Well, the thing about numbers is,
they don’t tell the whole story. Numbers can be massaged, statistics can lie,
and many can be presented in ways that tell one story from one perspective, and
this is important, because perspectives, and what they mean, can be different
for every individual. We are all not the same.
This is actually good news. We don’t
all want to be the same. It’s like going to the grocery store – there are
choices. There are things there that look good, yet aren’t. Things we might
like to try, but don’t. Things we know are bad for us, and we turn away, and
then the times we turn to those old friends for comfort. There are those things that might intimidate
us, that we are unfamiliar with, and things that don’t appeal to our tastes at
all. We make our choices and add them to our carts. That grocery store is a lot like life, and how we maneuver, advance,
retreat, and move forward again through it all. It’s all a form of progress.
How does progress improve your
life? Why is it important to be motivated to make positive lifestyle changes?
What are you willing to change, and what can you realistically do to make those
changes? What are your long-term goals, and what do you need to do or change to
be able to achieve those goals? Take a few minutes to read these questions
again and give them some thought. When you answer them, you’ve taken the first
step to creating your own set of expectations that will provide the confidence
that, yes, with determination, purpose and self-belief, you can do it.
The question we all ask is, exactly
how do I do it? How do I start? Tell
me what to do? And, that’s exactly the wrong question.
Start with the commitment that you
will. Start with small goals. Start with what you know you will and can do. Be
mindful of the choices you make. Build from there.
That sounds simple enough, but keep
in mind that simple and easy are not the same thing. So, add to that list, don’t
let yourself become discouraged when you hit a roadblock. Setbacks happen.
Treat them as guides, not breaks.
Then, make your choices, and make
them again and again until you know you are making the right choices for you.
Then, move forward.
