www.lynngrieger.com

Every day I hear from people:  I’m just not motivated to make any changes. I need you to keep me motivated. I really want to change, but it’s tough to stay motivated.

According to a recent article by Peter Bregman in the Harvard Business Review, motivation isn’t the problem - it’s following through on what motivates us. He goes on to explain that motivation is mental, but follow-through is taking specific, practical steps to reach our goals. We’re most likely highly motivated to eat more fruit and vegetables, exercise more often, drink less alcohol, or get more sleep on a regular basis. We know why these changes are important and we relish the results expected from making these changes. But we stink at follow-through.

Breman suggests that a first step toward following through on  motivation is stop thinking so much. Stop letting your mind dictate your actions, and instead set a specific, realistic, practical goal:  I’m going to add one vegetable to my lunch today. I’m going to go for a walk tomorrow at lunch.

To truly ramp up the follow-through, Breman recommends these strategies:
-  Write down exactly what you’re going to do, one step at a time.
-  Get support and increase accountability by letting other people know your goals. Even better, enlist their help:  ask a friend to walk with you first thing in the morning or let your husband know you plan to go to sleep 15 minutes earlier.
-  Keep track of your follow-through by noting on a calendar the days you meet your goal.
-  Once you set a specific goal, don’t let your mind get in the way. Ignore the voice in your head that whines you’re too tired to get up 10 minutes early to go for a walk, or that pleads it wants to eat dessert, not broccoli.

Remind yourself often that you’re highly motivated to make healthy changes, and that you’re taking steps to put those goals into practice.

Go to any road race, triathlon, or other competitive event where the results are based on speed. At the start of the race, just about everyone has their finger poised over their sports watch, ready to start their timer at the exact second the race officially starts. As people cross the finish line, they throw up their arms in jubilation - and then immediately stop their timer.

The bottom line for success at races is your time. Did you set a new PR (personal record)? Did you place in the top 3 in your age group? Maybe you placed in the top 3 overall and won a very cool prize. Were you faster than last year?

Everything revolves around the time.

Yesterday I competed in the Vermont Sun Triathlon in Brandon, VT. I was one of those folks who compulsively started my watch at the exact moment the starter yelled “Go!”. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I stopped my watch and looked at my time.

I felt really good during this tri. Unline other years, the swim went really well. No panic, no swallowed water, no bumping into other swimmers. I rode the bike leg with great intensity, focusing on keeping my cadence high and hydrating. My legs felt strong as I started the run. Usually my leg muscles are tired and complain bitterly about being asked to run after biking for 14 miles, but yesterday they cooperated completely. I’m the fastest on the run part of tris, and as I passed people I told them how great they looked, commented on the beautiful course, and focused on catching the next person in front of me. I even sprinted at the finish!

Overall, it was a fantastic race for me - but what about my time? When I checked the race results today, I was listed as “DNF” - did not finish. Wait - I finished! My husband and several women from the Green Mountain Girls tri group saw me finish! How do I know how I did without an official time?

Jerrod Rushton, the unflappable and superb race director of the tri responded immediately to my panicked email. Within 2 hours, my official race results were posted. Elation on feeling great after the race settled into doom:  I was slower than last year. Racers live by the clock, and the clock doesn’t lie:  I’m getting slower even though I felt great and pushed myself hard.

After a few deep breaths and some thought, I came upon this revelation:  so what? What difference does it really make if my 2011 tri finish was slower than the 2010 time? I had a ton of fun, smiling the entire way (well, maybe not during the swim because it’s hard to smile with your face in the water). I pushed myself during each of the three tri legs and worked at what felt like a high intensity. My husband even told me I looked fantastic at the finish, and he’s seen me completely wiped out and feeling horrible at the end of many races.

Maybe the true test of a great race isn’t the finish time, but rather the process and the event itself.

Perhaps this revelation applies to other goals in our life:
-  Does it really matter how much weight we lose each week in a weight loss program if we’re feeling good and meeting our exercise and food choice goals?
-  At the end of a busy work day, should I judge my performance based on the number of items I crossed off my to-do list, or on the quality of the work I produced and the satisfaction of my clients?
-  Do I rate myself on the quality of my housekeeping (sadly lacking) or on having a comfortable and welcoming home?
-  Should I look back at all the mistakes I made raising our children, or be content that they’re productive, responsible, happy young adults?

