Punishment or Adding Value: What emotions do the words "lose weight", "diet", "exercise" stir? (reflection 6)

When I think about lose weight, diet, exercise, these are the emotions that I feel:

• Pressure
  The need to measure up to certain standards.
• Guilt
  For indulging and neglecting myself.
• Shame
  For not being as cool as my previous body shape was.
• Sacrifice
  As exercising and dieting mean letting go of indulgence and the laziness just to focus on what you want to do now.

But definitely, I view exercise and diet as adding value because it can lead to better health if done correctly. There are many testimonies and learning materials pointing to such evidence.

I came up with a system of monitoring my progress and hope to share that soon in this blog.

Finding a Coach (reflection 5)

One of my challenges in going through a fitness journey is breaking through my thoughts, emotions, beliefs, inner struggle that one way or another affect my momentum - consciously and subconsciously.

My journey towards improving myself became more focused, intentional, deliberate in the past 2 years. I seek out mentors and signed up for programs towards improving my thinking and feeling.

In my growth journey, the authors I can seem to relate the most are Paul Martinelli, Tony Robbins, John C. Maxwell, Brendon Burchard, Marshall Goldsmith, and Brene Brown. To the point, I can already blog about this and share it.

I like Tony Robbins and signed-up for Robbins-Madanes. I had to process my fitness concern beyond the physical and understand myself better.

I like Brendon Burchard and know his high-performance habits teaching will help me make the changes ingrained in my system.

I like Brene Brown as she is very open in discussing vulnerability and imperfections. I agree with her, you can't say you have courage if you are not vulnerable. However, I will dare greatly towards improving myself.

I also appreciate Paul Martinelli's coaching in the John Maxwell Team who gives great introspection on thinking.

I appreciate John C. Maxwell and Marshall Goldsmith as their teaching help me focus on the bigger picture - not only for myself but for others.

In the process of improvement, I am ready to go through failure as part of the process but that should not stop me improving each time.

(p.s. you can check out the books - kindle/audio/paperback - I read here.)

To Live a Life of Change (reflection 4)

I just got back from a conference to renew my credentials. One of the messages I got from it was our mentor's vision to change lives.

It is awesome to find a mentor whom you can align yourself and share a common vision - bigger than yourself.

I know that I am going to be useful and helpful in this journey for a long time but it will require me also to shape up in order to give my best years to serve others.

This includes improving myself physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. These are all work in progress areas.

Physically as I need all the energy to get to the action necessary. Eating right. Exercise. Rest.

Emotionally as I need to always remind myself not to get carried away with my downhill habits.

Intellectually as I can't teach what I don't have knowledge and experience in.

Spiritually as I know that each one of us has a reason to be in this world - to serve others.