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I was recently listening to The Beautiful Writers Podcast. It was an interview with the fabulous Elizabeth Gilbert. One of the questions posed by Danielle LaPorte was “What is the best advice you ever received and why?” Love that question! The advice was given to hear by a mentor early in her writing career. Here it is:

“What are you willing to give up to have the thing you say you really want?”

Whoa. #truthbomb

She talked about it as a question to inspire you to “triage” your life. Love that analogy! At some point you have to give up some good stuff to get to the GREAT stuff you really want. And it might not even be “good stuff” it’s just stuff you’re doing….out of habit or routine! You may have to give up the Netflix binges to carve out time for exercise (even 2 nights a week is great!). If you’re training for a 1/2 marathon you might have to give up Saturday night social engagements to stay committed for your Sunday morning long runs. You may need to say NO to a commitment (even one you’d LOVE to say yes to) to ensure you have the energy & space in your life to breathe!

The incomparable Brene Brown talks about permission slips in her work. Giving yourself permission to do or not do things in your life. It’s a much more powerful act than you’d think. Who knew writing yourself a permission slip on a post-it can actually have a profound impact on your life! I wrote this permission slip and it still lives on my desk nearly 2 years later:

“I give myself permission to say NO to others and YES to myself.”

That permission has huge impact in my life! Because the act of that permission allows me to reflect on what I need to give up to have what I really want.

This time of year (summer) is often riddled with a lot of excuse making. Reason giving. Sometimes super VALID reason giving. I’m busy with the kids. I’m away too much to commit. It’s too hard with all the social gatherings….”I’ll start back in September when the kids are back in school.” Seriously, if I had a nickel….and I don’t say this to make anyone feel guilt or shame about their choices (goodness knows I don’t think those feelings belong ANYWHERE near a conversation around your healthy lifestyle). But just consider this. There is NEVER going to be a good time. The kids will go back to school. Work will ramp up. Activities ramp up, and just as you settle into routine Thanksgiving is around the corner…then there’s Christmas…so then it becomes a January goal. Cool. I like a fresh start…but January gets busy too. There’s holidays, birthdays, celebrations you forget about, work projects ramping up, spring break…and then…here we are again at summer. Do you see what I’m getting at?

What if you just took a different approach? A kinder approach?

One that didn’t involve any “wagon” because THERE IS NO WAGON. What if you decided to lean in NOW. To look at 1 or 2 habits you can take on that work with your life? Say hydration & a daily movement goal. I call these non-negotiables. And they are a brilliant way to find a balance through the chaos that is your summer, fall, winter & spring (aka life). It’s all about understanding your priorities. Triaging the situation. Deciding what you may need to give up to have the things you say you want. And sometimes those things you need to give up….are your old thought patterns about why you can’t. You need to shift your mindset to believing you CAN.

How can you do that? Hey, I wrote a whole course about it. Check it out here.

Bottom line? Life is truly about priorities. You CAN have anything you set your mind to & do the work to achieve. I truly believe that. So decide what it is that you really want…and go make it so! #besuperyou