Where the mind goes the body will follow. This for me is my 2015 mantra. Do you ever thing about what makes you truly happy? Often we think its one thing but then it turns out it really is not. I had a happiness tracker ( otherwise known as A notebook) this year and really began to think about the process of being happy.
This year one of the most important lessons I learnt was saying no! I had read many times of its importance but until I made a decision last year, I hadn't really put action to it. (Now if you are a person that actually only says no, then the reverse advice applies to you!) My thinking on it is this; it is actually better to do 3 things brilliantly then do 10 things just ok. Saying no is hard, you get roped into things and people that can consume alot of time and energy and that often bring no real benefit to you. Saying no can be scary, there can be that moment of thinking, well is this a missed opportunity? This is where only your own personal judgement and gut will lead you to the right decision.
We are always made feel a little guilty for saying no, but what if saying no is the right thing for you. Now like everything you need to first decide what it is you want for your own life, but often saying no can be very empowering. Because let's be honest, no one really likes the person that says yes to everything but actually never follows through or worse again kind of follows through. I said no this year and I am delighted that I did. For one I said no a little bit to the amount of food I was in fact eating, albeit healthy, perhaps the volume was the problem.
That no was a difficult because food is great but I just needed to learn I didn't need as much. This no has lead to many great things mainly in a change for my body, with a loss of 16.5lbs which has only been great. But it was through reading Jim McGuinness's book 'Until Victory Always' and in it he said something that I really identified with in terms of personal progress. "It is human nature after you achieve something to coast for a little while." This is always the worry right, when comes the set back? Like we are almost waiting for this to happen....
Especially in terms of training and nutrition, we are always hearing about the setbacks but seldom do we speak about how we deal with them? Setbacks to me are just part of the course for everything in life, there will be challenges with everything we do however it's how you decide to deal and react to these setbacks that will determine the outcome. I don't know anyone who ever began anything and on its completion or throughout their journey said "Oh yeah everything is great not one hiccup". So remember these small things are simply just part of the course, you must go back to basics and your core principles of why you are doing what you are doing and also just stay focused on the goal that you initially set out to achieve, a strong belief system is what will get you over the line. That belief system is not spiritual or religious, but in fact it's the belief in yourself that you have the ability.
There can be almost a mythical questioning around fitness and health, we see it most when people lose weight or look in better shape. The question is ask, "Well how did he/she do that?" I always the love the reactions to this from women more so than men. If answered honestly and the person will state " well I totally over hauled my eating and began training 5 times a week, cut back on all I was drinking and stopped eating processed foods" then instantly people switch off, almost disappointed. It is like we are searching for the wonder answer of, "Oh you know the weight just fell off after a juice only diet for 3 months" This in theory sounds easier because the hard slog doesn't seem to be in there. I would love if we could change the language around training and eating well, people are funny around it. Like we all know we should be doing it and everyone wants to be healthy and in good shape, but sometimes when it comes to the crunch, we can't just quite get it across the line.
Thankfully for me, people are just so used to me training and always being active that it is considered completely normal. I mean when your friend's mother is calling you long stem broccoli you know you have crossed over to the other side. In order to be happy with anything you need to own your decisions and simply roll with it.