Do any of these sound like you?
You used to take your significant other out on a date night once a week. You used to keep up with your Quickbooks but now you’re months behind. You used to spend individual time with your kids. You used to work out every day. You used to put money into savings. You used to keep your desk and computer files organized. You used to keep your car clean and vacuumed. You used to… you fill in the blank.
If any of these sound familiar, this is what it looks like to have let yourself go.
All those statements above I know all too well, because (except for the kids part), they are things I recently realized about my own life. Oh sure, to most people I look like I’ve got it together (or at least most of it), but internally I kept hearing myself say things like this… “This thing I’m doing… This series of choices I find myself making every day… They are not working. I’m not who I want to be, or who I know I can be. I don’t like the way I feel. I’m not 100% pleased with how I look. I don’t like some of the things I’m doing. It’s time for a change.”
But just saying those things will get you nowhere except feeling like crap about yourself.
It’s easy to forget the things that are important to us when we are busy. When life takes over, discipline (unfortunately) is usually one of the first things to go. Oh, our intentions are good, but we all know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions…
If you feel like you are “stuck”, more than likely you, like me, have let yourself go in some areas of life.
So, what do you do if you’ve found yourself in a place you don’t want to be?
Four words… Hit the reset button.
When you’re trying to use an outlet and it’s been tripped, you know that it won’t work unless you press the reset button. When your computer gets frozen, only thing that works is to reboot. When you blow a breaker, you need to flip it back. When your browser gets stuck, you hit the refresh button.
Just like all these things, I believe sometimes we don’t work properly.
So, here’s how you hit the reset button…
- Determine what’s important to you by asking yourself questions like these:
- Who are the priority people in your life to spend time with?
- How much time spent with them equals a quality amount that you’d feel good about?
- Where do you want to be in your health & fitness?
- How do you want to show people you appreciate them?
- Financially, where do you want to be?
- How important is it to you to have your office, car, house, etc. clean and in order?
- Is your business running you or are you running your business?
- How do you focus your mindfulness and/or spirituality?
- Define where you are. Now, take that list from above and get out a piece of paper or a notes file on your phone/computer. If you’re not where you want to be, then where exactly would you rather be? Write it out.
- Decide how you will be different. If you’ve let yourself go in one area, most likely there are other areas as well that could also use some cobweb cleaning. Find the quick wins. Own where you were. Write down where you want to be. Be bold and unapologetic in your claim.
- Take action right now. Schedule a date night with your significant other or kid/s. Schedule time in your calendar to clean your car. Sign up for Quickbooks. Reach out to a mentor (can be paid or not) and get regular time scheduled on the calendar. Take action. Simply put… begin doing the work. One step at a time.
- Create a reminder. Because you’ve gotten out of the habit of being disciplined, even with the best of intentions, it will be easy to slip back into laziness. This is where a reminder – a Post-it note, a rubber band on your wrist, a reminder on your phone, etc. – will come in very handy.
Bottom line is… Stop making excuses.
You only get one shot at this life. And, even if you get to live “full-term”, it’s so very short. Not one person I’ve ever talked with was ok with having regrets.
Since no one else can make changes to your life but you, go ahead and take back your control over your thoughts, decisions, and actions today and start experiencing your potential again.
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