31 DAYS OF MOTIVATION: You Against You

FAIR GAME: Apples to Apples

If you are like me, it’s SUPER easy to get down on yourself. You see someone else that is stronger, fitter, smarter, quicker, better, more talented, more successful, more loving, more giving, more selfless, a better cook, a better wife, a better person…the list goes on. It’s funny how most of the time, we aren’t even comparing apples to apples. In healthy doses, comparing yourself with others may motivate you to push a little harder and work to be better, but if you let your thoughts go wild you can spiral out of control quick.

Speaking of spiral. Yesterday, Steve and I were on I-95 heading to West Palm Beach. It had been crappy weather all day long so we weren’t really going very fast and were tense with all the bad rain – when we HIT water and started hydroplaning out of control. We swerved left, we swerved right, then back left and then back right, where we finally went into a full 360 and ended rear end in the median (pictured left). Thank the Lord we didn’t go across the median into oncoming traffic. Our guardian angels were hard at work protecting Team Pfiester – but who’s out there protecting you from letting your thoughts spiral out of control?

MIND GAME

There is no one to stop your thoughts and direct them back to a safe place. This takes practice. I have to admit, if Steve was more practiced on the whole hydroplaning bit, we might not have ever gone completely out of control, but he had never hit water going 70 miles an hour like that. Plus, I have to say, we weren’t the only ones in the ditch. (This was a pic of us immediately after we spun out – right after we prayed, thanking God for our safety!) After we soared off the road, others followed and all of them collided with something and wrecked.

My point is this, when your thoughts go off track, you need to be prepared to pull them back on track. As soon as you start to compare yourself with someone else, or get on a pity party of how rough your life is because losing weight seems so much harder for you, or working out is more challenging with your busy schedule, you need to take the wheel of your mind and redirect it where you want to go. Otherwise, your mind will lead you so off your desired route you will end up stuck in some ditch wondering how in the world you got there.

Today, I want you to THINK about what you are going to THINK about.

Decide now:

1. I don’t have to compete with anyone but myself.
2. I know my opponent (me) well, so there is NO reason I can’t beat her (him).
3. I can feel strong, no matter how weak I am if I’m stronger than I once was.
4. I can feel thinner even if I’m 1 pound lighter than I was last week.
5. I can be proud if I’m getting better, whether I’ve “arrived” or not.
6. I will not allow my thoughts to roam loose. I will have control over my mind.
7. I will never be ashamed or embarrassed of where I am, instead, I’ll be proud of where I’m headed.
8. I will not speak negative thoughts – no ifs, no doubts, no excuses.
9. I will purposefully only speak of my goals, dreams, hopes and victories.
10. I will be OK with just doing my best, no matter what that looks like.
11. I will look for victories instead of shortcomings.
12. I will not become complacent. I will not let my stomach control me or stand in the way of my goals.
13. When I feel someone is competing with me, I’ll consider it a compliment that I’m competition worthy.
14. No one can get me upset unless I let them. Let being the key word.
15. I will celebrate every single itty-bitty victory on my journey.
16. I will recognize that success may be closer than I think.
17. I will focus on my goals, and put them in plain site every day.
18. I will keep showing up even if I don’t want to, or don’t see results (yet).
19. I will treat failures as lessons and victories as motivation.
20. I will never give up, no matter how big of a failure I feel like I am.