A New Year! (Part II)

(Bursey, 2011)

I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty and share my thoughts on Jeffery H. Rice's top ten reasons people quit their New Year's resolutions, as noted in my last blog post. 

1) Lack of enough knowledge about the desired goal

In order to really accomplish a desired goal, you do indeed need to have some knowledge about what you're tackling; learning is key. 

Ask, research and determine what the purpose is in really going after your desired goal. Without a specific purpose, you will lose sight of your goal.

2) Not knowing how to put an action plan together

Throughly study, gain knowledge and determinie your purpose. It will become easier to determine what effect you really want this goal to have on you after determining the purpose. 

Once you understand what effect you want it to have, it is easier to create a concentrated path to attain the desired result (McMillan, 16). 

3) Loss of motivation

Mankind seems to always be in search of motivation. I know I get caught in the trap at times, but the reality is that motivational quotes, themes, videos, conversations and so on are simply a starting point to help yourself reignite your own personal motivational pilot light. 

The key is to never let the light completely burn out. Rather to keep it consistently burning and waiting, so that when something sparks, sending you into a full fire, that you are ready to roll with it. 

Eventually things will wane some as we get accustomed to the heat of the new norm, but as time rolls on we will indeed find something that sparks us again - the trick is to run with it, in a smart way, when the fire is lit.

4) Lack of support

Are you serious about your goal(s)? If so, have you even shared with your spouse, partner, best friends or parents what it is that you are trying to do? 

Have you asked them for their support and let them know specifically what you would appreciate them doing to help you along the way? Oftentimes lack of support is derived by you not taking your goal seriously. 

If it's a private goal, then you have no business whatsoever getting upset with others for being inconsiderate when they have no idea what the hidden expectations are. If it is a private goal, then you had better be honest with yourself. 

Lack of support (personal or via others) is usually indicative of an empty promise that you have given yourself.

Now there are some circumstances where you really do struggle with adequate support. Could it be that you are relying too much on others to get you where you want to be? 

Do you have unrealistic expectations? Or could it be that your support system truly sucks? If this is the case, email me, we'll huddle about it and find a way.  

5) Time management

No boss, no spouse, no kid, no parent is going to be standing at the foot of your bed at four-thirty or foive o'clock in the morning to get your attention. Get up and use your time wisely. 

Work on your goals and dreams, before other responsibilities get in the way. This is where you find out if you really want to achieve your goal badly enough.

6) Fear of failure 

I couldn't say it better than Michael Jordan in this youtube clip.

7) Excuses

Simply put, if you are making excuses, you are not fully committed. You may have to modify, you may have to adapt your goal to your circumstances. You may have to get creative and be extra patient, but there is a way. 

8) Not seeing results quick enough

Patient persistence is key. You may not feel like you are seeing results quickly enough; if this is the case, then you aren't appropriately measuring and tracking your progress. 

You need to track your results so that you can gain an honest perspective about your improvements.

"True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice." ~ St. Francis of Assisi

9) Lack of nutrition knowledge

Have you honestly invested in researching what foods are best for your body type? Have you ever tracked what you are eating? Have you met with a nutrition specialist to help you gain adequate knowledge to achieve your goals here?

10) The quick fix fad of the month otherwise known as the $100 billion dollar diet industry

Chances are that if it's a quick fix, then the results will be fleeting. So the question is, "do you want lasting changes or temporary ones?"

Just as a closing side note, I found the picture on Paul Bursey's blog page about the Entrepreneurial Mindset. Granted, in this particular article he is relating how to overcome network marketing challenges, but it's written in such a way that the application is actually quite broad. A good read with relation to goal setting.
                                                  
McMillan (2012). Hodgepodge Isn't a Training Program. Running Times Magazine, January, p. 16.

Bursey (2011). Overcoming Obstacles And Coming Out On Top In Network Marketing. (http://paulbursey.net/network-marketing/overcoming-obstacles-and-coming-out-on-top-in-network-marketing/). Paul Bursey Blogspot, March 17.

A New Year! (Part I)

Diana approximately 40lbs ago, hiking at Natural Bridges National Monument.
I used to need assistance stepping down from a curb and here I had just hiked
serious terrain for about 4hrs. Thank you trekking poles!

