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Weight Loss Exercise

Procrastination and Missed Opportunity



I and many others have a problems with procrastination. There are a few ways to win the battle of procrastination but one of the big one is to look at the loss of opportunity when it comes to procrastination.

How Procrastination Hurts Us

One of the problems with procrastination is that when we decide through inaction that we are not going to do something then we feel no sense of loss. Often we can find other busywork to stop us from doing important things and make that procrastination seem not quite as bad.

The real way that procrastination hurts us though is when we have some kind of important opportunity that we miss in life. I am not talking about missed opportunities like buying a winning lottery ticket or finding the love of your life but more commonplace types of opportunities to make change.

Here are some examples of missed opportunities thanks to procrastination

Eating badly or not exercising today – Means that you will not be in a better place physically 1 year from now than you are today
Watching TV today instead of going out and meeting new people – means that you will be STILL watching TV a year from now

I know these are a little harsh and don’t think that I don’t procrastinate either. Or else there would be 10,000 posts on this blog instead of just under 2,000. My procrastination is painful to me everyday. I have missed a lot of opportunities and successes in life because of procrastination and it can really hurt.

How To Kick Off Change Today

Procrastination and Missed Opportunity

Fight Procrastination

Look at the parts of your life where things are going badly for you or at least not as well as you wish they were. Now think back to what you could have done a year ago, the changes you could have made and how much better today would have been if you would have done those things.

Now look at yourself a year from now. If you make those changes today then one year ago you will be a much better place, no matter how good or bad things are today.

Change they say is inevitable. The problem is that we as people do not have to change if we do not want to. Look seriously at yourself today and make those changes. Mark 1 week from now, 1 month from now, 6 months from now, and 1 year from now on calendars and see what you want to be on those days. What action do you need to take today and then tomorrow to reach these goals?

Finally take steps that matter. I am sure I have written this lots of times before but if you have a list of 5 things to do today no matter what then you are one day closer to your goals. If you look back on the last few weeks how many of those days were wasted because you got to busy and did not do those really important little tasks that over time make giant changes.

Remember most huge success a year from now can be traced back to small changes that are made today. Let us all know what changes you are going to make and why.

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Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Small Changes Make a Big Difference




Small Changes Make a Big Difference

First Step to Big Change

When you are trying to get motivated to get something done then the best place to start is with something small that you can build on. A great part of motivation is the small step that you need to do to get forward momentum and once you have that you are unstoppable, but how to make that first step?

First Step to Big Change

Well there are many ways to make that first step, Leo at Zen Habits says that you should just do the minimum possible, like 2 minutes of exercise. Another thing you can do is decide that you will drink 2 cups of water first thing in the morning, or eat a healthy breakfast of Oatmeal and a banana. You can decide to park in the furthest lot at work or get off a train one stop early.

The fact is you do not have to do all of these things just do one today and again tomorrow and then without saying anything to your resistant brain do one more of these things the next day, you now have two and the momentum is there. Three weeks from now you have turned you life around with a bunch of little changes that you would not even think are possible today.

This is the best way to start this one step at a time process. Do not even look at goals for this one just get ideas and write them down and then take the easiest one and do it today. Lets say you want to improve your health. You can probably come up with 50 things along the lines of stretch while watching TV tonight, or one of the above. If you want to spend less money you could think of a great dinner for tonight and make a little bit too much and have it for leftovers tomorrow, I love leftovers.

Example – How to be more Outgoing

If you want to be more outgoing and are afraid then maybe just make it a task to go out and get a latte tonight and sit in the coffee place for 10 minutes before you leave with your coffee in hand, or sit in a crowded dog park bouncing a ball (the dogs will follow the ball and the owners will follow the dog).

The fact is that just getting out there and making small changes is the only way to any goal. If you wanted to lose 100 pounds or do the Hawaii Ironman Triathalon there is no way that you could just start hard core training, you would have to start with small steps and work up. The human mind resists change so if you trick it with these small changes you will be successful before you brain figures out that you are changing.

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General Weight Loss Tips

Whole Wheat French Toast With Agave Maple Syrup

wholewheatfrenchtoast Whole Wheat French Toast With Agave Maple Syrup

Remember all that snow we got the other day? It’s all melted and sunny today. I’m so ready for spring!

This morning we had whole wheat french toast with organic blue agave maple flavored syrup. I picked up a bottle at the Fresh Market last week with this breakfast in mind (and maybe some almond flour pancakes too!). The bread was dipped in an egg/milk/cinnamon mixture and fried in the skillet like grilled cheese.

I don’t have any thoughts about using agave versus anything else, but I like that a little goes a long way and I never feel groggy after eating like I do regular syrups.

Served with half a banana and cherries.

frenchtoast Whole Wheat French Toast With Agave Maple Syrup

I have a new DVD coming in the mail and I’m so excited to get started. It’s called Strong Knees and I’m hoping it will strengthen my knees to prevent future injury and to help heal my knee from where I fell two weeks ago. From the reviews, it sounds like these exercises are exactly like the ones in physical therapy, or very similar. I like the idea of building up the muscles around my knees to give them more support with exercise and daily movement. This could be very good for runners too.

strong knees2 Whole Wheat French Toast With Agave Maple Syrup

It was hard giving up TV yesterday. I may have whined about it to Josh for 10 minutes and then I got over it. Not watching TV or a movie last night made the day seem much longer and more full. It felt like I was spending quality time with Josh rather than zoning out like I normally want to do. We ended up meditating (I always fall asleep) and listening to music and eating popcorn. It was nice.

deepak chopra Whole Wheat French Toast With Agave Maple Syrup

I also start reading Deepak Chopra’s book, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You with highlighter in hand. I have a lot to share with this one!

And listening to a lot of Miike Snow these past couple of days. In fact, I’m listening as I write this. Someone recently asked me what kind of music I listen to, and my answer made me pause. I seem to gravitate towards more upbeat/poppy/electronicy music.

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Random Question:

If you could hang out with a blogger for a day, who would it be? I would hang out with Olivia from Every Day Musings. Her life, photos and enthusiasm are incredible and inspiring. She is living a big life. She also makes Charleston, SC seem like the best place on earth to live.

 

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