Who is number one?
Each time I get an initial enquiry for weight loss or to stop smoking one of the things I will be ascertaining is whether it is themselves or their partner or family that wants them to make the change.
There are two reasons why this is important. The first is that the chances of a successful outcome are reduced if we are attempting to change for someone else’s benefit and if so we will soon find ourselves falling back into our old patterns of behaviour.
The second and most important is that to make a change it must be made because we want to do so. Granted, it will be great to experience all the positive spin-offs that may well occur but the most important change has to come from within ourselves. This change is a belief in our own value as a person and our own right to make an improvement in our lives. Without that belief we have no firm ground on which to initiate change and let it become part of our way of life.
The point here is that to be the person we want to be – to be able to help or be there for those that are important to us we need to value and believe in ourselves first. On a plane we are told in case of emergency to put on our own oxygen mask before our child. It makes perfect sense. Only by helping ourselves will we be able to help anyone else.
The more empowered we allow ourselves to become the more strength we have to be there for others.
Tags: Life Changes, Life Thoughts