Back to Basics

 

Hi friends; I want to ask you this week, have you ever gotten to a point where you felt you were doing well and then suddenly found yourself overwhelmed by the habits and routines you were creating? Case in point, every time I try a really strenuous calorie counting and exercise routine, I do great until Day 4. Days 1-3 I’m on top of the world. I think I’ve got it all together. I’m a new person, never going back to McDonald's fries and lounging on the couch. But then Day 4 hits... notorious, infamous Day 4. Day 4 is my kryptonite. It’s when sh*t hits the fan if you know what I mean. It’s usually on Day 4 when I realize I’m in way over my head, and I don’t have the time, energy, or will power to sustain what I’ve created. It’s on Day 4 that I eat everything in the house and give up on being healthy ever again. Ok, a bit dramatic, but you get my point.  

  We tend to get ourselves in over our heads.  Or at least I do.  We want so desperately to reach the top, to get to our destination now. But we take on too much and end up getting overwhelmed and giving up.  It's in these moments of overwhelm that we need to do some assessment and ask ourselves what the original intent of our goal was.  And with that intent in mind we can start from square one and build habits which are more sustainable.  

  When we get ourselves so focused on being the biggest and the best at everything as quickly as possible, we forget to enjoy the process.  By scaling back and making our habits and goals realistic, we can grow while still staying sane and enjoying our every day lives. Maybe 50 pages a day of reading is too much for you, but can you do 10?  Was your original intent to learn and improve?  If so, 10 pages of reading daily will have a far greater impact than committing to 50 pages and not reading any because it's too hard.  Make sense?  

  I'm all for challenging our comfort zones and seeking to grow, but too often we try to emulate what we think others are doing, and we end up wearing ourselves out and not getting anywhere.  As the old adage says, "slow and steady wins the race."  If you take big leaps but do them infrequently (50 pages once a week) vs. small steady steps (10 pages daily), you will end up much farther ahead with the easier and more consistent routine.  

  This week, if you are feeling overwhelmed or struggling to maintain all the habits, routines and demands you have placed on yourself, it might be time to go back to the basics.  Ask yourself what your original goal was, and see how you can tailor a more manageable plan that may even get you there faster because it's easier to stick with.  "Go big or go home" may have a nice ring to it, but when it comes to our day in, day out routines, we are much better off with those small baby steps every day, inching closer to the people we desire to be.  Start from square one and take those small steps today, friend.  I can't wait to see you succeed!

~K. L. W.