From Resolutions to Meaningful Promises for Health and Wellness

Wellness Wednesday with Life and Weight-loss Coach Flossie Alexander of You Can NOW! Coaching.

Three years ago I decided to KICK the New Year's “Resolution” concept to the curb! ! What does that mean anyway?! It has developed a bad rep over the years! Why? Because nobody really keeps them!! I decided then to call any New Year Resolutions my  "New Year's Promises to Myself" if it meant anything to me.

As you all know, my life has gone through many changes over the last three years. The biggest is in November 2006 when I celebrated my second anniversary of "finding myself" and getting healthy losing 165 pounds.

When I decided to give my so called New Year's Resolution an overhaul, that was a very significant accomplishment in my life.  I made that “Promise” and I stuck to it! I thought long and hard before that facelift came about.  As I went through the rolodex in my mind I went through the many years of resolutions: lose weight, eat better & exercise were always repeated.

Why hadn't I keep those resolutions? Perhaps it was the word resolution itself that hindered me, I thought.  We have used that word so many times, it really has lost it's meaning! It  has simply what we use at year's end because ... well, because everyone just does it!  The day I couldn’t fasten my seat belt, when I maxed out at 325 pounds, was the day I PROMISED to treat myself better!! So I would like to encourage each of you to search for something with similar meaning in yourself when it comes to achieving your weight-loss goals ... then give your own resolutions a much needed overhaul!



My 2006 New Year's Promises (which I have accomplished every day since)

1. I PROMISE to love me NO MATTER WHAT (which is the key to getting healthy).
2. I PROMISE to put myself first and do what is right for me (which is the key to getting healthy).
3. I PROMISE to put a smile on my face EVERY day because there is always something to smile about (which is the key to getting healthy).
4. I PROMISE to be there for those that need lifting up when they are down (which is the key to getting healthy).
5. I PROMISE never to let anyone or anything make me feel insignificant ever again (which is the key to getting healthy).

I do believe those are all promises I can keep for the rest of my life!! As I did In 2006, I am ushering in 2010 with a smile on my face and a skip in my walk!

HAPPY 2010 – THE YEAR WE ARE ALL GOING TO WIN And GET HEALTHY!!!!


Yours in Health

Flossie Alexander
Life/Weight Loss Coach
You Can NOW! Coaching
Where Results ARE Typical!


About Flossie: Flossie is currently a member of the National Association of Professional Women and Toastmaster’s International. She is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach and a Certified Wellness Coach with a successful track record in leading organizations and individuals into achieving healthy lifestyle goals. After overcoming obesity, losing 165 pounds in 18 months, she has developed a passion to help others through public speaking and one-on-one weight loss coaching. Visit Flossie at http://www.youcannowcoaching.com to start creating your new healthy lifestyle and lose unhealthy weight permanently.

Lessons from 2009 and Growth in 2010

Greetings to all my wonderful readers out there!

I hope you all enjoyed a Christmas celebration filled with lasting memories and love! With three days left to before we enter 01.01.10 I wanted to sit back for a minute, grab a nice hot cup of vanilla chai and think about all the things that happened - or perhaps didn't happen - in 2009.

A lot of my friends have shared their victories with me (gaining employment, launching businesses, etc.) and their seeming defeats (loss of a job or second income, death, divorce, etc.) and all I could do is smile through it all. Why? One, because I'm genuinely happy for their victories and I know that what appears as a defeating or hopeless situation will eventually reveal a victory to be had. Besides, being hateful about someone's success or sitting with a look of despair is not going to help or hinder the situation. It might cause the loss of a good friend or two though.

So last night I started thinking about all the lessons I learned in 2009. I mapped all the "good" things and the "bad" things that happened and I came up with two conclusions:

1. There are no good and bad situations. There are only situations. The labeling of a particular situation as good or bad is completely up to the individual. The situation itself just is. If we simply experience the ebb and flow of what life brings our way we will find our selves in a much happier place. Why? Because we will have developed the ability to enjoy the up moments and accept and overcome the not so up moments.

2. The bad times do not last. They may seem like nights of never-ending shadow and gloom but eventually light always pierces the darkness and we see relief and can move on with our lives. Additionally, I'd like to think that with serious investigation we should be able to pinpoint more 'ups' than 'downs'. If not, then there's something that needs mending and I think everything, in some form or fashion can be mended.

Those are just some of the things I learned during 2009. So what's on the agenda for 2010?

EXPANSION & GROWTH! 

I'm going to employ a 4-step method to do just that; here it is:

Reflect - Basically, what I discussed above. I'm looking back at the past 365 to what what worked, what didn't and what was wasted away. I'm going to sit down and write a list of these things and keep them on the wall over my desk so that I can always have a reference to keep me on the path to expansion and growth.

Regroup - For this step I'm going to access and reaccess all the activities that didn't prove useful or ended up just being time wasters. These things will either be recycled (take the good elements of the activity and repurpose then into something useful) or discarded altogether. This is what I call regathering or reclaiming your energy.

Pursue (Not Just Plan) - Most of us do a lot of planning - I "plan" to lose weight or I "plan" to write my first book. Heck, I '"planned" on becoming a professional blogger way before 2009 (chuckles)! Yes, planning is important but not as important as implementing that plan. Remember it's called action, not plan-tion!

Succeed! - By ding the things above I can all but guarantee that I will be successful - or at least more successful - at achieving my goals in 2010.

Meditate on This: for this week I'd like to post a line from one of my favorite Japanese Animation movies called Shadowskill and it goes: "I am invincible! My Shadowskill is perfectly honed! (My favorite part of the mantra) The force of my blow has no equal!" Gotta love it! Hit me up if you need a translation of what the heck that means. [wink]

What are some of the lessons you learned in 2009? How do you plan on making a bigger impact on your goals for 2010? Talk to me! :o)


Have a PERFECT day!

Michael Stagg