Your “Why” Or Your “Process”?

As promised, an update on my new ‘ Ready, Reset, Go’ focus.  If you didn’t read the first post, you may want some background so click to read it here.  As expected, some revelations have entered the forward planning for this epic adventure.

THE PROCESS

My good friend and amazingly talented psychologist Nancy Morris and I had a lengthy discussion regarding weight loss and fitness.  I believe that to succeed at something, you need to fall in love with the process.  If you plant a garden and hope to have an abundant crop, you need to get up every single day and be excited about all the watering, weeding, cultivating,  hard work. etc. that are necessary for your plants to flourish.  It is the ‘process’ that gets you to the goal, your ‘why’.

YOUR ‘WHY’

Nancy believes that ‘why you are doing this’ is of utmost importance.  She says that if you have a deep-seated, passionate reason for doing something, your brain will assist you in getting there.  I really can’t argue about that because I also believe that having a huge ‘why’ is vital to anything you decide to do, especially if you are effecting a major life change such as creating health, weight loss and fitness.  Losing weight and getting fit are not simple projects to accomplish.  The blood, sweat, toil and tears are real and being a long process, your ‘why’ needs to be rock solid.

MAYBE THE COMBO?

All of this to let you know that I needed to make adjustments to my process shortly after I began the health/fitness quest.  I had resolved in the initial stages of my planning to add 500 steps per day to my routine until I reached the recommended 10,000 steps per day.  This proved to be much more difficult than I actually imagined.  500 additional steps doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you’re used to being a couch potato and you haven’t exercised to any great extent in a very long time, going from 2,000 steps a day to 2,500 the next day is fairly simple.  Trying to get to 3,000 the next day is much more difficult. By the time I had reached 4,000 steps per day, getting to 4,500 the next day proved to be extremely challenging.  I still haven’t taken my eyes off the prize, so the ‘why’ is still solidly in place. But the process seems to have hit a plateau.  What to do?

IT’S OKAY TO CHANGE THE PROCESS

Realizing that if I didn’t make adjustments the mission could stall prompted me to re-evaluate and regenerate the process.  Apparently at this point in my metamorphosis, a step count increase of 500 per day was not terribly well thought out.  I had simply picked a number and flown with it.  So I  did some research, found that my initial process was flawed and changed the number to something more usually recommended by fitness gurus.  For the past two days I have again found myself in love with the process and the ‘why’ hasn’t changed.  I still know where I’m going.  It’s just going to take me a bit longer to get there.

NOT A FAILURE

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  That was Thomas Edison’s response when he was asked about the thousands of times he had not achieved his goal of creating a functional lightbulb.  I don’t see revamping the process as a failure.  I see it as a necessary change to the process to achieve my ‘why’.  Focus on the all-important ‘why’ and accept that it is okay to modify the process to achieve.  Focus on the destination but make sure you are loving the trip.  Sounds solid to to me.  Thanks, Nancy!

As you know, I end all blog posts with something to think about, but I suspect the quote from Edison above will serve that purpose today.

So It Begins…..

For most of my adult life I have been overweight.  Not always the same degree of overweight but always chubby enough to know I shouldn’t be.  At times it has passed the threshold of comfort and has certainly been a twisted off-ramp from the highway to good health.

RE-INVENTING ONESELF

Very recently, I made a conscious decision to get healthy and bring a much more acceptable level of fitness back into my life.  My brain tells me I’m in for a lot of work and some serious sacrifices.  I tell my brain that “I know that” and that it can’t scare me because I am already familiar with the concept of re-inventing oneself.  Seven years ago when I left the broadcast profession that had been my home for over thirty years, I needed something of value to do, something that would not only keep me busy but something that would provide an opportunity to help others .  So I built on my strengths and re-invented myself.  The key was to keep busy and although it took me almost a year to find activities and adventures that were a good fit, I did manage to write a book, start an internet radio station, create a speaking career and develop a very successful home business.

NINE POUNDS IN TEN DAYS

I began this journey back to health and fitness with a short term goal of making the simple commitment to get started. I also pledged to take action specifically by choosing a fixed time frame so I could test drive my resolve to make this happen .  I found a remarkable, premium product line that offers a ten day reset program which combines a well planned diet based on optimal nutrition and an activity program that is exactly what I needed (read that as exercise, etc. for people that are really, really out of shape).  Interestingly, I lost nine pounds during the ten days.  More importantly, I solidified in my mind something that I’ve known for years – Plan, Focus, Execute works.  If you’re interested in the products I’m using, don’t hesitate to message me.  Cost of the program is about $100.00 and we can absolutely do this together.

READY, RESET, GO

As I plan to document my trip down self-improvement lane with regular updates on this blog, I intend to keep all articles short and well focused on specific concepts.  I’m learning as I go and I’m hoping you’re interested enough to keep reading and perhaps contribute to the discussion with comments and suggestions.

Here’s where I am now:

Diet (Lost 10 pounds to date)

My food intake is now under control and I’m following an excellent eating plan that includes great menus, optimal nutritional supplements and enough wiggle-room in the process to keep me interested and engaged.

Exercise (Increasing steps by 500 per day. Now at 4000)

I began with the simplest and least expensive form of activity that I could.  Walking.  Yes, Walking.  But I’m walking with a purpose and a plan and an accountability partner who will not ease up on me no matter how much I whine.

Water (64 ounces a day)

Can anybody actually drink the amount of water that is recommended by most experts in the field?  Let’s keep this one in the ‘working on it’ category for now.  I’m up to 64 ounces a day and I’m still trying to figure out how to keep my eyes from drowning….

And your thought starter for the day:  “Exercise is done against one’s wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse.”  (George A. Sheehan)