270: It’s Not A Burden, It’s A Chance

270: It’s Not A Burden, It’s A Chance

What if you decided that the thing you’re struggling with, the obstacle in your way, the valid excuse in your life, the true barrier isn’t actually a burden at all. What if you decided that it’s a chance, it’s an opportunity for you to step up, show up for yourself and prove just how damn strong you are?

That’s the challenge I gave to Sarah, my FLFT client on today’s episode.

Sarah is a working mom. Not only does she have 4 kids, she works 24-hour shifts as a flight paramedic.

She shares a real, valid challenge in today’s episode and we completely turn it on it’s head and decide it’s a chance. A really exciting chance. Don’t miss it!

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Resources:

Join the FREE “Lose Weight For the Last Time” webinar series!  We’ll be talking consistency, all-or-nothing, attitude, perspective & sustainable strategy! Don’t miss it! I’ll take your questions and we’ll have a blast!

For more on Breaking Barriers, click here.

Eliminate This Word From Your Vocabulary

You cannot exceed your own expectations & you set your expectations with your thoughts & words.

If you aren’t careful, your own thoughts & words could be what’s holding you back from achieving your goals.

Want to know what words to stop using? There are many of them, and the first one is “but”.

This is a project I’m working on for myself, eliminating the word “but” from my vocabulary, I think you should try it too.

First, in addition to not saying or thinking “but”, I want you to replace it with the word “and”.

Let me give you a few examples of how you might use the word “but”.

“I shouldn’t have eaten that but I did it anyway”

“I don’t need seconds but I’ll just have a little”

“I don’t want to workout but I’ll get in a little something”

“I want to be positive but this is so hard”

“But” is a word you use to justify the gap between what you should do and what you actually do.

Sometimes that works in your favor, most times it doesn’t, and all times, the word is unnecessary.


“But” is a justification word, an excuse word or a deferring-personal-responsibility-or-ownership word.


I am NOT telling you to change your decisions.
I actually don’t want that.

I want you to retrain the way you state things.

“I shouldn’t eat this AND I’m choosing to because I want it”.

Ownership. No excuses or justification. 

“I don’t want to workout AND I’m doing it anyway”

“I said I wouldn’t drink tonight AND I’m going to savor every sip of this wine”

“I shouldn’t have spoke to you the way I did AND I was hurt by what you did.”

No more “but”.

Ownership. And. Awareness.

The way you think matters.

They way you create verbal or mental distance between your intentions and your actions MATTERS.

Begin today. Catch yourself when you use the word “but” and replace it with the word “and”.

It’s a powerful change if you choose to make it.

270: It’s Not A Burden, It’s A Chance

269: Are You Using Tools Or Weapons?

At first glance, this question, “tools or weapons?” doesn’t make much sense.

But, after a conversation with Faith, we recognized that she has the ability to use her choices & her thought as either tools or weapons.

She can beat herself up for a choice, effectively using it as a weapon against herself.

Or, she can learn from that choice and create a more informed strategy for next time, using it as a tool.

She can use her thoughts of guilt, frustration and regret about putting weight back on as a weapon against herself or she can use them as a tool to empower & encourage her.

So – your thoughts and your choices – are you using them as weapons or tools?

There’s so much other great stuff in this episode including thoughts on:

  • Are you making this too hard?
  • Faith’s advice to anyone who is struggling to get started
  • The value in the struggle might be greater than the struggle in the success
  • How to become more mindful of your choices

This is a value-packed episode! Don’t miss it!

Listen Now

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Are You Using Your Thoughts & Choices As Weapons Or Tools?

Here are some of the highlights from today’s episode:

  • Is that thought or behavior a weapon or a tool?
  • It’s not as hard as you’re making it
  • There is likely more value in your struggles and setbacks than you’ll ever find in your success – look for the lessons!
  • Why you should let go of “good food” “bad food” associations
  • Why you’re probably not as “all or nothing” as you think you are (and tell yourself you are)

Final words from Faith:

Do the next thing that makes you feel better. Then do the next little thing & keep doing it until you don’t feel so bad anymore.

Resources:

Join the FREE “Lose Weight For the Last Time” webinar series!  We’ll be talking consistency, all-or-nothing, attitude, perspective & sustainable strategy! Don’t miss it! I’ll take your questions and we’ll have a blast!

For more on Breaking Barriers, click here.

Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

How To Turn Inspiration Into Motivation

I love to read and my latest book is Tim Ferriss’ new book Tools of Titans. It just came out this week and he’s been sharing quotes from the book on social media including this one from Brene Brown.

“The big question I ask is when I had the opportunity, did I choose courage over comfort?

I know most of us love quotes but how often do we turn the inspiration into motivation? How often do we make motivation work for us by translating it into action?

Let’s use this quote as an example.

Think about what that quote could mean in your life, for your choices.  Don’t simply be intrigued by it or inspired by it.  I want you to be changed by it.

Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, what if you ask yourself, “What can I do today to choose courage over comfort?

What would that look like? What choice could you make or what action could you take?

That’s how something like this quote becomes a tool instead of merely a moment of inspiration.

Tools are only valuable when they are used.

Each and every day we are saturated with inspirational quotes and motivational sayings. It’s all well & good to read them, repost them, or send them to your friends.  But, that won’t do anything for you.  That will not change you.

So, how do you use them? How can you use this quote or any other motivation as a tool to change what you do, to influence your choices, your path, your decisions?

How can you make motivation work for you? How can you turn inspiration into motivation and motivation into action?

Catch yourself in a challenging moment and ask, “Am I, right now, choosing comfort over courage?”

What can you do differently?

What would be a courageous choice?

Or, start your day with that question.

The way to turn moments or ideas into tools is to actually apply them to how you think, how you speak, how you make your choices.

What can you do before you go to bed tonight to choose courage over comfort?

How can you work to translate ideas into action, having them meaningfully influence the way you go through your day, how you speak to yourself, how you interact with others, what you eat or don’t eat, when you stop, & how you reel yourself back in when you start to drift?

How can you make this motivation work for you?

And, how are you going to do this today?

270: It’s Not A Burden, It’s A Chance

268: Awareness – A Simple Strategy & How It Changes Choices

Awareness. It’s an obvious, common-sense kind of word but I’m not sure we totally understand it.

When people talk about how tracking or journaling makes them more aware, that’s great, but does it actually improve the choices you make?

Or do you just have a greater acceptance of the choices?

These are the questions I ask Diane, one of my Fat Loss Fast Track clients, in today’s episode.

She shares how tracking & affirmations are the tools that have helped her the most and I said asked her point blank: “did these actually improve your choices? Did it change anything for you?”

We get into a powerful conversation about awareness and the power that comes from being able to create a personalized strategy that reduces your reliance on willpower.

Don’t miss it!

Listen Now

Download Episode Transcript

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Awareness – How to Develop The Simple Strategy That Improves Choices (Without Willpower)

Here are some of the highlights from today’s episode:

  • How awareness allows you to create a strategy that reduces the need for willpower
  • A gradual process for improving habits (without an all-or-nothing approach)
  • How to overcome the tension created by confronting temptation
  • Why I don’t think you should ever look at a food choice as “sabotage”

Resources:

Join the FREE “Lose Weight For the Last Time” webinar series!  We’ll be talking consistency, all-or-nothing, attitude, perspective & sustainable strategy! Don’t miss it! I’ll take your questions and we’ll have a blast!

For more on Breaking Barriers, click here.

Interested in the Fat Loss Fast Track? The fall group is currently closed but you can get on the wait list for our first group of 2017!

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