I look in the mirror and sometimes lament my age. That is, at times I see years on my face and I feel my age in my knees. The desire to go back to my former self, say 20 years ago can be a temptation.

As much as I’d like knees that were under the age of 30, I wouldn’t change my head space. I guess it’s true what they say about getting older and wiser…I have to say that as I’ve aged, I can also say that I’ve matured in many ways.

One of the ways I feel I’ve matured is that I’m a lot easier on myself. I’m learning to love me. I’ve made some big discoveries in who I am and what I want out of life. Now I have the self-confidence to go for what ever that is, rather than sit back and wait for good things to happen to me. I’m making them happen now.

I tell you this because I want you to think about this too. If you’re younger than me, (I’m 48), then maybe you can short cut your learning curve by entertaining some of these thoughts. I’m in the business of helping you feel good in your own skin. This won’t happen unless you like who you are.

I usually get you in shape from the neck down, today I want to talk about the neck up. Bear with me while I tell you a few of the lessons that I’ve learned in the last little while…

I’ve always been a ‘cup half full’ kinda gal, but the older I get, the more I realize that this disposition is the ONLY disposition to have. While thinking positively has helped tremendously, it’s only ‘thinking’ and there has to be ACTION to follow the positive thoughts. I’ve learned not to wait for ‘happy’, but to make ‘happy’ happen. Happy thoughts aren’t enough, I need to take action.

This was a big ‘ah-ha’ for me when I realized that teaching school was no longer my passion. I loved teaching, but I needed a different focus. If I sat in school wondering about how I’d apply my passion for fitness to improve my life and the life of others, I’d be waiting for ‘happy’ instead of making it happen. I had to take the plunge and leave a comfy job.

Of course this also means that I need to know what I want out of life. Defining and setting goals has been an important step. I know that once I sat down and did this, it was like a road map. I was able to make an action plan to get where I wanted. I’m very much in the process of this step now. I have goals, both professional and personal and action plans to see them through.

Do you have a road map?

Since I started my business, I’ve done more juggling of tasks and responsibilities than ever. I used to get a bit nervous with this ‘out of control’ type feeling. Now I realize that this is just my stepping out of my comfort zone and this is what keeps me alive and growing. Feeling a bit on the edge of things is where I want to be, not comfortably seated as I watch the world pass by.

To step out and up, I need to have confidence Over time I’ve come to realize that I’m good enough, smart enough and there’s no reason why I can’t be as successful as the next person. After all, if I don’t believe in me, why would anyone else want to? Everyone is attracted to a confident person, I’m not going to sell myself short anymore. For example, I looked at fitness guru’s out there and was disappointed that in many cases their information wasn’t always the best. I knew that I could do a better job at disseminating fitness and fat loss info.

Undoubtedly, I have shortcomings like everyone else. Knowing my weaknesses can be my biggest strength. I’m happy to accept constructive criticism within my business and even with my personal characteristics. By getting an outside perspective I can improve, even though some things may be hard to hear. For example, when my mentor told me that I needed to pay closer attention to details, it was hard advice to swallow at first. Deep down I knew that he was right so it prompted me to hire my assistant to help with this and my biz and personal life have both improved.

I’ll also forgive myself for my mistakes and start fresh. There’s no sense in beating myself up. Some of the best lessons actually come from the mistakes I make, so it’s best to just make mistakes and fail forward. By that I just mean apply lessons learned to a new situation.

And here’s one of the coolest ‘ah ha’s’ this year… I rarely am impulsive, that is, I weigh and measure decisions carefully. In the decision process, I usually do a pro/con type comparison. Lately, once I’ve come to a decision, I’ve decided that I’m done worrying about it. I’ll do all my worrying before I make the decision, then once it’s made, I’ll plow ahead with confidence and accept the consequences. This has helped a tremendous amount to let go of things and ease my stress.

It’s my pleasure to be able to share my passion for fitness with you. I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you about some of the things that are working in my head to help me meet my goals… whether they’re fitness related or not.

One of my biggest goals is to help you with your challenges. Let me know how I can best do that. How can I serve you? What do you need from me? Post a comment and I’ll do my best.

Just want to encourage you to invest in your health (both physical AND mental) and ‘love you’…you’d be surprised at how lovable you are when you take the time to get to know yourself.

Oh, by the way, check out my new website and let me know what you think: www.femalefatlossoverforty.com

This entry was posted on May 30, 2011 at 3:20 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Posted in Mindset by Shawna 3 Comments