Progress, not perfection: lessons from #last90days

I’ve been thinking about the progress that I’ve made during the #last90days effort I started in October.

Unfortunately, I don’t have double digits of weight loss on the scale to show for it, but I honestly think what I have learned is worth more than looking my best in Christmas pictures. (And that's saying a lot.)

Theory I do not subscribe to ;-)

1. Renewed sense of effort. Trip-ups don't completely stop me anymore -- or at least not for long. Turns out that when I'm focused on being the best version of myself, there isn't a lot of room for mental and emotional self-mutilation. Who knew?!
   
2. New love for motivational quotes. No, they’re not for everyone, but I love them. And good news: no one is making the people who hate them follow me! What has been fun is having people I've known my whole life and people I haven't met come out of the woodwork saying they needed some encouragement right then. Happy to help!
   
3. Education on habits. I don’t want hard or harsh lessons to apply to me, and yet... they do. So when I heard Rachel and Dave Hollis talk about how to break bad habits, I gave it a shot. And I’ve learned — and am learning — that when I do stop and think about how I react to triggers and make a conscious choice to take a different action than what I’ve taught myself, I am starting a new habit. A better habit. I can’t change *what* makes me reach for chocolate, but I can change how I react to what has always driven me to reach for chocolate.
   
4. Less concern about what other people think. As a chronic people-pleaser, this may be something I'll be working on for the rest of my life, but even baby steps have been HUGE for me. I'm not sure where I got the idea that making others happy equated kindness, but it's deeply entrenched in everything I am and most of what I do.
   
   But the fact is: happiness is temporary. Circumstantial. Fleeting, even. And because everyone is different, it takes something different to bring happiness to others -- especially when you surround yourself with a wide range of personalities and skillsets. So my not making sure every person in my life is happy with every interaction every second of the day is not rude. The only person I can truly please is the only person whose expectations and sources of joy I implicitly know inside and out. And that's me. So when I'm showing up for myself and becoming the best Rebekah I can be, the people around me will benefit, too. Long-term. 

So yes, I still want to lose weight as a result of exercising and eating right and drinking water like a fish. But I'm learning that the end result isn't where the valuable nuggets are learned, and that I can love myself in the journey.

Progress is a beautiful thing.

Last 90 days, 30 days in

Last month I joined in on #last90days -- an effort that Rachel and Dave Hollis do every October -- and I'm happy to report that one month in, I'm still here for it!

The idea is to finish the last three months of the year the way most of us like to start it: working toward becoming a better version of ourselves.

Thankfully, we're not left up to our own devices on "resolutions" in these last 90 days of the year, but we're invited to join in committing to five preferred habits each morning. They call it Five to Thrive, and since I already *should* be doing most of them anyway, they're not terrible to follow.

So the Five to Thrive daily recommendations are:

1. Get up an hour earlier than you usually do and use the time for yourself.
2. Work out for at least thirty minutes.
3. Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day.
4. Give up one food category you know you shouldn't be eating.
5. Write down ten things you're grateful for every single day.

Admittedly, I was doing a few of these already -- namely the water and getting up an hour earlier (most days) -- and I had been working out pretty regularly, so it wasn't like jumping five hurdles at once. But having a prompt, a commitment to these five items has certainly been a game-changer.

Have I done all five things every single day?
Nope.

Do I ever go off the rails?
Obviously.

Do I feel better when I am doing these things?
Dadgummit, I DO. 

And I hate to admit that. I really do. Because please for the love of all that's good and holy believe me when I say that I want nothing.more than to lay on the couch in my PJs and eat chocolate 24/7.

But sadly, that just doesn't offer the results...endorphins...accomplishments that these blasted Five to Thrive do.

So I'll keep trucking on, here on this first day of November, and see if I can make it through the next 60-ish days (which incidentally include the holidays. Convenient, eh?).

Also, great news -- if you're interested, you can totally start today. None of us need to wait for a Monday or the first of the month or even tomorrow to start ANYthing.

Jump in! Thrive with me.