Four weeks ago, I started a new fitness routine.  I became tired of merely running and I could only run when the weather was just right—not too hot, not too cold, surely not raining, etc.  So needless to say, during the summer, I got out of the habit of running 3-4 days a week.  I came across a book written by my friend’s husband—52 Day Devotional Workout Plan by Lamarkis Branson.  About four weeks ago, I dove right in.  Each day consists of a short workout that you do at home which corresponds to a brief devotional and word of encouragement.

As I began to do the workouts each day, I soon began to reflect on my eating habits and diet.  I love eating sweets and bread and realized that I probably consume many extra calories I can decrease.  I don’t have to have a donut just because they are in the office.  I don’t have to snack on chocolate candy before bed.  I don’t have to eat bread with every meal.  It’s the little things that were adding up to big things and keeping me from being as healthy as I could be.  I believe in taking small steps that can be sustained over time and yield life-changing results.  What good is it if I give up all sugar for 6 weeks and lose a bunch of weight only to slowly add sugar back to my diet and end up back where I was?  I would rather make small changes that I can keep up.

And so it is in life (in relationships, at a job, with your health, in your finances, etc.)…we must be careful of making drastic changes that we cannot sustain.  Usually, this sets us up for discouragement and a sense of failure.  When we hit that point, it’s even more difficult to make the small changes.  We tend to remember what did NOT work instead of what DID work.  If you find an area in your life that needs improving, take a small step first.  Get confident and consistent in that and then add another small step.  Get confident and consistent in that and then add another small step.  After a while, you’ll see that you have made a lot of progress and you aren’t missing the old regime.  You are fully committed and in step with the new regime.

Resist the urge to eat the whole elephant.  You eat an elephant one bite at a time.  And you do that…little by little.

~Coletta Jones Patterson

Certified Personal and Executive Coach/Business Consultant

* Register for my “Ready, Set, Goals!” group class in November at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ready-set-goals-tickets-38460906607.  Limited space available so don’t delay.  I would love to connect with you at info@moveu4ward.com.