How can I take what I learnt today and make my life better tomorrow?

Commitment- a word that scares most of us. It is that time when you decide to give yourself fully to something, someone or to yourself. You have longed for it, you have built up the thought process around it and finally you have decided you are going to go for it.

The beginning of any decision or choice can be a catch 22, they say starting is the hardest part, or making a choice is the first step on the road to growth or change, but what about when you are half way through and can often have lost sight of what it is or why it is you are doing what you are doing.

This week, I had two interesting conversations with two incredible people, I had not seen in a long time. Walking away I felt energised and also wanting to explore and engage more with the topics discussed.

We live in such a fast paced world where the rush,rush, busy.busy is the language we use to describe everything. We are constantly in rush mode and want everything yesterday. We are wired now to always want more, the next best thing and to always have the best of everything. The simplicity of conversation has almost gone as we talk via media platforms all day long and many can often feel inadequate or a little shy or unsure in face to face meetings and interactions.

This year I have done alot of people public speaking and in my talks, I always address a few key topics. Positive self talk, fostering a good self belief system and having the ability to tell yourself and the world that you have done a good job and are pretty brilliant (When merited!) I have the privilege of working with alot of female entrepreneurs and the one thing I always bate* (not physically (yet) is to toot their own horn. Not in a cocky Donnnniieee Trump way, but in a way that the realisation sinks in through their own actions and words that they are doing a good job and are making a difference to society, their own lives and every person that they come across.

It always goes back to reaffirming their position at the top table and that their merit in life and business is there because they are entrepreneurs and not simply as a token nod to women sitting at the table due to gender. Gender is irrelevant in my mind, when you are brilliant, you gender plays no role.

Through one of my conversations, I uttered the words that I had never said before and really had not chalked down as being about me. We were talking about my business and my attitude to health and my friend remarked about me, “ Lisa you are so successful and have such a great attitude to life” I was taken aback naturally and then I responded in a very un Irish like manner (Where usually we would say, ara stop sure no, sure I don’t be doing much, sure it was all luck sure Jesus stop) but the words that flowed from me were “Well thanks, I have been working on myself, my health and my business for close to five years now so it was been a consistent commitment for that time” BOOM BANG BOOM HELLO! Well her response nailed it for me, “Lisa I love that, I love the way you have told me that 5 years of work, vision and plugging away has you in a good position in your life and not the usual ah yeah it’s great, it just happened”.

This is true, and I have only really taken stock of all this, this week. Tomorrow I turn 31 maybe that is why. To be aging is the best thing that ever happened to me. Not just for physical reasons, my hair in 2001 would make you wish you had a sight problem (Dee Burke has the evidence) but each year, life just gets better and better. It is 5 years ago I became an entrepreneur, opening my own business, it is now 5 years since I made the biggest commitment to myself, my health and to ensure that I am the best physical and mental version of myself, something in which I work on every single day and it is five years ago that I realised what I wanted from my life and making that happen was simply up to me. This revelation was so liberating.

If you want anything in and from your life then simply today ask yourself this question- How can I take what I learnt today and make my life better tomorrow?

In my opinion anything that is quick, fast or rushed is never enjoyable. Be it food, a kiss or any experience. So what’s the rush? Slow down to speed up. Ask yourself the hard questions about what YOU actually want from life and from your life. Then make a plan and play the long game. Why because the long game plan, sticks, it’s for life and it’s a lifestyle choice.

Six week starter plans are great but they don’t lead you into a headspace where you are thinking about your health long term. Even now, after five years of training hard and eating well, it’s just now people are really saying things to me about my body, just now.

Last week, I saw a personal trainer say that she was disappointed that after 10 days on a training plan she wasn’t seeing the desired results. 10 Days, give me strength. It has taken me almost five years, to know my body, then to realise its potential and then to learn how to push its boundaries each day and each week.

Stop looking for a quick fix on your most important resource, yourself. In the last 18 months alone, I have done things I never thought I would do, highlights being a Handstand (oh not this again) and 5 unassisted pull ups. If I was playing the short game, maybe this morning’s 2 pound weight gain would send me into a downward spiral of bad body image and a feeling of what’s the point. But because I am playing the long game of life with my body, it doesn’t- as I know I have just built more lean muscle and my body is getting stronger, everyday.

So slow it down, take your time. You only get one body, respect it, sculpt and know its potential and yours are endless.

And ask yourself again and each day.... How can I take what I learnt today and make my life better tomorrow?