success

When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
~Ken Blanchard

WoO-HoO! Today is the final day – Day 90 – of the 1% Change {90-Day Challenge}!

How did you do? After looking back over these 90 days, can you see some growth? Maybe you didn’t experience 1% Change every day, but how about every week? If you were to rate your growth how would you rate yourself?

Today may be a day for celebration for you – you made some positive changes – or it may be a DaY FoR ReFleCtiOn if you didn’t follow through on your good intentions. I’m hoping it is a day for both.

And as you reflect, use these questions and come up with your own to assess your growth, as well as learn from your experience:

How did I succeed?
Why did I have this success? (What did I do to contribute to that success?)
How did I fail?
Why did I have this failure? (What did I do to contribute to that failure?)
If I were to do this challenge again or something similar, what would I need to adjust to have better results?

As I reflect on my 90 days, I see successes – I kept at it even when I didn’t feel like it, but I also see failures – I lost focus from time to time. With my successes I congratulate myself and with my failures I devise a plan for the next time I face a similar situation.

How are you going to build on your experience from this challenge? You can use it for your BeNeFiT regardless of whether it was a success or failure. What is your next step?

I hope you’ll use this experience as a stepping stone to where you want to go!

BeSt WiShEs!!

P.S. For the previous post in this series click HERE.

Reason #4: Peace with Food relies on skills, diets on willpower.

What does a professional athlete, accountant, concert pianist, and a plumber all have in common?

One word: skill.

They have learned a set of skills and honed them to become successful in their area of expertise. And how exactly did they hone these skills? They spent considerable time practicing.

There is no way to get around it. If you want to be skilled at something, you have to practice. And living at Peace with Food is no different. If you want to be successful in maintaining your optimal weight, living a life you love, and doing it with peace it will require skills, not willpower.

It’s funny how unskilled we were in this area of Peace with Food when we first began. Back when we started on this journey, our peace was probably a 1 or 2 on a scale of 5. But now, after practicing continually we would have to say that our peace in this area is an 4 or 4.5. And it is all because we pursued skills and not willpower.

What’s so bad about willpower? Well, it’s not that it’s bad, per se. It’s just not the optimal tool for the job. Unlike skills, which bring success, willpower is fickle. Here today gone tomorrow. Any one who has any dieting under their belt has most likely experienced the ebb and flow of willpower. It seems like when you need it most it is MIA.

Unlike willpower, skills will help you live at Peace with Food for life, not just for 16 days, 23 days, or whatever the length of your newest diet (if even that). When you acquire skills such as self-control, making wise choices, and “resetting” right after a mess-up, you will get a much bigger bang for your buck than some temporary surge of willpower.

So, instead of mustering up the willpower to try harder, consider developing skills that will ensure your victory. What skill would help you make a quantum leap in the area of Peace with Food? Start there. As your skill level goes up, so will your success!