Simplicity

I love the word simplicity in combination with balance. Think of riding a bicycle for example. In order to maintain your balance, you must keep pedaling. It’s as simple as that. When losing weight, you simply must consume fewer calories than you expend. It’s as simple as that. When you are training for a marathon, you must practice. It’s as simple as that. If you’re learning something new, you must to read about it. It’s as simple as that.

But wait. If it’s as simple as that, why is it so difficult to achieve? Well… life. Your kids have 219 events to go to this week and to coordinate everyone getting to their destination on time you have to grab a happy meal. Your boss hands you a pile of documents to read through and report on next week and you end up sitting at your desk for 12 hours exhausted. Your friends want to have a girls’ night out and the wine is flowing. I know. Tough to say, “no” to. That’s life. Things get in the way of your goals.

It’s important to find balance in times like these. I think our friend, simplicity, can help with this. Set a goal and stick to it. It’s as simple as that. Now here’s the catch. You have to pick ONE. If you’re like me, with a lengthy to-do list, it may be hard to narrow your goals down to one. But it’s a whole lot simpler to put all your extra energy and focus into one than it is even 10. This doesn’t mean you give up on the 9 goals that got the boot, it just means you have to start with one at a time.

Once you have established the first goal you’d like to accomplish, address all the barriers you may over come in order to achieve that goal. These would be the kids’ schedules, your demanding workload, your girls’ night out, etc. It is perfectly fine to have all those things going on in your life. You just need to determine how they effect your goal.

If the kids are causing you to make poor food choices, let’s acknowledge that and construct a plan that makes this challenge easier. If your workload is preventing you from getting enough physical activity then we need to plan ahead of time to build that into the schedule. Similarly, if your friends like to go out for Taco Tuesday you might need to plan your run for before work instead of after work.

One goal. Plan ahead. Keep it simple. Take action. Achieve your goal. It’s as simple as that. Give it a try. Comment your goal below for some discussion on how to carry out your dreams. Looking forward to hearing every single one.

Keep pedaling,

Cara