Big changes require little steps

“That’s what it takes to get what you want. Not big scary leaps once a year. It takes small, but irritating moves every single day.”
― Mel Robbins, Stop Saying You're Fine: Discover a More Powerful You

Who among us isn’t always looking for shortcuts. We want a faster, easier, simpler, more efficient way to do everything—whether getting to work or fixing dinner or paying our bills online. We want to save money, time, energy & effort. Anything that promises to help us reach our goals faster and easier, we’re all over it.

There’s no magic pill for success. Regardless of how hard you work or how lofty your goals or how much stands in the way of achieving them, the most likely obstacle to keep you from reaching them is YOU.

I have a friend who has been trying to lose weight and get into shape for as long as I’ve known her. She has tried every diet plan and pill you can imagine. She isn’t the only one. More money is spent on losing weight every year than nearly anything else. Like much of the rest of the world, my friend has spent the last twenty years in search of that one diet, that one discovery that will expose what has kept her from losing weight and keeping it off. There isn’t one. It isn’t her meal plan or eating schedule or exercise routine or lack of support from family. She is the only one standing in her way. The key to weight loss success—as well as the key to every other kind of success—is to keep doing little things every day and for the rest of her life. Get off the couch and move. Push away from the table before her belly is full. Eat more lean green foods than processed food. And so on and so on.

Writing that won’t sell diet books. It’s depressing. No one wants to hear it. We want an earth-shaking thing that will create all the changes we’re looking for in one fell swoop. That big thing doesn’t exist. Just little things we do over and over to get what we want. We are the only ones in the way of achieving our dreams. Until we learn to stop doing the little things that sabotage our progress, like sleeping in, wasting time on FaceBook, avoiding a part of the job we dread, or giving into distractions, we’ll never get what we want.

If you’re seriously looking to make a change in your life, start implementing little positive habits into your day. Make time for them. Do them regularly and religiously and stick with them even when you aren’t seeing results.

Remember potty training? Argh! Who wants to remember that? If your child was like mine it didn’t happen overnight. It was weeks, and maybe months, of tears and frustration—mostly on my part—and countless mad dashes to the bathroom and the little potty before you finally got it through the baby’s head this was the way it was supposed to work.

Like me, you probably got plenty of well-intentioned advice about how to make the process go smoother. Basically, though, the outcome wasn’t up to you. It was up to the little guy on the seat of honor staring up at you. We kept doing the same little things over and over—watching for subtle clues that somebody had to go, running up and down the hall with a squirming toddler, praising and clapping when things went well, and cleaning up messes when they didn’t. It wasn’t rocket science, and there was no rushing the process no matter how much we wanted to. Just repeating the same task over and over until potty independence was achieved.

Any goal worth achieving works the same way. We’ll get more advice than we want. Some will be good. Much will be a waste of time. But it all goes back to who’s in charge. YOU. Others can help and offer advice, but we’re the one standing in our own way. Cheering ourselves on when things go well and cleaning up messes when they don’t.

Making time to exercise when we don't have the time

I’ve said it. You’ve said it. We’ve all acted on it. We don’t have time to exercise. I’m sure, for you, just like for me, it’s true. We are crazy busy. Between work, kids, writing, errands, running my Scentsy business, housework, and quality time with Hubby…Good grief, I made myself tired just by creating this list.

How in the world are we supposed to eke another hour out of our day for exercise? The answer is, you won’t find the time. You must make the time. Create it. We always make time for what’s important. I spent an hour this morning on the phone with a friend. I have a lot to do today before I head out to work, but somehow I made the time in my schedule to talk to her because it was important to me. I have another friend in the hospital. Between work obligations today, I’ll make a detour to visit her. Not on my docket, but I’ll make the time.

In November I’m devoting three whole days to attend my son’s wedding out of state. Believe me, I don’t have an extra three days lying around. Still, it never occurred to me to tell him I’m too busy to come. Now, if you asked me to babysit your kids for three days I would immediately say I don’t have time. And I wouldn’t be exaggerating. But attending my son’s wedding…I’ll make the time.

We make time for what matters.

Exercise needs to matter. We all know the results of a sedentary lifestyle. Forget vanity—though, who am I kidding, that is a big consideration. What about getting out of a chair? I see people younger than me struggle to do that simple motion we all do several times a day. If getting out of a chair is a tough, how will we manage a flight of stairs or a long hallway or chasing butterflies with a child or walking the dog? Even if you aren’t training for a decathlon we have lives to live. I don’t want to be the grandma on the porch. I want to be the grandma in the yard chasing the butterflies or pushing a swing or skipping rocks across the creek. If I happen to still look good in a pair of Capris and cute strappy sandals, well, that’s just a bonus.

Don’t try to find the time. Make the time. Every day. Because it matters. You matter.

It’s not that hard to fit exercise into your day. My favorite way is while watching TV. You can get a heart pumping fifteen-minute workout between commercial breaks. Starting at one break, close the chip bag, get off the couch, and do 50 jumping jacks, 40 squats, 30 burpees, 20 pushups, and 10 lunges on each leg. By the start of the next commercial break you will have gone through this routine twice.

If that wasn’t enough for you, spend the next 15 minutes doing 100 crunches, 3 sets of 12 reps each of bicep curls, overhead presses, and tricep dips. You don't even need to use weights in the beginning. You can add or delete anything you choose and increase reps when you're ready. It’s your workout. Just keep your heart rate up and have fun. By the time your TV program is over, you’ve completed your workout and feel a lot better than if you had stayed on the couch munching Doritos.

As with any workout routine of any type or any intensity, consult your doctor first. Make it fun. Make it a priority. You’re worth it. Your future health is worth it. Your vanity is worth it. Your family and loved ones are worth it.

Comment below on your favorite or most ingenious ways you make time for exercise in your already crammed daily schedule.

Motivation to Burn

At the first of the year I joined an exercise group on FaceBook to challenge and motivate each other as we worked toward our individual fitness goals. With the help of the group I lost 12 pounds in three months & didn't suffer nearly as much as I thought I would. Now we're seven months into 2016 and I see myself falling right back into my old, unhealthy habits.

Snacking before bed. Hitting the buffet line instead of making healthy, reasonable choices while dining out. Eating mindlessly instead of charting everything I put into my body. Falling off the wagon at the first sign of success is probably why most of us lose & gain the same twenty pounds over and over again over our lifetime.

While doing a little studying and soul searching, I found this article from 2012 that is still relevant today. At least it is for me. It's all about making healthy choices a routine in our lives...as routine as say, sleeping and breathing. It's how to stay motivated & stick with a plan. And most of all, to have fun.

As a bubbly instructor in one of my exercise routines loves to say, "If it's not fun you won't do it."

Truer words have never been spoken. Getting in shape, staying in shape & adopting a healthy lifestyle should be who we are, not something we do when we feel guilty or are preparing for a beach vacation or college reunion.

Check out the original post for the motivation to find a exercise routine you'll stick with.