In each episode between now and the end of the year, I’m determined to help you make progress, one day at a time. Today, we’re taking a look at what isn’t working for you right now. When we evaluate, without drama or judgement, what’s not working and what’s holding you back, we step into a tremendous amount of power.
What doesn’t work is not cause for frustration, loss of enthusiasm or giving up! We get too frustrated too fast. We stop trying too quickly. That’s why I keep an Edison bulb in my work-space. It reminds me to KEEP the enthusiasm. It reminds me to keep trying. It reminds me to never give up.
Thomas Edison and his team tried THOUSANDS of filaments before they go their lightbulb to work. Each one that DIDN’T work wasn’t some big dramatic failure. It was PROGRESS.
Today’s episode of the Primal Potential podcast is all about learning from what doesn’t work INSTEAD OF getting frustrated and dramatic about it! Use it to move you forward!
From there, we’re going to establish new options. What else could you do? What could you adjust, just for today?
We aren’t trying to change everything at all once, but what we’re looking to identify today are the destructive choices that happen either most often or have the most significant impact on your life.
If you’re ready to make small changes that will create a big impact, don’t miss today’s episode!
Recently, one of my summer clients shared a bit of her transformation with me – she’s lost weight, improved her mood, eliminated her cravings and overcome a sugar addiction. I asked if she’d be willing to share some of the steps she took and she’s sharing her journey with us today on the podcast! We talk about how to create change without willpower and keep success simple – really, really simple.
One of the ideas we discuss on the show that I think you’re really going to connection with is:
You don’t know how bad you feel until you start making yourself feel better. You don’t know how much better you can feel until you stop making yourself feel so bad.
“To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” ~ Charlie Munger
For most of my life, my only approach to fat loss was more restriction and more deprivation. I was so caught up in the misery of the problem that I wasn’t being strategic in my approach. I returned to a strategy, over and over again, that didn’t work for me.
In today’s episode we’re going to talk about the common strategies people repeat that don’t work as well as alternatives that do work. The goal of today’s episode is to help you recognize where you have great intentions but terrible results so you can adjust your approach to one that is both sustainable and effective.
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
Last week I opened up registration to the Fall 12 Weeks to Transformation coaching group. I got a lot of emails about questions and concerns from people who really want to change but have a backlog of failures. There’s a common theme I see in all these emails:
People identify with their past patterns more than they do with their present potential. Friends: the way you’ve done things before isn’t the only way they can be done. You can choose, in any moment, a new response.
If you’d rather listen to this email than read it, please click play. Otherwise, keep reading below.
Let’s look at one particular email that came in and how I responded.
Hi, Elizabeth!
I REALLY want to join your 12-week program because I love everything you put out and believe in what you do. But I’m scared it’s going to just be another “thing” I sign up for and never fully commit to or follow through. I’m an e-course junkie and I know that’s out of your hands but I really DO want to make some changes with my health/mindset/motivation. The bottom line is this: I’m lazy. I’m gung-ho for a while and then I go back to my old patterns and I don’t seem to be able to stop the cycle.
What are your thoughts?
My thoughts? Glad you asked! I’ll tell you!
You are able to stop the cycle. Just because you haven’t created that change does not in any way mean you aren’t able.
There are two approaches you can take to this reality of having failed to create change in the past. One is the approach she has taken in the email above. You decide that the way you have been before is the way you are. If you decide that you will continue you behave the way you have before, you’ll get what you’ve gotten before. If that’s the perspective you choose, I’d agree that you shouldn’t spend your money on “another thing”.
Here’s the other thing that jumps out at me. She isn’t saying she has been lazy. She’s saying it’s who she is. It’s her identity. The only thing I can say in response to that: If you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them.If you tell me you’re lazy, I believe you. I also believe that you can be something else. Anything else.
Here’s another approach she (and you) can take.
I have been lazy before. I have failed to do the work before. But that’s not the story I want to continue to live into. I’m ready to change. I want to be different and I know that requires I think differently.
“Elizabeth, how can we work together to make sure I approach this differently and create a different result? I’m ready to stop limiting myself with my past choices and I’m excited for your help. What’s the first step?”
I emailed her back and said, essentially, “Do you want to continue to live into that story you told me? Or are you ready to create a new one?“
If you listen to this podcast, you have great intentions. Are those intentions backed up with action? Consistent action? Are you getting results? Would a coach help? How? What’s the difference between having me as your coach and listening to the podcast? We are diving deep into all these questions today!
