Your Cheering Section

Ever notice how people perform better when someone is encouraging and cheering them on? We all need to know that what we're doing is worthwhile and that we're making a difference, whether it's in our work, our relationships, or even our favorite hobbies.

Photo Courtesy of Dave Johnson

Getting and staying in shape is no different. Yes, we can plow on ahead and get healthy on our own. It takes a lot of determination not to quit. If, however, you have people building you up and encouraging you, it lightens your load. It just plain makes it easier to persevere when people are cheering you on!

Who's your support team? Do you have people building you up on your quest to live a healthier life? Or are people constantly telling you that you'll never make it, never be healthy, thinner, active, fill in the blank....? People like that aren't trying to build you up--they're trying to tear you down! Don't listen to them. If it's your family, you'll have to tune them out. If it's your friends, however, maybe it's time to  find some new friends, people who will applaud your decision to get healthy and sow seeds of encouragement into your mind and heart.

Even if you don't have a team of encouragers, you can speak those words into your own heart. Say it out loud: "I'm getting healthy. I'm getting strong. I'm getting to my goal weight." You can even just declare in faith, "I'm healthy!" "I'm strong!" There is a Biblical principle behind this: "Let the weak say, I am strong." (Joel 3:10) Is it asking you to lie to yourself? Of course not! By making a declaration like that every day, out loud, those words come into your ears and from there into your mind. What you hear often enough, you begin to believe, even if you're the one saying it. So if you've been saying, "I'll never keep the weight off," or "I've been sick so long, I don't think I'm ever going to be healthy," you're just compounding your problem.

Learn to speak good things into existence. Get a positive attitude about yourself. If you have a team of people building you up, that's fabulous! Still, you need to build yourself up, as well. How much better to build yourself up than beat yourself up!

Let me tell you right now: You can do it! I believe in you! I may not know you, but I have confidence that you can achieve what you set out to do.