No one could ever accuse me of seeing the world in a cookie cutter way. If the first step is acknowledgement, then I accept that I am not right, or as they say back home, "I ain't right.". Even though I am a bubble and a half off plumb, I need goals and I certainly need accountability.
I possess an advanced degree in procrastination. It took me a while to get that degree as I kept putting off the work. In a sense, that caused me to receive the degree with honors. Obviously, it comes into play in meeting any business dream I might have. I could go on and bore you with hours of details showing how I have put off doing things. Why do I put things off like I do? I am not totally sure. Maybe part of me enjoys misery, stress and worry. I am certain that fear puts me down all the time. Yesterday, the Biblical parable of the servants and talents hit me like a ton of bricks. FEAR kept the one servant from investing or taking care of the 'talent' (asset) that the master gave to him. FEAR led him to be called "lazy" and, as the CEV states, "good for nothing". If any of you are like me and fight esteem issues, the last thing I need is my prowess of procrastination prompting someone to call me 'lazy'.
I am a great dreamer and goal setter. I find following through difficult because of fear and some other things. I have brainstormed a few unique ways to encourage accountability.
1. Tell others your goal. I do not mean just write it down in a journal (a great idea, by the way). I mean yell it from the mountaintops, or better yet, post it on the modern day mountain tops-Facebook and/or Twitter. Lay it out there. See who the supporters are in your life and weed out the haters. If your dream or goal means that much to you and you add in your post a simple "why" statement, then your true friends and supporters will be unable to at least click "like". Silence speaks volumes and those who do not respond are merely nosey and not what you need.
2. Use your common SENSE(S) This is where it gets unique to the inner workings of my mind. Senses guide our life and much of this guidance is done without any conscious thought. You smell and see the "HOT NOW" sign on the Krispy Kreme store and your mouth and stomach get the message immediately. Why not use that sense recognition for good?
Let's look at a "body" goal. People have used motivational pictures of how they want to look for years and visualization has long been encouraged. The sense of sight helps out here in the quest for the beach worthy body. How about smell? One could easily keep a bottle of coconut scented tanning oil nearby so a quick snort could keep them on track. Sense of sound is included with simple affirmations repeated that one finds encouraging. The sense of taste proves a little trickier. Sure, a mouth full of sand would prompt visions of the beach, but instead, savoring and enjoying the tastes of healthy food. If you do not find healthy food attractive, I know a way to change that..And finally, the sense of touch. I see this one with huge potential. How about a simple band around your wrist? You feel it and that could hold you accountable when after that dang brownie jumped right into your hand. I have heard of people shaving their heads as a reminder that they need to be focused.
There you have it. A couple simple ways to help with accountability. There are other, more traditional ways, like finding an accountability partner and the aforementioned journaling. In a couple of days, I am putting this to the test in a very public way.
Good Morning!
ReplyDeleteSo good to see you have come back to help enlighten and encourage!!!
I too have recently come to a place where I am re-evaluating EVERYTHING. I fell off the wagon, rolled down the ravine, and laid in the muck for a bit. Now I am climbing the hill once again and it is harder than it was before.
For many years I wanted to lose weight to look better. And with that as a motivator, I would lose and gain and lose and gain. Now I am heavier than I ever imagined I would be and it is killing me, slowly.
I was always fortunate in the sense that my health did not suffer over much from being seriously overweight most of my life. In my younger days, I did not experience a lot of social difficulties due to my weight, as many do. That helped lull me into a false sense of well being, I think. I could avoid dealing with my weight seriously for many years. I always feared that one day that would change. I joked about it alot. But that day has arrived. If I do not...now...make serious and long lasting lifestyle changes, someone else will be caring for my child in the not so far off future as I will have either become disabled, or I will be dead. That just cannot be.
So some things that I thought I wanted for myself, but that do not help me in the immediate, I have to place on the back burner, for now. I need to narrow my focus. This weight must be addressed and attended to immediately and thoroughly.
I appreciate you putting yourself out there. That is not easy. I am gonna throw myself out there too, so you are not alone. It is easier here, as no one knows me, so it is a start.
I am female, 5'7" (used to be 5'8.5"), medium framed and am hovering around the 300 lb mark. I am currently having a great deal of difficulty with controlling my blood pressure and heart rhythm. Arrrgh!! I wrote it. As I sit here and look at this I want to delete it. But I don't think I will.
This is a step. Now I just need to keep putting more steps behind this one.
Thank you again for this blog.