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There’s ONE person you really don’t want to disappoint.

I’m not talking about your friendly trainer… though 100% it was a little dagger to my heart when I heard two dear clients (who’d each like to shed some fat) discussing the burgers and chips they’d demolished on the weekend!

I’m also not talking about your mum, your best friend or even your partner.

That one person you really don’t want to disappoint, is YOU.

Todays show is a long overdue kick your A into G, to ME.

And, if you’re in need of a little wake-up-make-time-Take-Responsibility-Escape-Apathy Action Taking (!) then it’s for you too!

Todays show:

Make Yourself Proud, 

covers, First: the Why. Next: the What. Finally, the How To not Disappoint YOU! First, The WHY.  

Now this may seem a little obvious. Of course we’d all like to make ourselves proud!

Or perhaps you’ve fallen into a habit of gradually eating away at your reputation with you? This is the situation I’ve recently found myself in. It’s a natural human instinct to live up to OR live down to your own expectations.

For better or worse.

It can be a vicious cycle. When you see yourself as someone who can be relied on. Who does what they say they’ll do. A person with integrity. WhEN that is how you see you, not living up to these ideals, these values and personal identity beliefs is really HUGELY draining. It just feels wrong.

Incongruent. And unsustainable. At least not happily sustainable.

Do you ever feel like you waste so much energy being disappointed, frustrated, even angry… if you could only funnel that energy into taking the actions you know you need to take? Except you’re stuck a vicious self doubting, self perpetuating cycle and you can’t muster the energy to drag yourself out of it?

Perhaps you even know WHAT you need to do. Most of us have heard all the what’s however when you’re not in the right state all the what’s can actually be quite infuriating!

Next, The WHAT.

To Choose Your Mood is the WHAT in a nutshell. It’s about the quality of your experience and also the experience of all those around you. I constantly remind myself: in a world where everyone seems to be tired, stressed, sick – do I want to add to that miserable, predictable heap of UNfun-ness?

Perhaps you’re thinking: ”Well that’s certainly easier said than done!” however the fact is regardless of the circumstances you’re dealing with right now choosing to wallow will make you feel worse AND choosing to make the best of the situation will help you feel better.

I guess it’s a matter of when the level of pain you’re currently experiencing becomes enough to force a change.

When the discomfort of continuing with the devil you know exceeds the discomfort of attempting / risking the unknown.

To be clear, that might not require a massive amount of pain.

Nothing has changed in my current situation except the way I’m choosing to see it. I applied a little volition in the place of aimless auto-pilot. I decided I was over me! I committed to fighting my way back to that person who chooses their mood.

To Make Myself Proud. Here’s how you can do it too in 3 steps…

Finally, The HOW.

Step ONE: Daily Gratitudes | Reference Points for Success | Points for an Ideal Tomorrow 

You’ve likely heard me mention each of these before. Bang for their buck I can’t think of any better happiness or effective-ness return for your time, money or energy investment. It’ll take you just 5 minutes a day (ideally before bed) to journal 3 points for each.

5 minutes is achievable for anyone no matter what your current lifestyle or circumstances. If it means you need to get 5 minutes less sleep – then it’s worth it. 5 minutes sleep (as hugely important as sleep is!) isn’t going to make or break you.

If you can’t spare 5 minutes you don’t want it enough. You don’t want to: Make Yourself Proud.

Step TWO: Keystone Habits.

I devoted show #170 to Keystone Habits. There’s no right or wrong. It’s a matter of settling on and then upgrading as applicable a few habits that work best for you. Habits that when added to your daily and weekly routine form a foundation for other healthy habits to build on.

I have 5 Keystone Habits:

One: 7-8 hours SLEEP.

Two: Plan and then consume NUTRITIOUS MEALS consisting of fibrous veg + quality lean protein + good fat and plenty of water.

Three: Incorporate at least 20-30 minutes of PHYSICAL ACTIVITY daily.

Four: PLAN your day to come the night before.

Five: Consciously practice GRATITUDE daily.

However we’ve covered gratitude in step one so if I were to replace it I’d recommend: Getting out into nature at least once a week.

Prioritizing your personal keystone habits puts you in the right state and the right health to be able to Choose Your Mood. I started with an easy 5 minute action in Step ONE: Daily Gratitudes | Reference Points for Success | Points for an Ideal Tomorrow. In contrast Step TWO is going to take more time and energy. The good news is you will see the benefits from your keystone habits even on those inevitable days you don’t fit them all in. It’s always going to be a work in progress.

Step THREE: Revisit Your Goals and Corresponding Actions AND Make Them Achievable.

When you’ve lost momentum what once might have seemed compelling might now seem daunting.

It’s preferable to set a much lower target. A target you can achieve. Rather than staying stubbornly fixated on a target so overwhelming you’ll likely not even take that first step.

So perhaps your goal is to eat 100% plant based. And you want to rock around in a fit, strong, healthy body without massive sacrifice or hours doing hateful cardio. Maybe you also want to drop a few dress sizes. And you’re not willing to spend hours on food prep or 100’s of dollars on prepackaged meals. Potentially you want to get to that point where every aspect of your lifestyle is cruelty free and sustainable.

Well as much as possible any way. Let’s start with food, entertainment, shoes, clothing and make-up… AND already it’s starting to sound pretty damn daunting right?!!

Your alternative: Is to focus instead on making gradual progress each week towards eating 100% plant based and rockin a fit, strong healthy body. 

Your corresponding ACHIEVABLE Make Yourself Proud actions might be:

• Create ONE 100% plant based breakfast you love.
• Buy ONE new vegan make-up product a month. Or even only as you need to replace something hunt down the vegan alternative.
• Commit ONE block of time a week to making a plant based meal on mass. Perhaps vegan curry or cauli-crust pizza or even simply bagging a weeks worth of green smoothie mixes and freezing them.

My personal experience (just this week!) in fighting my way back to that person who chooses their mood has taught me that it’s not even about that end goal. So far as being able to Make Yourself Proud it’s enough to just be working towards that goal. 

To be making progress. To feel in control.

Not in control of everything… because circumstances and people and life (!) will constantly jump in your way. More-so to feel in control of YOU and how you respond.

To get actionable today, what is ONE action that if performed consistently for the next 7 days would Make You Proud?

If you liked Make Yourself Proud, you’ll also like: Why You Need To Proud To Be Contrary.

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.