I bet each of you can add to this list. What I learned from this tri is that the experience is even more important than the outcome. I may not have finished as fast as last year, but I had a whole lot of fun and gained great satisfaction from the event. That doesn’t mean I won’t keep setting goals to increase my speed, to improve my work habits, or become a better mom, wife, and friend. I’ll just make sure to take time to stop, breathe deeply, and enjoy the experience.

I’m thrilled to lead a 3-part wellness series with the Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning in Manchester, VT. Join me for one session, or all three! more info

First session February 23rd, 3-4:30pm at the Israel Congregation.
Topic:  Creating Health and Wellness in a Hectic World.
Learn about the individual components of wellness and work toward developing your own personal wellness vision that clearly describes what you want wellness to look and feel like in your life.

Second session March 2nd, 3-4:30pm at the Israel Congregation.
Topic:  Why Do I Eat? How to Choose Healthy Foods in a Toxic Food Environment. We’ll discuss national guidelines for good nutrition and healthy eating, plus talk about how to put these guidelines into practice in your life. Learn simple and effective ways to improve your eating habits without spending hours in the kitchen, and how to manage stress without food.

Third session March 9th, 3-4:30pm at the Israel Congregation
Topic:  Our Bodies are Made for Movement:  Get off the couch! Learn about the national guidelines for exercise, and how to fit movement into your daily life. We’ll also talk about how optimum sleep and a positive outlook set the stage for a healthy, balanced, energetic and vigorous life.

We routinely hear about people who are searching for happiness. We even talk about the ‘pursuit of happiness’. Does this mean that we have to find happiness? We might think that making a lot of money, finding the perfect mate, living in a fantastic house or perhaps losing weight will make us happy.

Or is happiness something that we can create within ourselves?

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky in her book “The How of Happiness”, happiness is in our power to fashion for ourselves. Instead of chasing happiness, we can create it by changing our habits. She encourages us to look for happiness in how we behave, what we think, and the types of goals we set for ourselves.

There are several helpful quizzes included in the book designed to not only evaluate our current level of happiness, but also to help us start creating more happiness in our lives. I’m working on two of these goals for myself right now: 

• Savoring special moments throughout the day, from noticing the pink sky at the very moment before dawn as I head out on an early morning run, to listening to the raindrops fall on my deck outside.
• Doing something for other people, sort of planned random acts of kindness. When we do something thoughtful for someone else, perhaps calling a friend, or bringing flowers from the garden to a neighbor, or even smiling and saying a cheery hello to a stranger on the street - it fosters our own happiness.

Believe it or not, it makes me happy to know that happiness is present within ourselves, just waiting to be noticed and appreciated. I’ll end with a quote that I love:

Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends upon the tides of the mind. Alice Meynell

I just read a fascinating book:  Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson. The first part is a bit dry as she details the multitude of research on feeling positive. Instead of focusing on what we’re doing wrong, positivity looks at what we’re doing right. It’s a great approach!

She explains how people who are more positive live longer, are more restful, have greater optimism for the future, are more resilient to change, and overcome bad things more readily. Plus, people who are more positive also are more open about life and are able to find joy in numerous areas of their lives.

The good news is that we can learn how to embrace the positives in our life.

Instead of reminding yourself of all the things you did wrong today, why not make a list of everything that’s been going great?

Spending a few minutes outside, enjoying the trees, blue sky, grass, and the feeling of the sun on your skin can increase your positive outlook.

According to Fredrickson, positivity is joy, gratitutude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love.  How many of these emotions have you experienced today?

As we count down the last few days in 2009, I want to encourage you to take a few minutes and think about everything you’ve accomplished this year. Often at the end of the year we moan about what we didn’t achieve and focus our energy on missed opportunities.

Let’s turn that around into a celebration of 2009:

What are you most proud of accomplishing this past year?
What memories of 2009 make you smile?
Which new friends did you make, and which friendships did you nurture?

