Managing the Head-Talk

A HUGE part of managing your life is managing your head-talk. You gotta get good at this if you want things to change for you.

Today the voices were conspiring to throw me off my workout routine. You see, I’ve got a serious goal to drop some extra pounds that have crept on and to just be more fit overall. I see my doctor again in June and my goal is to be better by then.

I try to start each day with a quick workout. I either go to the gym or I drive to the nearby resort and walk along the beach lagoons. Since I knew the fresh air would do me some good after a tough day yesterday, I decided to go to the beach.

Here’s when the head-talk started in.

“It’s starting to rain, you’ll get wet if you go walk at the lagoons.”

“The sidewalks will be wet and slippery and you might fall.”

As a note, I’m really afraid of slipping on wet pavement because I have feet, ankle, and knee issues from torn ligaments, sprains, etc. over the years.

So I decided to go to the gym. Then those negative thoughts started creeping in again:

“You’re starting late, it’s going to be crowded by the time you get there.”

“You’ve got a lot of work to do, you should just skip your workout.”

I made my way into my car and was headed to the gym. But I really needed/wanted the fresh air, so I took the cutoff to the beach instead, despite the rain clouds in the distance.

Started walking. Rain clouds had moved on and the sidewalks were dry. Then the sprinklers started.

Something was definitely conspiring to stop me from working out today!

Then something clicked. Two people ran by me on the grass. I realized that I didn’t have to walk on the wet, slippery sidewalks. I could walk on the grass!!

Why I’ve never thought of this before I don’t know. But it made me realize that if you have a goal, you have a choice in whether or not--and how--you’re going to achieve that goal:

1) You can let circumstances stop you
2) You can find another way

I had a most marvelous walk and my head was cleared and I felt great! Bottom line:

If you want something bad enough, you’ll get resourceful and find a way. If you want to find an excuse, you’ll find that, too.

So get real with what's stopping you, what's holding you back. Kick those voices to the curb and move forward! You're worth it!!!