Don’t Wait to Make a Change!
June 20, 2007
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Don’t Wait to Make a Change!
- Free Wellness Pack
- Cheryl’s Blog - recent posts
Do you go along with the flow of life or do you consciously choose your direction?
I just climbed on a tall stool to hang a wind chime on a hook that was high up on the roof overhang. That’s when it became painfully obviously – I’ve lost a lot of leg strength and flexibility and it’s time to get it back!
I’m a very physically active person – up, down, and all around, so it bugs me that I need to do strength training to maintain my strength. I’ve been whining about this for a couple of years, and the longer I delay getting stronger, the weaker I get. The weaker I get, the more negative my self-talk becomes. So when am I going to stop whining and start making a change? That is the question of the day and the question I’m exploring in this newsletter.
We all have aspects of our lives that we choose to live in denial about. For me it’s the fact that I’m losing strength – and I don’t LIKE strength training.
What is it for you? Have you been delaying dealing with clutter, getting out of debt, managing stress, getting out of a toxic relationship? Or have you been delaying getting out of an unsatisfying job or taking time for relaxation and rejuvenation? Have you been putting off losing weight, getting fit, or taking better care of yourself? Have you been dragging your feet starting your own business or taking it to the next level?
What I learned from Thomas Leonard, life coach extraordinaire, is that delay is increasingly expensive. There are lost opportunity costs, lost resources, lost confidence, lost time, lost energy, and lost focus to name a few of the costs. Sometimes the window of opportunity slams shut and it takes a great deal of effort to open it back up. Although it’s never too late to make a change, it’s getting later. And later.
Let’s look specifically at several of the costs of delay.
You’ve been meaning to declutter your house or apartment for over 10 years. Time just keeps slipping away. Meanwhile, it’s gotten more cluttered, and the stacks of newspapers and magazines have taken over. You feel embarrassed to invite people in, you’ve grown less confident in your ability to get started – you feel overwhelmed at the very thought of taking action.
You may have labeled yourself (and therefore claim it as truth) as a hopeless packrat. Your mom (dad) was a packrat, your grandmother and great grandfather were packrats, and it’s your destiny too … or so you think. Did you know that if you argue for your limitations, they’re yours?
Maybe your house is in order, but you’ve delayed taking better care of your health – losing weight, improving your diet, getting fit, managing stress, or taking time for your own self-care. Have you noticed that the longer you wait, the longer you wait? When we carry excess weight for many years, the knees and feet start to suffer. It becomes increasingly difficult to stay active – a key to weight loss. And it gets harder to clip your own toenails, and that’s a real confidence buster.
Muscle strength deteriorates gradually, and we don’t notice the loss much in our day-to-day activities. We can still carry the groceries, mop the floor, and pick up the kids, but we can’t very easily get up from the floor, climb up on a high stool, or carry a heavy bag of mulch or dog food. And we tire more easily. A weak body is a tired body. When I give presentations about fitness, I tell people to get down on the floor once a day to make sure they can still do it – and get back up!
Take Action – Nothing Changes Without Action
What have you been waiting to change? Think of one small thing you can do today, right now if you can, to start down the path toward the change you want to make?
Start somewhere. Often, a small step is all it takes.
Here’s the small change I’m going to make. Because I’m concerned about losing strength in my legs, instead of waiting until I can develop a full-blown plan, I am doing 10 squats right now! I’ll do 10 every other day.
See how simple the first step in changing can be? Don’t wait to create a plan. Do just one small thing to shift yourself a little closer to the direction you want to go.
Your Turn
See the comment link at the very bottom of this page? Click that link and tell us what small step you will take toward your desired change. And if you have a story about a change you’ve been dragging your feet to make, share it with us.
To your healthy, happy life!
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Recent posts in the blog:
Chakra Panties - the commercialization of yoga
FDA: Throw away toothpaste made in China
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Cheryl Miller is a wellness expert and life coach. She specializes in helping people take action to live a healthy, happy life . . . in this lifetime.
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Cheryl is super bright, she always follows through, and she engages in provocative conversations. But here’s the really big deal–she’s a visionary. She can extrapolate from a current point of view or way of being and see a new and better way, an end point, and a way to get there.
June 21st, 2007
I have something that I do the start - stop thing with and I need to just start it and stay motivated enough to stay with it and not stop. That something is my weight, I need to loose weight and in the process get fitter (is that a word?) and healthier. My first step will be to get out and walk. I’ll take my dog and we will walk. I’m not sure whether we will walk a certain distance or whether we will walk for a certain amount of time. But we will get out and walk.
June 21st, 2007
BRAVO, Cheryl. This is INDEED inspiring and so true. I love your comment that if you argue for your limitations they become you.
I have waited much to long to lose weight, increase my health, declutter and get out of debt. I’m attacking all four fronts at once. I’ve made progress since January, but find I am ignoring my need to strengthen my body and it’s getting harder to do all the other things.
