Practising What I Preach (aka time to get my sh*t together)

I’m not sure I ever had a plan, not really.  There may have been months of goal setting and strategy talking but no real action.  That’s my problem.  I know I am not practising what I preach to others.

If there is a book on self development, I’ve not only read it, I’ve taken notes.  I have annotated through many a book, selecting tips that I needed to follow and highlighting sections that spoke to me!  My kindle notes would make a self development series all of their own.

I have driven along listening to the inspiring words falling from the mouths of those who have got their shit together and had so many “a ha” moments that even my car has grown bored of the repetitive sound of wonder as I realise exactly what I’m doing wrong.  Even my car knows all too well that nothing will change because I will merely write the words of wisdom down later, think about them and then do nothing about it!

Knowing what to do and actually doing it, well they’re two different things, aren’t they?

It’s like dieting.  Knowing what you should eat – how many grams of carbs, the difference between good and bad fats, the number of calories in every food item in Waitrose  – does not necessarily mean that’s what you actually eat.  Knowing  your HIIT and Pilates doesn’t mean you do it.  I mean, seriously, if you could lose weight just from sheer knowledge, I would never have to worry about the scales again.

So how do we go from knowing what to do, knowing what needs to be done to actually getting off our butts and doing it?

Motivational quotes, such as “she knew she could so she did” are all very lovely but let’s be honest here, how many of us actually read that and go “ok, off the sofa, get to the gym/write that masterpiece”?

How many of us see that and think “oh how motivational, I must share that on Instagram” – be honest, I know I am not alone.

There’s also that “if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work” one-liner, where we are led to believe that finding employment or work we enjoy is a viable option for everyone.  It also forgets to mention all the other mundane drivel that we have to do alongside it doesn’t disappear.  If you love writing, that may not feel like a job but marketing it and editing it will.   If you like crafty activities, they won’t feel like work but the tidying up, loading/unloading the car for fetes to sell them or  running the etsy store will do.  Nor will it take away the pain of hearing someone offer you a minute sum for your hard work, because they have no concept of the hours it has taken you to perfect your craft.

I think it is time to be honest with myself and perhaps you do too.  We have to want it more than we want to sit on the sofa and read about it.  We have to read these books but only if we genuinely intend to use them rather than to become a sofa psychologist/coach spouting useful tips and advice.  It is time to practise what I preach!

Having read so many books and written down so many inspirational ideas or suggestions, I think it is time to stop writing them down and start doing them.

So join me as I try a new piece of advice each week and work my way towards April 2018 and a different life.  My ideas is to commit to a new piece of advice for 7 days and then at the end of each week review, how successful I was and if it made any difference.

I know that seven days is not a long time for any real differences to show but I also know that my threshold for boredom is very low.  I move on quickly if I don’t see any results, even if they are small results.

I am also looking at how practical some of the advice is when you are a mum with young children.

I wrote a year ago about my attempt to try the Miracle Morning and what a total disaster that was.  I have also written about my failed attempts at various diets or fitness routines.

Practising What I Preach – Week One : Meditation 

Starting on Saturday 1 April, I will be meditating for at least 5 minutes each day.  How will that go given that it is also the Easter holidays and I have three children with a variety of special needs?  However, my thinking here is if I can achieve this during what is a stressful week, then I can continue with it

Wish me luck and check in next week to see how it went.  Expect a few chaotic moments, they seem to be par for the course.