Progress not Perfection

Progress: it’s measured by the steps we take, not gaining immediate success. The dictionary defines it as “forward or onward movement toward a destination.”

In my past, I have never focused on progress, but rather perfection. All or nothing. I wanted success right away. If I didn’t get my nutrition right day after day, my workout in consistently through the week, or make dinner every night….”failure and start over” was spoken in my head. I would lose any momentum or traction I gained and would derail for weeks before I could try again. Or my mindset would be, if I couldn’t go “all in” then what was my point of even trying?

This got me nowhere but set back after set back. On the outside I looked like I had it all together, but inside I was a mess.

If I had a workout goal of exercising 4 times that week and by Thursday, I only worked out once….”I failed. I just can’t do this. I don’t have time. I will try again next week” would speak loudly in my head. And then even worse, when the next week came around, I didn’t have the motivation because I still felt defeated over week 1. And so the cycle would continue. Or, with my work/life balance, I had completely thrown in the towel for 3 years and had a pity party that this was just the way life was going to be. And I accepted it.

But if it’s not what we want, we can’t accept it. And if the big picture doesn’t feel attainable right now, we need to focus on progress, not perfection while we take the journey. We need to give ourselves a little grace and take it one day at a time.

This year as I have worked on balance, I replaced the word “perfection” with “progress.” I took away my “all or nothing” mentality, I shut down my “failure and start over” inner voice, and every day I loved myself for where I was at. I appreciate the progress I have gained in my nutrition as I continue to work towards getting more toned. I celebrate the 1.5 miles I run during my 3 mile course, even though I am not able to run the whole way yet. I am accepting the fact that I need to start over with my running endurance to try and prevent my knee from hurting again. I cherish the intentional time I have with my family when I am still striving toward even more quality time. (To name just a few.)

And if I don’t have it all together one day… that’s okay. Because I’m making progress. Change takes time.

I don’t have it together every day. None of us do. So if this post resonates with you, let’s stop putting so much pressure on ourselves to have everything just right.

Embrace where you are at.

Love yourself for who you are right now. It will help motivate you to get where you want to go.

Focus on progress not perfection.

Enjoy the journey. So much is missed trying to race to the finish line. Enjoy your progress and let it create character in you and perseverance. You won’t regret it.

Restoring My Soul

July 2nd. We are a little over a half way point through the year. So as I walked Stone this morning before my day started, I spent some time reflecting….

Every year prior to 2018, I let life’s whirlwind of saying “yes” too many times, putting everything as a priority before myself, being sucked into the standards of perfectionism, and allowing negative self-talk ruin seeing the beauty in the mirror and the beauty in the path God has for me.

Don’t get me wrong, “beauty in the mirror” does not mean I have a self-absorbed ego, but merely contentment and belief that God has made us all beautiful in His image. You are beautiful too and I hope you believe that.

This year I created an imaginary box to lock up my negative self-talk. It has a lock with no key to ensure it never gets opened. There is a small slit in the top to allow any incoming negative talk to be entered into the box. What goes in never comes back out. Through constant awareness and effort, I have turned the rejecting talk into confident affirmations.

2018 has been a journey to restore my soul, to take time to breathe, to be a mom and wife as a #1 priority and have deeper connections to those around me. It has been a journey to slow down and allow myself to feel and process emotion instead of sliding it under the rug to deal with it later. I have learned through the struggles of a difficult June schedule last month, what my non-negotiables of self-care have to be. I have found super food nutrition that fuels me and is attainable whether I work from home, am on the road, or traveling on the weekends. It has been a year to focus on escaping from the world’s demands and allow peace and self-love into my daily realm.

We all need balance. We all need time to breathe and feel; to know who we are and what we want to become—where our true identity lies. None of us were created to be ordinary people. We are all given talents to make the world a better and brighter place. But we can’t do that if we let the world run us down and guide our directions for us.

My transformation all started with self-care and allowing myself space to breathe, to exist in peace and harmony, away from to-do lists and scheduling demands and to take care of myself first before I take care of others; to fill up my cup before I allow myself to pour. And to quit allowing destructive self-talk to speak louder than love and acceptance.

Through all this, I have learned a critical piece over the course of this year—only I can save myself from the life I allow myself to live. Nobody else can slow me down, choose healthy eating, change my priorities or love me as I am, more than me. If I didn’t make the change for me, it would have never happened.

We all have the power to change. As Henry Ford stated, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” So think you can. And go conquer it.