3 Top Things that can limit your ability to reach your true potential
There are 3 things that can truly hold you back from reaching your potential, or elevate you to achieve 10 x’s more in half the time. I call it the Energy Gap. If you are not attending to all 3 of these things, you will not be able to fully up-level yourself into your true potential. They aren’t hard, but they do take attention, persistence and commitment. However, I promise you, if you attend to these 3 things you will also increase your motivation, productivity, joy, feeling of well being, decrease your appetite, increase your clarity, energy, positive outlook, reduce stress while being less reactive, did I also mention they are some of the best anti-agers around?
Let me explain why I am so passionate about sharing this message with you. 3 years ago I found my self exponentially stressed. I was entering an entirely new industry of which I knew nothing about. I was suddenly thrown into learning a completely new language and culture with the pressure of having to also financially provide for and take care of my 3 kids and myself. Finances were beyond tight, I was up late nights burning the midnight oil to gain traction and knowledge in my new work space and shuffling kids about in between trying to be a great mom. Life was crazy and highly stressful. I was doing that thing they call The Hustle. I could certainly outwork/outrun the best of them. My work ethic has never been in question. I have always been self motivated and harder on myself than anyone else could possibly be. Add to all of that the pressure of having 3 little people dependent on me for their livelihood and the stress was even more exaggerated.
Suddenly there would be weekends that I literally couldn’t get out of bed all weekend because I literally felt like I had the flu, no energy, my entire body ached, exhausted, couldn’t move. During the week my head was cloudy, I would have to think so hard to recall silly things and write down literally everything so that I didnt forget to do it. All of this stress was triggering my Hoshimoto’s Disease as well (no, I didn’t just sneeze right there…it’s an actual thing :)). I had no energy in my workouts and was gaining weight even though I was working out and eating normally. I made the decision that this needed to change. I needed to figure it out. I no longer was going to accept feeling like this and allowing it to take me out. I wanted to live a full life. I simply wanted to feel good again.
So, I began a mission to take charge of my health and my life and be proactive. No longer was I going to sit back and accept that I had to feel like this. It was impacting my joy, my work potential, my time with my kids…everything. These 3 changes created the momentum for more in my life. So, I am passionate about sharing how critical they are with everyone and especially those of us who actually don’t just want to exist, but want to thrive. They are basic, but in this busy thing we called life, they get neglected more than anything else. What if I could promise you that you will uplevel your life, reach more of your goals and have greater joy in your every day? All you have to do is finally commit (like all in) to implement the one or more that are holding you back?
Sleep
This was the one that was impacting me most. I came from the fitness industry, so I already had the other 2 in process. I did have to make some adjustments there, too, which I will share below. It wasn’t that I wasn’t going to bed, it was actually that I would either just lay there or wake up in the middle of the night and then just lay there. So, I began to study best practices for sleep. I’m not going to lie, some of the top things I learned were inconvenient. I had to make changes in my habits, my work practices, my comforts. That said...this is where my excitement for this Energy topic comes from. The amount of motivation, productivity, energy, positive influence this one major change had on my life was incredible. I had no idea how sleep deprived I was until I started actually getting sleep!! I would wake up ready to crush it. It was crazy the ginormous ways this one change impacted everything for me. Do I get perfect sleep every night, no, but is is certainly a priority now that I know what a game changer it truly is! Sure, you can sleep when you’re dead…but personally I want to fully LIVE while I am alive, and to do that, I need sleep! Shhhh, don’t tell your competitors :). Let them keep hustling and working into all hours of the night.
Food
You all know this...what you put in your body is what you get out of it. Do you want to function like a couch potato or do you want to be able to have the energy and power to move through your day like a professional athlete. Can you only imagine if you treated your body like the temple that it is, how much more you could accomplish…with less effort? For me (because of my Hashimoto’s) this meant changing my diet. I already ate fairly clean, but gluten is incredibly hard on the thyroid. It also can cause fogginess in your brain and other issues for a variety of people. So, I made the commitment to take it out. I personally added in more healthy fats and focused on gut health. For you, it might be other, simple, changes you can make that will allow for a better version of you.
Exercise/Movement
Yes…you know this too! I hope! You have to move your body. You need to sweat and get breathless regularly. I would also add to that to move every hour on the hour. No longer can we just go workout for an hour or 2 and be good to go. We are so stationary all day long that sitting has become the new smoking. Literally. Our sedentary lifestyles are creating health repercussions as severe as smoking. So, even if you workout regularly, consider implementing an alarm every hour to get up and do 2-5m. of activity to refresh your body and your mind. For me, I already was doing this…but again, I had to make changes. I did intense, crazy, beat your body up, workouts constantly (yes, that was fun for me). However, what had always worked in the past, stopped working. Interestingly enough, I learned that with Hashimoto’s (which is an autoimmune disease) your body sees it as stress (which is one of the worst possible things for any autoimmune disease). So, I had to start switching up my workout routine and having more grace for myself. It is truly all about balance, isn’t it?
I simply want to encourage you. In this world that tells us to hustle more, I want to be your advocate to choose you, choose to slow down and take care of you first, choose to be more because you were designed to be more. Don’t accept less than you are. When you are filled with energy and life because you have made you a priority, you will accelerate your life in every area and impact those around you on such a deeper and more meaningful level. You don’t have to start with all 3, simply choose that one that is holding you back most and start there. Be a student, learn all you can, implement and get a positive side kick to join you in this new venture called Up-leveling. Live into your potential! Which ONE are you going to choose to focus on starting today? I want to know, so that I can walk beside you and cheer you on. JG