Can thinking like a leader help me lose weight?
I’m going to find out, I’ll let you know. (Forgive me if that’s not where your focus is. Feel free to skip this one and wait for the next post if you want.)
I’ve been through the baby weight loss journey twice, after boy 2 and boy 3. My baby (#4) is 16 months old and to the discerning eye I still look pregnant. It really bothers me but I have not managed to align enough elements of my life for long enough to continuously make progress. I’ve actually lost ground over the last 6 months.
So can thinking like a leader help me with this? (and maybe help you with whatever your thing is right now?) I’m not sure.
But here is what I do know. Leaders take ownership, and they don’t have a victim mentality. They know what is important, what matters and they take initiative. They think creatively, out of the box. They major on the majors and minor on the minors. They have passion and vision – in a way that is contagious.
I want that, all of that. I want to be that. I want to stand up straighter, feel confident in my clothes, and be an example of self-control and healthy living for my boys. And most of all I want to take all of that for granted and move onto the other things that I want to focus on in life.
But sugar is my friend.
I know right, sounds like a personal problem. A habit that I need to kick, again.
But my job is stressful.
And I’m also blessed to have it, and my health, and a wonderful family. I’ve been reading authors like Tony Robbins and Brendon Burchard and I know I can choose to take ownership. Of my life, my attitude, my perspective, my gratitude, my habits…. my weight.
But will I?
I believe I’m meant to be a leader. And a leader is someone who takes ownership. And can prioritize long term gain over short term temptation, especially as it lines up with their vision and their values.
That is going to be me. And no joke there are cookies downstairs in the oven right now…. and I am not going to eat one.
Instead I’m going to make a menu plan for tomorrow.
— [ insert life happening ] —
I drafted that yesterday afternoon, and the act of writing it got me eating healthier for the rest of the evening, which was a big win even though I didn’t actually make a menu. Now I’m up in the middle of the night having trouble sleeping after my toddler went back to bed. And I’m thinking about how to create momentum with this. I made a connection yesterday with a nice lady who was telling me about a program she used to lose 10 pounds in a month. It costs $260. And I’m considering it, because with that much money on the line I would stick to the plan. And losing the weight is definitely worth that much money to me.
But then I think about other options that could be just as effective. My husband would be glad to have $200 in return for keeping dessert out of the house. I looked at the food plan for the program, and it’s pretty close to what I know I should be doing, dressed up in fancy language about detoxifying your body. And I’m sure it does. But I know I could make substantial progress if I just literally did what I know to do.
Do you have something like that in your life? Where you know you could really change your life, and get closer to a quality of life you really want, and you even know what you’d have to do to get there? And nothing is stopping you except you – and you just don’t, you don’t take the action you could take?
I blame my kids. This was easier when I just didn’t buy unhealthy food, and my little guys were eating bananas and avocados and didn’t think anything of it.
But leadership is about taking ownership – which is probably the opposite of blaming others and making excuses.
And ownership involves self-awareness, and I’ve realized I just really need external accountability in this area, even though I think I shouldn’t need it.
So I may form a small weight loss Facebook group (let me know if you’re interested), and until I figure that out I may just post what I ate every day at the end of each blog post, because that is where I’m at.
Where are you at?
This post originally appeared on energyformoms.com.
Alicia Eichmann