I ofen find that some of my best thinking happens when I’m running, walking, biking, or swimming. The physical activity sets my mind free, and I don’t have any other distractions competing for my attention. Before January 1, 2010 take a few minutes to exercise, clear your mind, and reflect on the positive parts of 2009 that you want to add to your bank of memories. Celebrate 2009 and get ready for 2010!

If something is fun, more people will do it.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? Check out this video to find out what happens when taking the stairs becomes fun: escadapiano1

Just think what would happen if you found more fun, silly, laughable ways to live your life!

Which would you rather do to decrease your risk of developing a chronic illness such as diabetes:  make some changes to your lifestyle, or take medication?

A new 10 year follow-up study from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) trial followed 2800 adults at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The results, published in the October 2009 issue of The Lancet, show that lifestyle changes work better than medication.

Just what are lifestyle changes? We’re talking about healthier eating habits, maintaining a healthy weight, regular daily activity and exercise, not smoking, and finding healthy ways to deal with stress. The folks who utilize these methods reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 34%. Only 18% of the people who took medication (in this study, the medication used was metformin) reduced their risk of developing diabetes.

Sure, making changes to your usual eating, exercise, and stress management habits takes some time and effort. Popping a pill is comparatively easy. However, if you truly want to decrease your risk of chronic disease, making even small changes to your daily habits will give you vastly improved results.

This is where coaching can help. Set long term goals, and then break those goals down into realistic and achieveable 3-month goals. Develop a weekly strategy to meet those 3-month goals, and then set new 3-month goals. Personal coaching helps you through this entire process, giving you support, encouragement, and accountability. If you want to live a healthy, active, fulfilled life; don’t you owe it to yourself to get started, today?

Have you ever set a goal, worked really hard, but fell short of your expectations?

The women in our 2009 Training for More group experienced this first hand this year. On race day the end of April, the weather was hot and humid, to protect the participants the race director did not time the race, and everyone went slower than expected. We were ready for snow, but not temperatures in the high 80’s.

Fern and Patty (in the photo with me above) decided they wanted to bring closure to their goal of running a fast half-marathon this Spring. Patty found a half-marathon in Utica, NY, only a 3-hour drive. We rearranged our schedules, drove to Utica, and completed the goal. Everything fell into place:  the weather was cool, the race was well-organized, the course was beautiful (and flat), and the volunteers were enthusiastic.

Fern and Patty smashed their goals and had an awesome race. They took a disappointing situation and turned it around, putting their goal of a fast Spring marathon behind them. We did it together, the same way we trained throughout the Winter.

Lessons learned:
-  things don’t always work out the way we want
-  there are always alternatives to consider
-  disappointments can be overcome
-  setting goals with friends makes the entire experience more fun

What goals are you working toward? How can you turn a disappointment into a victory?

I’m in the throes of baking pies, doing laundry, and finishing up last-minute details for the annual Running of the Turkeys 5K race tomorrow. In the midst of all the hurry and endless sticky notes covered with items yet to be completed, I want to stop for a moment to think through my reasons for giving thanks this season:

-  the amazing women I’ve met and come to admire in the More training groups
-  my courageous clients who commit to changing their habits and follow through with their goals
-  my parents and grandparents who gave me wonderful memories and traditions
-  my sisters; no matter what happens in our lives, we’re always sisters
-  the Ryan men, who bring smiles, laughter, sometimes tears, and always love and pride to my life
-  3 coaching buddies who help clarify dreams and thoughts into cohesive plans
-  mentors throughout the years who encourage and cajole me to expand my professional horizons
-  paths in my life that opened up when least expected, and always bring something to be treasured
-  the beautiful places I’ve lived in; no matter where, they have a special place in my heart

I’ve been reading much of Fred Buechner’s books lately, and if you’re not familiar with this beloved author, head out to the library now and search out one of books. Today, and hopefully for a long time to come, I’m planning on focusing on one of his quotes I read in an interview with him:

“I have discovered that if you talk to people as if they’re your oldest friends, for as long as that conversation lasts they are your oldest friends.”

quotation from: “Ordained to write:  an interview with Frederick Buechner”, Christian Century, September 11, 2002.