Health comes first. Thanks for reminding me of that.
June 21st, 2007
I am glad to read this comment. I decided yesterday to make some changes. I worked with a timer between my work and my housecleaning. Then I exercised for a bit. Not much but it is a start. I felt good.
June 21st, 2007
I started wearing a pedometer and in January was doing good to get 5000 steps in a day. Now I get up at 6:15 and walk for at least an hour and my daily average is over 15000 steps a day.
My next change will be dealing with the house and getting it in order. I’m still in the process of setting down my goals and the steps I will take to achieve this. This is a bit more difficult since this involves more than just me.
June 21st, 2007
My small change…wow! I have so much I’m going to change. Okay, I’ll pick one. I’m going to walk 30 minutes every day. Even if it is around my desk…it’s going to happen. This small change is one step closer to race walking a 1/2 marathon in October 2007.
June 21st, 2007
Hi Lois: Walk the dog - love it! Your dog will start to remind you…..Maybe you can teach him/her to “nag” you by fetching the leash
So right Roberta - health comes first. We all need reminders of that at times. Go for it!
Maryruth - a timer is one of my favorite things. Love IT! It’s amazing how much you can get done in 5 or 10 minutes. Timers make tasks more like a game - like Beat the Clock. They get me up and moving.
Corrie Ann - your comment made me laugh - your determination shines through. Prisoners of war have kept fit sitting in a tiny cell. If they can do it, we can get fit in a small space too. Not that you’re a prisoner in your office
Love these comments. Keep them coming. Cheryl
June 21st, 2007
Rebecca - life is just like that isn’t it. You achieve one thing…and there are 10 more things behind them. Just keep doing one and the another, and another. That’s just the way life is. And I can tell you’ll make it all work out. Cheryl
June 21st, 2007
I have just begun graduate school and I’m on my way to getting my Ph.D. in Counseling Specialization! Now that’s an action step for me. I am also working on my weight, I never give up, but, somehow I just mostly maintain. More action here might be in order..so I will get back to aerobics again. For a while I have been mostly doing stretching and weights for toning. I have to put aerobics back into it. I notice when I exercise well, eventually I gain more energy. I”ll need that now.
June 21st, 2007
Congratulations Lynda - Graduate school is a big deal. What is counseling Specialization? Sounds interesting.
Regarding fitness - recently I’ve grown more interested in short - more intensive workouts vs aerobics. New research is looking promising in recommending the benefits of this kind of exercise. I should write an article and share it with the group - but first I’m experimenting with it. Hence the squats! So if you do aerobic exercise fairly intensely for a couple of minutes … then you’d rest and recover. Then you’d do a couple of more sets with the recovery period inbetween. Your workout would then be about 10-15 minutes! You can do climb stairs, bike, jump rope, skip, run in place, sprint, etc. For just a minute or two, then rest for a minute or two and repeat.
Good luck in grad school.
Cheryl
June 23rd, 2007
Cheryl,
First of all, thank-you! Counseling Specialization is a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. That’s right down my alley for sure! I love to talk with people! I love to listen too!
What you are talking about are “sprints” as Covert Bailey would call them, or “interval training.” This is becoming hot in the fitness world! It simply does work. However, if you are not used to aerobics yet, I highly recommend that you begin by doing aerobic training, steady pace, no jumping or stairs etc., and when you have built yourself up to withstanding a good half hour (at the least) then-begin your interval traing but not for 15 minutes to begin with. Keep your original steady pace but then pump it up to a slight jog or a flight of stairs, and then bring it back down slowly to the original pace. Next time, do the same, and then after a welk of that add another sprint. The main thing is to listen to your own body, no body is the same. Only you can tell when you should advance. Always keep it fun to do and you can do no wrong. This is what works. The only reason I cut out my aerobics for a while is because I gained some weight and have to get that off so that I don’t put extra stress on my heart. People should always take the advice of their doctor before they begin any new exercises or exercise routine.
June 26th, 2007
thanks for the encouragement - this is exactly what I was thinking this morning - & I promised myself I”d at least do the 5 yoga poses/stretches that I used to do, starting today, inspite of the heat… and by monday I promise I will find a weights plan & dig out whatever I need for it…
June 26th, 2007
Cheryl,
I appreciate the honesty. Even those of us who work with others to achieve their goals are simply human and let things go from time to time. You reminded me to just work things in gradually again. Time to dust off the treadmill! I don’t even hate it, I just don’t make it a priority.
Joan
June 26th, 2007
Ellen and Joan - Thanks for your comments. Small steps…..so simple. Just five yoga poses, just dust off the treadmill….. And yes, deciding to do something elevates it as a priority doesn’t it.
Lynda - funny that I was coaching you on exercise - then you coached me right back. He-he.
Cheryl