What you need to succeed

Day 2 of the 7 Day Goal Crushing Email Challenge Can't see images? Click here... Hey read, I laid out a hard truth yesterday. I feel like I might have offended some people. It can be tough to hear that we might not be as honest and truthful as we think we are. But just because something is difficult to hear doesn't make it bad. The truth I want you to remember is that discomfort is the currency for achieving your dreams. You're going to hear hard things, learn hard lessons, and do some hard work in this challenge. Embracing the discomfort and the difficult and learning to rise to the challenge is exactly our goal. You showed up for day 2. Even though the intensity of day 1 might have knocked a few people out of the game, you're not one of them. You are determined and willing to persevere. That says a lot about your character. Fortunately, today's topic is a little easier to digest. And although it might involve a bit of discomfort, the results you'll experience will help to fuel you to keep stepping forward into the discomfort and the difficult ahead. Your body, your mind, your energy, your focus, your ability to do anything at all depends on how well you fuel yourself. And I'm not just talking about food and water. If you've had trouble achieving the goals you've set for yourself in the past I'm going to hazard a guess that you might have tried really, really hard. And that's good. Hard work is always required to achieve our biggest goals. But is it possible that in all of your trying really, really hard you might have let some other things slide? Things like eating sufficient and healthy food, moving your body on a regular basis, sleeping, relaxing, doing things you actually enjoy, pausing to look up and around and breathe? For many people, hustling is an all or nothing strategy. You may not have been completely consumed by achieving your goal, you do have a job and family to manage as well. But in your quest to achieve your goal have you ever filled your schedule so full with hustling and managing and doing all the things that you left no time for actually providing yourself the fuel you need to keep going and doing? In college, I took a full class load while also working 30-40 hours a week for all four years. I also enjoyed friends and an active social life. For a time, I worked as a 3rd shift waitress on the weekends. My schedule was all over the place and I was constantly on the go. I didn't have time or energy, so I made it through by living off of No-Doz, Fat Burners, and a steady supply of Slim Fast. I didn't take any of these things because I wanted to lose weight. I drank Slim Fast because chugging a can between classes was way easier than trying to find time to locate and eat actual food. And I took the pills because they had massive amounts of caffeine so I didn't have to waste as much time sleeping. As you can probably imagine, my health was pretty terrible at this point in life. I had trouble focusing and staying awake in class, I was always sick. I wasn't really doing all that great in my classes. And I still felt like I was constantly behind and exhausted. I thought I was busy and stressed then. With a full-time job, two kids, a husband, a blog, and a number of volunteer activities I recognize now, that I had no clue what busy actually looked like back then. Fortunately though, in the past 15 years, I've learned that in order to best keep up with the demands of life I need to fuel myself in a healthy way. When we're trying hard to reach a goal it can be so tempting and easy to forgo our self-care, but we're about to change that. Before we even start working toward a goal we're going to figure out how best to fuel our bodies and our lives and then we will regularly partake in these things as a priority. Before you freak out on me, I'm not suggesting that you need to sleep 12 hours a night, hire a gourmet chef to make and serve you the best and healthiest foods, go to the gym for two hours a day, or anything even remotely extreme. I run one mile every day. If you count the time it takes to put my shoes on, hook the leash on the dog, and take a short cool down walk back to my house, it takes me all of about 15 minutes. If you can't find 15 minutes in your day to take care of yourself then you have some serious issues that need to be addressed long before you try to start achieving some major goals in your life. You certainly don't need to run to take care of yourself. That's just my example for a habit I've built into my life to make sure that I move my body in a healthy way every single day. What could you do? Today's challenge is to figure out what activities best fuel you and then schedule at least one of these activities into your calendar every day for the next week. I'd suggest you consider the areas of your life that you most need fuel. Perhaps you already eat pretty healthily so you might not need to make changes there, but maybe you always stay up too late and sleep would be a really great option for you to focus on. Alternatively, perhaps your physical health is doing fairly well, but your spiritual health is struggling. You might choose to fuel yourself with some extra time in prayer, worship, or meditation. Here are several ideas of things you might consider to add some fuel to your day: Exercise Drinking water Eating nutritious foods Limiting foods that don't fuel your body well Getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night Prayer, meditation, worship, Bible reading Silence, contemplation Alone time Journaling Going to a counselor Talking to or spending time with a friend Using your creativity in some way (writing, coloring, drawing, creating, needlework) Reading Studying or working to learn a new skill Any other hobby or activity that gives you energy, joy, or peace Today's Project: Brainstorm a list of activities that best fuel you and make note of which activities you currently include your regular routine and which activities you might want to consider doing more of. Schedule some time each day for the next week to do at least one activity that fuels you. The earlier in the day that you include the activity, the better, so you can start your day well. Make sure to do something to fuel yourself today! Continue with our lesson from day one, make a tiny commitment to yourself and then honor it. Take good care of yourself today and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow for day 3! Joy and love, Tracy P.S. - These are simple exercises but the work is hard. If you are struggling to implement either of the items that we've discussed so far, hit reply and tell me about it. I would love to brainstorm with you to help you be successful. Working Mom's Balance PO Box 1343 Granger, IN 46530 www.workingmomsbalance.com   You received this email because you signed up for the 7 Day Goal Crushing Challenge from workingmomsbalance.com. Unsubscribe