Every time you visit the Tiny Fitness studio, you pass by two boxes:
One is full of positivity (I won’t spoil the surprise about what’s in there – stop by and take some for yourself!) The other offers you a chance to drop off whatever negativity you find with you that day.
In the 15-ish months that I’ve had those boxes up so far, I’ve gone through over 200 bits of positivity.
The negativity box has been used once.
Huh?
Imagine that you’ve decided to give yourself a makeover. You go shopping for a new, stylish wardrobe. You buy all the hair and makeup products that the salespeople recommend to help keep up your new look.
But you don’t stop there – you decide to redecorate, too. You buy new art for your walls, new linens and curtains, maybe even some new accent rugs and pillows.
And then you take it all home. You put your new clothes into your closet along with all the old, outdated, worn garments. You mix the cosmetics in with everything that already fills your old, overflowing makeup bin. It takes all your strength, but you can still just barely close the closet door.
You hang the new art – right next to the old art. You place the linens and other decor right over the old decor – who says 22 throw pillows is too much for a couch? Why not have one rug right on top of the other?
Did your makeover work?
Does your home look the way you had imagined?
Change Needs Space
When we want to welcome new things into our lives, we have to make space for them.
It might seem obvious when we talk about overfilling our closets and rooms, but it’s just as true when we are trying to welcome inner changes.
If you’re trying to take better care of yourself, you have to let go of some bad habits in order to let the good ones take root.
If you’re trying to speak nicely to yourself, you have to let go of some unkind words in order to hear the good ones more clearly.
If you’re trying to improve your health, you have to let go of some unhealthy ways in order to let the healthy choices feel easy.
Let Go of the Negative and the Positive will Multiply
If you don’t have any room for positivity to flourish, it will be hard for it to stick around! So often when people complain about not being motivated, they are trying to hold on to all their negative beliefs and feelings AND create new positive ones.
But just how much can your closet hold?
How many new rugs can you stack on top of that old one before you forget it’s there?
If you want to believe that you’re strong, you can’t simultaneously believe that you’re weak. You can say, “I’m working on getting stronger!” And what a great thing that is: to give yourself credit for the work that you’re doing while you keep moving forward.
If you want to eat better, you can’t keep telling yourself that you’re a failure when you don’t make the best choices for yourself. You can say, “I’m working on my nutrition!” And what a great thing that is: to give yourself credit for the work that you’re doing while you keep moving forward.
If you want to stay motivated, you can’t keep telling yourself that you’re not making any progress. You can say, “I’m working toward my goals each day!” And what a great thing that is: to give yourself credit for the work that you’re doing while you keep moving forward.
There is no finish line.
Don’t save your positivity and self-love for when you “reach your goals”, because there is no finish line in life. The scale, the measuring tape, your pants size, your ability to do three pull-ups in a row – none of these things that seem SO IMPORTANT in the moment will be your final accomplishment. There is always something more that you will want to strive for.
So, start today.
Let something go that doesn’t serve you anymore, or maybe that never even did serve you. Get rid of that freeloading negativity and clear a space for something new. And, if it helps, the negativity box is always open.