Have you slipped up lately? Maybe spent way too much when you couldn’t afford it or had a few too many insulin spikes from your food choices?
Slips ups are part of life. More than that, they’re the marrow for successful people to achieve and thrive. Show me a successful person and I’ll show you a trail of struggles, mishaps, and slip ups behind them.
Ask Richard Branson why he owns a business empire, and he’ll surely replay that it’s because he’s driven, determined and focused despite all of the knock backs. The new film John Farnham: Finding The Voice charts the successes of the rock legend as much as his failures. He’s had it tough but, again, like all successful people, he didn’t give up.
We have a fantasy that success is like joining the dots along a vertical line but, it’s more like a wonky line of mis-joined dots.
It’s common for people changing their lifestyle and eating habits to fly the white flag of surrender at the first sign of a slip up. 'Well, I ate a slice of pizza so I may as well eat five now.'
That’s like trying not to grab onto a ledge as you’re tumbling down a cliff or spending too much on a lipstick so you keep spending and wipe out your entire bank balance.
Food is one of the only areas where we can fall off the wagon once and resolve to fall off forever. This comes back to what you’re really trying to achieve.
Health is not a destination; it’s a way of life. There’s no point thinking you’ve landed in clover until you slip up and then you’re covered in mud forever. It’s an evolving, changing dynamic.
I tend to look for inspiration rather than motivation. Inspiration goes much deeper because, if you’re inspired, you’re driven. If you’re just looking for motivation such as thinking it would be nice to weigh less or fit into a favourite dress, it may not be important enough to make long lasting changes. It takes more to be willing to change the things in your life that are no longer serving you well. It certainly takes more than cosmetic benefits.
Slip ups are all part of the process, not an excuse to give up. This will be obvious if you go back to the authenticity of what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and who you’re doing it for.
