SHREDS

It's a piece of cake to show compassion to someone you already like.  It takes real guts to show compassion to someone you would otherwise rip to shreds.

MEAN AND BITCHY

Just because we can be mean and bitchy doesn't mean we should.  That's just too flippin' easy.  When did meanness become our default anyway?  

HAPPY

Theme song today - Happy* by Pharrell Williams. 

Do yourself a favour and listen. If you don't feel happy within two seconds, check for a pulse.

*Yes, from the film Despicable Me 2

ACTION

What people do will tell you who they are.

Action speaks louder than words.

Clichè?  Sure, but tell me when it hasn't been true!

SEEN & HEARD

Most of our dysfunction stems from not being seen, acknowledged or heard when we needed it most.    

That's why we must try harder to see, acknowledge and hear everyone that crosses our path.  It's the only way we can have it finally circle back to us.

DIGGING THAT DITCH

How we love to believe that we can see into the future.  In reality we're just extrapolating from the past.  So if we really want to continue to get what we've gotten in the past, all we really have to do is keep thinking that we can predict the future.

It's a great way to dig ourselves into that ditch of rich, frothy anxiety.

DEFAULT

Willpower is hugely misunderstood.  It actually has nothing to do with whether we’re strong or weak.  It has a lot more to do with some basic things we don’t even connect with willpower, like sleep for example.  

Studies show that just getting enough sleep increases our capacity to stick with our goals.  When we’re tired we usually default to what’s easiest.  And while doing what’s easiest means we’re making a decision, we can’t recognize the moment we're making that decision or the myriad of choices we have.  Instead we slide down that slippery slope of least resistance.  

FINISH

Doesn’t matter where you start, it matters where you finish.

EXCEPTIONAL

You set the bar, no one else.  Being exceptional is not about being superior, rather it’s a refusal to bow to mediocrity.

“Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.” ~ Albert Einstein

LIMITATIONS

Sometimes we convince ourselves that we’re not capable of doing something not because we’ve tried and failed, but because we can’t wrap our brain around the possibility of our succeeding.

This is when we use limitations that don’t really exist as a shield from fear, as a barrier to risk and as an excuse to bury deeper into our denial.  

Denial is not a safe place to be.

AFFLICTED

You know the old adage, “misery loves company.”  If you want to know the kind of misery that’s plaguing you, take a look at who’s hanging around.

KIND

Why is it that we can be an oasis of kindness and compassion when engaged with a stranger and yet are cruel and ruthless by default when engaged with ourselves?

PERSPECTIVE

The problem with being defensive is that it precludes us from learning something.  The least of which is to stop reacting defensively.  

INSURANCE

Traditional insurance like we get for our cars, houses, and personal welfare are based on fear - fear of what might happen, fear of not having enough money to deal with the AWFUL thing that MIGHT happen.  It’s a form of extorted fear-mongering.  

The only real insurance for any eventuality in the future is acting with the truest, most authentic intentions in the here and now. 

QUIT

There is an art to quitting.  The timing is critical. If there is pain always quit.  Whether it’s physical, psychological, emotional or otherwise.  However, when there is discomfort, then lean in, push against it because in the midst of discomfort is the very time NOT TO QUIT.

Nine times out of ten when we’re working toward any kind of major change like a health and fitness goal we will encounter discomfort and not pain.

GOAL

There will always be people around us who don’t share our vision for our goal.  That doesn't mean our goal is not worthwhile.  Sometimes those around us have their own agenda.  

It might be hard to acknowledge but we should never underestimate the power of fear. It can make even those who love us the most, resent any change we're trying to make. 

TOOLS

What tools are at our disposal to stay out of our own way?

"Willpower is about harnessing the three powers of I will, I won't and I want to help you achieve your goals."

~ The Willpower Instinct, Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.

REALIZE

As we set our intentions and go about realizing our goals what are we doing to ensure our success?  How are we getting out of our own way?

WANT

Resolutions are about knowing what we want, right?  The problem is that most of us haven’t got a clue what we really want.  If we did we’d stick with the resolutions  we make.  The fact that only 8% actually do, is proof of that.

Here’s the thing, we first have to understand that we are worth having what we truly want.  For example, if we’ve made the same resolution to lose weight for more years than we care to admit, what we really want is to be accepted for who we are.  The problem is that we think that acceptance comes from something or someone external to us.  The reality is that what we really want, what we really need is to accept ourselves first.

Knowing you want that, is revolutionary.

SEIZE

You can either seize or freeze.  Either seize every opportunity to move toward who you want to be or freeze every opportunity in the limiting beliefs you held yesterday.  History is not destiny.  History is merely an education in designing your future.

So, seize or freeze, which is it going to be? Yes you have to decide right now.  And now. And now...decide, seize or freeze in every moment.  That’s how many opportunities you have.

START

Don't know where to start?

Start with what you're running away from the fastest.
Start with what you're resisting the most.
Start with what's been on your to do list the longest.
Start with what scares you the most.
Start with what requires the greatest risk.
Start with what demands the most vulnerability.

Everything else you start after that will be a piece of cake.