Tag Archive for ‘fatigue’ at themojocoach.com

The words yes and no are two extremely powerful words. They’re also two of the most misused words in our language today. Do you have a case of yes and no confusion and how can you tell if you do?

Let’s start with the word yes. Think of all the times you’ve said yes to an extra task, project, activity, commitment or responsibility. Maybe you said yes when you were asked to stay late at work, volunteer to help out at your child’s school or help a friend complete something they were working on. Of course your intentions were good but if you’re already overscheduled, overextended and overwhelmed with what’s on your plate, consider why you may have said yes, yet again.

We say yes to additional commitments for lots of reasons. Maybe we want to feel part of the group, like a “team player,” we want to feel like we’re contributing, helping and giving. Sometimes we say yes because it makes us feel needed, valuable or we feel “it’s the right thing to do.” Sometimes we say yes because we think that saying yes means we’re being…nice.

When we’re already overscheduled and overwhelmed, there’s a good chance we’ve neglected our own self care. Maybe with these extra responsibilities there’s no time for a workout, a pre planned healthy meal, a haircut or that long overdue manicure. Taking on another project almost ensures that taking care of ourselves gets pushed even further down on our list of priorities. We may resent the new responsibilities we’ve just taken on (or person who asked us to do them), as we wish we had a few minutes to knock a few items off our “to do lists,” reconnect with our partners, spend time with our children or even find 15 minutes to read a magazine or catch a brief nap. Now, besides taking the time to recover from our day, rejuvenate and replenish ourselves, we deplete ourselves even further as we convince ourselves that a healthy, balanced lifestyle is out of our reach.

When we take a look at what’s truly important to us, what it is that we value, we usually find that spending time friends, family and taking better care of ourselves makes up a good part of that list. Well, when we say yes to things that pull us further away from those values, we pull ourselves away from creating a lifestyle that could make us feel satisfied, healthy, happy and complete. Sure it may be agonizing when you’re expected to say yes to another task. That minute the person asking is waiting for their reply may feel like an eternity when they realize their usual “go to person” has just turned down their request. But there are two things to consider. One, you turned down their request, not them. Two, while that minute may be painful, the freedom you’ve secured to stay true to your priorities lasts much longer.

Saying yes to one thing means saying no to something else. What are you giving up every time you say yes?

What’s your New Year’s Resolution? Is it to lose weight or begin an exercise program? If you’re like most of us, a fit, healthy body is something you may want to work towards this year. In fact, it’s probably something you wanted to work towards last year as well as the year before. So here’s a question. Why is it that we start the New Year with the best of intentions just to fall short within the first few weeks?

One reason is due to the fact that almost ninety percent of what we do each day is the result of ritualistic habit. From the way we brush our teeth to which shoe we put on first is something we barely need to think about. We’ve done it a certain way for so long, it’s deeply ingrained within us and minimal effort is required to get the job done. To test this, just start your day by putting on the other shoe first and you’ll see how different it feels!

Well, eating and exercise habits work the same way. The way we eat, the reasons why we eat, the food choices we make are all habits which have been formed over time. Some of those habits may have lead to an unhealthy relationship with food where we’re eating to combat boredom, fatigue, anger, sadness or loneliness. For some of us, the portion sizes we take or the degree of fullness we leave the table with are habits we’ve formed as well. For others, the way we handle weekends, parties or holidays are the result of habit. Finally for others, the tastes we prefer are the result of habit as well. For example, we may have gotten used to the flavor of foods which are highly sweetened which leads us to crave and expect that type of flavor.

While many of these habits lead to weight gain and frustration, we stay with these behaviors because they’re so familiar. They may not serve us well but because we barely need to think about it the behavior continues. So, what can you do if you want to finally make a New Year’s Resolution that lasts?

In my next blog post I will share with you the plan of action to keep you on track with your New Year’s Resolution.

Debi “The Mojo Coach”
www.TheMojoCoach.com
www.AskTheMojoCoach.com