I recently went on a long weekend trip to visit my fam in Georgia. I love listening to audio books, especially on long car rides. On the way home I listened to “Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis. To be completely honest, I didn’t even really know what they book was about, but I had seen so many Instagram stories about it I knew I had to listen.
O M G – This was probably be best book I have ever read (or listened to). I’ve already ordered a physical copy because this is something I need to have. Maybe it is just because of where I currently am in my life, but I went through ALL of the emotions. I laughed, cried, got angry (at myself and others), prayed, was grateful, and so much more. I know that books speak to you at different seasons in your life, but I feel like this one pretty much screamed at me, I mean, it might have well been thrown at my head.
Overall the book had so many amazing points and overviews, but there were two that spoke to me the most:
- Stop giving up on yourself.
- Stop breaking promises to yourself.
Stop giving up on yourself
I can’t tell you how many goals I’ve set for myself and never even got close. You know, all those fad diets, work out plans, motivation to clean and reorganize the house. Career goals, mom goals, self-care goals, date-night goals… the list goes on. My problem with goal setting is that I shoot so high in the sky it is completely unattainable. I go so hard on only focusing on that one goal for a week or so, and then… life. Once I miss a step, or fall out of routine, I convince myself that this is it, there’s no coming back now. So why keep trying? Why keep moving forward? I’ve already messed up, I’ve already screwed up 1 day, or missed 1 workout. I ate bad for 1 meal, so I might as well give up on the entire goal right now. What’s the point?
Who else has been here? Who else has thought I’ll do it tomorrow, but then finds some excuse not to? Who else has let life get in the way and make the decision for you? It is so hard to admit this. It is so hard to write about how many times I have failed myself, and tried to place the blame on others (people or situations). But enough is enough. I will never succeed and make any of my goals happen if I don’t recognize why I am failing.
I’m setting the bar too high. I am putting too much weight on my own shoulders to go from 0 to 100,000 in a month. Rome wasn’t built in a day ladies. And I’m sure, there were some hiccups along the way. I need to set goals that are attainable for my season of life. I need to start small, and build my blocks accordingly. I need to be ok with a little bit of error. I need to understand that if I eat a piece of birthday cake, my entire healthy eating plan doesn’t need to be shot to shit. I shouldn’t give up on my entire goal because I had 1 slip up. And I shouldn’t use that 1 slip up to make excuses for future slip ups.
So here, I am working on not giving up on myself. I wouldn’t give up on a loved one if they let their laundry pile up, or think bad of them because their house was a mess, or judge them for picking up fast food on the way home because it’s 9 o’clock and no one has had dinner yet. So why do we do it to ourselves? – It stops now.
Stop breaking promises to yourself
I hold promises very high, and when I promise my son I will do something, I will do it. No matter what it takes. If I tell a friend, or family member I will do something, I don’t want to let them down, no matter what happens. I work so hard to keep promises to everyone else, but myself. But don’t we all? I promise myself I will take better care of me, I promise myself I will get more sleep, fuel my body with healthier food, get closer with God, go to the doctor to get a check-up, take care of myself… but I don’t. These are all things that get put on the back burner or are easiest to let slip through because I am ok with breaking promises to myself.
This really goes along with stop giving up on myself, but I felt that it needed its own category. I’ve been wanting to get back in the gym.. it’s hard to do, and easy to find excuses for why I can’t go, so I’ve started small. I’ve promised myself that I will make it to the gym AT LEAST 2 times a week. Before, I would promise myself I was going to go 5 days a week after not going at all for months. I can’t expect myself to go from 0-100 and make a significant change to my schedule without failing. My plan is to increase this promise to a minimum of 3 times a week after a few weeks of going twice.
If I end up overachieving my promise to myself, I am super excited. There is no reason why I can’t make 2 days a week.
Honestly, I could go on and on about all the promises that I break to myself, but at this point, I’m happy to start making a change. I am happy to start making sure that I am taken care of along with everyone else. And I am happy (and a little embarrassed) to admit these things to everyone else.
So girl, if you are reading this and think I’m totally crazy and no one does this – this book isn’t for you. I’m also slightly jealous and may think of you as a unicorn.
But girl, if you are reading this thinking, “yup, I can totally relate”, then grab the book, and start washing your face.