losing after regain

I received this from a friend at work today......just in the knick of time! Success is easy... avoid the stuff in the first half... develop the habits in the second half..  

THE FORMULA FOR FAILURE AND SUCCESS by Jim Rohn

 

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day. Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters. On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds. If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters! Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter. Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat. But we must become better educated than that! If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment. Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.

 

Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day. Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy. Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow. But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old. One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks.  When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines. The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence – not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

Hi Becky,  Please check out my profile and you will see that your weight fluctuations are about the same as mine.  We are also the same height. Please continue to do what you are doing to stay on the losing side.  Because you realize that you are in control, you will succeed!!  Good luck and many blessngs to you. Char S-

Just testing my new signature...

Thank you for your post. I too have gained some weight. I had two nasal surgeries and have been on steroids for the last year. All of a sudden I got on the scale and 220 stared at me! Imagine my shock and then embarrassment. I have gone back to basics with protein shakes, water, water, water, protein, excercise and prayer. Glad to know that I am (again) not alone in the weight fight. Weighed myself yesterday and lost 4 lbs in a week! Getting back on board and feeling really good about it!

One thing that has worked for me (4+ years out) to stay on target is to weigh myself every single day of the week, first thing out of bed.  That sets the mood for my day.  If I am up a few pounds, I watch very carefully what goes into my mouth until the next morning when I confirm to be back on track.  If I stayed the same, then I know I can have another day like yesterday and so forth.  It may sound neurotic, but it really helps to see it in black and white.  One thing for sure, every day that I stay the same I feel motivated to keep up good eating habits and continue fitting into my clothes rather than "i can eat whatever i feel like".   Don't get me wrong, I do cheat, I do eat bad things occasionally, but making myself accountable to myself via the daily scale weigh-in really works for me.  I have remained at 115 pounds for almost 3 years now - WOOOHOOOOOO.  Hugs to all my brothers and sisters on the losing side. Missy

Thanks Becky!  You are an inspiration.  I went from 289 lbs before surgery to 178.  But now (three years out) I am back up to 203.  I am so sick!!  I can't seem to get things together.  You have inspired me.  I am back on the treadmill and hope to start walking again.  I have been eating things like fruit snacks, red licorice and some carbs, and I KNOW this is the culprit!!!  Any words of wisdom to help get me back on track.  Thanks.  Terri

I love these posts, they let me know I am not alone. I too have gained 27 pounds in 2 years and am 4 years out. I can't let the scale go any farther and have been back on track this week. and have lost 1.5 pounds. I just need to get back to the gym.  Thanks for sharing, I needed this today.

You are not alone Becky!!!  In a year I have 20+ lbs and I, too, am doing the same....fresh organic apples, fresh fruits and veggies, whole wheat bread and pasta, poultry....and working out twice a day....I just have to stay consistent!!!!   Thanks for the motivation.

Way to go Becky!

No matter how far out we are from surgery, the tool will always work for us IF we choose to use it!  I've gained 25 pounds three different times since surgery 6 years ago and I always manage to get it off again!

We just got back from vacation and even though I made pretty good food choices most of the time, I managed to gain 8 pounds in 8 days!  Ugh!  My poor feet were puffy like before surgery and I had retained a lot of water weight.  But, I've managed to get off NINE pounds in four days just by eating proteins, veggies and fruit and I haven't exercised either! 

This surgery WILL work if you just eat healthy and stay away from fats and sugars.  Simple as that really....

 God bless!