The weekly perspective
One question to ask yourself
Have I been consistent enough to see the change I'm seeking?
We so often make small changes then expect an immediate result. The fat loss analogy is the easiest here. You won't see a drop in scale weight in 2 days, you have to be consistent over days and weeks to see the result you're looking for. If you're looking for a healthy relationship, have you consistently made effort to meet new people and step away from those who are inconsistent and/or emotionally unavailable? If you're building a business, have you consistently shown up day in day out, for weeks and months? Reality is, the duration of consistency required is usually longer than we'd like, and that's when we give up.
Journal on this - what change are you seeking? How consistent have you really been, if you're very honest with yourself? Where have you stumbled in that consistency? What caused that stumble? How will you change that?
Something to consider
It’s not your fault but you’re the only one who can change it
So much of our behaviours, habits and thought patterns are a result of societal conditioning, trauma, learned behaviours, amongst myriad other factors that are beyond our control - they're not our fault. Despite this, we are the only ones who can change things. We are the only ones with the power to change things, take action and ownership of ourselves and our choices.
Journal on this - where do I feel victim to my circumstances? What can I actively change about this?
One thing I'd tell my younger self.
"Beauty doesn't fade, youth does" - Linda Evangelista
In a deviation from my usual message to my 20 something self, this isn't for her. It's for my 30 year old self, maybe even my 35 year old self. There's a lot to be said for cultivating positive age beliefs and I am in love with the voices of incredible strong, older-than-me women circulating in the current media. Positive age beliefs can impact not only our psychological wellbeing as we age, but also our physiological - they may reduce stress, improve confidence, support cognitive ability and change our health behaviours, it's quite wild. Watching Naomi Campbell continue to excel in her aesthetics-focused career in her 50s is filling a space in my wellbeing I didn't know existed. We have to stop attributing our challenges with age. We have to fight against the story we tell ourselves that each day we age is a point detracted from our beauty.
Journal on this - who do you surround yourself with that support cultivation of postsiive age beliefs? What actions do you take that cultivate the opposite? From looking at old pictures of yourself, to comparing to younger than you women, how are you creating optimism around ageing?
One thing to try this week
Say what you feel.
It is wild that we get irritated at people for not showing up in a way we expected them to when we didn't communicate that in the first place. It's ridiculous that we resent those we love for behaving in a particular way when we haven't expressed why we find that difficult. We'd rather sit in this pain than the pain of communicating though, wouldn't we?
I say this with complete awareness that I do this very thing. But as it's something I've been working hard on for a number of years, I figure it's something you might need to work hard on too. So for this week in your relationships, where it feels safe to do so, communicate: your feelings, your thoughts, your needs. These won't always be met (and may not even be fair), but it does remove the disappointment of unmet expectations.
A few things to tell you...
Is stress impacting your fat loss or relationship with food and where do we get our style icon status from? Find out in the latest ETPHD pod (after which, listen to Steph almost lose bladder control at my hysterical ways in today's bonus pod).
Should you take probiotics if you want optimal gut health? And what really happens when you eat uncooked noodles - do they cook inside your stomach? Life changing info in this weeks EIQ pod.
Learn how to look after your business when you're sick as a dog (where does that saying come from are all dogs sick?) and get an insight into our working days on the latest ETPHD mentoring pod.
If you read this email, you are already one of my top people to speak to and work with. You'll see some emails coming your way this week about our 8 week binge breakthrough programme being released this Friday. If you want a spot, please please do sign up to the priority list. Spots are limited and I want you, loyal reader, to get one.
One more thing...
Please share your favourite stuff.
I'm really trying to have a more positive impact this year (it's where this Monday email spawned from). If there's something you really relate to or know someone who'd benefit from something in this email, please share it and pay it forward. Words are magical, and if I've learned anything from writing these emails to you for years, you never know when someone needs to hear the exact thing you've got to say.
