If I told you that taking time for yourself would lead to weight loss, a better body and improved self-image, would you do it?  Many of my clients are super busy in both their personal and their professional lives.  However, when I work with them, they come to realize when they put themselves first they start to lose weight, feel great and look great.  They didn’t think they had time to do something for themselves, but once they saw that they did and what it did for them, they soon changed their tune.

Taking time for yourself gives you that pause.  In yoga we talk about the pause between the inhale and exhale, and wow, it is luxurious—you only need to experience it once to know how absolutely amazing it is.  In life we talk about that pause as peace of mind.  When you rush from one thing to the other, things get overlooked and you get overlooked.  In our quest for doing more, getting more done, and pleasing others we leave a lot of stuff out or just plain forget.

To demonstrate my point, have any of these happened to you?

• You get out the door and realize you don’t have your car keys.
• You realize that you forgot to brush your teeth as you drop your kids off at school.
• You left the dog outside (that’s my personal opps) and he’s a barker.
• You race to pick up the kids and they say “We thought you forgot us.”
• You glance at yourself in the mirror and see that you look like a madwoman because you haven’t had your hair cut in oh-you-can’t-even-remember- when.
• You forgot the presentation… or worse, you forgot you had a presentation.
• You notice you have on one black shoe and one blue shoe.  (No lie; my female executives have this happen all the time)
• Or again, worse, you realize you forgot your shoes and only have flip flops on with that beautiful business suit (which happens to be wrinkled) on the day of your important presentation.

Yes, many of my clients have had those things happen.  You didn’t think I made them all up did you?

However, many of these same clients have gone on to create their ideal image of themselves and their lives… and now live those ideals!  You can be exactly who you want to be, feeling great and looking great.

I know you are wondering how my clients have created—and now live—their ideal life.  Here are the three most important principles they followed.

1. They created a vision of their ideal life.  They took the time to write out what they ideally wanted to have in their life.  Spend sometime this week and write out what you want from your life and in your life.  Write how you want to be, what you want to do and how it will look and feel when you have it.  Then keep it close and look at it regularly.
2. They changed how they talked to themselves.  When we are unhappy about ourselves, it usually means there is a lot of negative self-talk going on.  “You are so stupid, how could you forget that presentation?”  “Oh sure, there you go again, eating all of the chips/cookies/candy, you’ll never lose that weight.”  Stop berating yourself for careless mistakes and remember you are human.  Change how you talk to yourself and about yourself and watch that bad body image and unwanted weight disappear.  And in its place you’ll find a new, beautiful you!
3. They BOTHERED.  When you don’t have a clear vision of what you want your life to be like and look like and you engage in negative self talk, you are usually in a place of “why bother?”  You feel that nothing is going to change anyway, so…why bother.  People who are successful in their weight loss (or anything for that matter), do bother.  They take the time to make plans and then they carry them out.  To be successful you have to bother, you have to take action and you have to follow through.

I have so many clients who have bothered.  They bothered to take the time for themselves to make themselves look and feel better.  Take the time to bother with yourself.  Take the time to go to the hair and nail salon or the gym.  Hire a personal trainer or a coach.  Take your suits to the dry cleaners or get the iron out and do it yourself.  Organize your closet so the blue shoes are with the blues and the black shoes with the blacks!  Begin to eat better and look at yourself in a whole new light.

You’ll find that the self talk becomes more positive – and the results are amazing all because you bothered.  Weight loss, stress reduction, happiness and so much more will follow!  Watch it all work out in such remarkable ways!

So tell me, are you going to stay in that bad body image and negative self talk, being overweight, in ill health and ‘why bother’ state… or are you going to shed it all and shine?

Now if you pardon me it’s time for my manicure.  See, I practice what I preach.  It is important for me to take good care of myself.  I know it is such a big factor in my success both to my personal and professional life, so I’m off!

I would love to have you share what you do to take care of yourself!