Celebrate All of the Wins
The first time I tried on my skirt from 7th grade after my weight loss, I could not believe it fit! I held onto a skirt for eighteen years, hoping one day it would go to use again. It was not until eighteen years later, that my wish for that skirt came true.
Now, here I am, living in my childhood home for the next month or so, as I take care of some family needs. Flipping through photo albums, I was super excited to find a photo of myself wearing that skirt. Obviously, I had to do a side-by-side on Insta!
I was proud of that moment and it motivated me. I often work with clients on celebrating all the wins, no matter how small. When we celebrate our wins, we feel good and we feel motivated to do more. When we are hard on ourselves or only notice our shortcomings, we feel unmotivated because we begin to feel helpless, like no matter what, we are going nowhere. Most people are hard on themselves. As children, we naturally see the world with wonder. We see ourselves as whole, perfect and complete just as we are. As we start to grow older, we become influenced by society. We hear from parents, teachers and our communities that we could have done something better, we could have done more. We become conditions to see our flaw and failures, rather than celebrate our achievements.
When it comes to weight loss, many clients have a number on scale that they want to reach and that number on the scale measures success. We can pay attention to the number on the scale but through coaching, I work with clients on reconditioning the mind to notice other successes and measurements of victory. Connecting to the “why,” the reason for wanting to lose weight, helps my clients to identify goals. For instance, we lose weight to fit better in clothes, after all, so why not measure success by the fit of clothes!? Do the clothes fit better? Are you eating more whole foods? Are you cooking at home more? Do you have more energy? Is your endurance improving during activity? These are all achievements during weight loss in addition to so much more!
The strategy applies to just about anything in life. When we celebrate our wins, we feel good, we motivate ourselves to keep going and the enjoyment of life skyrockets! Try getting in the habit of recognizing something you are proud of each day. I like to keep a daily journal and write down each night some of my wins. As always, if you are interesting in working one-on-one with me, I offer a free discovery session, where you and I can talk about your goals and determine mutually if coaching is right for you!