I Am A Failure…

Oh, those deadly words, I have failed.  My goals lie shattered at my feet and my dreams are ruined.  Everything is gone, hope are dead and lost.  What happened you ask to bring about such dire consequences?  What horrible thing could have occurred that would ruin my future and demolish my best laid plans?  The answer is simple, I went back to diet coke.

Yes, that sweet sweet taste of caffeine laden chemical water lured me into its warm embrace one more time and today I found myself buying not one but TWO bottles of Coke Zero while waiting for my flight out of Austin airport.  I am a failure and the shiny black and red bottles are evidence to that failure.  Surely my life is done.

But Wait!

What about my other carefully laid out goals?  What about my incestuous love affair with chocolate?  Has that too returned into my life?  what about my old habits of consuming two medium domino’s pizzas for dinner?  Am I back to the chicken kickers?  And if not, isn’t my failure to kick the Coke habit a signal of my complete lack of willpower?  Should I not give in now while I can still do so gracefully and kick back with a bag of Lindt Truffles and a bucket of KFC?

Not So Fast…

Yes, the Coke is back, however, not as bad as it was before.  While I did drink some around lunch time, I no longer consume it all day long.  Also, while I may still imbibe my addictive chemical water, I did in fact kick the sugar habit.  I’m chocolate free now and plan on staying that way.  What about my exercise habits?  Still going strong!  What about my increased consumption of vegetables?  Yep, still good.  What about my decreased consumption of processed junk food?  Not a bucket of KFC or a carton of Domino’s in sight!  So am I really a failure?

Of Course Not!

A good baseball player has a batting average in the 300′s.  That means they get on base around 30% of the time.  A good basketball player has a free throw average in the high 60′s.  Barack Obama lost quite a few of the early primary contests and even some of the later ones.  Napoleon won most but not all battles.  Spielberg puts out amazing movies but he also puts out the occasional piece of dreck.  So why am I a failure because I had a bit of coke?

Why should I give up on everything when it’s just one thing that’s not working.  This is madness and in times past I bought into this mindset hook, line and sinker.  I failed at one little thing and I saw it as a reason to stop trying everything.  I had a bit of chocolate and used that as an excuse to order five big macs.  After all, if they day is already ruined due to that chocolate, might as well ruin it all the way!

Time and again I see people make the same mistakes I used to, which is part of the reason I started writing 60 in 3.  I see them take on an ambitious program of weightloss and fitness.  I see them set goals and divise master plans with a dozen different projects.  Then I see them fail and the chain reaction starts.  One little failure causes a bigger, which causes a bigger which causes abandonment of the whole plan.  Is this smart?  Of course not, but it is human.

Focus On The Successes

It’s time to stop focusing on the failures.  Yes, you’re going to fail.  Accept that now and move on.  If you’re not occasionally failing, you’re not really trying.  Your goals should be something you can only barely achieve and sometimes you’re going to fail.  That’s fine.  Accept the failure, learn from it and move on to try again.  More importantly, don’t use one failure as an excuse to abandon all hope.  Don’t use one setback as a reason to turn your back on all the things that are working.

Yes, I had a coke.  I gave in to my need for caffeine and bought a coke zero.  I’m not proud of that, but I also know that I did NOT buy that bag of M&M’s, I did NOT buy that bag of potato chips, I DID work out yesterday even though I was pressed for time, I DID have a healthy breakfast today, I DID order the salad yesterday even though I was in a Texas bar.  All of these things are a success.  All of them are reasons to celebrate and one, or two, little coke bottles shouldn’t change that.

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If you’re reading this, take a few seconds and let us know about your successes.  Use the comments and write down something you’ve accomplished today.  It doesn’t even have to be health or fitness related.  just write down something you feel was a success.  I’ll start…