A self motivating talk

The Fear Factor

What am I afraid of? Failure mostly. I’m scared that if I try at anything and fail, it will crush me. Failure is not an option. But when failure isn’t an option then the attempts that lead to failure also become ‘not an option’.

How do I address my fear of failure? I can try in small things. I can put myself out there, put myself to the test, see where I end up? What is wrong with setting my mind to achieve something and actually doing it?

What’s wrong with goal setting anyway? There are some things I want to do before my wedding.

-          I want to run 5k in 45mins

-          I want to fit into size 18 clothes

I have seven weeks as of today to achieve both of those goals and to be honest, the first will lead to the second.  I have a plan printed off the pc and saved in my documents for the running. I know how best to fuel my body and it mostly doesn’t involve the crap I’ve been putting into it. So I’m going to face my fear. I’m going to stick to my plans. I’m going to plan out next week’s food at the weekend.

Embracing Life’s Uncertainties

OK so maybe things won’t go perfectly according to plan. Quite possibly on Tuesday when I’m due to walk 4 miles, I’ll be tired after a day at work. Maybe I’ll have a late night at work some day. Maybe I’ll come home and the food I had planned just isn’t appealing at all.

Maybe I’ll get sick or will have to do something other than what I had planned. That’s ok. Not sticking to the plan because of outside influences is not a failure. It’s life. It just means that what was meant to happen that day, needs to happen another day instead.

Life isn’t meant to be a regimented ordeal of foreseeable events. It’s meant to be surprising, illuminating, developing morass of experiences. So maybe I take a wrong turn somewhere. I might find something new. I don’t make an exercise class? Maybe I go for a walk or a cycle instead. One door closes, another one opens.

Making Your Dream a Reality

If I want these things to happen, I have to make them happen. No one is going to get out there and do my training for me. No one is going to put food on a plate for me and tell me what to eat and what not to eat (and if I’m honest, that will cause me to rebel and reject the restrictions.)

So I make these things a priority. I make getting up early and going to the gym in the morning a priority over snoozing in bed for an hour. I make organising a sensible dinner and taking time to plan food a priority over watching a comedy show that I’ve seen ten times before. I make me and my health a priority over my comfort and my laziness. I can make this happen. Me.

No one else.

Me.

Small Changes that Lead to a Great Life

I look at my life and there’s lots I want to change about it. But a lot of the changes can start with small things.

Instead of drinking coffee in work, I could switch to peppermint tea – better for the stomach and the general health.

Instead of vegging on the couch every night, I could get out and explore the area, see where the strange paths lead to, see where things are kept, what happens where. I could even bounce on the rebounder while watching telly rather than sitting and vegging. Hell, I could march on the spot and it would make a difference.

I could keep my dining table for eating and not as a place for storing paperwork. I could sit at the able every night to eat my dinner and make an event of it instead of hoofing things down on the couch. I could plan to allow myself time to cook, use healthy snacks to tide me over til the dinner is ready, make healthy versions of my favourite foods. It is the small changes that add up to big changes.

A half hour every day of fresh air would help my mood, my productivity, everything.

But I keep saying ‘I could’ when I mean ‘I will’.

I will switch to peppermint tea in work.

I will get up and explore the area around my home at night.

I will bounce on the rebounder or march on the spot for at least one show a night.

I will keep my dining table for eating.

I will sit at the dining table to eat every night.

I will allow myself time to cook my food.

I will get 30mins of fresh air every day.

Maybe not all at once, but I will do it.

Making a Positive in the World

I’ve already taken some steps in this direction. I’ve started working for a company that helps people in a positive way – they make a drug that makes it possible for renal disease patients to reduce the need for dialysis from every day to twice a week. That’s amazing and I’m working towards making the supply of those drugs more reliable and cheaper than before. I am making a positive difference in the world.

I can tie this in to the fitness thing as well though. I felt good when I ran the Race for Life. I was doing something for charity and ok, so I didn’t do a lot of fundraising, but equally, I paid my dues and that gave some money towards the cause. I will look for a challenge for myself within the next 3 months to work towards in a similar fashion and see where I end up.

I like helping people. I’m getting involved in the STEM ambassadors again and that’s a good thing. It will make me feel good. If I don’t, who will?

Defying Yourself

This one’s tough. Defying myself doesn’t come easily to me. I have had so many people telling me I’m wrong in the past that allowing myself to tell me that I might be wrong feels like a betrayal of myself. But no one’s perfect. It’s not the end of the world.

So that voice inside me that keeps on telling me I might fail, I might not work, I might not succeed…….it’s right. I might not. But if I don’t even try, if I refuse to even start on the journey – what will that achieve? I’ll still be the unfit, fat, size 20 32yr old I am now. If I try – something might change.

And isn’t that something that worth aiming for? Aiming for the stars. I might not get there, but I will get to the top of the tree!!