All it takes is 1 day to make a change and something entirely different to keep it.
The holiday season is upon us and most of us will be making excuses about why we can cheat on our diet, or why it’s okay to skip our exercise routine, or our meditation practice. “Well, it’s the holidays,” we tell ourselves. Everything goes to ‘hell in a hand basket,’ as they say. We allow ourselves to binge at the holiday party, have that holiday smoke, or hurt ourselves in some other way. Of course, New Year’s Eve is the ultimate excuse to become a mess. Then we try to reset on January 1. It might work for a few days or a couple of weeks, but never seems to last.
There are many studies about motivation and what it takes to create lasting change. From experience, I can tell you that once you commit, all it takes is 1 day. If you can do something for 1 day, you can do it for a week, 30 days, or the rest of your life. And I’m living proof of that level of commitment. I quit drinking over 20 years ago, quit smoking 18 years ago, and have a full commitment to being physically active, meditating, and staying healthy, for the rest of my life. Without a daily commitment, you can make a change for a while, then fall off the wagon and be worse off then when you started.
I’m not saying it’s horrible to reward yourself once in a while. I’m saying we need to upgrade our reward system. I don’t have cheat days, but I do have a cheat meal or a cheat dessert once in a while. But instead of binge drinking, now I find pleasure in some dark chocolate and the occasional pumpkin spice muffin (my wife’s is out of this world). It’s a simple change, yet most of us make such a big deal about our New Year’s resolutions.
Instead of going from one extreme to the other, start taking the middle path. If you want to reward yourself, fine, but don’t over do it. Accountability is also a big component to change. This year I’m offering up a 30 day challenge for anyone interested in creating lasting change. If you’re not willing to fully commit to making a change, this challenge is not for you. Just remember, if you can make the change for 1 day, you can make it for 30 and that’s how we shift our trajectory. It’s how we change the well-being of our own lives and ultimately how we lead by example and change the health and well-being of our nation and the world.
Begining January 1, 2016, I’ll be sending out a daily email with motivational quotes, encouragement to eat right, exercise, meditate and stay grateful for what you have. You will join a private Facebook group of others that will be taking part in the same program. There will be support and camaraderie. This path is not easy. It’s like swimming upstream, especially in our society. I’ll lead a weekly accountability webinar to answer questions for everyone and make sure we get over the typical stumbling blocks.
Simply ask yourself, “Am I ready to make a positive change in my life?” It’s not easy. It takes real commitment and if you look around, most people are comfortable being “fine.” I’m doing fine, they tell themselves, when they know damn well that they have the power to be doing amazing and living a life out of this world! Whether you join us or commit on your own, find your obstacles and use them as bait to move toward and change your life! Message me on Twitter @teddymcdonald or call 5 point yoga at 310-455-6681 for details. Either way have an amazing life! You deserve it!