Babysteps

So, I'm the jump-in-with-both-feet type of person. The get-a-bright-idea-and-overdo-it-crash-and-burn kind of girl.

My friend introduced me to FlyLady many years ago. I tried and tried, but never could quite get it. Mainly because everytime she said, "Babysteps, babysteps, babysteps!" I heard the Charlie Brown teacher say, "Wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah!"

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE FlyLady! It's just that for some reason, I thought I was above having to do it in babysteps. She warned me I would crash and burn, yet every time just like the time before, I would say to myself, "Not this time, FlyLady! I'll do it MY way and I WILL succeed!" Yet flat on my face I would fall. And instead of getting back up, I would just lay there and moan.

In the past couple of days, I have finished reading FlyLady's books, Sink Reflections and Body Clutter. Again, I heard the warnings and heard her emphasize babysteps. Still, in the beginning, I didn't really heeded that. I began to crash and burn over the past couple of weeks. Everything was slipping. My 365 project, my exercise, my weight loss, my calorie goals. My reading was the one thing that I stayed on top of consistently.

Finally, I began to pull myself back up and say, "No. Just because I fall does not mean I have to fail. I will get back up. I will try again. I WILL do this."

So, babysteps. I started a Before Bed Routine and a Morning Routine. I haven't done it perfectly everyday. But, I have buckled down and tried to just get through it, even if it wasn't perfect. I am beginning to see progress! Hallelujah! I think about jumping ahead and how I could do things better, more perfectly, and I stop myself. Just doing it for now is enough. I can add and improve later. Slowly. I want it to stick this time. It WILL stick this time.

I have amended one of FlyLady's favorite sayings and I believe it will become my new mantra: "Perseverance and progress, not perfection."

Happy Monday, everyone!