Yesterday, a personal trainer called me. I had fallen for some click-bait on a friend’s social media page, and came across this young lady’s page about not gaining weight during the holidays. (In case you’re wondering, I failed miserably.)

Anyway, this young woman was asking me about my fitness goals. I have two concrete and measurable goals that are both attainable but will require a decent amount of effort on my part anyway.

Anyway, this trainer had several tiers of programs to offer that focused on one of three wellness ideas. The first program was about exercise. She asked me about my activity levels. I accurately described myself as sedentary. She asked was that on account of my desk job. Well yeah, that’s true, but I forced myself to admit that I am not active at home either.

Then, she asked about my eating habits. I laughed nervously. I admitted to having a weakness for desserts. (She called it a sugar addiction.) The lady was nice enough not to judge me for my late night dinners and offer suggestions, like focusing on protein and veggies when forced to eat late.

Next up, she asked about sleep habits. Again, I honestly told her I get 4-5 hours of rest on a really good night. She suggested that I might need a nap.

I had to laugh at myself. I did not need a personal trainer to tell me that my life is a mess. But her pointed questions, made me realize that I really ought to be asking myself these, and other tough questions on a fairly regularly basis. I usually ask myself open ended questions like “What do I want to do with my life? Or “What in the blue hell?

But after talking to the trainer, I realize that sometimes self-assessments ought to require questions with specific answers. Here are a few we should think about in 2018:

1)How much money do I want to save? Where am I going to get said money?

2)Who in my life is causing more stress than joy? Can I systematically disengage from these toxic relationships?

3) Who can I serve?

Here’s hoping your self-assessment is not nearly as brutal as mine was, and the corrective action won’t be as difficult as mine is going to be.

mama Radford