Why using a journal is good

Vitamins for the Mind
by Jim Rohn

Journals

Be a collector of good ideas, but don't trust your memory. The best collecting place for all of the ideas and information that comes your way is your journal.

The reason why I spend so much money for my journals is to press me to find something valuable to put in them.

There are three things to leave behind: your photographs, your library and your personal journals. These things are certainly going to be more valuable to future generations than your furniture!

Don't use your mind for a filing cabinet. Use your mind to work out problems and find answers; file away good ideas in your journal.

Great plans go nowhere without execution

You can make the best plans and put the most thought into them, but without the execution of the plan you go nowhere.  Execution followed by consistency is more important than the plan itself.  You can plan to go on a vacation, but if you depart in your car and get so far and stop, you'll never get there.  It takes constant hours of driving to get you to your destination.  


This has been the problem that I have had for quite awhile.  I can make great plans and pack the car, but stop before i make it out of the state.   I have been reading a few books and I have learned that the WHY is more important than the HOW.  Once you have a strong enough WHY, the HOW is is easy.  I need to go back and get a stronger WHY.


This is my goal for the next two weeks.  To find my "WHY" power.  

When I started this blog I was out of work and decided that I needed to make a change.  I planned on making posts everyday to chronicle my change.  The n I got back to work, in retail.  The hours always changed and it was not as easy to make my daily posts.  
This year my company lost its contract and did a permanent layoff of all its employees associated with its Verizon account.  This caused me to have to look for another position, and start from the bottom again.  I was hired by Verizon Wireless as a Consumer and Small business wireless consultant.  I still work the retail hours.  I now have a whole new set of performance metrics that I must meet each month.  It is quite a challenge to get used to.  I am finishing up my fourth month and feel like I am struggling.  I realize that there are a lot more aspects than I initially anticipated.  
I have also realized that changing my physical body is only one part of the wheel.  I need to put equal attention towards all aspects of my life.  


The lessons that I have learned over the last year about my weight loss journey are:

• My diet is my biggest problem
• Make a meal plan
• Planning each workout to be effective
• Set smaller goals to remain encouraged 
• Consistency of both workout and diet

I will take these things into the new year to make a more positive change towards my physical well being. The holiday's are almost over, and its time to get back into the game.   

Weigh In Day

Today is the first weigh in of the competition.  I have been feeling really good the entire week.  The results show a positive improvement.

Holy @#%% I'm 264.5

I have decided to join another competition to assist me in my weight loss goal.  This was my initial weigh in for the competition. WoW!! 264.5   This is the biggest that I have ever been.  I told myself that I would never be over 260.  Well here I am.

I'm working more on the food side of things this time.  Controlling my portions and eating smaller meals more frequently.  We will see how it works out. Official weigh ins are on Saturdays.  

Every storm has a bright spot

I just wanted to keep the update going. There have been a few things going on over the last couple of weeks and it has taken time to sort them out.  I still don't have them sorted, but I need to make some progress somewhere.  The job has been a little more intensive than I thought.  I continue to have this ongoing  battle with consistency that I seem to be losing.  The personal issues are very major.  I am in a strange place right now, and I am looking to find a way out.  I am gathering my thoughts and making a realistic and safe plan.  i need to make sure they are doable.  That has been my problem in the past.  I would have these grand goals, and they would involve me changing a lot of my habits at the same time.  That rarely works, especially when you have relapses.  There is to much change and too much work.  I usually go for the point of least resistance. So, food it is. Yummy...  This derails the progress and the train comes to a stop for a few weeks and then the cycle starts all over again.  


I want to be sure that all my goals and plans to attain them are easy to follow and not overwhelming.  


The good thing is that I lost about 7 lbs over the last two weeks.  I was making it to the gym everyday and eating sensibly. 


There is a bright spot in all of this, I have not totally fallen off the wagon.  

Baby Steps

Baby Steps

That is what change is all about. Just taking baby steps towards the attainment of your goals.  It is a series of small consistent events, and not one gigantic leap that makes change permanent. 

     I used to jump into things and try to do things the cold turkey way.  I have found that only leads to reverting back to the old patterns because it was easy and comfortable.  It was real easy to go back and forget my progress because I did not associate good things to the cold turkey method.  I dove back into food and brought the comfort back into my life.

I feel so trapped physically, mentally, and financially.  I have uncovered some resources to help me in those areas that I want to improve. They will help me finally escape the trap and set myself free.  I feel so helpless and barely scraping by. 

• I have decided to take emotional abuse over breaking free and possibly being homeless. I don't want to take the step to change because of the fear of the unknown and lack of a support system. I am scared to fail and never be able to recover.

• I am sick of being one paycheck away from disaster.

• I have managed to gain 13 lbs over the last 4 months

These three things are the major foundation that will lead me to the path that I have not been on for a long long time.

Will I be happier?

The answer is yes!!  I will feel very much happier if I can fix those things and pursue happiness and peace of mind.

The baby steps that I am taking are not going to be quickly completed in 6, 12 , or 18 weeks.  This pattern has been going on for quite some time now.  I have a lot of negative patterns that need to be overcome.

Jim Rohn said it best, " You can't change your destination overnight, but what you can change is your direction."

I am giving myself 52 weeks, that's right 1 year starting 9-1-11.

New goals are coming in the next post.