This will probably be long...but...worth it. I am what you could call a late bloomer. Or in my second season of living this amazing life. It has taken me a long time to figure out many things. I have learned A LOT of lessons along the way. Some things took 2 tries, some things took 247 tries, some things I got lucky on - the very first time. Some were more painful than others.
I like to joke that in case of a zombie apocalypse - you want me on your team. I know a little about A LOT, I'm a fixer by nature and I hate asking for help. So I've developed quite a few tools for my arsenal over the years. I'm pretty handy actually. The biggest lesson I have learned - in every facet of life... you get what you give.
You GET what you GIVE.
Work is involved.
Work. Work hard.
Hard work pays.
When you set about learning things in life - whether it be learning how to ride a bike, master algebra, change a tire, build a relationship, learn a trade, say you’re sorry, survive middle school, be a good parent, set up a new mobile phone, bake tortillas chips without burning them, be a better friend... ok you get the idea... all of these things take work.
We set about life - knowing that we have to work hard to make the life we want to live. We've learned this from the beginning.
Practice, practice, practice.
When I think back though... of all of the things in my life that I KNEW I had to work hard to achieve, food was NEVER one of them. As a kid - food was - well - just food. Sure, eat your vegetables, drink your milk, don't eat before you swim, feed a cold - starve a fever? Wait.. maybe that is the other way around... my point... food has always been held in a different light.
Food is: comfort, celebration, delicious, indulgent, memorable, safe, fun, decadent, love, a treat. It's cool picnics in the summer and holiday celebrations in the winter, candy on Halloween and cookies at Christmas. We've been taught so many things about food. We have so many emotions wrapped up in it. So many MEMORIES.
Of all the things we have learned about food - we never learned that there should be work involved. Not in the shopping for it or the cleaning of the dishes used for it - way. But the actual act of eating and what to eat - nutrition is work.
No one EVER taught me that.
Brushing your teeth is work. As a parent, I drilled this into my child - MUST BRUSH TEETH. Threats of terrible visits to the dentists and magical tooth fairy visits and bribe money is involved in the work of getting a youngster to brush their teeth. The end result: a brand new habit is born.
JUST
LIKE
THAT
Ok, not exactly instantaneous.
But... we learned it, practiced it, made a habit out of it - which required work.
Yet our eating habits circle the lot. From the just a little bit parking spot, to the oh well, it's Susie's birthday party parking spot - we drive around undecided. From the secret spot of shame with a bag of drive thru, to the everyone else is having some so... excuse cycle. We do not put food in the work category. It stays in this otherworldly realm - mystical - satisfaction and misery all at the same time for most of us.
WHY?
I suppose the reason for all of us differs a bit. But ultimately at the end of the day, we haven't applied the work ethic to our daily consumption of food. Practicing plantstrong living. Applying tools to make the work easier. So we can get better at it, so we can become masters of our own health and well-being.
We haven't made it into a "no matter what" habit. Nobody is going to slip kale under your pillow for practicing extra hard at this. Sometimes - it won't be fun at all. Like every other thing you have worked for in your life. But sometimes - it can be absolutely marvelous. Better yet, the side effects of making it a "no matter what" habit - are like freebies for all the work you put in. When your cholesterol comes down, or you get to buy new pants, when your doctor reduces or removes you from meds you have been taking for years. When you see an old friend who says YOU LOOK INCREDIBLE! Or feeling so good that you start a new no matter what to go along with your other habits - so that you might need a bigger parking lot to stash them all... your hard work pays off.
I wish it didn't take work. But I have spent my whole life working hard at other things, so I know I can work hard at this. We CAN do hard things. I just have to decide that I'm worth it.
You ARE worth this work.
Know that.
If you'd like to learn more about mindset mastery and the habit-building tools we use in the PLANTSTRONG Coaching - Trailblazer Path, let me know. It's one of my favorite things to share. It's made a huge difference in my life. Join us for a deep dive into healthy habit-building and behavioral change. Learn the tools to make the work of habit-building easier.
Make this the year that changes everything.