Play
First, and foremost, don't get so focused on your goals that you forget to go out and just PLAY. Have fun. Go try to hula hoop with your kids, or play a soccer game with them. Go out and hang out with friends. Life is all about finding a balance in all things, and enjoying yourself is one of them. Life is an amazing journey and it should be fun. Don't go hog wild (obviously), but enjoy life. Have fun--with your spouse, with your kids, with your friends.
Plan
If you don't have a plan for yourself, it will be harder to see where you've made progress. Set SMART goals for yourself, and plan to achieve them, so that you can
Progress
Sometimes it's hard to see the progress you have made in fitness during the day to day grind. This is why I am addicted to racing. Nothing measures progress like watching the average pace of a race slowly shrink. Sometimes progress is consistently making better food choices. Sometimes progress is fitting into a smaller size. Sometimes it's that first time you realize you are working out because you want to....not because you have to. Take note of your progress. Write down your successes, and celebrate them.
Persistence
Persistence pays off. You MUST remember this when training or eating healthy seems mundane...when you feel like you aren't getting anywhere fast. I LITERALLY feel like this on
90% of my training runs...I find myself trying to remember TRUST IN THE PROCESS. Believe that even though you don't feel like anything is changing, it is. You are.
PatienceBe patient--change takes time. Be patient with your body--if it is achy, think about everything you have asked it to do recently. Think about what you've done in return--how you've fueled it, how you've rested is. Be patient with yourself and LISTEN to your body. Stretch, fuel well, and be patient with yourself. Its going to be hard, but if it were easy it wouldn't mean as much.
See? Lots of great P words that all sort of go hand in hand. Why is it that it looks so simple when you put it on paper, but its such a challenge to do in LIFE? But again . . .I suppose its supposed to be hard. Sometimes I feel like I work 1,000x harder for half the results of the average person . . . I know some of you probably feel like that too. But it just seems that way. Everyone works hard. Celebrate it, own it, and enjoy it.
