does not matter how you feel just show up anyway. The reason is when you are present you don’t worry about how you feel about working out because you are actually working out. Next time you don’t feel like doing something just show up in the moment and watch all the negative thoughts about what you were going to do fade away.
We get in our own way. We are the reason we don’t reach the goals we set out to accomplish and the crazy thing is we know it. We spend so much energy feeding all that we do “wrong” that we never actually do anything “right” We create a world full of shame and doubt and we don’t know how to free ourselves from it. So we sit in our shame, feeling pitiful and we feed ourselves junk to numb our hearts. I have done more harm to myself than anyone else has. I allowed myself to live in a state where I didn’t view myself worthy of happiness and love. Because I didn’t hold myself in a high regard I didn’t care what I put in my body. I didn’t care if I quit on a workout plan. What was the point? I was going to fail anyway. But one day I decided I wanted to rewrite my narrative. It was not about creating myself to be someone I am not; which is what I was doing. I was tired of shaming myself into doing right because it made me want to do the opposite every time. I decided I would not put that kind of pressure on myself to follow some plan perfectly. I would choose every day, every moment to show up. To make it a point to be aware of the moment I was in. Not judging if something was right or wrong but rather doing what was required in that moment. I had to stop viewing working out and eat a more balanced meal plan in a negative way. I was only doing those things because I thought I had to. So instead of thinking negatively about it I just stopped thinking period and I just showed up. I did the push-ups, I ate the oatmeal and I moved on. My point is, don’t look at the mountain you need to climb, just look at the next step you have to take. Just show up and before you know it you will be at the top.  Getting in shape can be overwhelming. You see where you are and how far you need to go to get to where you want to be. Don’t let your eyes look too far ahead. Don’t hold yourself up to a standard you have yet to experience. Just take one step at a time. Even if you are afraid or insecure take a step. It does not matter how you feel as long as you don’t let your feelings keep you from moving forward. Just take one step at a time.
One meal adjustment at a time. One cardio workout at a time. One lap around the track at a time. Every step you take is one step closer to your goals. You may want to do 3 workouts in a day to speed up your progress but you can’t do them at the same time you have to do one before you can do three. Some times we can be so ambitious that it distracts from taking simple actions towards our goals. Your dream house is not built in a day. It takes many actions before a house can be completed. Even when it is built there requires maintenance to sustain it. Meaning when you reach your goals you don’t stop you create new ones. If we take one action at a time we can focus all our energy on it and we will feel more motivated to take the next step. Today take one step towards your fitness goals and share your step with someone else. You never know how it may motivate them to take a step as well.  The Gift of Perspective You just had a tough week of workouts. You feel like you are making progress then you step on the weight scale and look down and see a number that does not reflect the work you put in or how you feel. All the sacrifices you made seemingly are for nothing.
It is discouraging to put your heart into something and not see the results you desire. But like a person walking a tightrope to the other side, you can’t look down. You have to keep walking with your eyes focused on what is before not what is beneath you. When you look down you will lose balance and fall. How many times have you fallen off the tightrope of healthy living? How many times have you turned back from where you want to be to return back to where you have been? The life you desire is in front of you. It is where you are now. Each step, each workout, each meal all work together to give you your desired outcome. If your perspective is off you will only see your mistakes. You will see your flaws and ignore your inner strength. No matter if you miss a workout, eat something you didn’t intend to eat, it is okay just keep walking. Don’t look down. Don’t lose focus on where you want to be. Embrace the learning process. Let your mistakes teach you, not discourage you. Don’t torment yourself with trying to be perfect. Perfection is overrated. Loving who you are is more important. Love will allow you to enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Love frees you to simply be with no strings attached. When your perspective is filled with love you give yourself the grace to learn and discover who you truly are. Don’t look down; keep looking forward to living the best life in front of you.  Do You know that you are beautiful? You may not feel beautiful. You may not see your beauty but you are beautiful. Nothing can change that fact. Your beauty is not up for debate or worthy to be compared to someone else’s.
If you don’t see your beauty it is because you have been looking through someone else’s mirror. You have lived according to their reflection and have measured and defined beauty by what they reflected. Put down their mirrors, turn off the televisions and discover the beauty you possess. You are not working to become beautiful, you already are. Accept who you are, love who you are. That is what will make a difference as you reach your own personal goals. You are not getting physically fit to prove anything to anyone. You are doing it for you. Your motivation is rooted in loving yourself first. That love will push you to do your best. Regardless of the results never forgot that you are beautiful.  Beauty awaits you at the top of your mountain of “better health”. No matter how long it takes, how hard the journey is; good things lie ahead. The key is to keep moving forward. You may slip on a “rock” once and awhile or maybe everyday but just keep moving forward. Your journey is yours to experience and enjoy. You determine your pace. Don’t be so eager to get to the top of the mountain that you don’t learn the lessons on the way that will sustain you in your new life. Don’t worry too much about results or devalue your progress because you see someone ahead of you. Your journey can not be compared to anyone else. You have things that you have to work out and some things you have to let go of before you reach the “better” you.
So have fun! Enjoy yourself. Ask yourself what can I can I try new today to challenge myself? One thing you will realize on your journey is that the beauty at the top of your mountain can compare to the beauty you already possess in you. :) Everytime you get a little frustrated about your progress (weight loss, mental burdens, self confidence, you can fill in the blank__________) tell yourself: I am worth it. I won’t give up. I am moving forward. I am changing. Don’t allow what you hear behind keeping you from moving towards what’s ahead of you. Until next time. Keep climbing, you are getting closer |
AbbaFit BlogThe AbbaFit blog is devised of AbbaFit community members who want to share their personal fitness journeys. It is a non-shaming, non-judging environment where we all can gain support and encouragement to a live to a better physical and mental life. Wanna join our blog team? Contact us today! Archives
February 2018
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