Week7: Progress Not Perfection

This is Collette here! Carrie asked me to post for the next few weeks. This is a great week for me to post. I need this as I'm sure many of you do. Bill Phillips talks about a girl who lost 15 lbs but would look in the mirror and just see failure. Because she had an ideal of perfection, like a swimsuit model on the cover of a magazine. It became her exclusive focus and each day she'd get up, look in the mirror and see that she wasn't there yet. She didn't even see the amazing progress she was making. She convinced herself that she was a failure and then she quit. "What happened is she got caught in 'The Void.' The Void is a dangerous place we can wander into if we measure our progression based on what hasn't happened rather than what has. The Void can zap your self-confidence and send your self-esteem tumbling, making it impossible for you to feel good about yourself. Hanging out there can also lead to full-time frustration, which can permeate every aspect of your life."
So how do we change that and avoid The Void? WE focus on PROGRESS instead of perfection. To do that we must start focusing on what we have achieved and accomplished instead of those things we haven't.
Progress is a step in the right direction: it's any action you can take which moves you further away from your point A (where you were at the beginning of this process) and closer to your point B (where you decided to go).
So go back to your goals from the beginning and make sure they are specific, clear, measurable, AND REALISTIC. If not, then go back and please revise your goals if necessary. Making sure they are not ideals (looking like a swimsuit model) will ensure that you can feel good about your progress and take you away from the mindset of perfection.

As I thought about this week's goals I also thought about how it applies to us in other aspects of our lives. As a Latter-Day Saint I could focus on how I don't read my scriptures every day like I'd like to and I could feel like a failure. Instead I can focus on my progress: I say my morning prayers when I roll out of bed, or how I read scriptures with my kids most days of the week.

As part of this Transformation group I could focus on what a failure and bad example I've been. Or I can focus on the progress I've made. Last week I didn't write down the healthy spaces makeover but I did clean out my son's room 2 weeks prior because I had read that chapter and felt like his room needed help. I donated a couple of bags to Goodwill and threw away a bag of misc. toys. And today I threw away a couple of lonely socks because I was thinking of last week's assignment. There is PROGRESS!!!! Certainly far from perfection.

As a mother and housekeeper I can choose to focus on how I failed to give my bathroom a good scrubbing. Or I can focus on how I mopped my floors today and helped my kids clean up the basement. I can choose to focus on what a rotten mom I was when I exploded at my children today; wondering where that demon came from or I can focus on how I brought my kids (and nephew with autism) to the library today and patiently waited and helped them complete 3 crafts.

Which way will make YOU happier? Always focusing on progress rather than perfection. But it is a choice, and it's a choice that we have to make EVERY SINGLE DAY when we wake up in the morning and when we go to bed at night. So I choose happiness and progress.
Here is this week's assignment:
Action step:
Five things I can do between now and the end of the day tomorrow that move me in the direction of my goals and intentions are:
Example:
1. Exercise intensely for 40 minutes.
2. Eat six nutritious meals that are nutrient rich and calorie sparse.
3. Encourage someone else who's also making healthy changes.
4. Check in with my community support group.
5. Restock my kitchen with a dozen healthy fruits and vegetables.