Stephen Covey in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, has an opening chapter titled, “90% of the time you are off track. So what?”
I love the title because it captures exactly the thing that keeps people failing and giving up every time they get inspired and start some new healthy way of living.
I used to fall into the same trap time and time again. I’d make a commitment to exercise more and set a weekly goal and as soon as I missed a day, I’d throw in the towel. I’d be on fire to start some new diet– and the first time I blew it and indulged in an “off limits” food, I’d forget the whole thing and let myself spiral down.
I’d hide behind the “all or nothing” mentality and it would keep me from ever seeing things through…or ever seeing any real change.
In the video I share a personal experience with getting off track… and how I don’t let that derail me anymore.
p.s.: Please excuse my appearance — if I waited until my hair and makeup was done, I’d never make a video 🙂
(If you are getting this from an email, you’ll have to click through to my website to see the video)
As always, I would love to hear your comments. Do you fall into this mindset often?
I couldn’t get the video to work.
Hi Keri,
It seems to be working for me every time I try it…Wondering if anyone else is having trouble viewing it? I’ll keep looking into it.
Thanks for the head’s up!
Hi Keri…Hopefully I fixed the glitch. Should be working now.
Hi Lisa,
When I click on the video, it says that it is a private video and that I could only watch it if it was invited to view it. But regarding being off-track, I am learning to embrace this as part of my life. For me, I’ve learned to look or evaluate my life not in days, but in more big chunks, like two weeks or a month, or a whole season. I’m not sure if this is what you are talking about so I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it!
~ Cheers,
Vina
Vina,
Thanks for the info about it being “private”– I’m new at posting videos so will have to work out this bug.
But I think it’s wonderful to hear your thoughts on the topic just from a quick overview-accessing ourselves in larger spans is a much more accurate and forgiving way to see if we are staying the course. When we become overly analytical of our every move we begin to suffocate ourselves with criticism, I think.
Great thoughts.
I think the video is fixed now. (fingers crossed)
I could see the video fine in my google reader. I can totally relate to getting off track by not properly fueling my body. It makes me cranky and in turn effects everything…
Hi Sara,
It really is as simple as that sometimes isn’t it?!
Wonderful post! You are completely right about many things. First, I have found the best changes I have made in my life have come about because I gave my permission to fail. In fact, I realized that it wasn’t even failure, it was just that things turned out differently than I envisioned and that is okay.
I have a 2.5 and a 1 year old. I have learned to myself ALOT of grace. As a terminal perfectionist, this was a very hard change to make. The adventures that have come about during a day gone “wrong” have been amazing. I am so glad I leatned to let go.
The other really important lesson I have learned that taking care of myself and my needs is not a detriment to my family. In fact it is a gift and a blessing to them. A nourished, healthy, energetic wife and momma is a lot better than a tired, lethargic, cranky wife and momma. I no longer see it as selfish but as prep work for my life that is absolutely vital to the success and joy in that life.
Thank you for your words. They were inspiring.
Karen! You absolutely nailed it with these thoughts! I couldn’t agree more–
::embrace the “failures” and they often become different gifts…
::heap loads of grace on yourself…so you can heap grace on others and
::model to your children how essential it is to take good care of yourself- we’d never want our children to grow into adults that were worn down and depleted!
Thank you for this comment!
this is so true, but its so easy as a mom to justify the bad choices by saying that they are quick (so as not to make the baby sit and wait while you make a healthy breakfast) or quiet (so as not to wake a napping baby), etc… Its amazing how many times I am thirsty during the day, but I don’t want to stop reading to the kids or get up from the playroom (because they will both follow me out) to go get the water!
Hi Christine,
Yes–I know what you mean…I find myself doing this often too…just making it through at times with choices that keep everyone else’s needs met.
And you know what–sometimes it is just what needs to be done because we are caring for little people who have pretty immediate needs a lot of the times…it is just that over a course of a day, falling into the pattern of not taking the extra moments for ourselves keeps us chronically overwhelmed and underfueled for the task we have at hand.
I suppose it is finding that give and take– the journey we are all on! 🙂
Loved your comment– thank you!