Something that you will hear me say a lot is that you are NEVER starting over. You are always starting FRESH. Starting over would imply that you have forgotten or not learned anything in the past and you are at a zero amount of knowledge about ANYTHING.
For most of us this is not the case. We have been here a while (30, 40, 50 years...right?) and we know a thing or two about a thing or two – eeeeeven if we are trying to unlearn some of the things we have previously been led to believe, we are still coming to the table with some type of understanding.
Here is what I think trips us up...there is usually this thing that happens to us right before we “start over” that makes us think some pretty terrible things about ourselves.
That thing is FAILURE. Failure often leaves us feeling like we can’t get anything right. It makes us feel like we will never get it right. That means we are not strong enough, not smart enough, and not good enough...at anything.
Failure often makes us feel like if/when we do start again we are starting from the very bottom or worst case scenario -- failure tricks us into being so scared of never being successful that we never try again.
As you are starting FRESH, you are ALWAYS one meal, one water, one walk, one workout, one mindset shift, or one moment from being BACK TO THE BASICS! That's the beauty of the basics. They aren't something you need a break from. They are not something you can’t find time for and they are definitely not something that you can’t pick right back up and start fresh with.
The basics are also something that you should never dismiss as not enough. They are all you need to be successful and the moment you think you need to restrict, diet or do something crazy – stop – and examine your consistency. It will almost always remind you that your basics could use some fine tuning and everything will be fine!
Need an example? Let's use "starting over on a Monday" as a way to explain this in your real life...
First of all the reason that we are saying we will start fresh on Monday is probably because we have had a failure or what we perceive as a failure over the weekend. Staying true to our basics and taking imperfect action over the weekend and treating every day of the week the same is helpful in these situations.
Every day is an opportunity to make small basic choices that benefit our lifestyle. Being “good” all week leads to us binging on the weekend and needing to be better or start over each Monday. This is a vicious cycle. All of our choices matter so that we don’t go in a circle and start again and again.
At some point if we want a life that’s forward moving we have to make forward moving decisions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as Monday through Thursday – not perfection… just small little basic choices.
Recognize that failure ends when we see that the ups and downs are part of the process. If things are too perfect they will be unsustainable. If things are all or nothing, the fail and quit and start over cycle continues
But if the things are all or SOMETHING, then the cycle isn’t a cycle. It’s you living real life recognizing that starting fresh can happen NOW and doesn’t have to wait til Monday or next month.
I want to circle back to the beginning where I said there is a basic mistake so many of us are making. That basic mistake is when we don’t even realize that we are doing so many things right. Like when we throw in the towel and say we failed because our plates were not the best (but yet we drank the water, took a walk and had a good mindset all day). Or, when we beat ourselves up for missing a workout when – even better – we GOT TO BE at our kids sporting event instead.
You hear me here? Life is gonna happen and the basics will be done imperfectly or not done at all at times but each day/hour/minute/moment is a new opportunity!
There are lots of women inside the Real Strong Coaching Club losing weight sustainably, getting stronger and being healthy real strong moms — and they are doing this through imperfect action, pushing through, and recognizing that failure is NOT fatal and does NOT require a Monday and a "new wagon" to start fresh.
Are you ready to STOP that vicious cycle of continually "starting over"? Join me and 140+ women in the Real Strong Coaching Club HERE!