A few months ago my dad popped in town for a short visit. He is one of those people who always makes you feel good about yourself and lifts you higher. Needless to say, I am grateful to have him in my life as a source of wisdom and inspiration!

Among the many life topics we discussed was my wellness coaching business (details coming soon!). I vented to him on how I felt like I wasn’t surging forward quickly enough. I came to the conclusion it must be a self-love/self-confidence issue.

If you haven’t noticed, I feel strongly about the role self-love plays in wellness. Specifically, the significant impact it can have with behavior change and reaching goals. (I’m not alone either…check out the data between self-compassion and success in business!)

So, naturally that is where my focus was drawn. I must need more work in the self-love department.

We chatted a lot over the weekend and in one of our conversations before he left, he said, “Molly it seems to me you don’t have a self-confidence issue, you have a time management issue. Your lack of confidence is from your lack of time.”

It was on point.  I know life is really full and finding time was a struggle, what I didn’t put together is the link between time management and my self-confidence. Or rather, I had the two switched. I was busy focusing on the self-love component thinking things would change if I had more self-compassion, when in reality I just needed to MAKE TIME to make the change!

A large part of self-love is making time for things you value and letting go of the things you don’t.

I also know I am not alone. I know everyone struggles with achieving their goals, at one point or another.

If you are at one of these points in your life…trying to build a business, lose weight, exercise more, pursue your passion, get more sleep, drink less alcohol, cook healthy meals, feel fulfilled, have more energy, be present, find balance, or reach any goal…YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Sometimes you just need a reminder. Other times it takes someone pointing out the obvious or helping you think about your situation in another way. Maybe you just need to shift your priorities, let go and pursue something that is more important to you at the moment.

Whatever your situation (and in honor of my Dad and his constant inspiration) here are 5 encouraging reminders to help you reach your goal.

1. Love and accept yourself, as you are.  A solid foundation of self-love is a must! You may not look or feel how you want; you may have tried to reach the same goal over and over without success; you may be filled with self-doubt or fear of change or failure. Those are all normal feelings and often part of the change process. The key is how you react to them. Sometimes a little acceptance is all you need. A reminder that you are perfect, just as you are. Realizing that you don’t have to make any changes. You don’t have to lose weight or stop drinking or exercise or sleep more or eat healthy or start that business. But, you want to and you choose to because you know you deserve it.

2. Realize that YOU are the key. Once you can accept where you are and decide on the changes you want to make for yourself, it’s time to start changing! There probably are a million barriers (like time) in the way of reaching your goal, but you are the only one that matters. Once you admit that you have control over your life, you can make things happen! Push away the self-doubt and replace it with confidence. You got this!

3. Examine your priorities. With work, family, and musts that go along with life, it’s hard to fit everything in. Often we spend so much time doing things we feel like we “should be doing” and not enough on the things we want to be doing. Once you have your priorities down,  saying no can be done without guilt and making time to reach your goals will be much easier!

4. Let go! It’s time to let go of the guilt, the shoulds, the perfectionism, and the concept that you can do it all. Let go and sigh with relief. Life is too precious not to. My good friend and fellow entrepreneur Samantha Schwartz sums it up perfectly in her post, “The Top 4: Notes from a Recovering Perfectionist.”

5. JUST DO IT!! You don’t need to have all the answers right now, just make the decision to go for it and everything will fall into place!

Napoleon Hill sums it up perfectly… “Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”

 

One thing I know for sure…support, accountability and positive reminders are a necessity along the way!

I would love to hear your stories. Do you have a goal you are trying to reach, but feel stuck? Or do you have tips to share that helped you reach your dreams or goals?

Lots of love,

Molly