The never-ending journey to a healthier lifestyle is very exciting! But, it can also be difficult and frustrating. It is very important that we understand that life is going to happen. I believe it is more important that we make sure nothing hinders us from making continual progress. There are three keys that have to happen in order for us to stay on track.
1. Patience: “The capacity to accept or tolerate delay.” - The problem that most of us have is that we want instant gratification. Look at it as a race of endurance, not a sprint. It is imperative to set realistic expectations that are measurable and obtainable.
2. Forgiveness: As mentioned earlier, the storms of life are going to happen, it is inevitable. Things are going to happen that will sometimes cause you to be down on yourself and lead to a state of self-pity. Don’t let one bad decision deter you mentally. There are a lot of voices in our commercial media telling people, “you are not good enough.” I am here to tell you that there is no room for it. You are good enough. We have to learn to forgive ourselves in order to break through adversity.
3. Self-Awareness: “The conscious knowledge of one’s own character”- You have to be brutally honest with yourself to truly understand your progress. I think this is the single most helpful thing a person can do in order to succeed not only physically, but also in all aspects of life. We can solve a good bit of our problems by simply looking inward. An example of this would be to look at yourself as your own friend. What advice would you give yourself? Do your everyday choices line up with what you are striving to accomplish? Each decision must be reverse engineered, seeing the product or end result of each decision before that decision is made. It's that simple.