Supersize Your Cup!

We all have a capacity for the energy output we can put into the world each day.  The size of your Cup represents the capacity you have for (1) dealing with stuff in life and (2) performing tasks. When your cup is full with work and stress and required tasks, you don’t have the space to focus on and improve your wellness. The reason this is important to understand is because it plays a major role in our personal abilities to improve lifestyle.

When I first began as a wellness coach, I hadn’t really figured this whole cup thing out yet—I was slightly baffled by how to help people who were just busy and tired, and had more responsibilities than they could handle…let alone do something positive for their health.  I had several moments in which I felt like wellness was just hopeless. I wanted to slink away, defeated, and find some way to escape the system because it scared me that I could get to that point in life too.

Over time, I realized that I was looking at the problem in the wrong way.

What is likely happening if you’re not making changes (when you wish you would) is that you don’t have the room in your cup  (your kids have soccer practice, your dog has a vet appointment, you have to stop at the bank after work and then also get groceries, you have a headache, a backache, your husband/wife just left you, your boss is a maniac, and you’re just…tired).

We expend effort and make attempts at fighting our barriers, trying to beat up and break down the things that are holding us back, and sometimes we even try to ignore our challenges and muscle our way through life.

This is the wrong approach. It will probably lead you to failure and frustration.  You’ll blame yourself for not being a strong enough person to persevere and succeed at your lifestyle goals. You’ll ride a rollercoaster of ups and downs constantly, ultimately always ending up back at square one.

Damn.

…But, there is an answer!  I didn’t read this answer anywhere. I didn’t do a research study. I don’t have any references to back me up. I’ve learned this from experience (you know I coach something like 200 people a week, right?). I’ve also experienced this myself.

The answer is…

Make your Cup Bigger!

How, you ask?

1. Cheat.

2. Make yourself happy.

3. Be positive.

I’m going to address those three things in a later post.  My cup’s pretty full today 🙂

In the meantime, I encourage you to pick something to do in the next day or so that is just solely for your pure enjoyment. Whatever it is (or would be), knitting, reading a book, water skiing, playing with your puppy, doing crossword puzzles, meditating, taking a nap….just do it guilt-free with no underlying motivation for productivity. Just plain enjoyment. I’ll tell you why you’re doing it later!

What are you going to do??