We are on the eve of a new year and I am determined to make the most of it. I'd love it if you would commit to yourself and join with me; in whatever way is best for you. 

We all have "a past" and I'm convinced that we shouldn't really forget it. I feel that once you forget it, you kind of have a tendency to stop learning from it. 

I hate re-learning, it's never comfortable. What I am saying is to choose not to let the past weigh you down; rather, let it fuel you in order to bring you to new heights - in a positive direction. 

You are who you are today because of yesterday. You will be who you become tomorrow, because of who you are today. It's a compounding effect and only you can decide whether it results in a radiating positive or a gloomy negative. 

It really is that simple. So, pick what makes you happiest, not necessarily what is easiest or the path of least resistance. Do something different this go-around. Find a way to make it measurable and give it a solid year of effort. 

Statistically most people quit their resolutions within sixty days. An even more compelling statistic is the ratio of people being more dedicated to planning their next vacation than they are to personal goals, even ones that are actually quite critical. 

It's time to stop making empty promises to yourself, family and friends. 

In December 2008, Jeffery H. Rice, CPY, CSCS, wrote an article talking about the top ten reasons people quit their New Year's Resolutions. The reasons are:

1) Lack of enough knowledge about the desired goal
2) Not knowing how to put an action plan together
3) Loss of motivation
4) Lack of support
5) Time management
6) Fear of failure 
7) Excuses
8) Not seeing results quickly enough

9) Lack of nutrition knowledge
10) The quick fix fad of the month otherwise known as the one hundred billion dollar diet industry

I'm currently working on a plan to create safeguards to buffer points one through ten listed above. My goals for the coming year can be best grouped into the following four categories: spiritual, physical, nutritional, mental. 

The action plan requires accountability, patience, research and study, practices to mentally visualize outcomes, measurable tracking methods, positive self talk, a budget, accountability, accountability, accountability. 

Self doubt makes us negative, negativity causes fear, fear hinders dreaming, lack of dreams depletes desire, loss of desire kills hope, not having hope makes living appear futile and then people stop trying to live life to its fullest. Stop the cycle of doubt. Believe!

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." 

~ Gandhi

To Be Continued...

Digging Deep

This is the Nativity set that I mention below.

I am in the first week of Phase II of Insanity with Shawn T.. while I was working out the other morning I was really struggling. 

I was feeling the fatigue, soreness and resistance that you get with applying effort. I was frustrated and mentally not in the game and blaming it on the lack of feeling on my left side, multiple sclerosis being the issue. 

Good heavens, this is Insanity I'm talking about! So, in reality it was mostly my attitude and only partially my MS. Mentally I was giving up. I was telling myself that "I can't". Those are very powerful words.

It was while I was in the "I can't" of it all that I then looked up. Right in front of me was one of my many nativities that I currently have up around the house. 

It was then that I randomly thought to myself, what would have happened if the Savior said "I can't" and believed it? What if he didn’t “dig deep” and give it all he had?

There are times that my husband, friends, family, and even strangers have each carried a bit of my burden - to help me succeed. To help me so that "I can". 

For that I am forever and continually thankful, because it has kept me going when I thought I was out of steam. I have so many people around me that buoy me up to help me continually realize my potential. 

You have this too – even if you think you don’t. As a matter of fact, I would even venture to say that if you think you don’t have that support, you either 1) haven’t recognized it or 2) haven't humbled yourself to ask for the support. 

There is always at least one person in our midst that would be willing to help you in some way. We tend to see it most during this time of year, but that’s mostly just because we are more attuned to it; more willing to recognize it.

During my workout the other morning I realized that it’s my turn to dig deep - again. It’s my turn to give it all I’ve got - again. It’s my life and the Savior gave all that he had, to make up the difference, for when my digging deep isn’t deep enough. 

Right now, my support is a friend who works out with me - she is relentless! Thank you Mary!

This life is largely about consistency 
(some call it monotony) with 
intermittent intervals of high intensity 
(absolute craziness) –
this is how we progress.

You have most likely been consistent or maybe even sliding slightly backwards. However it’s time to “dig deep” and give your life maximum effort to move forward. I wrote about this in a bit more detail in my blog entry And So It Goes....

