How Is Your Life Different From Last Week?

How is your life different from one week ago?  I’ve had this thought running through my head for the past few weeks.  I get paid on Tuesdays and I was thinking about how much I saved from one week to the next.  Or how much I SPENT from last week to the next.  Or how much I have paid towards my student loans from last week to the next. Etc. etc. etc.

THEN I got to thinking, how has my LIFE changed from one week to the next. Did you make a step forward or backward in your career?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your relationship?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your walk with God?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your fitness?

To have a good YEAR you need good MONTHS.  For good MONTHS you need to have good WEEKS.  To have good WEEKS you need to have good DAYS.  To have good DAYS you need to have good HOURS.  To have good HOURS you need good Minutes. 

Let’s take the fitness example.  My goal is to lose 30 lbs this year.  Broken down by months that is 2.5 lbs per MONTH (OK, side note…as I am breaking it down by pound/month I am thinking I’m going to UP my goal, but for this post, I will keep it since I already did the math).  Or .625  lbs per week or .089 lbs per day.  Totally Do-able.

YOU CAN START A DIET IN THE MIDDLE OF A BAG OF POTATO CHIPS.

 

He looks so sad, doesn't he?  Lay's ARE really good though

So why don’t we?  We (or at least I do) WHINE and COMPLAIN that we are overweight or that we aren’t where we want to be in life.  We scroll through Facebook or Instagram and see other’s “achieving” the goals we set out for ourselves and then feel deflated because we don’t have those things. 

Two things:  

1.  FB is someone’s highlight reel and our reality is our entire movie.  We can’t judge our circumstances by their highlight reel. 

2.  We are quick to be envious of that person but we aren’t looking at the WORK it took to get there.  Granted, some people seem like they are given things (sometimes that’s true) but for the vast majority of people, they WORKED for it.  You only see the beautiful ballerina that is so graceful, while you trip going UP the stairs (that happened to me last week-yes, going UP).  You don’t see her aching, calloused feet beneath her satin slippers.  You don’t see that sales person bust their ass to earn that trip of a lifetime, you only get to see the pictures of them taking selfies from the Eiffel Tower on said trip.

 

Sorry (not sorry) for the graphic ballerina picture.

So, what can YOU (me included) do to make your life your dream life TODAY?  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time. 

Maybe you sell something that you bought that you don’t need anymore (did you ever need that??) and set that money aside for a debt payment.  Or you make that profile on match.com to see if you can find that one fish in the sea.  Or maybe you cannot eat that rice krispie treat that you REALLY WANTED at Newk’s today at lunch and eat fruit instead.   Or go walk a mile because you don’t can’t seem to do three miles right now.  Baby steps.

 

I love this movie BTW!!

So, anyone with me to make a change TODAY and then the next day and then the next day for your business, personal life, spiritual life, financial life, etc. better for tomorrow and then a month from now, and then a year from now?  The baby steps you take will create a snowball effect on your life to make you that much closer to your dream life and your dream circumstances.

Game Plan:

1.  Make a list of what you want your life to look like within 5 years.  Salary, relationships, financial fitness, physical fitness, etc. 

2.  Break that down by year. Then by months, days, hours, minutes, etc.  Keep in mind that you can't break it down exactly evenly.  Your snowball will take effect at some point and you will begin to see the "light at the end of the tunnel" and start to move faster towards you goal.   

3.  Start with one change at a time, otherwise you might become overwhelmed.  Example:  Don't plan on getting up at 5 am EVERY DAY, NO MATTER WHAT to workout and have a quiet time. Maybe get up 30 minutes earlier for a few weeks to do one or the other.  Then in a few weeks time, get up another 30 minutes earlier to do the other one.  Then a few weeks later add something else.  If you make it your goal to go to the gym for 3 hours a day, but you are tired (burned out) or have errands to run, you will beat yourself up for not doing the "NO MATTER WHAT" scenario in your head, which will leave you deflated and make you want to give up.  Baby Steps.

4.  Give your self a break.  

Remember, ALL OF THE WISHES AND PLAN MAKING WON'T WORK UNTIL YOU TAKE ACTION ON YOUR DREAMS.  You can WISH all you want but you have to go to WORK.

 I'm working on all of these things by the way.  Writing it all out helps me pinpoint my feelings.  I'm not preaching...unless you take it and run with it-then it's all me. LOL. :)