Instant Gratification is out...Life Change is IN!

Someone recently brought it to my attention that this would be the LAST New Year I get to celebrate under the age of 40. Wasn't that nice? LOL She then added what I interpreted to be the fact that I never follow through with consistent exercise. Now mind you she was talking about herself. But alas, I'm in a similar boat. While she spoke of needing to lose weight, my issue is that I need to get into better physical shape. I'm very petite, but have no strength throughout my body due to an injury from a car accident years ago. So the advice I gave her:

Life change! LOL What happens to most of us is that we continue on a ritual of losing weight (or changing anything we deem necessary) with an end result in mind. We shouldn't be focusing on an end result, but rather a better life. And we can't have that better life if we're bobbing up and down on the weight scale (or in our other undesirable habits).

Instead we should be thinking, "Life Change!" If you change the way you live your life in the area that bothers you, it then becomes a habit. Then the yearning for the moment you'll allow yourself to have the Ben and Jerry's ice cream will change from a moment to an occasional bite from the tub because your daily habit is healthy eating. So of course it won't hurt to nibble from the tub now and again.

Does this make sense? We have expectations that have almost been learned behavior from the beginning of our lives. One is; Diet, lose the weight we want, "EAT CAKE!" or in my case, "EAT ICE CREAM!"

Follow me for a moment as I go back in time when a woman came to my house for our children's play date. When it was time to pick up the toys, I did what I usually did and said, "Clean up time. Everyone find the bin your toys go into and put them away." The visiting child started to throw "things" as well as a fit! He didn't want to leave and he certainly didn't want to clean up.

So I said, "Billy, did you have fun playing at our house?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Would you like to come back and play again some time?"
He whined, "yes" as if he knew what I was going to say.
So I finished with, "If you'd like to come back, then you have to help clean up before you leave. That is how we do things in our home."

He threw a temper tantrum again which lead his mom to say, "I can't handle it here. You're a militant mom! You run your house like the Gestapo!"

I gently responded, "Does your child enjoy coming to our home?"
The mom said, "Yes."
I added, "Does my child behave nicely at your home? Does she clean up her mess when it's time to leave?"
The mom said, "Why yes, you're daughter is a delight to have in our home. She's welcome over any time!"

I said, "Thank you, then I must be doing something right."

HABIT is the key. I trained my children into a habit that lasted a lifetime. To this day my children can't leave a mess at someone's house before actually leaving their house.

Training ourselves into habits that last a lifetime is the life change I'm talking about.
Scheduling is one of the keys.
Writing things down that we wish to accomplish.
Following through with that schedule.
Having an accountability buddy helps to keep us on track. (Make sure she's not weak either. LOL Otherwise, she won't do any better helping you than if you didn't have her to keep you on track. Smile)

If you get a little off track, revamp the schedule to allow for your mood. After all, we women don't need a menstrual cycle to have a mood change. All someone has to do is upset me and my mood changes.

Many people can't handle the regiment of a schedule.
They feel that if they have a schedule they will be slaves to their schedule. It all depends on what TYPE of schedule they have. LOL

My schedule includes hours a week of free time.
A Mocha Frappuccino on the way to Toastmasters on Thursdays.
Movies on Friday nights.
Sundays family time.
Twice per month business/women's meetings. (They're FUN for me and have great food too!)

Make your exercise your fun time. Yes, I'm serious. Drag a friend along. Make it a regular same time, same place event. But the key is writing it down on your schedule.

I schedule my days the night before. If I try to do it in advance, say a week ahead of time, things come up that change my plans and my schedule ends up in ruins. Then I don't get what I scheduled accomplished and give up. When you schedule the night before, you're less likely to have something over ride the plans you made.

Copyright ©2003 Susie Glennan

Bio: Susie Glennan is the President of The Busy Woman, Inc. - DBA: The Busy Woman's Daily Planner®. She has been featured in Smart Money Magazine, The Washington Post, and others. Her products have been featured in Real Simple and Parenting Magazines, CBS Early Show, San Antonio Living Show and many more!

Susie has been happily married since 1982. She is mom to 3, Homeschool Teacher, Toastmaster, Speaker and is Author of numerous articles that have been published in magazines, across the web and at www.thebusywoman.com