Hi guys! Welcome to episode 435 of the wildly successful lifestyle podcast. I hope you’re all having a wildly successful day in whatever you’re doing. It’s already successful because you’re doing something good for yourself by being here…and our goal is always to be the best version of us that’s possible. Are you being that? Are you thriving? I hope so.
I was having coffee with a friend and we were having great conversation like we often do. During the conversation she mentioned a few things she was struggling with, nothing major but they were major to her. In an effort to help her focus on what’s good because that will often get people noticing there’s more good than bad but in an effort to do that I asked her a question…where are you thriving in your life?
She thought about it and it was quiet and she couldn’t come up with an answer. She said I’ll have to think about that.
If someone asked you that question would there be an immediate response of areas that you’re thriving in or would there be silence like my friend? Do you feel like you have lots of areas where you are thriving? We can look around at the beauty and the opportunities of this world and we can easily see if we allow it that we were not out here to simply survive, We are meant to thrive.
I looked up the definition of the word thrive. Every single definition of the word included some form of growth. To grow vigorously. To increase and prosper, To flourish. To make steady progress. Those were all different definitions and in all of them in order to thrive you have to grow.
In order to grow, you have to be a little uncomfortable. As humans we often get into habit patterns in which we are really comfortable. So much so that we create an identity around it. We do it with everything.
I have been eating the same breakfast every day for I’m gonna say 8 years. Eggs turkey bacon a tablespoon of almond butter and a drizzle of Manuka honey. It’s not an unhealthy breakfast but lately I’ve been having this nagging feeling that I should change it up but I wasn’t sure what to change it to, I felt like I needed more nutrients in the morning but wasn’t sure how that would look but I also wasn’t highly motivated to change it because I liked that habit, it was comfortable, delicious and easy for me to make. Breakfast is my favorite meal. If you can’t tell. So my friend Leena and I are riding to yoga together as we often do and also as we often do we talk about food and nutrition because we both find it very interesting. And we both are always striving to eat as healthy as we can. So I mention to her about my breakfast and how I was considering maybe switching it up, hadn’t committed to it yet, I’m very hesitant to do it. But she proceeds to say oh I infuse vegetables into every meal I have. Even if I’m eating eggs, I’ll add cauliflower, it adds substance and nutrients. I tell her I know where I go a little overboard with my eating and that’s I eat too many fats during the day. Nut butter, grain free granola, nuts in general, avocado. She tells me oh nuts are healthy but you have to be super careful how many you eat..same thing with granola. So much fat and calories. We chat a little more about what we eat and then go to yoga and on with the rest of our day.
I thought about that conversation for several days, well mainly two things about it. Adding veggies to every meal and how much fat granola and nuts add to your diet if you’re not careful. I have always had to work on my mindset about healthy food…just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want.
Now the reason I’m telling you this story is this. The difference between people who are really thriving in a certain area and those who aren’t is often not that far apart. Ok. Most of us know the things we do daily that we need to change in order to thrive. So we’ll say “I know I need to do this and one day I’m going to”. And we just keep saying that until we no longer believe it and we just settle into whatever habits we have, always thinking I’ll do it tomorrow. Or I’ll start next week or we justify things by saying well it’s not that bad, other people do way worse. Trust me I’m laughing because I’ve used all of these. But I’ve become acutely aware anymore of my thoughts and I can pinpoint the ones for the most part that are giving me trouble.
So I’ve been feeling for a while that my breakfast needed more nutrients but loved my habit so much that I didn’t really want to address it until I had that conversation with Leena. And I can’t unhear that she adds veggies into every meal and to be ulta careful with the amount of fats I eat. So I decided. Ok I like healthy food and breakfast is my favorite so how do I add veggies to my breakfast, carve a little fat out of my diet all while still loving breakfast? So I came up with a new breakfast for the moment. An omelet with veggies, no dairy, and a green smoothie which is basically spinach, micro greens, almond milk, a handful of blueberries, half a frozen banana, a slice of frozen zucchini into my nutribullet and that is going to be my breakfast for the foreseeable future.
For me thriving with my nutrition means getting the proper whole food nutrition which I’ve added that in my breakfast with not a lot of trouble. I wasn’t that far off from thriving. I just made a small adjustment. Small adjustments over time make for significant improvements.
So the difference between thriving and not thriving isn’t that far off, it really isn’t. You already know what you need to do, you just have to do it. And look as much as I want to blame someone else for you or blame someone else for me, we have no one to blame but ourselves, we talk ourselves out of doing the things we know we should be doing or should not be doing all the time. Can we at least admit that? I justified to myself for the last probably 6 months that my breakfast was healthy enough even though I knew I wasn’t getting enough veggies in a day. We should be getting an equivalent of 6-8 cups of veggies a day, I can’t do that without having some at breakfast too. SO in order for me to feel like I’m thriving in my nutrition I had to change it up and just thinking about it wasn’t good enough, I had to take action in order to thrive… I had to increase my veggies. I had to make steady progress in my ability to cut fats a little bit throughout the day. That’s how you thrive in any area. You grow. You make steady progress. You flourish. Which means you don’t stay the same.
I feel really good about what I’m eating for breakfast and I also know if it needs to evolve again, I’ll make that happen too. Because that’s an area that is very important to me that I thrive. But that isn’t the only area. I want to thrive in my relationships, in my career, in my health and wellness, my finances, in all of my life I want to be thriving. Which means I need to have constant and never ending improvement. Which may sound tiresome until you realize the opposite is stagnation or worse. The reason why you’re feeling so tired may be because you are. You’re tired of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. You aren’t going to wake up one day and life is suddenly new and different. You have to be the change you want to see in the world. You are the reason you are where you are and you’ll be the reason you are where you are a year from now. It’s up to you whether that’s simply surviving or thriving.
Two things for sure that need to happen in order to thrive is first of all acknowledge where you are and accept this as your starting point. Second is to know with clarity what thriving would look like for you.
You aren’t that far off from thriving. You know how I know? Because all you need to do to thrive is grow. And that could be like my friend who went from no workout to 15 minutes three times a week. She’s growing in that area, which by definition means she’s thriving. And if she keeps growing she will keep thriving little by little. You can make little strides to thrive in your relationship, in your career, in your life.
Stagnation is more tiresome than growth, even though growth can be uncomfortable, you’re living, you’re growing you’re doing what you were put here to do and that’s thrive.
My challenge to you this week is to take a look at your life from a Birds Eye view. Where are you thriving and where COULD you thrive? Figure that out first and second What would thriving look like in that area for you? And quick note watch what thoughts your brain throws at you about this. It’s going to want to make you feel better or safe or comfortable. It’s going to tell you you’re too old or too young or too far gone or too set in your ways. It’s going to give you every reason in the world of why you need to stay exactly where you are, which may not be miserable but also not thriving. And Thriving IS the goal. One more side note. Surround yourself as much as possible with people who are growing and you will find yourself growing too. If that isn’t possible at the moment, keeping hanging out here with me and we will grow together. We will thrive together. Share this with 3 people you would love to see thrive. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you in a few days.