I'm saying that it’s time to do a little interval training; no holds barred. Mix it up and get crazy with it. I’m not just talking about exercise here. I’m talking about any facet in your life that you feel is lacking. 

I’m talking about exerting maximum energy in any one particular area of your life that you have ignored for way too long. You know what that is. You are worth it. Believe in yourself – dig deep.

Poetry Corner: An Imaginary Villain

We've all been here at one time or another... or now. 

An Imaginary Villain

Subconsciously

I interrogate myself,

by manipulating the eyes of others

to tell my deepest fears

admit my worst wrongs

to judge

by reading too much 

into an onlooker's gaze.

I create

I mistake

I adjudicate

my own follies

and displace my own disgust, 

standing victimized

allowing guilt to be provoked

by an outsider's glance.

My head drops,

succumbing to the weight

of worthlessness - 

chained, locked away 
again;

because that's where I tell myself

I belong.

By Diana M. Bateman

2006 ©

Why do we work so hard to put ourselves in this bad place? We are all worth more than this... The truth is that we are all uniquely amazing, whether you believe it or not. 

Top 10

This summer I moved my blog to a blogspot.com address and I also used the move as an opportunity to broaden the focus of my blog efforts. 

However, I didn't want the changes to take away from the overall message, which is to: encourage others to find strength, hope and tenacity to face life's challenges head-on, as well as to thrive in spite of those challenges. 

So below I have provided a Reader's Top Five list of the most read entries by you, as well as a Top Five list of my personal favorite posts of all time (that aren't already in the Reader's Top Five). 

Reader's Top Five
1. Get In My Belly! (part II) 09/17/11 
2. Abiding Love  10/01/11 
3. The Military & Multiple Sclerosis 09/08/07
4. A Thanksgiving Tribute: To Don With Love 11/26/09 
5.  Get In My Belly! (part I) 09/16/11 

My Top 5 Favorite Posts
1. My Road Back 10/27/10
2. And So It Goes  06/16/10
3. The Folds of Me 02/26/11
4. We Are Never Alone 09/05/10
5. I Want To Laugh  01/21/08

The Power of Experience

Just a fun picture taken of me at the 2011 Boston MS Patient Advocate Conference.

There will come a time when you will be struck to the core and humbled, be it by something personally or vicariously catastrophic. You may very well be struck more than once. 

When that happens though, the question is, will you learn from it and make lasting changes or will you be persistent in believing that there's nothing that requires change?

I personally believe that when these events occur in our lives we have the power to work the catastrophe and manipulate the final effect.

We decide what direction we go in by how we respond to it and then let that choice define our next steps. It is absolutely easier said than done, but it is possible - I have done it, I am doing it and I am not perfect.

In the fall of 1997, singer-songwriter Paula Cole released a song called "I Don't Want To Wait". This song hit me the second I heard it and it just spoke to me in a very big way - even still, but for different reasons now. 

It's the chorus mostly... in all reality, you could insert any story, sing it with the chorus and have it work. Who doesn't, or hasn't wanted to know the end from the beginning? Especially when you're so uncertain about the future.

The chorus reads:

"I don't want to wait 

for our lives to be over,

I want to know right now, 

what would it be.

I don't want to wait 

for our lives to be over,

will it be yes or... sorry?"

What is your story? What has tried to break you... and instead, made you? It doesn't have to be grand. It only had to impact you, change you in some way; that change alone is grand enough.

I am writing this and reflecting upon several things that have happened over the last few days while visiting family, making new friends, and attending a Multiple Sclerosis patient advocate conference in Boston. 

During my visit I've had some tremendous conversations on just about any topic you can think of. And I've seen time and time again that our character has the strength to take a tough thing and make us better. 

It can make you into something powerful beyond measure; a knowledgeable force to be reckoned with. 

If you get nothing else out of this blog entry, I hope you just know that I feel more peaceful about all that has happened and is currently happening in my life. I feel more peaceful about the direction I am headed. 

I strive to choose my response(s) to life and its varied curve-balls wisely. I still feel urgency and want to know what the end will look like already, in every direction of my life. 

However, if the knowledge I have by the time I get there is remotely sweet like the peace it gives me now... well, it will have been worth the wait, struggle, crying, swearing, and more hard decisions.