11.13.2007

Advice for a Friend

Hello readers!

Ok. I know I'm a bad blogger and haven't written lately. But today, I feel like I have to, cause a topic came up in casual conversation that I feel might help a lot of people out.


Ever heard of Newton's first law of motion?
"Lex I: Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.

Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed."


Ok. An object at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force.
Seems simple enough? Another way to look at it (in my opinion) is that a person needs to initiate change, it's not just going to happen.

(voice from the crowd)"But Mary, change is unstoppable! You can't stop evolution!" Right. Not quite what I'm talking about. I'm talking about things you CAN and SHOULD change.

You hate your job? Well. Sitting on your ass, not updating your resume, not even looking for a new job, not obtaining skills or certifications that would improve your chances of getting a new job is really not the way to go about it.

You hate your looks? Eating doritos and drinking Caribou and sitting on your ass over 50 hours a week is also not quite the right way to go about it.

I know, its like the pot calling the kettle black here. But hear me out. I have a master plan.

Define what you want
Step one is to define your goals. be very clear about this. What exactly is it that you want? List out the details, be extra specific. You can definitely have more than one goal at a time, but I would advise that too many at one time will increase the likelihood of failure.

**sample**Bad goal: I want to lose weight. Good Goal: I want to lose 20 pounds by Christmas. I want to fit into size 12 or smaller clothing.

Know what you have
Step two is to know where you're starting from. Knowledge is power, look for any FACTS related to your goal that you can scrounge up. Don't skip it just because it seems small or insignificant.

**sample**In my losing weight example I listed all my current measurements, what size I'm in, what gym memberships I have and am not using, What I eat on a normal day (and THAT is scary).

Make a game plan
Now comes the fun part. Figure out what steps you need to take to get from where you are to where you want to be. Write them out, draw doodles, think of potential obstacles and how you can avoid them.

**sample** I can make it a habit to go to the gym instead of an occurance. I can enroll to use the gym here at work. I can stop eating fast food for every meal if I plan ahead. I can hang up pictures to remind me of my goal. I can find a weight loss buddy. I forsee the holiday season being an obstacle, but I can work around this by using my brain at parties and making healthy choices.

Review and revise
Well. You made a plan and followed through. Did you get to your destination or get stranded somewhere along the way? If you made it, congrats! If not, don't worry. now you get to figure out what went wrong and how you can fix it. Figure out your lifeline and use it. You aren't always going to succeed in everything you do. You just have to roll with it.

**sample** I only lost 10 pounds. I struggled with cutting back on soda, and I was not eligible for the gym at work as I'm only a contractor, not a full time employee. I can try again on the soda thing, and I can start going to the other gym I have a memebership at.



I challenge you to make your own plan and stick to it.
Adios!