Friday Fuel 2/14: Love is The Answer

Fellow #Firestarter:

This is the day where they say, “Love is the answer.” It’s the time of the year where I ask, “Do I love myself enough to hold true to the promises that I made to ME?”

Well, let’s check in on our New Year’s resolutions. So how are things going? My own resolutions included …

Continuing to eat clean despite hitting a place with my weight that I am more comfortable with than I have been for the past decade.
Having fun with family and friends, even amid my heavy workload.
Spending less time on my computer screen and more time sleeping.

As always, some resolutions are going better than others:

I’m maintaining my weight.
I’m spending as much time with family and friends as my schedule will bear. But it’s still less than my heart needs.
I’m not getting enough sleep.

But I am more determined than ever to always try and I mean that, #Firestarter. I am looking at you with a virtual pinkie swear!

Terri half-way to her weight loss goal in November 2019.

Recently in my class on design thinking, the professor shared a tip with us that she had picked up from a company called August. Here it is: Instead of saying “no,” ask “Is it safe to try?” Can you see how that would make anything feel less risky? And it is something that when we love ourselves should come easy.

My phrase of the year is “never settle.” In the past, I have settled because I was afraid to fail. I settled when I did not think it was safe to try.

I’ll give you an example of shifting your perspective, #Firestarter! And it’s a real-life example!

Last weekend, I spent some time with some incredible girlfriends who flew to the city where I was giving a keynote. As you know if you’ve been following me, I’ve lost almost 20 pounds since August.

One of my friends asked me how I made that happen. I explained that it was truly a shift in my philosophy. For years, I had said, “I’m trying to lose weight.” I finally left that behind. Instead, I said, “I am going to lose weight.” Once I started having some success, then I shifted to “I will lose weight.” Now that I have reached my goal, I tell myself “I will maintain this weight.”

Reaching that goal took shifting my perspective from a place of fear to a place of embracing. It took telling myself that it was safe to try.

I wanted to talk about all of this with you because February is a time we might fall off the wagon with our resolutions.

If you have fallen off the wagon, that is OK. It is safe to try again. When you believe this deep down, you learn even from a failure. You form new habits more easily. And new ideas and inspiration flow to you more readily.

So that’s my challenge to you: Shift your perspective out of a place of loss and scarcity to one of winning and abundance. And when you do find that place, you’ll know it. Cheers to you, because wins are on the way!

This happens when you #FindYourFire.

With Faith & Fortitude,

Friday Fuel is a newsletter for #Firestarters who are building movements for social good and within themselves. Join the #MovementMakerTribe and sign up for this monthly inspirational letter today.