Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 403 of the wildly successful lifestyle podcast. Im super grateful that you’re here, thank you so much for listening and sharing. The goal of this podcast from the start is to help us all be the best version of us we can possibly be….and I think you’re doing it so keep it up.
When you were growing up did you ever do something that ended up not being a good idea and your mom would say “well I hope you’re proud of yourself”. Not really meaning that you should be really…she’s just mad and thinks you should be ashamed of yourself.
I feel like I heard that a lot from my mom to either me or one of my siblings.
Well I hope you’re proud of yourself.
I thought about this laughingly to myself while I was on my almost daily walk, if you’ve been listening a while, you’ll remember when I turned 50 this year, I decided I would add one really good habit that would help me move the needle on being even healthier today than I was yesterday, but while I was walking I was reflecting on the last two weeks. As Im recording this, it’s December so it’s the holiday season and that means party after party and Im super social so I love a good party but I also have set pretty big goals for myself and drinking alcohol and eating lots of sugar don’t fit into that plan…
So why did I think about my mom saying “I hope you’re proud of yourself?” Because I was think about how proud I was that this last week I had accomplished going to 3 Christmas parties and two of which I didn’t eat one bit of sugar or drink any alcohol. The third party they had fudge and so I let myself partake a little but I only had a couple sips of a drink when I realized you know what? I don’t even want this so why am I drinking it? So I set it down and drank sparking water the rest of the night. And I didn’t miss the alcohol and I actually had fun even without alcohol. It’s crazy I know and it’s also hard to believe for you guys that are like me, like I used to be and thought drinking was the only way to really have fun at a party….It really isn’t. But as a I was walking and I felt so good all week, no fogginess, no headaches, my joints didn’t ache from extra sugar I thought to myself I hope everyone is really proud of themselves at least once a day! And then I laughed because that statement took me back to when my mom would be saying it in a way that wasn’t a positive.
For all of you out there that are trying to be better, that are trying to be the best version of you, I want you to know, I see you and I know how exhausting it can seem but the results are coming I promise, just stay the course, you’re gonna falter, just like me eating a piece of fudge, but then just get right back on track don’t let that become a habit. We had back to back parties and the one night I had the fudge, so the next party I decided I would not eat any sugar since I had already had dessert the night before. Wouldn’t you know at that party they had one of my other favorite sweets, second only to no back chocolate oatmeal cookies, they had buckeyes, which is a yummy peanut butter and chocolate ball, which I love….so I am standing with my husband at the table having a little salmon when I see the buckeyes and I kind of laugh and say to myself nope you promised so I walked right passed them….but then I am standing there talking to friends when another friend walks up and he is eating a buckeye and someone says what are you eating? He says it’s a buckeye and it’s ridiculous. Lol. I laughed to myself and I said ok Universe I see you!!! Dont worry Im not going back on the commitment I made to myself. And guess what, I made it easy to make that decision because I also wasn’t drinking alcohol, which would have had me eating a buckeye for sure because my self control around food isn’t great when I’m drinking.
The key always is to be on a trajectory where you’re making progress. I had not eaten sugar all week so a couple bites of fudge wasn’t going to derail me, but two nights of eating that much sugar would probably get me wanting it the next day too. I didn’t beat myself up for the fudge, I just decided I wouldn’t repeat it at the next party and I didn’t, even when I was being taunted literally by the Buckeyes….
Consistent Progress is so much more important than instant perfection. Because perfection isn’t attainable but consistent progress is.
Most of us grew up learning through punishment, so often hearing what we were doing wrong instead of what we were doing right. An article from Tiny Buddha suggests that’s why “instead of supporting ourselves through our deepest struggles, we berate ourselves for even having them.”
We think we should be perfect at something just because we want to be. If it were only that easy. When the really big thing is to set yourself up to make consistent progress. If you like sugar like me, don’t keep it around the house. if you like alcohol a little too much, maybe decide ahead of time you’re only going to have 2 glasses of wine and then make a commitment stick to it. If you’re wanting to get to the gym 3 times a week…go even if you don’t do a big workout, go and sit in the sauna or go and do 5 minutes on the treadmill. You’re creating a habit of going, eventually that will become normal and then you can ramp up your workouts.
Whatever your struggle is, whatever that thing is that you’re trying to stop doing or start doing or maybe just do less of it, the key is always the trajectory. Are you heading in the right direction?
So often we kill our habits in our head before we ever give them a chance to take hold. We say things like, “Im just going to get back on track after the holidays” or “I already messed up for the week so I will just start again next week”. There’s always gonna be something so why not commit now? Don’t strive for perfection, strive for consistent progress. Consistent progress will make you feel so proud of yourself because you realize you don’t have to be perfect to attain it, you just have to be consistent.
My challenge to you this week is to think about what could you accomplish that would make you really really proud of yourself by the end of the week? Choose one thing and decide to commit to it. That way we can all really say “I hope you’re proud of yourself” but really mean it. Share this with 3 people who you want to see feel proud, I love you guys, I’ll talk to you in a few days.
