"Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention." — Howard Rheingold
During the two weeks that my husband and I were in Colombia I got in very little exercise aside from walking.
So I was really looking forward to returning to a regular routine once we got back. I had already planned out my training days and even signed up for a new program with a coach (yes, coaches need coaches too).
But after our flight home on Sunday, I came down with a nasty stomach bug and spent most of the night with my head resting on the toilet seat rather than my pillow. 😫
On Monday I was so exhausted that I slept until 3pm.
When I finally woke up and logged onto my computer, I was reminded that I had blocked out time on my calendar for a workout that evening and immediately thought to myself "there's no way I can do that today".
Now, the old me would have taken that thought and expanded on it, giving my attention to even more unhelpful thoughts like,
"I CAN'T miss any more workouts. It's already been two weeks."
Or
"How come I'M the one that had to get sick? It's not fair."
Or
"Now this whole program is RUINED."
But the current me knows how to redirect my attention to thoughts that are more helpful.
So instead of going down a negative thought spiral after "there's no way I can do that today", I turned my attention to what I COULD do.
Which was a little bit of stretching and a short walk.
Yesterday I did the same thing, I focused on what I COULD do, and I did some more stretching and a longer walk.
Today, I feel well enough to do some moderate cardio. So that's what I'll do.
And tomorrow, I'll check in with myself again by asking "what CAN I do today?".
Redirecting your attention towards helpful, constructive thoughts rather than getting sucked into negative, destructive thoughts is one of the key THINKING skills we work on inside of the Empowered Eating Blueprint.
Because, how many times have you let all the "I CAN'T" kind of thoughts keep you from doing the things that you CAN?
Thoughts like "I could never give up sugar."
Instead of "I CAN have dessert 3 days per week instead of 5."
OR
"I could never run a marathon."
Instead of "I CAN do a 5k."
OR
"I could never wake up at 5am."
Instead of "I CAN wake up 15 minutes earlier."
Listen, I'm not the kind of coach that's going to tell you that you can do ANYTHING that you put your mind to. Because, even though I'm a dreamer, I also like to live in reality.
So if you're 55 years old and never worked out a day in your life, chances are you CAN'T win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics.
...and that's OK.
There's still plenty of things that you CAN do right now and that you CAN aspire to do in the future.
Focus on that stuff.
Because when you do,
When you put your attention on the things that you CAN do,
The things that ARE within your control,
Not only will your attitude shift, your behavior will shift.
You'll stop the on again/off again cycle of dieting and 30-day bootcamp style challenges,
And finally build real consistency with healthy habits.
So, what are YOU going to put your attention on today?
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